Wendy Cumming-Potvin

The postdigital landscape, with its shifting relationships between humans and technologies, has widened the visibility of feminist discourses, including for issues of sexual consent. But paradoxically, as feminist activism has gained traction through movements such as #MeToo, misogyny has intensified across everyday practices and many aspects of media. This contradiction has led to polarizing discourses and increasing anti-feminist backlash through networks such as the Manosphere. Focussing on the case of rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, who became a global feminist icon and drawing on examples from the sexual assault trial of French actor Gérard Depardieu, who continually denied any wrongdoing, this article explores the nexus between sexual consent, feminist activism and misogyny in a postdigital landscape. Underpinned by an intersectional approach to feminism, the article discusses issues of sexual consent, feminist activism, gender-based violence and public survivorship in a society underpinned by rape culture. Whilst much media attention has been paid to judicial and victim-survivorship narratives in an increasingly complex postdigital world, the article calls for education about issues of sexual consent, sexual assault, misogyny and the Manosphere to go beyond the judicial system across multiple disciplines.

In the time-poor world of secondary English-L1 (English as first language) teachers, integrating digital technology in the classroom is both a blessing and a curse. English-L1 teachers continually face tensions between delivering digital content, introducing traditional textbooks, maintaining student attention and teaching 21st century skills. The focus of our research is situated in Australian secondary English-L1 teaching and learning. Through personal and professional narratives, this article explores teachers' varied dispositions towards digital technology and technology-enhanced learning (TEL). These dispositions are related to prevailing school and English department cultures, which, in turn, tap into broader social beliefs about the subject English and how it is best taught. Our exploration considers Australian English-L1 teachers' complex relationships with technology and utilises a Vygotskian (1978) perspective to interpret the sociocultural milieu surrounding technology use in education. Findings suggest that the tenor of cultures in schools and their English departments is critical for understanding technology-enhanced learning in secondary English-L1 classrooms and English-L1 teachers’ dispositions towards technology.

In this conceptual paper, we integrate interdisciplinary perspectives from early childhood education and applied linguistics to propose a new framework: Playworld Translanguaging. This framework refers to the intentional blending of pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds to create a supportive, inclusive pedagogy in early childhood education settings for children from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.We argue that pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds share complementary features and philosophical foundations that can enhance language and literacy development, conceptual understanding, problem-solving skills, identity formation, personal agency, and overall wellbeing in young children. As both approaches are rights-based, inclusive, and responsive, their combination has the potential to effectively address the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse children.While extensive research has shown the benefits of pedagogical translanguaging and conceptual playworlds independently, there is limited theorising and research on how combining these approaches might further improve outcomes in early childhood education. This paper thus aims to bridge that gap by introducing Playworld Translanguaging as a promising, unified approach.

Drag queen storytime (DQS), also known as drag (queen) story-hour, has been implemented in selected libraries and schools across North America, Oceania, and the United Kingdom, to open safe spaces for drag queens to read children’s books that may involve LGBTQA+ characters or subject matters. Unfortunately, despite its popularity with many children and families, DQS has faced intense public protests regarding the perceived LGBTQA+ themed texts, and violent threats against the performers and organisers. Underpinned by queer, transgender, and feminist theory as well as intersectionality, this creative essay probes the current affairs of DQS as it relates to LGBTQA+ human rights. As a platform to highlight LGBTQA+ digital, visual, and print texts, this essay channels the authors’ ‘inner drags’ and draws on queer narrative inquiry to critically reflect and face our own fear and vulnerability in professional and queer undertaking. Using a recent DQS incident as a case in point, we demonstrate how unleashing our inner queerness through drag can empower us as queer academics and allies to counter ‘dragphobia’ and celebrate gender and sexuality diversity. This creative work aspires to provide provocations for further exploration of queer inclusivity across social, cultural, and political intersections, with the intent to promote LGBTQA+ inclusive practices.

Propelled through 21st century social movements, public interest in masculinities, femininities and gender embodiment has intensified. In schools, despite anti-discriminatory legislation, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia persist, pointing to the need for inclusive policies and practices to support gender equity and diversity. Media reporting in Western countries has also raised concerns regarding the impact of school dress codes and uniform policies on student well-being and the regulation of gender identity and gender expression. Underpinned by queer, transgender and feminist perspectives, this paper takes an intersectional approach to investigate how school dress codes and uniforms sustain gender binaries, while eclipsing diverse gender and sexual identities. The discussion is inspired by third wave feminist scholarship, acknowledging that gender, sexuality and race intersect and overlap on an individual and structural level. Results present recommendations for disrupting discriminatory dress codes and uniforms in a broader discussion about school reform.

As homophobia, transphobia and biphobia continue to permeate local and global contexts, the role of allies has been recognized as beneficial in supporting equity for LGBTQI+ communities. The concept of LGBTQA+ allyship has also been controversial, with some stakeholders disagreeing about who is an ally and what this role entails. In the academic literature, there is also a scarcity of knowledge examining the interrelation between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. This paper focuses on deepening historical and cultural understandings regarding the nexus between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. Underpinned by queer, trans, feminist and intersectional lenses, the paper delineates the LGBTQA+ ally movement and the importance of moving beyond reductionist paradigms to adopt a systemic approach to inclusion, especially in school communities. The paper unpacks diverse definitions of allyship, from those associated with mobilizing the power and privilege of straight, cisgender individuals, to the concept of allyship which includes resilient leadership within LGBTQA+ communities, as well as those, which negotiate and transform fixed and reductive boundaries of gender and sexuality. Recommendations are made for developing LGBTQA+ ally intersectional programmes, characterized by collaborative, expansive and affirmative work.

Reporting on a qualitative study, informed by Australian Government Indigenous education and literacy policies, this article unveils early career teacher reflections about infusing Aboriginal perspectives in the English curriculum using multimodal texts. Forging a praxis between the Aboriginal practice of yarning (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010) and Freire’s (1974, 1996) frameworks for conscientisation and teachers as facilitators, the project overlays the work of Ladson-Billings (1995) and Foster, Halliday, Baize & Chisholm (2020), to unravel how culturally responsive pedagogy manifests in early career primary school teaching. We discuss teacher starting points and challenges to be culturally responsive educators, who use appropriate Aboriginal texts in classrooms. Results suggest that yarning is useful for meeting English curriculum outcomes and for collaboratively developing decolonising knowledge, which can impact multiple stakeholders. Recommendations for future research include co-designed projects to support teacher education through multimodal texts and yarning practices with Aboriginal Elders.

In this paper, we examine the educative significance of YouTube as a space of self-expression for transgender and non-binary youth without being hindered by pervasive cisnormative and cisgenderist expectations that are institutionalised and sanctioned in the education system. We employ transgender studies informed epistemological frameworks to investigate one specific online project called The Gender Tag Project created by and for youth, which we argue serves as a desubjugating space for self-identification of gender, and specifically, trans self-determination. Case analysis of selected videos posted by trans and non-binary youth is undertaken as a basis for providing critical insight into their relevance for generating knowledge about gender expansiveness and their pedagogical potential in the classroom. We reflect on the implications of The Gender Tag Project for envisaging more broadly a trans expansive educational agenda that is cognisant of addressing the limits of whiteness.

This study investigates the Alternative Certification Program (ACP) students’ motivations to become teachers. Fit-Choice Scale is used. Sample of the study consists of 248 participants in three groups i.e. Health, Sports and Mathematics. Descriptive and inferential statistics, and content analysis are used to examine ACP students’ reasons to want to become teachers, and to investigate differences regarding their primary career choices, age and gender. The results showed that social, intrinsic career and personal utility values are the highly rated motivation factors. Teaching is perceived as a highly skillful occupation and a high status profession by the ACP students. Relationships between ACP students’ motivations and perceptions with their primary career choices, age and gender are identified. Health group had higher motivation for time for family, and Sports group had higher motivation for ability and job security. Mathematics group’s motivation for job transferability, perception scores of salary and social status of teaching profession and career choice satisfaction were lower than the other groups. Yet their perception scores of difficulty was higher than the others. ACP students older than the mean age of 26 had higher scores of self-perceptions of ability, intrinsic career value, job transferability and work with children factors than their young classmates. Significant differences are observed between male and female participants’ motivation of having time for family. Together with contrasting findings and particular similarities with the previous research, these relationships are used to conclude that ACP students themselves have different motivation patterns. Influence of sample characteristics and contextual features are also acknowledged.