Gay Teacher Identity Development: Negotiating and Enacting Identity to Interrupt Heteronormativity

• In Event: 29.090 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.090-22 - Learning Environments and LGBTQ Identity and Well-Being Across Levels of Development

Abstract

Objectives
This multiple case study examines ways in which the negotiation and enactment of gay teacher identity interrupts heteronormativity in school contexts. This research also seeks to connect the experiences of becoming and being gay with the experiences of becoming and being a teacher while also accounting for the context of each teacher as an individually perceived and constructed reality.

Theoretical Framework
The study employs a syncretic approach in melding theories from social psychology, sociology, learning and cognition, teacher education, and educational leadership to create the conceptual framework that incorporates an understanding of teacher identity negotiation in terms of gay identity development (Cass, 1979) and the Multicultural Enactment-Transactional Model (Cross, 2012). This framework also examines a teacher’s perceptions about the school context in terms of identity-based motivation (Oyserman & Destin, 2010) and a relational justice perspective (Poole, 2008).

Methods and Data Sources
This study sought to answer the question: Does the enactment of gay teacher identity interrupt heteronormativity in schools? and two ancillary questions: 1) How do gay teachers negotiate gay teacher identity in schools? 2) How do school contexts impact gay teachers' perceptions of identity-based motivation and relational justice? In phase one of the study, participants completed an online survey that determined their location along the Homosexual Identity Formation model continuum (Cass, 1979) and garnered information about their teaching history and context through a series of open-ended questions. Half of the participants continued on to phase two where participants completed two interviews and wrote weekly reflective and topic focused journaling activities.

Results
Data from phase one revealed two major themes: the participants had varying conceptions and enactments of being “out” and the participants indicated dissonance and variety in terms of “is ‘out’ appropriate in school?” When analyzed through the lens of Identity-Based Motivation (Oyserman & Destin, 2010), this discussion of outness and appropriateness can be explained in terms of the teachers not feeling identity congruence. Data from phase two outlined the coming out journey as well as the path to becoming a teacher for each participant and three pervasive themes during were identified during the cross case analysis: teacher preparation and professional development, perception/nonperception of administrative support, and activist teaching.

Significance
The conceptual framework developed through analyses of these data creates a model of gay teacher identity where the degree to which a gay teacher comes out will determine the degree to which he can be an activist, defying heteronormativity through positive enactments of identity. This negotiation is a process and requires the gay teacher to perceive their context as one that provides a relationally just, identity-congruent environment that will foster and manifest positive enactments of identity. The model is not intended to be a linearly progressive experience, but rather a tool for understanding identity development while taking into account the richness and importance of the context and how that context is perceived.

Author

• Zaid M. Haddad, The University of Texas - San Antonio