Chapter 1: The Rainbow Assemblage: An Introduction

This chapter serves as an introduction to the edited volume. The authors articulate the need to attend to gender and LGBTQ issues in K-12 and teacher education. An argument is made that despite increasing scholarly attention to equity issues relevant to cultural and linguistic diversity, attention to the experiences of LGBTQ members of the school community is under-researched. Further, systems of schooling are undergirded by patriarchy and heteronormativity. As such, it is necessary to promote scholarship, pedagogical practices, and education policy that enables inclusive and affirmative educational contexts. The chapter provides commentary on the scholarship included in the volume and the productiveness of this work for teachers, teacher educators, and education researchers.