Genders and sexualities: exploring the conceptual limits of contemporary educational research

摘要

Over the past three decades educational research has provided an exciting and dynamic theoretical engagement with gender and sexuality. While acknowledging this contribution, this article is a conceptually-led exploration of a number of theoretical and methodological tensions contained within this research. More specifically, it argues that current research is limiting the possibilities of new knowledge by insisting on particular epistemological, methodological and theoretical positions. It argues that, in the spirit of Bachelard (2002), the research community needs to pursue epistemological breaks in order to recalibrate their theoretical and methodological positions. More specifically, this article suggests that a current dependence on sexuality identity categories, the positioning of the body as central to methodology and a reliance on particular theories of gender restrict the possibilities for new knowledge and understanding in the field.