Listening to LGBTQ* Educators: Lessons in Gender-Expansive Practice

• In Event: Gender-Expansive and Democratizing Teacher Education: Envisioning Teaching and Teacher Education for Intersectional Justice

Abstract

This paper explores the work of racially diverse LGBTQ* educators implementing gender expansive educational practices in their school communities. It sheds light on these educators’ transformative work, as well as the challenges they face, demonstrating how to better support and prepare educators to create affirming, inclusive school communities.

This paper draws on the work of queer theorists who disrupt dichotomous understandings and categorizations of gender identity and expression. These scholars recognize, listen to, and affirm a broader range of bodies, voices, and experiences (Britzman 1995, Connell 1995, Kumashiro 2001). It builds on work that applies this framework in education to interrogate how schools operate as hetero- and cis-normative institutions, recognize the intersectional identities and experiences of LGBTQ* folx in schools, and affirm their work to disrupt these norms (Author, 2016; Author, 2012; Brockenbrough, 2015; Meyer 2009a, 2009b). This work contributes to the emerging field of gender expansive teacher education (Authors, in press; Martino & Cumming-Potvin, 2018), strengthening our understanding of how to prepare and support teachers in creating space for students to express and experience gender in complex and multiple ways.

This qualitative research project utilizes interviews and artifact analysis. Participants engaged in one-on-one interviews exploring their experiences, perspectives, and practices, as well as semi-structured group interviews where they responded to shared reflection exercises about their work in schools. They also provided artifacts of their teaching practice, which they discussed in the group interviews. Interview transcripts and submitted artifacts are the data sources for the project. Data analysis was reflective and grounded, occurring throughout the project and informing the study’s progression. Initial interviews were analyzed and coded for emerging themes and questions, which then informed follow-up interviews and the design of shared reflection exercises.

Participants described diverse practices aimed at disrupting dominant narratives of sex and gender in their schools and supporting and affirming LGBTQ* and other marginalized students in expressing their intersectional identities. Nearly all participants said they had not received formal training in such practices in their teacher education programs. They described “cobbling together” practices learned from reading or from colleagues and “learning by doing”, designing practices in the moment to address students’ needs. Participants discussed the policies and practices that best supported them, as LGBTQ* educators, and their work in schools. They also described the challenges of navigating the social and political dynamics of their schools and communities, again often without training or guidance on how to do so.

This research demonstrates how educators are creating spaces for students to experience, express, and learn about their intersectional identities in affirming, expansive, and creative ways. It centers the work of LGBTQ* educators, providing insights into their perspectives and experiences. It illustrates the policies and practices that best support transformative work in schools and the educators who pursue it. Ultimately, it offers lessons for teacher education, considering how best to prepare teachers with the understandings and skills necessary to create school environments in which all students are recognized and affirmed.

Author

• Kathleen Elliott, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
  Presenting Author