'Everything They Think They Know, They Should Forget': How Trans School Workers Respond to Transphobic Discourses
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| Title: | 'Everything They Think They Know, They Should Forget': How Trans School Workers Respond to Transphobic Discourses |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Lee Iskander (ORCID |
| Source: | Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 2025 46(4):536-549. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 14 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Early Childhood Education Preschool Education Elementary Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Transgender People, Resilience (Psychology), Barriers, Social Bias, Individual Characteristics, Experience, Preschool Education, Elementary Secondary Education, Foreign Countries, LGBTQ People, Teacher Characteristics, Teachers, Self Concept, Work Environment, School Personnel, Social Attitudes |
| Geographic Terms: | Canada, United States |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01596306.2024.2431026 |
| ISSN: | 0159-6306 1469-3739 |
| Abstract: | This article explores how trans school employees redeploy, trouble, challenge, and refuse prevalent discourses about transness and education. Drawing from interviews with 100 school workers in Canada and the United States, we employ Coleman's (2023) concept of 'narrative repair' to consider participants' responses to an interview question asking what they would like the public to know about their workplace experiences. We show that workers in our study primarily drew from four overarching narratives about the relationship between their transness and their work in schools: 1) trans school workers face increased difficulty; 2) trans school workers have unique strengths; 3) trans school workers are no different from other school workers; and 4) the experiences of trans school workers defy narrativization. Our findings deepen understandings of how broader cultural discourses influence how teachers narrativize their professional experiences. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1485950 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | This article explores how trans school employees redeploy, trouble, challenge, and refuse prevalent discourses about transness and education. Drawing from interviews with 100 school workers in Canada and the United States, we employ Coleman's (2023) concept of 'narrative repair' to consider participants' responses to an interview question asking what they would like the public to know about their workplace experiences. We show that workers in our study primarily drew from four overarching narratives about the relationship between their transness and their work in schools: 1) trans school workers face increased difficulty; 2) trans school workers have unique strengths; 3) trans school workers are no different from other school workers; and 4) the experiences of trans school workers defy narrativization. Our findings deepen understandings of how broader cultural discourses influence how teachers narrativize their professional experiences. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0159-6306 1469-3739 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01596306.2024.2431026 |
