ABSTRACT
The final chapter discusses the challenges and affordances in creating spaces in teacher education programs for LGBTQIA+ allyship. While having candidates engage in discussions with LGBTQIA+ community members, conduct research, and create multimodal texts is one point of entry, we believe it to be a meaningful one. The data reflected that candidates felt more prepared to welcome LGBTQIA+ children and families into their future classrooms and believed themselves to be more knowledgeable and empathetic than before. However, this was not the case for all students and indicates the need for the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ topics in elementary teacher preparation. While individual teacher candidates may be anti-homophobic/transphobic, they are not given the tools, experiences, or resources to extend their personal beliefs into their professional identities and practice. We conclude with a call for much-needed allyship in teacher education programs and provide implications and suggestions for the furtherance of this work.
