Gender/Sexuality Theory—Chris Beasley

Abstract

In New Zealand, education is compulsory from the age of 6 to 16 and is freely available to students from the age of 5 to 19. As a result, the institution of schooling has a significant role in the social construction of identity. Similarly, those who chose to work in this institution have an influence on those who have to be in it. In 2005, Chris Beasley published Gender and Sexuality: Critical Theories, Critical Thinkers. In this one text, Beasley brought together both the history and theorists concerning gender and/or sexuality. Her book is a critical analyse of those theorists who have contributed to gender/sexuality theory through work in Feminist Studies, Masculinity Studies, and/or Sexuality Studies. This chapter is a report on how one teacher educator used gender/sexuality theory to support student teachers in an undergraduate primary science education programme. These six student teachers used learning in science to challenge their school’s, mentor teacher’s, or educational community’s normative attitudes, values, and beliefs on student–teacher identities.