T-313 Gender and Sexuality in Schools: School Climate and the Hidden Curriculum

Sherry Deckman
This course, which was formerly a two-credit module numbered T-311A, explores both the role of gender and sexuality--including intersections with other identity markers such as race and class--in shaping young people's schooling experiences, opportunities, and outcomes, and the role of schooling experiences in shaping young people's notions of gender and sexuality. In many ways, the course is about the "hidden curriculum" of "heteronormativity," or the subtle practices in schools that privilege heterosexual, gendered identities and ways of being. As such, students in the course will apply the concept of the hidden curriculum to the study of gender and schooling in order to understand why and how boys and girls experience schooling differently, and also why and how heteronormative schooling detrimentally impacts not only LGBTQ students but all students. The course draws on a variety of literature including theoretical works; qualitative and quantitative empirical research; applied, practical texts; and instructional materials for K-12 educators, such as young adult novels. Students in the course will have the opportunity to build knowledge and the skills necessary to addressing gender- and sexuality-related inequity in schools of various levels. The course incorporates whole-class and small-group instruction.

Students who have taken T-311A should not take this course.

Spring 2013 course, four credits; Monday, 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

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(Some resources on the course website may require a Harvard PIN number)