Everyday queering: gender, presence, and pedagogical disruption in Italian early childhood education

This article examines how queer, gay, and non-binary educators in Italian early childhood and primary education navigate gendered expectations and institutional norms through their teaching methods. Through a reflexive thematic analysis of twelve interviews, the study explores how these educators inhabit feminized school environments and disrupt heteronormative narratives with their presence, gestures, and emotional labor. Rather than introducing explicit LGBTQ+ content, which may be met with resistance in conservative school cultures, participants engage in situated forms of queering that reshape the emotional and cultural contexts in which children develop early understandings of gender and difference. These micro-practices are conceptualized as contributions to a "queer school," which is not a programmatic model but rather an affective and ethical approach in which plurality and vulnerability become pedagogical resources. By centering the experiences of educators working at the margins, the article illustrates how a queer presence can quietly transform the relational landscape of early education. The article contributes to current debates on inclusion, early socialization, and the transformative potential of LGBTQ+ visibility in educational settings.