LGBTQIA+ youth as multicultural educators

• Published in: Ethnography and education Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 360 - 376
• Main Authors: Dennis, Barbara, Uttamchandani, Suraj, Biery, Spencer, Blauvelt, Aubrie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03.07.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adolescents; Adult learning; Adults; Advocacy; Alternative approaches; Barriers; Cultural competence; Culturally Relevant Education; Gays & lesbians; Group Discussion; LGBT; LGBTQ People; Multicultural education; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Queer educators; Safety; School Community Programs; Social Bias; Student Diversity; Teacher Competencies; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching Methods; Training; Young Adults; Youth; youth adult binary; youth educators; Youth Programs
• ISSN: 1745-7823; 1745-7831
• DOI: 10.1080/17457823.2019.1578983

Multicultural education generally takes place as culturally competent adults prepare other adults to work with a variety of student youth. In this paper, we present an alternative that disrupts the pattern of adults teaching about youth. Our alternative has youth educating adults in ways that centre youth's experiences and insights with schooling. We discuss the educative efforts of Chroma, a youth community for LGBTQIA+ and allied youth aged 12-20. First, we tell the story of Chroma's educative efforts. Then, we discuss our methodology. Next, we discuss three key sets of insights about their educative efforts - anchoring expertise, meeting adult learners halfway, and barriers to learning. We raise questions inspired by these findings. At last, we conclude with a deconstruction of the adult-youth binary in multicultural education and ethnographic research.