Publication Date

Fall 2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Education

Advisor

Robert Marx; Trudy Gross; Veneice Guillory-Lacy

Abstract

Scholarship shows that affinity groups are spaces of support, learning, and healthy career development that are responsive to the needs of a particular marginalized community. The concept of heteroprofessionalism– the implicit or explicit pressure/s queer educators feel to fit within the proverbial cisgender/heterosexual (cishet) box–is but one of a myriad issues and pressures affect queer educators across the nation. This study brings queer educators from one school district together to unpack their experiences through the lens of heteroprofessionalism. Via queer theory, qualitative, written response data was collected and subsequently analyzed in three, half-day sessions offered in spring 2024. Thirty participants examined their queer identities and reflected in smaller affinity spaces based on gender identity, specific orientation, and race/ethnicity. Our inventory of heteroprofessionalism shows that it does exist in our district, though mostly out of naïvety– if queer people barely know about this concept, then cishet people may not know when they might be inadvertently perpetuating it. My intention is that this will lead to ongoing Queer AF sessions in my district (with the ultimate goal of extending to neighboring districts in the county), furthering our educators’ sense of self and community.

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