LGBTIQ plus Representations and Social Justice Principles within English Teacher Education

Teacher education programs play a significant role in shaping pre-service English teachers' pedagogy. The incorporation of texts with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual/transgender, intersex, and queer/questioning (LGBTIQ+) perspectives in the curriculum is one mechanism for promoting inclusion as well as a means to address and combat homophobia and heteronormativity. Situated at an Australian university, this case study examined the beliefs and practices of pre-service teachers and teacher educators related to the inclusion of LGBTIQ+ issues and texts in secondary English classrooms. Drawing on sociocultural theories, the findings from this study indicated that pre-service teachers generally held positive attitudes towards the incorporation of LGBTIQ+ texts and representations. Notably, preparation to teach through a social justice lens developed pre-service teachers' understanding of the significance of including a diverse range of lived experiences in classrooms. However, the lack of specific inclusion of LGBTIQ+ perspectives in teacher education meant that pre-service teachers often struggled to incorporate related texts in their university assessments and professional experience placements, and they were concerned about their ability to do so in the future.