Call for Stories: Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality

Posted by on November 05, 2012

We are seeking narratives for a new book by Rethinking Schools. The working title is Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality.

We invite you to submit a story that relates to teaching and learning about sexism, gender, and sexuality in K-12 schools. We are particularly interested in articles about classroom teaching, curriculum, and youth activism-in and out of school. Students’ voices are important; make sure we can hear them!

In order to include diverse voices, we particularly encourage students and educators of color and folks who work in places that are not often associated with LGBTQ activism such as rural schools and schools in the “heartland,” although other submissions will be cheerfully considered.

We hope to address gender and sexuality across the curriculum so teachers and students of all disciplines are encouraged to contribute. Other topics may include education organizing/activism, policy matters, and stories that offer historical perspectives with a connection to the present.

Please remember that Rethinking Schools is not an academic journal. We want the writing to be lively, conversational, and to avoid the kind of needless jargon that infects so much education writing. Please approach it as a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, filled with anecdotes and the voices of teachers, parents, and/or students. Traditional academic/scholarly articles will not be considered for this book.

The best way to understand what works for Rethinking Schools is to read through several issues of the magazine with an eye to how the authors show specifically what they do in the classroom and how they integrate information about the topic into the article. Specific examples you might want to look at include “It’s OK to Be Neither” by Melissa Bollow Tempel and “When the Gender Boxes Don’t Fit,” by Ericka Sokolower-Shain. As a model of writing for the magazine, see anything by Linda Christensen.

Before you begin writing, check out the writers guidelines.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/about/guidelines.shtml

Please send submissions electronically (Word.doc) to jody@rethinkingschools.org. We are unable to read submissions of more than 4,000 words, and are generally interested in articles that are substantially shorter.

Many of the articles in the book will also appear in Rethinking Schools magazine. The initial submission deadline is January 31, 2013.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact Jody Sokolower, managing editor of Rethinking Schools.