Lights! Cameras! Genders? Interrupting Hate through Classroom Tinkering, Digital Media Production and [Q]ulturally Sustaining Arts-Based Inquiry

Abstract

Working to combat, speak back to, and shift discourses concerning issues of genders, sexuality/ies, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 2-spirit (LGBTQ2) identities in school classrooms and curriculum, this article highlights the capacity in building more inclusive elementary classroom spaces through tinkering in teacher education. By operationalizing scenes of [q]ulturally sustaining discovery, it theoretically sheds light on how prospective teachers wrote, made, and composed their way into thinking with theory to design more equitable landscapes for learning about LGBTQ2 topics. Pedagogically, the article includes snapshots of [q]ulturally sustaining practice that can be enacted in PK-6 spaces and classroom communities. Articulating a vision for inquiry with elementary teachers and students, the article provides pedagogical implications for interrupting hate through arts-based inquiry and community tinkering.

Additional Resources

1. Interested in a heuristic to read media texts queerly? Read van Leent and Mills’ (2017) article “A Queer Critical Media Literacies Framework in a Digital Age”

2. van Leent, L., & Mills, K. (2017). A Queer Critical Media Literacies Framework in a Digital Age. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.

Written for English language arts educators, this article supports a social justice agenda aimed at addressing inequalities in education for LGBTQ2 children and youths. Mobilizing queer theory to develop a framework for questioning media literacy, it supports the work of classroom teachers by including illustrative key questions, learning experiences, and teaching resources.

3. Curious to have a conversation about gender identity, expression, and desire with an elementary-aged learner? Use the gender abacus as a tool to promote talk across the binary: (https://jolson2012.wixsite.com/genderabacus?ref=gendersexualityinfo)

Developed by Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy and Dawn Ashbrook, this website encourages children, youth, and adults to expand their ideas about gender identity, expression, and sexuality. Educators interested in a more hands-on abacus can connect to the iOS app store and download the The Gender Abacus application.

4. Need Texts to Talk with in Enacting a [Q]ulturally Sustaining Stance in Elementary ELA? Check out the Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award list (http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/stonewall-book-awards-mike-morgan-larry-romans-children%E2%80%99s-young-adult-literature-award)

A website updated and ran by the American Library Association (ALA), this resource provides parents and teachers with English language books that have been awarded for their exceptional merit relating to the LGBT experience.

Notes

¹ I use LGBTQ2 to acknowledge the presence and persistence of 2-spirit authors, educators, and youth who have resisted colonial gender binaries and sexual regimes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jon M. Wargo

Jon M. Wargo is an assistant professor of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum & Instruction in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.