ABSTRACT
Social work curricula increasingly prepare prospective social workers for practice with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) communities. Yet much of this pedagogy continues to neglect specific attention to the issues of transgender (trans) people specifically. In this article, we draw on critical ecosystemic and intersectional traditions of scholarship to develop a framework for centering trans experiences in social work curricula broadly addressing LGBTQ+ issues. After reviewing relevant literature, we conceptualize approaches to foregrounding trans issues in education intended to prepare social work students for generalist, direct, and indirect practice with LGBTQ+ populations. We conclude the article with a critical discussion on our analysis while providing suggested innovations in trans social work curricula.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hannah Kia
Hannah Kia is an Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia. Kinnon Ross MacKinnon is an Assistant Professor at York University. Antoine Coulombe is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at University of British Columbia.