Queering the English Classroom: could Year 9 students’ learning about Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice be enriched by studying its LGBTQIA+ themes?
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Authors
Simpson, Matt
Publication Date
2021-03-01Journal Title
Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research
ISSN
2043-8338
Publisher
Faculty of Education
Volume
12
Pages
65-90
Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Simpson, M. (2021). Queering the English Classroom: could Year 9 students’ learning about Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice be enriched by studying its LGBTQIA+ themes?. Journal of Trainee Teacher Educational Research, 12 65-90. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83619
Abstract
Heteronormativity is commonplace in schools, highlighted by the 2019 protests concerning LGBTQIA+ education at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham and the prevailing pathologizing narratives disseminated by LGBTQIA+ charities. This study explores how heteronormativity could be challenged in the English classroom and whether this process could improve indicators of attainment in the subject of English as well as pupils’ knowledge of LGBTQIA+ topics and issues. The investigation was undertaken with Year 9 students from a state-maintained, non-selective, all girls secondary school. Findings suggest that English as a subject, particularly the works of Shakespeare, offer an excellent opportunity to challenge heteronormativity in the classroom.
Keywords
PGCE Secondary English, LGBTQIA+, Shakespeare, Year 9
Identifiers
This record's DOI: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83619
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/336198
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