University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations Dissertations and Theses August 2015 Reading Queerly in the High School Classroom: Exploring a Gay and Lesbian Literature Course Kirsten Helmer University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2 Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Other Education Commons, Reading and Language Commons, and the Secondary Education and Teaching Commons Recommended Citation Helmer, Kirsten, "Reading Queerly in the High School Classroom: Exploring a Gay and Lesbian Literature Course" (2015). Doctoral Dissertations. 366. https://doi.org/10.7275/6858577.0 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/366 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. READING QUEERLY IN THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM: EXPLORING A GAY AND LESBIAN LITERATURE COURSE A Dissertation Presented By KIRSTEN HELMER Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION May 2015 College of Education © Copyright by Kirsten Helmer 2015 All Rights Reserved Reading Queerly in the High School Classroom: Exploring a Gay and Lesbian Literature Course A Dissertation Presented By KIRSTEN HELMER Approved as to style and content by: ___________________________________________________ Maria José Botelho, Chairperson ___________________________________________________ Denise K. Ives, Member ___________________________________________________ Angela Willey, Member ______________________________________ Christine B. McCormick, Dean College of Education DEDICATION To the women who made this work possible: Wendy, my wonderful, loving and supportive wife and soulmate. Sara, my inspiration, who opened her classroom and her work to me. Linda, my dear friend, without whom I would not even be in the United States. My Mutti, Ingetraud, who taught me about the strength of women, who gave me a love of learning, and showed me the value of being a teacher. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation presents a story of a curriculum. It also presents my continuing journey of becoming a critically engaged education scholar. This dissertation story became only possible through the social and intellectual engagement with and support of the many people who accompanied me on this journey and contributed to the story. I would like to extend special acknowledgments and my deepest gratitude to the following people: To Maria José Botelho, chair of my dissertation committee, invaluable mentor, and friend who was part of this journey from the beginning. Thank you for inviting me to your house for our doctoral gatherings that made me appreciate so much being part of a scholarly community. Thank you for our long conversations that challenged and pushed my thinking. When I doubted myself, you believed in me and offered warmest support. You not only allowed me but encouraged me to make this dissertation narrative my own. To Angie Willey, member of my dissertation committee, who focused my studies, asking me “What’s at stake for you? - a question that has ever since guided my inquiries. Thank you, for challenging my thinking and contributing valuable feedback. You always encouraged me to disrupt my own thinking. To Denise Ives, member of my dissertation committee, who taught me how to conduct ethnographic research. Thank you, for your support and invaluable insights on how to go about analyzing and interpreting the incredible amount of empirical materials that come with qualitative research. To Barbara Madeloni, invaluable mentor and friend, who unfortunately could not be a member of my dissertation committee because she was forced to leave for standing up for her convictions. Thank you, for teaching me lessons about learning and teaching and that we always need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. I would not be the person, educator and scholar that I am today without you. v To Jasmine Robinson and Marsha Jing-Li Liaw, my extended family and dearest friends who always stood by me and believed in me. Sitting in our yard or at Mission Cantina, you listened and contributed your thoughts and ideas. Without your love and support, this dissertation journey would not have been possible. To Linda Neas, dearest friend, who always offers me words of love, support, and wisdom. Had it not been for your intervention, I would not even have been able to come to the United States and begin my scholarly journey at the College of Education. And an added thanks to her partner, Roger, whose friendship also keeps me sustained. To Katie Lazdowski, Jen Cannon, Sonji Johnson-Anderson, and Margaret Felis, my dear graduate student colleagues and friends who have accompanied me on this long journey. Without your social support and intellectual nourishment, I could not have done this. To Kathleen Baldwin and Lisha Storey, Co-Directors and facilitators of the Dissertation Writing Retreat, who provided me with invaluable tips for writing strategies and feedback on my work. Working with you allowed me to push past a point in my writing when I felt completely stuck. To the members of my Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies writing group, Sonny Nordmarken, Nicole Young, and Sarah Miller, who gave me great feedback on my writing. To Elisa Campbell, Office of Information Technologies, who saved my sanity by helping me format this dissertation. To Stacie Tate, who taught the Introduction to Multicultural Education class that afforded me the opportunity to begin my inquiry into LGBTQ topics in education. To all my professors who have inspired me to become a critical education scholar, in particular: Laura Valdiviezo, Ximena Zuñiga, Theresa Austin, Barbara Love, and Art Keene. To Netania Shapiro and her students who allowed me to explore a gay and lesbian- themed curriculum for the first time when I conducted the pilot study for this dissertation project in their class. vi To the students in the Gay and Lesbian Literature class, spring trimester 2013, who allowed me to become a part of their class, who allowed me to record their voices and collect their work, and who shared with me their thoughts. To Sara, creator and teacher of the Gay and Lesbian Literature class and friend, who invited me into her life work and who was incredibly supportive throughout this dissertation project. You are an inspiration to me! I will forever be deeply grateful for allowing me to write this story about your curriculum and class. My deepest thanks go to you! To Florian, my wonderful son, who has inspired me to look not only to the needs and struggles of LGBTQ-identifying children and youth but also to those who are othered because they have LGBTQ parents. This dissertation is for you, as a COLAGER (People with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer parents) and as a straight ally, who is committed to social justice change. Thank you, for showing me that LGBTQ issues are important for everyone! To Dominik, my second wonderful son, who is a COLAGER, a gay young man, and one of Sara’s students who took the Gay and Lesbian Literature class. Without you, this dissertation project might not even have happened. Through you, I learned about Sara’s class in the first place. You allowed me to interview you and use your writings. Your words that conclude this dissertation powerfully speak to the importance of Sara’s class. This dissertation is for you and all the other LGBTQ kids that have a right to find their lives represented, and their needs and concerns met in their school spaces. Thank you, for becoming a part of this dissertation! To Wendy, my wonderful loving wife and soulmate, who changed my life and without whom I would not be who I am today and who did not just accompany me on this dissertation journey but was a huge part of it. I cannot count the hours that we spent together talking about all the things that make up this dissertation story. Many of the thoughts expressed in this narrative are really our thoughts. Always asking me, “What’s your point?” and reminding me that this dissertation wants to inform the praxis of educators, challenged me to write in ways that are hopefully accessible. You read, edited and provided feedback on the complete dissertation in vii writing and talking. I could not have done this without you! I cannot express in words how much I am indebted to you for all your love and support. I love you! And lastly, to Kira, my kitty, for fueling me and being my constant companion during the lonely hours of writing. viii ABSTRACT READING QUEERLY IN THE HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASSROOM: EXPLORING A GAY AND LESBIAN LITERATURE COURSE MAY 2015 KIRSTEN HELMER, B.A., BERUFSAKADEMIE MANNHEIM, GERMANY M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Ed. D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Maria José Botelho The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how teaching an English literature curriculum centered on the stories, experiences, cultures, histories, and politics of LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) people constitutes a meaningful site for teaching and learning in a high school classroom. The dissertation offers insights on how the teaching of LGBTQI-themed texts in English language arts classes can be reframed by bridging the goals, practices and conceptual tools of queer theory to critical literacies teaching. The project follows principles of critical qualitative research and employs an ethnographic case study approach with the purpose of transforming educational praxis. The study was conducted in an elective English literature class titled Gay and Lesbian Literature available to juniors and seniors at a public high school in Western New England.