Queer Policy and Research in Education: Toward Queer Critical Policy Analysis

Abstract

Education policy has the most chance of being affirming and affording protection to 2SLGBTQIA+ populations if it is approached from a critical perspective that considers the political, social, and economic contexts shaping gender and sexuality discourses used in education policies. The goals of this chapter are to show how Queer Critical Policy Analysis (QCPA), a new term employed here to refer to the practice of employing critical policy analysis guided by queer theories, can uncover the power relations that undergird the construction and function of education policies and research that either cause harm to or protect 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and communities in schools. Toward these ends, the authors first provide a brief conceptual genealogy of QCPA, then in the second section discuss key authors who have made contributions toward QCPA in education policy and research. In the third section, the authors reflect on the strengths and limitations of QCPA as a foundation of education policy and research practice that potentially interrupts and/or mitigates the harm done to 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and communities in schools, seeking to address why it is important to push forward QCPA in these times of rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ violence and rhetoric in schools and society. The authors conclude the chapter with a set of questions that serve as a conceptual framework that can be used by critical policy scholars working in the queer policy space. We hope these questions help policymakers, scholars, and graduate students incorporate queer perspectives into their CPA work, in addition to helping researchers who engage with queer theories to mobilize queer perspectives in policy research. 

Keywords: backlash; critical policy analysis; queer theories in education