Agency and abjection in the closet: The voices (and silences) of Black queer male teachers.

While black queer educators could conceivably play a critical role in disrupting black queer marginality in educational settings, relatively little is known about their experiences. Drawing upon findings from a broader qualitative study on black male teachers in an urban school district in the United States, this article explores how five black queer male educators negotiated pressures to keep their queerness ‘in the closet.’ Although remaining in the closet left these men vulnerable to homophobic surveillance, it also enabled them to demonstrate racially mediated forms of agency within school settings. By complicating constructions of the closet as an abject social positionality for queer educators, this article considers the possible affordances of the closet for black queer teachers while also underscoring the need for institutionally sanctioned interventions against homophobia in urban educational settings

Agency and abjection in the closet: The voices (and silences) of Black queer male teachers.

While black queer educators could conceivably play a critical role in disrupting black queer marginality in educational settings, relatively little is known about their experiences. Drawing upon findings from a broader qualitative study on black male teachers in an urban school district in the United States, this article explores how five black queer male educators negotiated pressures to keep their queerness ‘in the closet.’ Although remaining in the closet left these men vulnerable to homophobic surveillance, it also enabled them to demonstrate racially mediated forms of agency within school settings. By complicating constructions of the closet as an abject social positionality for queer educators, this article considers the possible affordances of the closet for black queer teachers while also underscoring the need for institutionally sanctioned interventions against homophobia in urban educational settings

“You ain’t my daddy!”: Black male teachers and the politics of surrogate fatherhood.

Recent scholarship on male teachers across several national contexts has investigated the dilemmas of hegemonic masculinity for male educators while only recently beginning to examine race as a mediator of masculinity politics in teaching. Conversely, an emergent body of work on Black male teachers has centred analyses of race and culture, but has yet to explicitly question Black male teachers' relationships to hegemonic masculinity. Drawing upon critical analytic perspectives from Black masculinity studies, this article explores how 11 Black male teachers in an urban, predominantly Black school district in the USA negotiated popular discourses that position Black male teachers as father figures for Black students. By delving below the surface of these discourses, this article identifies a complicated set of Black masculinity politics that may shape the experiences of Black male teachers, and that warrants further consideration by educational researchers, teacher education programmes and urban school districts committed to preparing and supporting Black men in the teaching profession

Troubling "family" : how primary grade teachers conceptualize and negotiate normative construction of family in elementary education.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, 2015.The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the way elementary school teachers (kindergarten through second grade), in a school that actively fosters family involvement, include queerly-mixed families within their educational practices. The research drew on sociocultural-historical theory and queer theory to gain insights about how teachers came to understand the concept of family and the role that concept played in their teaching. Data collection included a series of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and artifact review. Data analysis and interpretive procedures followed a narrative approach aimed at understanding how participants negotiate hegemonic discourses of schools related to the concept of family. Findings yielded information on the ways teachers reify heteronormativity through a series of strategies organized into three themes: succumbing to regulatory gaze, using normative discourses, and enacting heterosexual presumptions. Implications of the research inform professional development for inservice and preservice teachers on ways to include queerly-mixed families in the curriculum

What's the "T"?: stories of queer youth of color navigating school and negotiating their education.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Margaret Mead Warner School of Education, 2016.Current research across multiple disciplines confirms that the climate in many schools across the U.S. sustains discrimination, victimization and marginalization of queer youth, and encourages silence about queerness. Through analytic examinations of schooling experiences, the existing literature has done well to draw attention to the frequency of victimization of queer students. As a result, current education research has illuminated the unique social, political, economic, health and academic challenges that queer youth face in formal school settings. However, the body of literature has focused on mostly white and cisgender youth, and only a portion of this literature discusses the more complex dimensions of queer youth identities. Moreover, it has also tended to over-determine queer youth victimization as representative of queer youth lives. Further research exploring queer youth identities and lived experiences can benefit from multidimensional analysis and a deeper investment in diversity and inclusion. The stories of queer youth of color are often marginalized in both mainstream gay culture and education research. This dissertation study is a critical narrative inquiry into the lived experiences of these youth. Participants were invited to share their T on how they navigated school, negotiate multiple intersecting identities and negotiate the purpose of formal education in their lives. Participants shared stories describing experiences of discrimination, identity policing and violence in school and in the home. Additionally, findings also illuminate the salience of queer youth of color’s multiple identities, their analyses of the purpose of education, and the framing of relationships as a valuable resource. These stories have implications for the discourse on queer youth