Togetherland: Imagining childhood education for self-determination through a queer- and trans-led after-school program

Amid the current political firestorm over the treatment of LGBT people in public education, queer and trans educators continue to work in schools. This article presents findings drawn from an in-depth qualitative study of one LGBT-led after-school program at a San Francisco elementary school, including 150 hours of observation and 11 interviews with program staff. I present a series of qualitative snapshots to illustrate how the program drew from queer and trans knowledge and experience to support children’s agency and collective self-determination through five key elements of its pedagogical design: taking children seriously, “remixing” the norm, respecting children’s agency, centering creativity and relational learning, and embracing affective knowledge. Although these pedagogical practices support the autonomy and self-determination of all children, I suggest that their enactment—combined with the queer and trans lived experiences of many staff—foster a learning environment that is particularly hospitable to gender self-determination.