Constructing the inclusive practitioner: Queer pedagogy, cultural safety, and professional subject formation in dietetics education
Phillip Joy, Andrea Fraser, Johanathan WoodworthObjective:
To examine how discourses of professionalism, inclusivity, and cultural safety are taken up, negotiated, and reproduced within undergraduate dietetic students’ reflective essays within the context of a queer pedagogical learning activity.
Design:
Qualitative study using a queer-informed Foucauldian discourse analytic approach.
Setting:
An accredited undergraduate dietetic programme in an Eastern Canadian university.
Methods:
Twelve undergraduate dietetic students completed critical reflection essays in a third-year client care course incorporating a queer pedagogical learning activity using comic book art. A queer-informed Foucauldian discourse analysis examined the organisation of professional talk within the essays, including how professionalism, inclusion, and cultural safety were articulated in students’ reflective texts.
Results:
Analysis identified three discursive formations through which professionalism and care were organised, made intelligible, and linked to ethical self-formation: inclusivity as professional legitimacy; gendered constructions of vulnerability; and cultural safety as a reflexive regime of competence.
Conclusions:
Queer pedagogical approaches can shape how future dietitians understand professionalism, inclusion, and ethical practice. While such approaches can challenge normative assumptions, they also produce expectations surrounding reflexivity and inclusivity that warrant critical attention within professional education.