“‘My Teacher is a Lesbian’ Coming Out at School” by Jody Sokolower
Rethinking Schools Volume 24, Number 2 (Winter 2010-2011) pg. 30-33.
Topic: A middle school teacher in the Bay area struggles with how/when it is appropriate to come out to her students and the politics of it all.
Summary: A lesbian teacher in the Bay area shares her story about how she has chosen to come out to her middle school students over the years of teaching. She shares stories about questions students have asked, backlash she has received from administration (and surprisingly – lack of backlash from parents), and the “unexpected benefits” of the entire process.
Intended audience: Teachers (Straight and LGBTQ), Administrators
Key Points:
- Coming out is difficult/controversial even in the Bay area.
- Being honest with your students can create a more dynamic classroom community where other issues can be discussed openly and respectfully.
- This is something that will be encountered no matter what district/school you are teaching in and it is important for schools to be a safe place for students and teachers. That being said, students and teachers should not share more than they are comfortable sharing.
Relevance: I thought this article was a good lead up to the conference we are going to tomorrow and it is relevant to me personally as well as to our upcoming cultural identity assignment for Learning Communities. I really liked the section about the “Identity Poster” to further explore the idea of my own cultural identity.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I am wondering how brave the teacher should be to tell her students that she is a lesbian. And I am thinking in what situation that the teacher told her story out in her classes. The article said that many teachers and parents supported her. And also the teacher said, "Being honest with your students can create a more dynamic classroom community where other issues can be discussed openly and respectfully." While reading this, I was kind of doubt if there were more people support or more against. I am on the against side. In my personal opinion, some people might say the teacher is open to the important things in life. But I would say students, who are uncertain whether they are homosexual or not, might be encouraged by her to be homosexual. This is like people from church persuade people who don't believe in God to be a Christian. She can talk about her story in sex class, but not in usual classes. This is not a discrimination to the homosexual people, but talking about in this specific situation if the teacher should talk about her personal life to students in usual classes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your opinion on this :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if your idea has changed at all after the conference we attended on LGBT issues?
You mention liken this teacher sharing part of her life with her students with a Christian trying to convert nonbelievers. For me, I don't see this as the case at all. Does this mean that if a heterosexual teacher tells her class that she is married and she and her husband have a child, she is attempting to encourage all students in the class to be heterosexual? I believe that it is important for a teacher to be able to answer questions such as, "Are you married?" honestly and openly with her class. That being said, this article hits very close to home for me. I still have not decided how I will answer that question when a student asks. Even though I think that a teacher should be able to answer these types of questions honestly, not all schools (due to administration, parents, etc.) are a safe space for LGBT teachers (or students as we heard at the conference).
I disagree that she should only be allowed to share this part of her life in a sex ed class. As part of her curriculum, she has students design identity posters to share with the class - like our cultural autobiography. Her partner and daughter are a big part of her life and her identity. It would not be fair to her to leave that out of her identity poster. If she were answering questions about sex, I would definitely agree that it is not the appropriate venue. However, the article mentions that she only answers questions that she finds respectful and appropriate.
I'm very curious about what other people think on this topic... what should I say if my students ask me if I'm married?