Enacting a queer pedagogy in the composition classroom

Abstract

Adopting a queer pedagogy in composition classes that include diverse student populations can play an important role in promoting conversations on diversity and equity in the classroom. Under this approach, teachers and students are invited to question the connections between language, the body, power, and ethnicity, thus analysing how our language practices denote unique perceptions of the world. In this article, we intend to connect queer composition theory and pedagogies to a research experience to account for how teachers and students construct embodied and meaningful interactions in the composition class when they explore alternative queer forms of thinking and writing. To accomplish this goal, we foreground the work of queer composition scholars who question how our everyday language and writing practices shape our perception of other individuals and challenge us to consider how we mutually care for and respect each other’s language practices and raced bodies within our pedagogies.