Actively Accounting for Differences in Positionality
In my future practice as an English teacher, I hope to establish a safe and productive learning environment for a diverse student population by starting with peer-led establishment of rules and standards for the classroom community. In working with high school students, it can be helpful to have them have a direct hand in the establishment of rules for the classroom, not only because it helps empower them but it also because it increases their investment in whether or not the rule is followed (Weinstein & Novodvorsky, 2011, p. 98). This type of investment in norms, led by ideals that the students themselves value, can shift the conversation about anti-queer sentiment from a teacher to student mandate to a norm valued by the community. It can also mediate the challenge presented by students who are quick to rely on differences in teacher positionality as a way to defy the norms for class. For example, when a student like Kwame states he is uncomfortable talking about queer identities and he speaks about queerness in a negative way and gives credit to how he was raised, a peer who comes from the same community can encourage him to be accountable to classroom standards.
Queering the Learning Environment Early and Often
When considering methods related to redirection, I intend continue with my strategy of correcting the use of anti-queer speech early and often, calling students into a conversation about how word choice or context can convey hate. This type of action was a very simple way to communicate my own standards for the classroom community and it seems to have helped students interrogate their ways speaking about queer identities. Although I eventually was able to connect this type of redirection to similar (but not equivalent) situations such as describing an African American person as “Black” vs. the n-word in order to explain how certain language is anti-queer, it would be useful to do more research into how else to make this concept easily accessible to students. In situations that can already feel difficult due to confronting racial or cultural differences, I fear that comparing homophobia and/or heteronormativity to a legacy of anti-Black racism in the United States, while a quick and easily understood strategy, could be more problematic than intended.
I also would venture to introduce queer curricular materials to the class as early as possible to encourage healthy conversation about queer identities. Once students had all learned about Bayard Rustin in my class, they had a benchmark for how to speak about a self-identified queer person, even if they struggled with understanding how his identity as a gay man related to his career. Having taught about Rustin using the word “gay” in class gave me a tangible example to use when students became confused or frustrated about the term. It also seemed that once students were given some space to process information about Rustin, they were ready to move beyond the label itself and think about other issues related to queerness.
Still operating on the assumption that students had not been exposed to many queer figures in their previous educational experiences, I would introduce a queer author, historical figure, or book character to the class in connection with a larger unit as soon as possible. This would allow students to move beyond that initial process of grappling with labels more quickly, and also provide a useful tool when redirecting students if the need were to arise. In reading work by or about queer figures, students could begin building connections, through combined mirrors and windows, which will help grow understanding of self and others. In planning an English curriculum, it is not difficult to find authors, historical figures, or literary works that deal with themes that are queer or could be related to queer experiences. Hopefully, this type of planning can be interdisciplinary, allowing collaboration across departments for English and other teachers to begin integrating queer materials into their classrooms.
Another dimension of setting the stage for queering the English classroom can be unspoken. According to Mulcahy, Dalton, Kolbert, and Crothers (2016), queer students report that they can find allies in school staff based on visual signals such as Safe Zone stickers or rainbow insignia. Passive expression of support for queer students or intolerance of anti-queer sentiment can start the process of normalizing queerness in the classroom before any conversation even begins. While it took my students several weeks for their first questions about queer identities to surface, and several months for these conversations to include the entire classroom community, these barriers could have been broken even sooner if there was early, constant, and visible support for queer identities. The aspect of queering the classroom is easily done if a teacher has their own classroom, but it can also be achieved by using laptop stickers, buttons, or other subtle signals.
I also would venture to introduce queer curricular materials to the class as early as possible to encourage healthy conversation about queer identities. Once students had all learned about Bayard Rustin in my class, they had a benchmark for how to speak about a self-identified queer person, even if they struggled with understanding how his identity as a gay man related to his career. Having taught about Rustin using the word “gay” in class gave me a tangible example to use when students became confused or frustrated about the term. It also seemed that once students were given some space to process information about Rustin, they were ready to move beyond the label itself and think about other issues related to queerness.
Still operating on the assumption that students had not been exposed to many queer figures in their previous educational experiences, I would introduce a queer author, historical figure, or book character to the class in connection with a larger unit as soon as possible. This would allow students to move beyond that initial process of grappling with labels more quickly, and also provide a useful tool when redirecting students if the need were to arise. In reading work by or about queer figures, students could begin building connections, through combined mirrors and windows, which will help grow understanding of self and others. In planning an English curriculum, it is not difficult to find authors, historical figures, or literary works that deal with themes that are queer or could be related to queer experiences. Hopefully, this type of planning can be interdisciplinary, allowing collaboration across departments for English and other teachers to begin integrating queer materials into their classrooms.
Another dimension of setting the stage for queering the English classroom can be unspoken. According to Mulcahy, Dalton, Kolbert, and Crothers (2016), queer students report that they can find allies in school staff based on visual signals such as Safe Zone stickers or rainbow insignia. Passive expression of support for queer students or intolerance of anti-queer sentiment can start the process of normalizing queerness in the classroom before any conversation even begins. While it took my students several weeks for their first questions about queer identities to surface, and several months for these conversations to include the entire classroom community, these barriers could have been broken even sooner if there was early, constant, and visible support for queer identities. The aspect of queering the classroom is easily done if a teacher has their own classroom, but it can also be achieved by using laptop stickers, buttons, or other subtle signals.
Increasing Student-Centered Communication
Furthermore, implementing more open communication with students about their own experiences and opinions is an important improvement in this process of queering the English classroom. While in this process of inquiry I relied on inferences, assumptions, and personal observations, my work was clearly limited by my lack of communication with students themselves. Much of this hesitation comes with my own uncertainty as a teacher in the beginning of her career; it is compounded by my fear that students, colleagues, administration, or parents could problematize my identity as a queer woman. However, after having many challenging but overwhelmingly positive and productive experiences with my students this year, I feel that I will approach this same topic with more confidence next year, which will hopefully only increase over time as I gain a better understanding of myself as a teacher.
I also hope to increase my interaction with students themselves because they are the best experts on their own experiences. Regardless of any other prevailing understanding of how students respond to queering the classroom, I will do a better job of responding to student needs by allowing them to speak for themselves. Basing the practice of queering the curriculum on student-centered practices will not only help students feel more connected upholding community standards, it can potentially bolster this process of positive identity development.
All of these goals for future practice will necessarily be adjusted to the specific school context in which I find myself. Student and staff positionality, as well as overall school culture, instructional priorities, and the specific students that will populate my classes will affect how I approach all of these strategies. It will change from year to year, but the undercurrents of these practices, creating a supportive and student-centered classroom, combating anti-queer speech, teaching a diverse curriculum, and giving students space to take intellectual risks related to queer identities, can remain constant. Furthermore, while the results of these practices may not be immediately evident, I am curious to see over time how students may change the way they see themselves or others as it relates to their gender or sexual identities.
I also hope to increase my interaction with students themselves because they are the best experts on their own experiences. Regardless of any other prevailing understanding of how students respond to queering the classroom, I will do a better job of responding to student needs by allowing them to speak for themselves. Basing the practice of queering the curriculum on student-centered practices will not only help students feel more connected upholding community standards, it can potentially bolster this process of positive identity development.
All of these goals for future practice will necessarily be adjusted to the specific school context in which I find myself. Student and staff positionality, as well as overall school culture, instructional priorities, and the specific students that will populate my classes will affect how I approach all of these strategies. It will change from year to year, but the undercurrents of these practices, creating a supportive and student-centered classroom, combating anti-queer speech, teaching a diverse curriculum, and giving students space to take intellectual risks related to queer identities, can remain constant. Furthermore, while the results of these practices may not be immediately evident, I am curious to see over time how students may change the way they see themselves or others as it relates to their gender or sexual identities.