Acta Iadertina, Vol. 19 No. 2, 2022.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/ai.3971
Is It Time (Yet) to Shelve LGBTIQ Topics? The Contextual Adequacy of (De-)Essentialism as an Educational Strategy
Marija BARTULOVIĆ
orcid.org/0000-0001-5570-3406
; Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Barbara KUŠEVIĆ
; Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The debate on the relationship between queer theory and identity politics,
the hitherto dominant research framework with strong application
potential, was expanded by establishing queer theory as a starting
point for studies examining sexual and gender diversity in education.
The point of contention became the question of the purposefulness of
strategic essentialism, with a strong emphasis on the many pitfalls of
insufficient intersectional understanding of identity, where sexual and
gender diversity is but one dimension. Various pitfalls of de-essentialism
also became the subject of analysis. With such polarities in mind,
in this article we present a part of the data collected within a research
project aimed at LGBTIQ1 inclusiveness of educational institutions.2
The aim of this article is to analyse potential advantages and disadvantages
of using a theoretically progressive strategy of de-essentialism
in a heteronormative educational context. Data collected in four focus
groups conducted with teachers in a number of Zagreb secondary
schools show that, in their attitudes and daily educational practices
concerning LGBTIQ topics, research participants are positioned at
different points of the spectrum, varying from essentialist to de-essentialist,
while the exact positioning is strongly determined by context. The
concluding part of the article provides guidelines for future research.
Keywords
heteronormativity; inclusiveness in the educational system; queer theory; sexual and gender diversity
Hrčak ID:
296252
URI
Publication date:
23.3.2023.
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