Kathryn J. Strom – författare

Despite the multifaceted complexity of teaching, dominant perspectives conceptualize teacher development in linear, dualistic, transactional, human-centric ways. The authors in this book offer non-linear alternatives by drawing on a continuum of complex perspectives, including CHAT, complexity theory, actor network theory, indigenous studies, rhizomatics, and posthuman/neomaterialisms. The chapters included here illuminate how different ways of thinking can help us better examine how teachers learn (relationally, with human, material, and discursive elements) and offer ways to understand the entangled nature of the relationship between that learning and what emerges in classroom instructional practice. They also present situated illustrations of what those entanglements or assemblages look like in the preservice, induction, and inservice phases, from early childhood to secondary settings, and across multiple continents. Authors provide evidence that research on teacher development should focus on process as much (if not more than) product and show that complexity perspectives can support forward-thinking, assets-based pedagogies. Methodologically, the chapters encourage conceptual creativity and expansion, and support an argument for blurring theory-method and normalising methodological hybridity. Ultimately, this book provides conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools to understand current educational conditions in late capitalism and imagine otherwise. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Professional Development in Education.

Despite the multifaceted complexity of teaching, dominant perspectives conceptualize teacher development in linear, dualistic, transactional, human-centric ways. The authors in this book offer non-linear alternatives by drawing on a continuum of complex perspectives, including CHAT, complexity theory, actor network theory, indigenous studies, rhizomatics, and posthuman/neomaterialisms. The chapters included here illuminate how different ways of thinking can help us better examine how teachers learn (relationally, with human, material, and discursive elements) and offer ways to understand the entangled nature of the relationship between that learning and what emerges in classroom instructional practice. They also present situated illustrations of what those entanglements or assemblages look like in the preservice, induction, and inservice phases, from early childhood to secondary settings, and across multiple continents. Authors provide evidence that research on teacher development should focus on process as much (if not more than) product and show that complexity perspectives can support forward-thinking, assets-based pedagogies. Methodologically, the chapters encourage conceptual creativity and expansion, and support an argument for blurring theory-method and normalising methodological hybridity. Ultimately, this book provides conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools to understand current educational conditions in late capitalism and imagine otherwise. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Professional Development in Education.

Past research on gender and LGBTQ issues in K-12 and teacher education has primarily focused on identifying ways of fostering inclusive and affirmative school communities for non-cis and/or queer students and enabling learning contexts to promote academic learning. Much of this work has attended to theorizing pedagogies and curricula conducive towards such an aim. Yet, despite legal advances for gender equity and LGBTQ rights in diverse global contexts and the increased visibility of LGBTQ issues in mainstream media, non-cis and queer individuals (especially those of color) continue to experience violence, face housing discrimination, employment discrimination, and the denial of service in public businesses.

In light of the numerous growing conservative movements to not only roll back legal advances for LGBTQ individuals, but to also promote a culture of homophobia and transphobia, scholars must attend to the myriad ways in which members of the school community can counter such efforts, and how the multiple facets of the educative experience can be conceptualized beyond a paradigm that continues to marginalize gender diverse and LGBTQ individuals. This volume, Exploring Gender and LGBTQ Issues in K12 and Teacher Education: A Rainbow Assemblage, edited by Adrian D. Martin and Kathryn J. Strom, provides examples of empirical inquiries and theorizations that explore how schools can function as more than safe academic environments for gender diverse and LGBTQ students. The contributing authors attend to classrooms and educative contexts as spaces that promote the affirmative inclusion of not only LGBTQ students, but other education stakeholders as well with the aim to dismantle homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and other hate-based ideologies. The volume serves as an insightful and useful resource for educators, teacher educators, and education researchers engaged in inquiry and pedagogy towards systems of schooling unencumbered by heteronormativity other hate-based ideologies with implications for future professional practice.