Reframing queer teacher professionalism : a critical ethnography of queer teacher's experiences in Canadian schools
Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This critical ethnographic study examined how queer K-12 and adult education (non-post-secondary) teachers across Canada navigate heteronormative professionalism. The research investigated how these educators conceptualize professional identity and challenge institutional expectations that marginalize non-normative identities within schools. While many faced discrimination, professional isolation, and institutional silencing that forced extensive self-monitoring behaviors, others thrived within supportive administrative environments and queer colleague networks. Teachers employed diverse resistance strategies to disrupt traditional school hierarchies. Rather than viewing their queerness as a professional liability, participants positioned it as a pedagogical resource that enhanced their teaching effectiveness. They deployed agentic professionalism to challenge traditional forms of normalizing power. Findings demonstrate that supportive environmental conditions create important impacts on teacher agency. The research suggests that fostering inclusive schools requires systemic interventions including administrative education and development of supportive professional communities. The research indicates that supporting queer teachers’ authentic professional practice benefits entire school communities through enhanced pedagogical innovation and expanded possibilities for educational transformation.
Source: StFX Scholar
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7208472649