Date: Mon, 06 Apr 1998 16:08:17 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 4/6/98 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news, pt. 2 1. Call for papers for book on LGBT issues in elementary education ===================================================================== Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS ON GLBT ISSUES AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Date: Mon, 6 Apr 98 10:01:17 -0500 x-sender: kfrankfurt@trudy.digitopia.com From: kfrankfurt To: News from GLSEN Sender: ............................................................ An important message from GLSEN-Alert, the electronic news service of GLSEN. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network -- GLSEN 121 West 27th Street, Suite 804 New York, NY 10001 212-717-0135 -- 212-727-0254 - fax glsen@glsen.org Visit the GLSEN Blackboard online: http://www.glsen.org/ ............................................................ NOTE:THE FOLLOWING IS A CALL FOR PAPERS FROM JIM SEARS, PROFESSOR OF CURRICULUM STUDIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION AT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING PLEASE DO SO TO JIM SEARS. DO NOT SEND SUBMISSIONS TO GLSEN. THANK YOU. ******************************************************************************************* From: Jim Sears (jtsears@conterra.com) Re: Call for Papers I wanted to alert you to an edited book that I am assembling with William Letts IV that focuses on g.l.b.t issues related to elementary schools. I have included a copy of the detailed Call for Papers, since we are very interested in collecting proposals from those interested in contributing. We are looking for well written essays aimed directly at parents and elementary educators. If you are interested in being a contributor for this project please send a chapter abstract via email to Jim Sears at jtsears@conterra.com. DEADLINE: June 26, 1998. Teaching Queerly: Affirming Diversity in Elementary Schools edited by William J. Letts, IV and James T. Sears Proposed Chapter Abstracts Due 26 June 1998 Purpose While there is a growing body of literature on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender concerns for secondary and tertiary educators, no text exists that encompasses these issues for their elementary counterparts. Teaching Queerly assembles a range of writers from diverse backgrounds and geographies to examine, theoretically and practically, six broadly defined areas: foundational issues; curricular and multicultural issues; student social and sexual development; issues related to the family; policy and legal implications; and issues for gay/lesbian educators and their allies. This 125,000 word volume provides theoretical insights, pedagogical strategies, and curricular resources for use in public elementary schools. At the core of the book is our belief that public school educators have the responsibility to affirm sexual diversity in an intellectually honest and age-appropriate manner, respectful of various religious and moral beliefs, and mindful of the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice. Organization Teaching Queerly has six sections. Collectively, these essays (none longer than 4,000 words) situate sexual diversity within historical, cultural, psychological, legal, and pedagogical contexts of curriculum. In Section I we examine foundational and theoretical issues. Essayists address questions such as: Why are these important issues for elementary schools and educators to consider? What are the relationships between sexual subjectivities and socialization? What are the politics of rainbow curricula? What is the relationship between the feminization of elementary education and the prevalence of homophobia in schools? In what ways are elementary schools heteronormative? Curricular and multicultural issues, Section II, interrogates the relationship between sexual diversity issues and the broader umbrella of multiculturalism. How are the debates around these issues sexualized? How are these concerns accounted for in multicultural curriculum development? What are some subject-specific ways in which this material exists in the elementary curriculum, and where are potential places within other subject disciplines? Section III explores student social and sexual development with essayists focusing on topics such as: sexual understandings of children; cross-cultural similarities and differences; traditional gender roles and counter-hegemonic gender bending; and non-homophobic and non-heterosexist attitudinal development. In the next section the family chapters explore the pluralism of family structures, with particular emphasis on sexual minority parents, and families with sexual minority children. Additionally, different familial constellations across cultures and issues related to honoring childrens primary cultures while still affirming sexual diversity are examined. Policy and legal implications, Section V, details various school and state education policies related to harassment and discrimination, as well as to teaching about sexual diversity. Chapters also examine emerging legal theory, how these issues relate to teacher education programs, as well as their political and fiscal implications. This section relies more heavily on case studies, such as the development of Wisconsin's educational codes and the recent sexual harassment suit successfully brought by parents of a gay student who had been harassed since elementary school. The final section explores issues for gay/lesbian educators and their allies. How do gay, lesbian, and straight teachers develop alliances within the school and the community? What is the school climate for these educators, and what impact are they having on the profession? What strategies are available for teachers to use to address these issues? What proactive roles can administrators assume in fostering sexual diversity? Preceding each section is a brief (1,500 word) essay where the editors provide a comparative overview of the area and the section’s authors philosophies and strategies. Following the major body of the book is an annotated resource section (approximately 7,500 words) which includes key organizations; networks and institutional resources; educational print, video, and audio material; scholarly and practitioner-oriented journals, magazines, newsletters and web sites, as well as workshop strategies and consultants. Scholarly Overview During the past decade a burgeoning number of authors have addressed issues related to sexual diversity and education. Most research and scholarship (e.g. Epstein, 1994; Harbeck, 1992, 1997; McNaron, 1997; Pinar, 1998; Rhoads, 1994; Unks, 1995), as well as resources (e.g. Heron, 1994; Jennings, 1991; Lipkin, 1992), have focused on secondary schools and colleges, with few texts targeting the elementary grades. Those that exist primarily take the form of childrens books with lesbian moms (Newman, 1989; Willhoite, 1993a), gay dads (Bosche, 1981; Heron & Maran, 1991; Willhoite, 1990), or with lesbian and gay families (Valentine, 1991; Willhoite, 1993b). Aside form Silin's (1995) work on AIDS education and children, and Rofes’ (1985) autobiography of teaching sixth grade, most existing materials have not been followed with grounded scholarship to encourage educators in appropriate uses of these and other resources. Further, many of these materials are written from white, middle-class perspectives, and fail to fully take into consideration various cultures and sub-cultures found in American society. To date, there is no scholarly book for educators that specifically addresses sexual diversity issues within the elementary grades. Audience In recent years professional organizations such as the National Education Association, accreditation agencies like the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, and states such as Massachusetts and Wisconsin have affirmed the need to address lesbian and gay concerns in public schools. While these policies and statements are controversial at all educational levels, resistance is found particularly at the elementary school level the grade levels that have also merited the least attention from educational writers and scholars. Lacking pedagogical experience or knowledge about sexual diversity issues, teachers too often rely on their own intuition, idiosyncratic experience, or common sense to handle classroom situations, while administrators and district leaders avoid community controversy by ignoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender concerns. In the area of multicultural education, however, there has been growing support for theorizing and enacting responses to sexual diversity issues (e.g. Carlson, 1997; Hatton, 1995; Gollnick & Chinn, 1994; Grant, 1995; Grant & Ladson-Billings, 1997; Grayson, 1992; Pohan & Bailey, 1997). In this scholarship, sexual diversity is particularly relevant when examined within subjectivities partly defined by race, ethnicity, gender, and social class (e.g. Boykin, 1997; Hemphill, 1991; Sears, 1991, 1996, 1997, forthcoming; Seller & Weis, 1997). Thinking Queerly provides strategies and materials grounded in theoretical and research-based contexts that are both sound and intelligible. This edited volume is aimed principally at those engaged in work, at the preservice and inservice levels, with elementary children and elementary schools educators. This book will also be of particular interest to teacher educators who seek to integrate issues of multiculturalism and sexuality into the curriculum, as mandated by professional organizations and accrediting agencies. And, it will also be of interest to scholars, particularly within the social science fields and education. Contributors and Review Process As in previously edited books (Epstein & Sears, in press; Sears, 1992; Sears & Marshall, 1990; Sears & Williams, 1997), abstracts will be submitted for those wishing to write for this collection. Abstracts, which includes title and summary of proposed chapter, should be approximately 200 words and accompanied by the author(s) complete postal and e-mail addresses as well as phone and FAX numbers. Additionally, author(s) should indicate which section the proposed chapter would be located. Abstracts are due 26 June 1998 and sent to: Prof. James T. Sears, Wardlaw 310, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208 or e-mailed to: jtsears@conterra.com Invitations to write for this edited book will be sent out in July with draft chapters due no later than 11 December 1998. Final decision regarding the acceptance of chapters for publication rests with the editors and the publisher. Timeline Solicitation of chapter proposals: April-May 1998 Chapter abstracts: June, 1998 Draft chapters from selected authors: December, 1998 Second draft of manuscripts from authors: March, 1999 Manuscript submitted to publisher: June, 1999 Editors' Biographies William J. Letts, IV is a doctoral candidate in science education at the University of Delaware, with a minor in science and gender studies. A former science teacher, he now teaches courses in cultural diversity and science methods to elementary teacher education majors, and an introduction to curriculum course to Masters students. His current research examines the ways that preservice teachers autobiographical writings reveal the gendered nature of science and focuses on elementary teachers understandings of how issues of cultural diversity relate to school science. He is also working on a project that is using theoretical and empirical research on sexuality as a starting point from which to critique the natural sciences. James T. Sears, Ph.D., is Professor of Curriculum Studies and Higher Education at the University of South Carolina. He also teaches courses in sexualities and gay studies at the University's Honors College, and is a 1995 Southeast Asian Fulbright Senior Research Scholar on sexuality and culture. The author of more than 125 book chapters, articles, essays, and scholarly papers, he has written or edited nine books. These books have received critical acclaim from such diverse publications as The Advocate, Urban Review, The Harvard Educational Review, Kirkus Reviews, Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, and Family Life Educator. Professor Sears serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including Review of Educational Research, The Journal of Homosexuality, The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, and the Journal of Sexual Identity. More information can be found at www.jtsears.com References Bosche, S. (1981). Jenny lives with Eric and Martin. London: Gay Mens Press. Carlson, D. (1997). Gayness, multicultural education, and community. In M. Seller & L. Weis (Eds.) Beyond black and white: New faces and voices in U. S. schools(pp. 233-255). Albany: State University of New York Press. Epstein, D. (1994). Challenging lesbian and gay inequalities in education. Buckingham, England: Open University Press. Epstein, D. & Sears, J. (In press). A dangerous knowing. London: Cassell. Gollnick, D. & Chinn, P. (1994). Multicultural education in a pluralist society. New York: Merrill. Grant, C. (Ed.) (1995). Educating for diversity: An anthology of multicultural voices. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Grant, C. & Ladson-Billings, G. (Eds.). (1997). Dictionary of multicultural education. Phoenix: Oryx Press. Grayson, D. A. (1992). Emerging equity issues related to homosexuality in education. In S. S. Klein (Ed.) Sex equity and sexuality education (pp. 171-189). Albany: State University of New York Press. Harbeck, K. (Ed.). (1992). Coming out of the classroom closet. New York: Haworth Press. Harbeck, K. (1997). Gay and lesbian educators: Personal freedoms, public constraints. Malden, MA: Amethyst Press and Productions. Hatton, E. (1995). Sexual orientation, social justice and teacher education. South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 23(2), 195-205. Hemphill, E. (Ed.). (1991). Brother to brother. Boston: Alyson. Heron, A. (1994). Two teenagers in twenty. Boston: Alyson. Jennings, K. (Ed.). (1991). Becoming visible: A reader in gay and lesbian history for high school and college students. Boston: Alyson. Lipkin, A. (1992). A staff development manual for anti-homophobia education in the secondary schools. Boston: Harvard Graduate School of Education. McNaron, T. (1997). Poisoned ivy: Lesbian and gay academics confronting homophobia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Newman, L. (1989). Heather has two mommies. Boston: Alyson. Pinar, W. (1998). Queer theory in education. Malwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Pohan, C. A. & Bailey, N. J. (1997). Opening the closet: Multiculturalism that is fully inclusive. Multicultural Education, 5(1), 12-15. Rhoads, R. (1994). Coming out in college. New York: Routledge. Rofes, E. (1985). Socrates, Plato, and me. Boston: Alyson. Sears, J. (1991). Growing up gay in the south. New York: Haworth Press. Sears, J. (1992). Sexuality and the curriculum. New York: Teachers College Press. Sears, J. (1995). Black-gay or gay-Black? Choosing identities and identifying choices. In G. Unks (Ed.), The gay teen (pp. 136-157). New York: Routledge. Sears, J. (1997). Race, class, gender and sexuality in pre-Stonewall Charleston. In J. Howard (Ed.), Carryin on: An anthology of southern lesbian and gay history (pp. 164-200). New York: New York University Press. Sears, J. (Forthcoming). Growing up as a Jewish lesbian in south Florida: Queer teens life in the fifties. In J. Austin & M. Willard (Eds.), Cultured youth. New York: New York University Press. Sears, J. & Marshall, J. (1990). Teaching and thinking about curriculum. New York: Teachers College Press. Sears, J. & Williams, W. (Eds.). (1997). Overcoming heterosexism and homophobia. New York: Columbia University Press. Seller, M. & Weis, L. (Eds.). (1997). Beyond black and white: New faces and voices in U. S. schools. Albany: State University of New York Press. Silin, J. (1995). Sex, death, and the education of children. New York: Teachers College Press. Unks, G. (Ed.). (1995). The gay teen. New York: Routledge. Valentine, J. (1991). The duke who outlawed jelly beans and other stories. Boston: Alyson. Willhoite, M. (1990). Daddys roommate. Boston: Alyson. Willhoite, M. (1993a). Belindas bouquet. Boston: Alyson. Willhoite, M. (1993b). Uncle what-it-is is coming to visit! Boston: Alyson. ............................................................ 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