"I Know That It's Fake, But...": Queer-Identifying Teacher Candidates Confronting Heterosexism

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: More Than a Safe Space: Pathways to LGBTQ+ Intersectional Research

Abstract

While teacher preparation programs are making efforts to diversify the teacher pipeline, many have not yet created an environment that attends to the realities and lived experiences of minoritized teacher candidates (TCs). Equally concerning, minoritized teachers’ own learning needs, especially related to cultural and linguistic diversity, are ignored on the presumption that there is no further learning needed (Cherry-McDaniel, 2018; Kohli, 2014). This paper examines what the experiences of three queer-identifying TCs reveal about their own learning needs, especially related to managing moments of heterosexism in the work of teaching. I contend that part of the unique learning needs of such TCs is negotiating their gender and sexual identities within the teacher role.

Authors

• Elizabeth Anne Self, Vanderbilt University

• Barbara S. Stengel, Vanderbilt University