In this open access book, philosopher of education Adam Greteman offers commentary on five lessons queers teach: transparency, inconvenience, others, hatred, and coming into. Intentionally idiosyncratic, each of these lessons takes seriously the work of teaching, the work of teachers, and the complex realities that unfold around LGBTQ+ issues and lives as they enter educational conversations. These conversations are conditioned by contexts and communities that make bold proclamations difficult, but also point toward possibilities rooted in specifics. Combined, these five lessons provide commentary on an educational project that forefronts queers and their practices amid complex and changing realities. Recognizing the mutual importance of theory and practices, each chapter tacks between practical concerns that are part of education as it exists day to day and theoretical insights that intertwine and intervene in those everyday practical realities. Yet, Greteman offers no prescriptions for teaching, nor an overarching theory. Rather, Greteman takes up each “this” that queers teach so to offer commentary that may provide opportunities for further engagement with ongoing needs that schools, teachers, students, and communities have in their impossible work. Queers teach. These lessons are never ending yet vital to not only queer’s surviving in schools, but encountering an education that aids in their thriving alongside others.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.