Freaks and Frauds or Beating the Odds? Experiences of Three Transgender Music Teachers

• In Event: Music Teacher Experiences and Retention

Abstract

In music education, scholars are only just beginning to consider the experiences of transgender teachers. The purpose of this study was to seek insight into the music teaching experiences of transgender music teachers and understand their perceptions of visibility and validation in the classroom and how this intersects with making connections with their students and other persons within their school communities. Using narrative inquiry, through critical storytelling, I sought to gather, contemplate, and present the experiences of three transgender music educators. May the vulnerability they offered provide representation and validation for other transgender music teachers and illuminate the path forward past their feelings of being a freak or a fraud and towards genuine, human connections with their students.

Author

• M. Miguel Rowland, Robeson Elementary School, Champaign Unit 4