Queer Versus Fear: Early Childhood Teachers' Perspectives on Gender

• In Event: 67.070 - Sheraton Roundtable 14 - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 67.070-9 - Troubling, Resisting, and Rethinking Static Narratives of Gender

Abstract

Recent years have brought national debates about whether gender is biologically determined and immutable or self-determined. How teachers respond to these debates has significant implications for children’s well-being, particularly young children who are just beginning to understand gender. This paper investigates early childhood educators’ views of and pedagogy around gender. Data sources include transcripts from semi-structured meetings with three early childhood teachers. Participants viewed gender as flexible and fluid, envisioning classrooms with visual representations of myriad gender identities; yet they felt unable to queer pedagogy due to fear, insufficient language, and lack of allies. Implications include the importance of building a critical mass of early childhood teachers with the knowledge, language, and fortitude to queer their pedagogy.

Authors

• Jessica Sarah Powell, Southern Connecticut State University

• Laura Bower-Phipps, Southern Connecticut State University