Spilling T(ruths) as Queer Resistance

A Counterstorytelling of a Secondary Science Teacher

Bibliographic Data

ID21392913
AuthorsKhanh Q Tran (0000-0002-3776-7091, School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services Utah State University Logan Utah USA, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume110
Issue4
Pages1169-1186
Publication date2026-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0036-8326 • E-ISSN: 1098-237X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/sce.70052
OpenAlexW7128014404
LanguageEN
References cited66

Science education continues to be shaped by cis‐heteronormative and Eurocentric norms that constrain how knowledge, identity, and legitimacy are constructed in classrooms. In this narrative inquiry case study, I collaborated with a trans and gender‐nonconforming high school biology teacher, Teacher Mateo, to examine how queer and Indigenous ways of knowing can disrupt these settled expectations. Grounded in queer theory and counterstorytelling, I conceptualize Spilling T as a method rooted in Black queer and trans cultural traditions, both a methodology and a praxis that centers relational, embodied, and community‐based knowledge. Through co‐constructed counterstories and iterative Spilling T sessions, two narrative threads were developed: (1) the revitalization of Indigenous identity as a foundation for relational and multiepistemological biology teaching, and (2) the cultivation of genderqueer identity to challenge binary logics and affirm queerness as inherent in nature. Findings illustrate how Teacher Mateo resists biological essentialism, humanizes LGBTQ+ identities, and distinguishes science epistemology from Indigenous and queer worldviews. This study positions Spilling T as a transformative counterstorytelling method for reimagining science education as a space of resistance, reclamation, and queer rightful presence

Identity (music) · Indigenous · Narrative · Praxis · Queer · Queer theory · Science education · Transformative learning · Critical Race Theory in Education · Feminist Theory and Gender Studies · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism