Negotiating Curricular Boundaries and Sexual Orientation
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Negotiating Curricular Boundaries And Sexual Orientation: The Lived Experiences Of Gay Secondary Teachers In West Central Florida by James B. Mayo, Jr. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Secondary Education College of Education University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Bárbara C. Cruz, Ed.D. Co-Major Professor: J. Howard Johnston, Ph.D. James R. King, Ph.D. Barbara Shircliffe, Ph.D. Date of Approval: June 2, 2005 Keywords: curricular decision-making, diversity, multiple masculinities secondary education, sexual orientation, teacher education © Copyright 2005, James B. Mayo, Jr. Acknowledgments I would like to personally thank the seven area teachers who agreed to participate in this study: Adam, Ben, Chris, Donald, Eric, Frank, and Gary. Gentlemen, your passion for teaching and willingness to candidly share some very personal, and often times painful, experiences and memories inspires me daily. I also want to publicly acknowledge Dr. Rodney Rudd who helped me through some of the more difficult and tedious stages of the writing/editing process. In addition, I must thank the late Harrison and Ruth Kosove without whom I would not have been able to finance graduate school. Their incredible generosity enabled me to focus on my studies without the pressures associated with maintaining a full or part-time job. Finally, I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Bàrbara Cruz, Howard Johnston, Jim King, and Barbara Shircliffe, my dissertation committee, for helping me to shape my thoughts into a working manuscript. In particular, Dr. Bàrbara Cruz was and is a constant source of inspiration. From start to finish, Bàrbara, you offered me immediate feedback, poignant suggestions, and timely advice, which made completion of this project possible. Even more importantly, however, you helped me to believe that I was capable of completing this project when self-doubt reared its ugly head. For the past three years, you have been an excellent model for me to follow as I matriculated through the doctoral program: you are an amazing teacher in the classroom; you write in such a way that your prose, while heavily steeped in the literature, is accessible to all; you relate to students and colleagues in a very human manner; and you seem to find a balance in your life no matter how many commitments you accept. Thank you for exemplifying excellence. Table of Contents List of Figures iv Abstract v Chapter 1 1 Introduction 1 Statement of the Problem 1 Theoretical Framework 3 Purpose of Study & Rationale 3 Qualitative Research Questions 4 Significance of the Study 5 Definition of Terms 6 Delimitations 8 Limitations 9 Organization of Remaining Chapters 12 Chapter 2 15 Review of the Related Literature 15 Introduction 15 Gay Students 16 Support Structures for GLBT Youth 20 Gay Teachers 22 The Role of Heterosexual Teachers, Principals, and Guidance Counselors 30 Curriculum Issues 35 Literature on Masculinity 40 Summary 47 i Chapter 3 50 Method 50 Introduction 50 Participants 51 Sampling Characteristics 52 Qualitative Instruments 56 Interview Format 57 Procedures 61 Qualitative Analysis 64 Chapter 4 67 Results 67 Introduction 67 Participant Biographical Data 68 The Participants’ School Districts 71 Hernando County School District 72 Hillsborough County School District 72 Pasco County School District 73 Pinellas County School District 74 Qualitative Research Questions 75 Theme 1: Gay-Themed Materials in the Classroom 75 Theme 2: Interactions with Students Perceived to be Gay 80 Theme 3: Separation of Informants’ Private Lives from Life at School 87 Theme 4: The Informants’ Perceptions of Proper Conduct by a Gay Male Teacher 90 Theme 5: The Challenges and Problems Faced by the Informants at School 93 Theme 6: The Informants’ Understandings of How Students Use Homophobic Language 108 Theme 7: The Informants’ Use of Humor in the Classroom 112 Theme 8: Informants’ Relationships and Interactions with Colleagues at School 114 Theme 9: Informants’ Perceptions of the Acceptance of Gay Male Teachers 120 Theme 10: Informants’ Perceived Special Talents of Gay Male Teachers 126 Informants’ Final Thoughts and Reflections 131 ii Chapter 5 136 Discussion 136 Method and Data Summary 136 Sexual Orientation and Academic Content 138 Addressing Homophobic Language at School 140 Reaching Out to Students Perceived as Gay 143 Being Out at School 145 Barriers to Coming Out at School 147 The “Appropriate” Male Performance 150 The Possibility for Difference: A New Male Performance at School 155 Recommendations for School Officials 157 Future Research Directions 158 References 162 About the Author End Page iii List of Figures Figure 1. Summary of Critical Informant Data 71 Figure 2. Student Perceptions of Informants’ Sexual Orientation as 90 Perceived by the Informant iv Negotiating Curricular Boundaries and Sexual Orientation: The Lived Experiences of Gay Secondary Teachers in West Central Florida James B. Mayo, Jr. ABSTRACT There is little known about the daily lives of gay teachers at school. Studies have been conducted in this area, but the wide range of individual life experiences makes it difficult to define “the” gay teacher experience. Gay teachers’ geographic location, gender, age, and race, are a few of those factors that will have a direct influence upon their lives. Therefore, I believe more focused, regional or case studies will yield better understandings of the lives that gay teachers lead at school. Until now, no other study had investigated the lives of gay teachers in West Central Florida. I decided to focus this study on male teachers who teach in secondary schools because I believe the lesbian experience at school differs to such a degree to warrant a separate study for them. I also believe that secondary teachers must confront controversial issues that are connected to the mandated curriculum and a more mature student audience that will be more apt to ask questions about those issues to a far greater extent than elementary school students. v The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of gay male teachers in West Central Florida and uncover their understandings of various key issues: the perceived impact of their sexual orientation on curricular decision-making, the perceived impact of their sexual orientation on classroom management, and their understandings of the perceived barriers to addressing homophobic language and coming out at school. After six months of conducting personal interviews, engaging in telephone conversations, and exchanging electronic mail messages with the seven participants in this study, my analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of ten themes: (1) gay- themed materials in the classroom, (2) interactions with students perceived to be gay, (3) separation of informants’ private lives from life at school, (4) informants’ perceptions of proper conduct by a gay male teacher, (5) challenges and problems faced by the informants at school, (6) informants’ understandings of how students use homophobic language, (7) informants’ use of humor in the classroom, (8) informants’ relationships and interactions with colleagues at school, (9) informants’ perceptions of the acceptance of gay male teachers, and (10) informants’ perceived special talents of gay male teachers. In the end, all seven informants shared their unique stories, but demonstrated some commonalities as well. All of them addressed gay-themed issues when they came up in class, all addressed homophobic language to some degree, and, with the exception of one individual, most agreed that it was best for gay male teachers to remain closeted at work, even if they personally wished that it could be different. I believe the one dissenting voice offers hope that at some time in the near future, gay male teachers will be able to be out at school despite the negative stereotypes that surround them. Further, the one dissenter demonstrated his ability to help all students better understand diversity, and his vi presence increases the possibility that someday teachers, administrators, and students will all be more open to accept the existence of and the performance of multiple forms of masculinity at school. vii Chapter 1 Introduction Statement of the Problem Modern day teachers face a wide range of challenges in their classrooms. In addition to teaching content, they must manage behaviors, meet deadlines, and attend to the needs of all stakeholders within the community, while simultaneously tackling the demands of standardized testing. For those teachers who are gay or perceived to be gay by their students and/or colleagues, these challenges take on new meaning. Not only must these teachers address the challenges noted above, but often they must also contend with various stereotypes and misconceptions, which may alter their teaching behaviors in the classroom in terms of the content they teach and the effectiveness of their classroom management procedures. Chief among these stereotypes is that gay teachers wish to recruit students to their “team” and push the gay agenda in the classroom. If gay teachers perceive that their administrators, colleagues, and/or students’ parents believe these stereotypes, they might fail to teach certain content on gay themes even if such content is appropriate for a given topic. This may result in an incomplete education for their students or, at minimum, an education that lacks nuance, completeness, and complexity. In addition, many people still hold onto the idea that gay people, especially men, are child molesters (Khayatt, 1997; Kissen, 1996; Renesenbrink, 1996; Rofes, 1989). In 1 today’s society, most teachers, male and female, gay and straight alike, understand that it is unwise to be alone in a classroom with a student for any reason, but the added pressure on gay male teachers to adhere to this unspoken rule often leaks into other areas of classroom interaction. In fact, gay teachers report that they often suffer strained relationships with students because of their efforts to remain at arms length in order to avoid any speculation that they might be attracted to their students (Sanlo, 1999).