“It’s a very careful line we walk” : how educators resist, navigate, and make sense of the queer, trans necropolitical landscape of elementary education
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Educational Studies (EDST), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Paterson, Kathryn
issued: 2021-04-22T21:13:45Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This dissertation explores how elementary educators in Alberta, Canada make sense of and engage with queer, trans, and gender non-conforming diversity in elementary education, and how those understandings inform their pedagogy and practices. Contextualized within Alberta’s political conservatism, this research consists of a policy analysis of Alberta Education’s Guidelines for Best Practices and 12 school district policies, 14 interviews with elementary educators and two group discussions. This dissertation makes a critical contribution to the field by exploring how elementary education is shaped by necropolitical regimes of normativity that bestow privilege and support to some queer and trans kids, while increasing vulnerability and precarity for others. By focusing on discursive practices, this research explores why current government and school district policies, professional development, administrative interventions, and classroom strategies for queer and trans “inclusion” are insufficient. Findings underscore the limitations of an individualized, reactive, “accommodation approach” to change in schools that does little to confront larger, systemic issues in Canada’s public education system. Highlighting the workings of white settler colonialism, cisnormativity, heteronormativity, and neoliberalism, this research discusses how even supportive and knowledgeable educators often perpetuate harmful discourses despite their best intentions. Educators’ stories reveal the pressures, risks, and responsibilities they face as they navigate institutional constraints that are not conducive to implementing queer, trans, and gender diversity into the classroom and school in meaningful ways. By critically examining the limitations of existing approaches to building “safe, inclusive, and welcoming schools,” this research aims to contribute to a better schooling future for queer and trans students in Alberta, thereby improving conditions for all students.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/77925
note: “IT’S A VERY CAREFUL LINE WE WALK”: HOW EDUCATORS RESIST, NAVIGATE, AND MAKE SENSE OF THE QUEER, TRANS NECROPOLITICAL LANDSCAPE OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION by Kathryn Paterson B.A., Mount Allison University, 2013 M.A., Brock University, 2015 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Educational Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2021 © Kathryn Paterson, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: “It’s a very careful line we walk”: How educators resist, navigate, and make sense of the queer, trans necropolitical landscape of elementary education submitted by Kathryn (Kate) Paterson in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies Examining Committee: Dr. Deirdre Kelly, Professor, Educational Studies, UBC Co-supervisor Dr. Mona Gleason, Professor, Educational Studies, UBC Co-supervisor Dr. Travers, Professor, Sociology, SFU Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Harper Keenan, Professor, Curriculum & Pedagogy, UBC University Examiner Dr. Claudia Ruitenberg, Professor, Educational Studies, UBC University Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Meyer, Professor, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder External Examiner iii Abstract This dissertation explores how elementary educators in Alberta, Canada make sense of and engage with queer, trans, and gender non-conforming diversity in elementary education, and how those understandings inform their pedagogy and practices. Contextualized within Alberta’s political conservatism, this research consists of a policy analysis of Alberta Education’s Guidelines for Best Practices and 12 school district policies, 14 interviews with elementary educators and two group discussions. This dissertation makes a critical contribution to…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0396926
language: eng
degree discipline: Educational Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/77925