Leaning In to Discomfort: Preparing Literacy Teachers for Gender and Sexual Diversity
Abstract
Educational literacy scholars have demonstrated the rich possibilities of the English language arts, and of queer-inclusive and critical literacy practices in particular, to disrupt heteronormativity and affirm gender and sexual diversity (GSD). However, there are few empirical studies that report what’s involved in preparing literacy teachers to organize classrooms in which recommendations for inclusive practice can land safely. In this article, we provide an account of what happened when we endeavored to prepare a group of secondary preservice literacy teachers for GSD-inclusive education in the context of a university-based literacy methods course and the negotiation of discomfort that ensued. Drawing on queer theoretical perspectives and Kumashiro’s (2001) framework of anti-oppressive education—which figures an important relationship among the concepts of desire, resistance, and crisis in unlearning common sense—we explore how the methods curriculum put many students into a state of emotional crisis. The sources of participants’ discomfort included learning that teachers have been complicit with the oppression of queer youth and wrestling with questions about how to bring their commitments to GSD-inclusive literacy instruction to bear in practice. Our findings suggest that participants who were willing to move toward their discomfort—what we call a deliberate move to lean in—positioned themselves to become strong advocates for queer youth. We argue that emotional discomfort should be figured as a productive tension in queer interventions in English education. Toward that end, we offer leaning in as a generative tool for grappling with the dynamics of heterosexism, homophobia,and broader oppression.
Reference
Staley, S., & Leonardi, B. (2016). Leaning In to Discomfort: Preparing Literacy Teachers for Gender and Sexual Diversity. Research in the Teaching of English, 51(2), 209.
Journal
Research in the Teaching of English
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Graduate and undergraduate
Preservice Sample Size
13
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Audio recordings
- Blog
- Classroom Discussion
- course materials
- Online response
- Transcriptions
Data Analysis Tools
- Constant comparative analysis
- Deductive analysis
- Inductive analysis
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How did students respond over time to GSD-inclusive content in the methods curriculum? (p. 217)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
How did students respond to a discomforting process of unlearning initiated by the methods curriculum’s emphasis on GSD? (p.217)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes