Community Writing Circles as a Site for Intergenerational Queer Knowledge-Sharing

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Community as a Transformative Site of Sharing Literacies, Knowledge, and Stories

Abstract

This ethnographic case study examines the participation of LGBTQ+ youth (ages 7-12) and adult facilitators (ages 28-41) in a drop-in writing circle at an LGBTQ+ community center in a large city in the Southwest United States. Using critical pedagogy and queer theories, qualitative data were analyzed to identify examples of intergenerational queer knowledge-sharing among participants. Findings reveal the powerful, intergenerational knowledge-sharing experience afforded by this opportunity, specifically knowledge about writing, knowledge about being in community, and knowledge about the LGBTQ+ community. The study has implications for similar community-engaged youth writing programs in other settings as well as for elementary writing pedagogies in schools.

Author

• Jimmy McLean, University of Texas at Austin