The paradox of education and teaching sexualities with uncertainty

Abstract

ABSTRACT Is it ethical to want students to become non-queerphobic as an outcome of our teaching? This question is situated within thinking about teaching for social justice. It takes an event where a student challenges a course’s queer pedagogy and thinks with it to expose ‘the inherent paradox of education’. This is the notion that in its desires for individual and social transformation, education presumes to know how students should behave and how the world should be. The paper considers how educators might approach this paradox more ethically. It argues for a reconceptualisation of education as an ‘uncertain event’ that involves approaching teaching without preconceived agendas about what educational encounters will eventuate. It also involves a reconfiguration of ethics and education, where ethics is understood as implied rather than applied. This rearrangement invites educators to engage in a sensible orientation to teaching where attention is paid to its nuances, textures and complexities..