(LifeSiteNews) — Training for educators starting in kindergarten all the way through high school needs to incorporate “drag pedagogy” to “transform school environments’ relationship to sexuality and gender expression,” according to a recent paper by a pair of professors from the University of Southern California (USC).
The paper “Centering celebratory drag pedagogies in queer- and genderqueer-evasive K-12 educator preparation programs,” by psychologist Theodore Burnes and “expert in teacher education reform” John Pascarella III, purports to explain how “drag can both be used as a tool to impact the training of educators and as a learning tool in classrooms” and propose a framework for incorporating it into the “preparation of aspiring teachers, counselors, and school leaders.”
The full paper is locked behind a paywall, but a USC press release elaborates that its framework features five steps: “Embrace fluidity and ‘messiness’ in the process of social transformation”; “Recognize gender and sexuality as inherently political topics that demand reflection and advocacy”; “Replace the concept of gender binaries by recognizing a gender continuum that celebrates joy and non-categorical experiences”; “Incorporate queer content and process in educator preparation programs” (including “coursework, discussions and assessments”); and “Center joy and community wisdom from drag and gender-diverse artists as models for leadership and inclusion.”
“In an era when anti-drag sentiment has intensified, our study demonstrates that drag pedagogy is not about controversy; it’s about celebration,” said Burnes. “It offers educators a joyful and liberating framework for helping students express who they are and understand others with empathy and respect.”
“Future educators are being asked to lead in environments shaped by fear and misinformation,” added Pascarella. “Drag pedagogy invites them to lead instead through courage, compassion and joy.”
Whether any school districts choose to adopt the paper’s recommendations, which would presumably make them targets for federal funding cuts by the Trump Department of Education, the authors’ mentality is far from uncommon in modern public education.
The indoctrination of children with left-wing ideology on sexuality, race, and other agenda items has long been a major concern in American public schools, from libraries to drag events to classroom materials to even “transitioning” troubled children without parental input. Many schools have also displayed hostility to the rights and employment of individual teachers who refuse to go along with such agendas.
The Trump administration has taken steps to depoliticize public education, including by ordering the elimination of federal funds to schools that continue diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and by reversing the Biden administration’s infusion of gender ideology into Title IX rules.
