Code-switching queer controversy: Pre-K-8 educators’ perceptions of LGBT-inclusive policy framing

This paper uses sensemaking theory and frame analysis to examine how a non-system actor’s framing for advancing LGBT inclusion, what they called code-switching, was taken up. Drawing on qualitative interview data generated as part of a larger mixed-methods study, this article examines the material and ideological affordances and constraints of elementary educators implementing the Inclusive Curriculum Law in Illinois (House Bill 246), a law promoting LGBT representation in history textbooks and curriculum. Findings highlight how the impetus to code-switch created a disconnect between policy and perceived practice, which in turn complicated organizational efforts to transform inclusive instruction. As our analyses illustrate, problem framing—refracted here through a non-system agent—not only shaped the direction of proposed solutions but also played a critical role in coordinating individual action and sensemaking.