Expanding the Meaning of Social Education: What the Social Studies Can Learn From Gay Straight Alliances

Abstract

The author explores significant points of intersection between foundational tenets of the social studies and the lessons learned by students in the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at one Midwestern high school. He suggests new ways social studies researchers and teachers might conceptualize the ideas and themes promoted in GSAs and apply them directly to social studies content and/or standards. The research is informed by Judith Butler's articulation of “performativity” of gender and Queer Theory and draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted over the course of 1 school year as well as in-depth interviews with GSA members. Findings suggest students' attention to gender scripts combined with the knowledge they gained from selected lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and queer-focused topics have strong implications for changing the landscape of social education. The author concludes that social studies education has an opportunity to broaden students' understanding of social education, to undo parts of the harmful impact on students' lives created by the hidden curriculum, and increase the relevance of the social studies in the lives of all students based on lessons learned in the GSA.