Transcending the Curriculum: Reclaiming a Voice for Dissident Identities in ELT

Abstract

This article posits that the ELT curriculum is a cis-heteronormative technology which renders the lives of the trans community invisible by either excluding them or by fetishizing their inclusion. It then invites educators to transcend the ELT curriculum through a teaching praxis which seeks not only to give visibility to trans identities but also to assert their right to be heard. Based on a situated classroom account, some suggestions are made to queer the ELT curriculum so that both students and teachers can collectively work towards the construction of a more democratic and equitable society.