ABSTRACT
Queer Desires in Education In the spring of 1999 I had the opportunity to work with future teachers at a large university in the Midwest. I was teaching an introductory course on the relationship between school and society to thirty-three undergraduate students, most of whom were working toward certification in the teacher education program. We spent the first few weeks of the semester examining the paradoxical nature of schools that strive to give students equal educational opportunity but function to maintain various social hierarchies. As we discussed examples and theories of how and how often this happens, my students seemed to move, at least in their discussions, from feeling surprised to critically reflecting on their own schooling experiences to strategizing ways to address these problems. For this reason, I believe my students, just as I, honestly desired to teach in ways that were not oppressive.
