Curricula of oppressions: queering elementary school norms and values

Abstract

Troubling longstanding histories of teaching elementary school with an asexual approach for fear of children losing their innocence, this paper argues that schools and teacher preparation programs should be explicit about the inclusion of LGBTQ + voices and perspectives from early childhood forward. Using a narrative inquiry study that foreground the experiences of a 19-year-old college student reflecting on queer-bias at an early age and the exhaustion he endured from various forms of exclusion, the implications for this paper are significant in that they consider not only how curriculum studies should be central to all teacher preparation but also how elementary curricula should be queered.

Keywords:

• Narrative inquiry
• queer theory
• queer battle fatigue
• curriculum theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 While not the focus of this paper, Barad uses the term “intra-action” to describe how bodies—both human and non-human—always act together to create agency. In this case, we are arguing that the curriculum intra-acts with students, teachers, administrators, the school itself, and the community to co-constitute agency. For more on this dialogue, see Barad’s (2007) text Meeting the Universe Halfway.

2 All proper nouns are pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of the participant.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Boni Wozolek

Boni Wozolek, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Education at Penn State University, Abington College. Her work considers questions of social justice, qualitative research methods, and teaching practices that focus on the examination of race, genders, and sexual orientations. Wozolek’s most recent book, Assemblages of Violence in Education: Everyday Trajectories of Oppression (Routledge, 2021), was the recipient of the 2021 Critics Choice Book Award from the American Educational Studies Association. Other recent publications include contributions to journals like Educational Studies, The Urban Review, and Theory into Practice.

Samantha Antell

Samantha Antell is currently an undergraduate student at Penn State University, Abington College. She is aspiring to be an early childhood educator.