Queering EFL Teaching : Opportunities and Challenges According to Preservice Teachers

Abstract: This study examines how preservice teachers reflect upon queer pedagogy in relation to their future profession as English teachers. The purpose is to find out if preservice English language teachers consider queer theory to be important in their future profession, and if they do, find out what aspects they think are important, and what aspect could be challenging. Focus group interviews conducted with preservice teachers from Västra Götaland showed that queering English language teaching deemed important to encourage critical thinking, question norms and promote normalization of queer topics and acceptance of others. Results suggest that queer theory should be implemented in a natural way in order to avoid othering. The major concerns of the participants can be summarized as fear of being uninformed, and offending or differentiating students without meaning to. Moreover, many found it challenging to engage in the process of 'queering materials' as there are no clear guidelines or instructions, the responsibility placed on the individual teacher. In conclusion, preservice teachers would benefit from more queer theory courses related to their subjects, and opportunities to actively 'queer' and evaluate materials during their undergraduate teaching programs. This could provide confidence when working with and implementing queer theory in the classroom.