Queer pedagogy for the teaching of sustainable development

Queer pedagogy can be thought of as the child of queer theory that is found in the classroom. As an approach to teaching, it reconciles the needs of the queer learner, the queer teacher and queer topics in modern education beneath a critical eye. As the classroom continues to be negotiated as an inclusive and liberated environment, this plays out against the backdrop of the increasing existential threats of the Anthropocene such as climate change and biodiversity loss. As a response to this, Education for Sustainable Development has become a growing movement that seeks to embed subject knowledge and relevant skills that empower learners to bring about sustainable change. The global problems of sustainable development currently facing us share an intrinsic link with heteronormative and patriarchal attitudes. To fight against one, should be to fight against the other. However, very little scholarly work has been done to date on where queer pedagogy fits within Education for Sustainable Development.
This presentation will explore the link between the two related fields, but also seek to provide a practical gateway for educational practitioners who come from a sustainable development perspective to incorporate queer pedagogy, and for queer pedagogues to further a queered version of sustainable development.