Ballroom Pedagogy: Asset-Based Pathways to Culturally Sustaining and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Troubling Gender and Sexuality: Meditations on Performances of (Un)Gendering in Black Educational Spaces

Abstract

Many critical scholars within the field of curriculum and teaching, broadly defined, have done much to respond to the racial injustice in schools such as developing asset-based approaches to teaching and learning. One of the most popular approaches is culturally relevant pedagogy. Utilizing an intersectional lens, several scholars have documented the necessity to expand CRP to address the

schooling experiences of students who identify as racially and ethnically minoritized and hold other marginalized identities such as queer genders and sexualities, such as Black LGBTQ+ youth. This is especially important given the latest Human Rights Campaign report which revealed that only 32% of Black LGBTQ+ youth feel safe at school, almost half reported being bullied, 80% reported feeling depressed, and 71% felt worthless. And we know 100% of Black LGBTQ+ youth deserve better.
In this paper I explore the pedagogical and curricular approaches of one Black trans-feminine ballroom educator in facilitating an 8-week course on ballroom fashion and runway modeling for Black LGBTQ+ youth in NYC. In addition, I share how participating in this course impacted the overall well-being and sense of agency of the Black LGBTQ+ youth enrolled. Designed as an ethnographic case study which relied on interview, focus group, observation, and personal journal data, the study took place within Ballroom Culture and centered Ballroom youth (ages 11-21) and the greater Ballroom community. Contemporary Ballroom Culture is an underground culture consisting of balls (competitions) and houses (chosen families) that emerged during the 1920s in Harlem. Ballroom Culture was created by Black and Brown LGBTQ+ individuals as a space where they could affirm their racial, gender, and sexual identities without fear of rejection or abuse.
In presenting my data analysis, I emphasize how my findings can assist education stakeholders to arrive at a better understanding of how to engage in culturally sustaining and LGBTQ+ inclusive pedagogy that responds to the lived experiences of Black LGBTQ+ youth, ultimately constructing a portfolio of effective practice to be used in teacher preparation, professional development, and educational policy making. As an interdisciplinary endeavor, for this research I rely on multiple bodies of knowledge from various fields such as curriculum and teaching, women and gender studies, performance studies, and sociology to work toward new theories and interventions for social justice in the lives of Black LGBTQ+ youth. Furthermore, with this project I invert the questions commonly asked about Black LGBTQ+ victimhood to actively center the knowledge of a Black trans woman and Black queer and trans youth. In alignment with this year’s AERA theme, this paper expands our racial literacies of Blackness at the intersections of queer and trans experiences to better create more supportive and inclusive educational opportunities for some of our most marginalized students.

Author

• Shamari Reid, New York University