The (In)visibility of LGBQ Bias and Liberation in U.S. Multicultural Teacher Education Courses

• In Event: The In/Exclusion of LGBT Issues in Preservice Education

Abstract

Objectives

Attempts to create positive environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queet (LGBQ) youth can mitigate some implications of heterosexism in schools (Espelage, 2008). A range of interventions, from in-service professional development to pre-service teacher education, have the potential to help teachers learn to counter some effects of heterosexism (Szalacha, 2003). Given this potential, scholars have argued that teacher education programs should incorporate attention to topics ranging from sexual orientation to heteronormativity into coursework (e.g., Clark, 2010).
In many teacher preparation programs, students are required to take a single multicultural education course; far too often, it represents their only opportunity to discuss equity issues during their preparation as teachers (Vavrus, 2009). Our question for this study, then, was, To what extent are issues and concepts related to LGBQ identities, oppressions, and resistances visible in multicultural teacher education (MTE) courses taught in U.S. teacher education programs? Secondarily, we wondered, When such issues and concepts are incorporated into MTE courses, how are they framed?

Theoretical Framework

We drew on McLaren’s (1995) typology of approaches to multicultural education and Gorski’s (2009) typology of approaches to MTE overlaid by intersectionality theory, especially Lorde’s (1983) argument that the establishment of hierarchies of oppression, even by omission, weakens all efforts for justice.

Methods and Data Sources

In order to ascertain the extent to which LGBQ experiences, oppressions, and resistances were visible in MTE courses and the nature of their inclusion, we examined: (1) 41 syllabi from MTE courses taught across the U.S. and (2) data from a survey (N=80) of people who teach MTE courses about the topics and theoretical frameworks they incorporate into their courses. They syllabi were collected from a regionally and institutionally diverse cross-section of education degree programs, both undergraduate and graduate, from across the U.S. We used course schedules to calculate the average percentage of overall class time devoted to identity- or oppression-related topics, such as race, ethnicity, and racism; sex, gender, and sexism; and so on. We calculated, as well, the percentage of these syllabi which omitted any mention of the same identity- or oppression-related topics. Survey participants were identified through snowball sampling, primarily by using email listservs frequented by people who teach MTE type courses.

Results

We found that, according to the official curriculum of MTE as codified in syllabi, little attention is paid to LGBQ identities, oppressions, and resistances, particularly relative to those related to race. We also found that when MTE courses do address sexual orientation, they do so in less sophisticated ways, on average, than concerns related to race, gender, and other identities.

Significance

This study supports existing evidence that teacher education, and MTE more specifically, tend to perpetuate, both by omission and relatively conservative framing, heterosexist conditions in schools. The findings raise questions, not only regarding the content of MTE courses, but also about the extent to which people teaching those courses are holistically, intersectionally prepared to help teachers be equitable practitioners for all students, families, and colleagues.

Author

• Paul Cameron Gorski, George Mason University