"Our Silent Day": One Teacher Explores Agency and Countersocialization Through the National Day of Silence

• In Event: 64.082 - Diverse Voices and Narratives in Social Studies Research

Abstract

This study explores one “out” gay teacher’s participation in the Day of Silence (DoS), which marks the silencing and erasure of LGBTQ2+ people in schools. Those perceived as LGBTQ2+ typically face a civic paradox, where visibility leads to exclusion. In a tracked and racially diverse urban school, this study asks how planning and participating in the DoS impact teacher agency in countering civic exclusion, and trust and communal concern across marginalized and privileged students. When all 117 students chose to participate in silence for the entire class, the teacher’s planning and students’ actions expanded the event’s possibilities for counter-socialization and civic inclusion. Shared silence as performance and protest offered multiple avenues of teacher agency, facilitated by student meaning-making.

Author

• Jenni Conrad, University of Washington - Seattle