Queering the Curriculum for K-12 classrooms
Undergraduates: Ishmael Bishop, Dana Copeland; Shelby Dawkins-Law
Faculty Advisor: Patrick Akos
Department: English & Comparative Literature
In the state of North Carolina, little research has been collected regarding the availability and accessibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) literature in K-12 school libraries and classrooms. This project examines the research on LGBT literature and ways teachers can integrate approved texts into their lesson plans and onto their lists of required and suggested reading. Not only does this project draft curricula that is inclusive of books with LGBT characters, but it also outlines a means for ¿¿¿queering the curriculum.¿¿¿ The importance of queer curricula is in its ability to teach students a way to discuss race, gender, class, and disability in their prescribed reading. Finally, this project is a call for a dialogue to occur between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and LGBTQ instructors and administrators so that ultimately workplace conditions for queer teachers can improve.