Queer, Quare, and [Q]ulturally Sustaining

Queer Theory/Pedagogy and Social Justice Education

“…The Black male teachers he studied expressed that staying in the closet at work allowed them safety as well as the ability to do their job without additional scrutiny. Wargo's (2016) research took a similar approach by using Johnson's (2012) invocation of a quare theory and Paris' (2012) culturally sustaining pedagogy for use specifically with queer youth of color "whose gender and sexual identity is always already enmeshed within larger markers such as language, ritual, desire, and cultural practice" (p. 303). By recognizing the larger systems of oppression queer youth of color face, educators enact a "[q]ulturally sustaining pedagogy" (p. 303) that is intentionally political.…”

Taking a Moment for Life: Remembering Black Queer Lives Through Performance

“…Educational scholar Jon M. Wargo (2016) argues that although queer as a term for identity and queer theory as a field of study has gained momentum in educational studies and in the academy in general, “the once humanist project of queer as an identity politics and form of resistance has evaporated into theoretical and conceptual projects that divorce it from the everyday lived experiences of LGBTQ2 peoples” (p. 300). Moreover, as Wargo (2016) offers, although the classroom serves as a rich site of knowledge production about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) youth, “it dismisses the embodied experience of, and resistance to, the oppressive and domineering affects of school and schooling” (p. 299). Such noticeable shortcomings rest on the deployment of queer within educational studies and practice, in which queer has become “synonymous with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender,” reinforcing static categories of identity and heterosexuality (Wargo, 2016, p. 301).…”

“…Moreover, as Wargo (2016) offers, although the classroom serves as a rich site of knowledge production about Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) youth, “it dismisses the embodied experience of, and resistance to, the oppressive and domineering affects of school and schooling” (p. 299). Such noticeable shortcomings rest on the deployment of queer within educational studies and practice, in which queer has become “synonymous with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender,” reinforcing static categories of identity and heterosexuality (Wargo, 2016, p. 301). Queer pedagogy should not be delinked from the material realities of students of color and other bodies that are “continuously oppressed and dominated by institutions and legal systems” (Wargo, 2016, p. 301).…”

“…Such noticeable shortcomings rest on the deployment of queer within educational studies and practice, in which queer has become “synonymous with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender,” reinforcing static categories of identity and heterosexuality (Wargo, 2016, p. 301). Queer pedagogy should not be delinked from the material realities of students of color and other bodies that are “continuously oppressed and dominated by institutions and legal systems” (Wargo, 2016, p. 301). Here, other theories of queerness and thus queer pedagogy are important to understanding how queer theory and pedagogy are rooted in lived experience, providing an orientation for educational praxis.…”

“…Wargo (2016) highlights the ways that education falls short in enacting queer pedagogy. These shortcomings create blind spots in pedagogical practice, policy decisions, and the examination of how issues related to bullying, harassment, queer survival, and Black survival in and outside of schools are a part of what schools teach.…”