ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores the applications of queer theory to middle grades literacy education in the context of adolescent development, and with a view to the implications of identification and disidentification. The overall approach and these terms are further defined, and the author weaves personal story from their personal and pedagogical journey into the narrative of the chapter, including the influences of popular culture and questions that are part of engaging with middle school students. Queer theory is explored in terms of embodiment in the classroom and the unstraightening of space in pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment as a way of exploring what normalizing means and what forms of expression are honored. The author pushes back on cisnorms and offers a reconsideration of the ways that the body is presented in educational settings, including the positionality of the teacher. Just as unstraightening is taken up across dimensions of educational practice, so are the limitations of an undeveloped approach to pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment.
