Abstract

This project is based on my experiences teaching at an alternative high school in Montreal from 2017 to 2018. It is a case study of one student’s “disruptive” behaviour that demonstrates the pedagogical value of disorientation in the trauma-informed classroom, as well as the personal value that this disorientation held for me in navigating my own queerness. I will be analyzing classroom anecdotes through the lenses of queer theory, feminist pedagogy, and affect theory, arguing that disorienting the classroom space is at the core of equity-centred trauma-informed education. In particular, I will show how one student’s affinity for drag ball culture untethered my whole class from the normative expectations of an overwhelmingly white and heteronormative school staff and school board, opening up vital explorations of sexuality, gender, and race.