This paper explores lesbian and gay teachers’ understandings of how their sexuality interacts with the Victorian secondary state school culture in which they work. With the aim of investigating the relationship between heteronormative schooling cultures and queer teachers, six same-sex attracted teachers were interviewed. The interviews were analysed, using discourse analysis, in order to examine teachers’ understanding of their school culture and its intersection with their sexual identity. The analysis and discussion showed a divide between teachers who chose to be out to students and those who did not. Most of the participants felt that their level of openness about their sexuality linked closely to their personality and that this dictated how much of their identity they wished to be on display at school. This often had a flow-on effect to how they managed other issues, such as addressing homophobia in their school. Participants were concerned about being labeled a pedophile or being seen as trying to recruit students to homosexuality and were therefore conscious of not looking or acting too stereotypically gay. This suggests that lesbian and gay teachers expend more energy and are more conscious of their demeanor than straight teachers in the heteronormative school cultures in which they operate. Despite there being legal protection for lesbian and gay teachers in government schools, on the ground there is still tension within schools about opening a dialogue with students about sexuality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/245107 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Imber, Madelaine |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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