This qualitative study deals largely with exploring the role of GSAs in schools. The
analysis asks why sexual minority youth and allied heterosexual youth are the
primary resource for educating their peers, faculty members, administrators, school
boards about issues homophobia in schools. Related to this, the thesis also takes up
the issue of the school as a heteronormative space, and subsequently asks how
heteronormative structures affect student understandings of citizenship curriculum,
learning, and social change.
The data consists of three individual interviews, and one group interview. In total
there were six participants, four female, two male, of varying sexual orientations. All
participants were youths between the ages 15-18; all were students in the Lower
Mainland, and all were active members of their school's GSA.
Queer theory and poststructural theory form the theoretical infrastructure of the
study. Drawing from both theatrical frameworks, this study attempts to bridge the
perceived gap between theoretical representations and applied, qualitative based
analysis in the hopes of opening up a more fluid avenue of inquiry.
By way of conclusion I suggest that while beneficial to individual students, GSAs
have become a "band-aid" solution for the systemic problem of homophobia in
schools. I also argue that GSAs ought not be the only mechanism through which
GLBTQI education and pedagogies of inclusion are fostered. Further to this, I
recommend that a reconceptualized understanding of citizenship discourse,
inclusive of communities, belonging, and personal responsibility would offer
productive avenues to engage with heteronormativism, and other normalizing
mechanisms within the school environments. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/15787 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Macintosh, Lori B. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 7779205 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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