Queer Contemplative Pedagogy: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Norms Through Contemplation

A high school teacher found that even self-identified queer students sometimes reinforced harmful gender and sexuality norms in class discussions. She developed a Queer Contemplative Pedagogy that used meditation and reflective writing to help students examine their own assumptions. Based on classroom observations and interviews, the paper describes how the teacher and students used these practices to challenge personal and societal constructions of gender and sexuality. The approach combines contemplative methods with queer theory, offering a way for educators and youth to keep questioning norms.

Study at a glance

Abstract

ABSTRACT While teaching a secondary gender studies course, high school teacher “Eleanor” found that though most students identified as queer and expressed interest in disrupting normative understandings of genders and sexualities, their classroom contributions often reified problematic norms. She implemented what she termed a Queer Contemplative Pedagogy to challenge students to think more contemplatively about genders and sexualities. Based on ethnographic classroom observations and individual interviews, this paper examines Eleanor’s and the students’ efforts to use meditation and contemplative writing to challenge a range of norms and personal assumptions. This study offers a rare pairing of contemplative practice with queer research and provides an instructional approach that pushes youth and educators to continue to examine assumptions and societal constructions related to genders and sexualities.