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Isabella Lombardo
Hi peers (and Dr. Bellino)! I'm Isabella and I want to become a history teacher in a high school. I'm still unsure what era of history I want to teach, but I'm definitely interested in American history. I chose LGTBQIA history for this project because I was like "well my friends are gay and I'm gay, so this makes sense."
Curriculum: In 2011, California became the first state to mandate the teaching of LGBTQ+ people. This site provided an outline on ways to naturally integrate LGBTQ history within social science classrooms in grades 8-11. I want to teach 11th grade history, so I will share some of the highlights from the 11th grade curriculum. For example, when learning about the 1920s, an overlooked part that can be included is how gay people were discriminated against in the military. The curriculum also covers the Lavender Scare in the 1950s, which can be contrasted with the Red Scare.
Advice: Build an understanding of LGBT history through communicating to your district or community. Identify ways of broadening the knowledge of other teachers within this topic through workshops, courses, or additional readings. Teachers can also collectively come together to discuss resources they use for teaching this subject.
Incorporating LGBTQ History In Your Classroom
Significance: One teacher shares their experience in teaching LGBTQ+ history in the 1990s in a predominantly conservative area. Their student, who identified as a Christian, believed that being gay was a sin. After an assignment in which he interviewed a gay coworker as well as learning more about LGBT history, he opened up his mind and even suggested to his other friends to take the class. Another teacher opens up about the importance of teaching history. After hearing about the local suicide of a gay man, this teacher knew they needed to normalize teaching queer history.
Advice: Find a balance in the classroom where all students feel safe and respected. The only way to learn queer history is through being comfortable enough to conduct respectful conversations. Teach respect. It is okay to not allow homophobic language within classrooms. As a teacher, it's important to gain the support of fellow teachers and administrators when teaching this content. There can be a lot of backlash teaching LGBT history, so having someone to lean on is key.
How to Implement LGBT+ History: Teaching queer history doesn't even mean altering the entire curriculum. In fact, all a teacher needs to do is look at history from a different angle. Especially in the 19th century, there were examples of intimacy between people of the same sex. There are already topics, such as the Gold Rush, that are most likely already within the curriculum that can be explored through a queer lens. Photos and paintings are also great visuals that can be used to engage students and immerse them within the time period. Showing these images that depict intimacy between people of the same sex or LGBT relationships can enhance the learning experience of students.
LGBT resources:
Terms: Before discussing LGBTQ+ history, it is imperative that students are familiar with terms. A suggestion for teachers is given to create and distribute cards with terms on them and have students collaborate to guess their definitions. After this is done, the instructor can provide historical context on each of the terms.
Lesson Plans: This resource particularly concentrates on historic England. The resource references the gallus, who was a highly decorated man, who was originally thought to be a woman. Examples like this can demonstrate the erasure of gay history within anthropology and history. Teachers can use this resource as a guide for lesson plans and base methods and activities on what is demonstrated. For example, the method used in this lesson plan is to ask students the significance of this history (which can be applied to different types of history) and how the histories of oppressed people is often hidden.
Significance:A very important way of teaching this is through concentrating on the mental health of students. 1 in 5 students were reported to have received a good LGBTQ history education. Teaching this history well translates into how students view themselves and their peers outside of the classroom.
By not learning LGBT+ history, students are denied a comprehensive history education. Representation in itself does not endorse any politics, as learning this history simply allows students to gain perspective on another group of citizens; it is important to emphasize that this is not an endorsement, like how teaching the history of a religion is not inherently promoting it.
Integration: Students can learn about LGBTQ+ history through different lenses, such as gender identity. This history can also be integrated through studying particular leaders, or adding LGBT history onto existing lessons.
Approaching Material: Instead of lumping in LGBT history into a lesson or two, Eaklor argues the instructor should start inserting tidbits of information throughout the course of queer history. He starts in the beginning of the course in order to enforce that queer history is part of our collective history. Students like to speculate about uncertainties, such as a president's sexual orientation. Eaklor suggests using a queer-inclusive textbook.
It is important to know that inevitably, some students will be uncomfortable learning about this history. Some students stop participating, not necessarily because they are hostile towards the topic, but because they are afraid of showing interest in front of their peers.
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