Queering the Curriculum

What might it mean to make education more queer inclusive? Over the past two decades, much has changed for individuals who identify with the queer community, and for those who don’t identify with the queer community but do fall outside of heterosexuality or the gender binary. There are now more civil rights protections for individuals, employees, and students. While in this process of growth, questions such as “what does this mean for students?” and “what can this look like in school?,” must be asked. Join Urban Teachers staff, residents, and special guest panelists for a conversation on queering the curriculum. Our guest speakers are: Bex Mui, M. Ed., a biracial, queer, lesbian cis femme organizer and consultant committed to the work of LGBTQ+ affirmation at the intersections of education, equity, and spirituality. Emma Butensky, M.S.eD., is a current teacher, former researcher, and life long advocate of queering the curriculum. Emma’s focus is on the dearth of intersectional queer curriculum for elementary students, and she developed a queer curriculum for the 4th grade. Dr. Patrick K. Finnessy is currently a part of the Faculty of Education in teacher development and qualitative research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto and serves as the executive director of Teaching Out.