Conclusions
In considering all of these different events and artifacts, it seems that over time, with consistent reinforcement through disruption of anti-queer speech, inclusive curriculum, and willingness to participate in discussions with students about queer identities, students seem to have grown more open to understanding queer identities. Due to the work we’ve done this year, students have been exposed to queer identities in neutral or positive contexts in the academic setting. Although several students have expressed ongoing discomfort with discussing queer identities, still others have shown some change in how they speak about or consider these identities. For students who may have already had favorable opinions of queer identities or felt curious about them, they were given the opportunity to interact with these ideas in an academic setting, exploring how these topics may relate to themselves.
To my knowledge, none of my students openly identify as queer, and it may be several years before many of them commit to such an identity. However, in following Nakkula and Toshalis’s (2006) descriptions of identity development, this type of opportunity is an important part of development that can lead students to an achieved identity, meaning they have been through the necessary exploration and crises to make an informed commitment to a specific identity (p. 38). An adolescent with an achieved identity is flexible, resilient, and autonomous (p. 38), in contrast to an adolescent with a foreclosed identity, who defines themselves through opposition and is “rigidly authoritarian in their response to difference” (p. 30). Therefore, it is my assumption that learning in a queered English classroom will allow all of my students, and especially those who might identify as queer, the opportunity to be well-rounded in their pursuit of identity formation.
Perhaps the most important conclusion I’ve drawn is that there is even more room for queering the curriculum. My actions for queering the English classroom were limited by my role as a student teacher as well as time spent in the classroom this year. The generally positive or cooperative reactions of students leads me to believe that there should be more work done on this topic, and I hope to increase students' exposure to these methods by encouraging other teachers to use similar approaches in their classrooms.
To my knowledge, none of my students openly identify as queer, and it may be several years before many of them commit to such an identity. However, in following Nakkula and Toshalis’s (2006) descriptions of identity development, this type of opportunity is an important part of development that can lead students to an achieved identity, meaning they have been through the necessary exploration and crises to make an informed commitment to a specific identity (p. 38). An adolescent with an achieved identity is flexible, resilient, and autonomous (p. 38), in contrast to an adolescent with a foreclosed identity, who defines themselves through opposition and is “rigidly authoritarian in their response to difference” (p. 30). Therefore, it is my assumption that learning in a queered English classroom will allow all of my students, and especially those who might identify as queer, the opportunity to be well-rounded in their pursuit of identity formation.
Perhaps the most important conclusion I’ve drawn is that there is even more room for queering the curriculum. My actions for queering the English classroom were limited by my role as a student teacher as well as time spent in the classroom this year. The generally positive or cooperative reactions of students leads me to believe that there should be more work done on this topic, and I hope to increase students' exposure to these methods by encouraging other teachers to use similar approaches in their classrooms.