Imagining and Moving Towards Nurturing Queer Identities in Alberta Schools: A Narrative Inquiry
Date
2020-04-15
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Abstract
Alberta Education states that they operate within a way of thinking and acting that demonstrates universal acceptance of, and belonging for, all children and students. Despite this statement, recent evidence shows that within Alberta schools, queer identities are excluded, homogenized, or simply tolerated within educational institutions. The discrepancy across the province of treatment and commitment to queer education impacts if and how topics surrounding queer identities are taught. Given that Albertan educational institutions are not equally committed to teaching queerness, the present study asks the question: how can schools move towards nurturance of queer identities? Using the language in the Riddle Scale (1994), this study employs narrative inquiry and queer theory to interrogate, trouble, and queer educational institutions to ask how various educational actors can embody the core of nurturance, where queer people are seen as indispensable in society. Data collected from two primary data sets—publicly sourced information on queer educational programming, and semi-structured interviews with queer educational specialists—revealed various dynamics that contribute to lack of nurturing queer educational programs in Alberta schools. From data analysis, two resonant threads (themes) emerged: (1) the unique context of queer identities in Alberta; and, (2) misconceptions surrounding age, sex, and the subsequent complications of teaching queerness. While nurturance cannot be defined in one particular way, this thesis seeks to queer what education could be, and with the narratives of queer educational providers, imagines a future in which queer identities are nurtured across the province.
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education, queer, Alberta education, queer theory, narrative inquiry, nurturance
Citation
Maine, E. (2020). Imagining and Moving Towards Nurturing Queer Identities in Alberta Schools: A Narrative Inquiry (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.