Advocating for Activism: Teachers’ Experiences Supporting Student Activism for LGBTQ Equity

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Activism in Education: Teachers Fighting in Solidarity With Students (Table 33)

Abstract

This project shares data from interviews on the experiences of secondary educators (counselors, librarians, and teachers) who support student activism for lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) equity or SQA for “student queer activism”. We found that many participants held identities as activists but framed their work with students as “advocating for activism”. The navigated a complex system of external (administration, school climate, institutional structures) and internal (advocating for activism, balancing boundaries, and hope) influences that acted as both barriers and supports. This made sustaining their work supporting SQA difficult to sustain. This is the first study we are aware of that explores educators’ experiences supporting SQA across different contexts (urban/ rural, middle/high school, charter/traditional).

Authors

• Liz Meyer, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Erin R. Kurtz, University of Colorado - Boulder