Schools as Queer Transformative Spaces

Global Narratives on Sexualities and Gender

Jón Ingvar Kjaran, Helen Sauntson, Jón Ingvar Kjaran, Helen Sauntson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351028806
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book explores the narratives and experiences of LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming students around the world. Much previous research has focused on homophobic/transphobic bullying and the negative consequences of expressing non-heterosexual and non-gender-conforming identities in school environments. To date, less attention has been paid to what may help LGBTQ+ students to experience school more positively, and relatively little has been done to compare research across the global contexts. This book addresses these research gaps by bringing together ongoing research from countries including Brazil, China, South Africa, the UK and many more.

Each chapter examines results of empirical research into school experiences of LGBTQ+ students, and the experiences and perspectives of teachers and parents. All contributions are theoretically informed by aspects of queer theory and/or critical feminist theory, with additional insights from psychological, sociological and linguistic perspectives. Contributing chapters consider how educational workers may question socially sanctioned concepts of normality in relation to gender and sexuality in ways that benefit all students, and how they can 'queer' schools to make them less oppressive in terms of gender and sexuality.

Expertly written and researched, this book is an invaluable resource for researchers, policymakers and students in the fields of education, sociology, gender studies and anyone with an interest in gender and sexuality studies.

Part I

Educators and curriculum developers

1 Creating a queer counter-space in high schools in Iceland and South Africa

A drama-inspired pedagogical approach

Jón Ingvar Kjaran, Dennis Francis and Aðalsteinn Haukstein Oddsson

Introduction

Studies have shown that globally the dominant sexuality discourses in schools are predominantly heteronormative and that queer students often experience marginalisation and discrimination (Epstein, 1994; Mayo, 2013). Furthermore, textbooks and classroom curricula rarely address these issues and topics (see Blackburn, 2003; Ferfolja, 2007). This is in stark contrast to the progressive laws and regulations for the protection and rights of LGBTQ+ people that have been introduced during the last decades in many countries, particularly in the global North (as discussed in the Introduction to this book). Iceland and South Africa are no exception to this rule. Both countries have been depicted as progressive in terms of LGBTQ+ rights. However, schools in these countries have not followed suit, and in fact, there is a gap between a progressive society on the one hand and more conservative schools on the other hand in terms of including discussion and education about sexuality and gender diversity (Francis, 2017a, 2017b; Kjaran & Jóhannesson, 2013). Teachers often lack skills and knowledge of how to include LGBTQ+ themes in the classroom curriculum (DePalma & Francis, 2014).¹ Moreover, the National Curriculum in these countries has few references to education for queer students and about sexuality and gender diversity in general. In Iceland, the National Curriculum (NC) Guide for Upper Secondary Schools (2011) mentions queer and gender studies as possible subjects to be taught in high schools but is not explicit on how to deliver that kind of education. It, therefore, leaves it open to individual schools and teachers how to interpret these provisions in the NC and to decide whether this kind of education should be offered. The South African NC for Upper Secondary Schools is silent about LGBTQ+ topics, but the South African Schools Act (Department of Education, 1996), which draws on a human rights discourse promulgated by the progressive post-apartheid constitution, stipulates equality and non-discrimination in terms of gender and sexuality diversity. Despite South Africa not having an explicit NC policy that addresses gender and sexuality diversity, the South African constitution and Schools Act signal a commitment to the non-discrimination of queer LGBTQ+ in schools. These macro policies leave open the possibility for some teachers to interpret it as to include LGBTQ+ themes into their classroom curriculum.

In our view, these provisions in the law and the NC, both in Iceland and South Africa, provide options for teaching about queer topics. The study presented in this chapter focuses on the ways in which LGBTQ+-themed education can produce a queer counter-space in schools by using theatre work/drama. Drama/theatre has long been used as a forum to integrate pedagogy and activism. As queer teachers and activists for gender equality and social justice, we explore the utility of this integration for raising awareness of homophobia and schooling in each national context. We specifically draw on Fraser’s (1990) and Warner’s (2002) conceptualisations of counter-publics and Boal’s (1995) writings on the Theatre of the Oppressed. Fraser (1990, p. 67) explains counter-publics as ‘parallel discursive arenas where members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate counter-discourses to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests and needs’. Warner (2002) has emphasised that counter-publics are also imagined spaces which in principle are the same kind of spaces as publics but are characterised by their tension with the larger public, because of its resistive and often marginalised nature. According to Warner (2002, p. 56), ‘Discussion within such a public is understood to contravene the rules obtaining in the world at large, being structured by alternative dispositions or protocols, making different assumptions about what can be said or what goes without saying’. For Warner, the concept of a counter-public has a wider resonance and can be used to form new identities and worldviews within school settings.

Counter-publics can therefore be understood as transformative discursive spaces where counter-knowledges can be cultivated through critical engagement with the dominant norms and contexts of the cultural environment (Warner, 2002). It is in that sense that we use the concept of counter-publics in this chapter within educational settings (see Britzman, 1995; Kumashiro, 2000). We argue that through drama/theatre, new discursive spaces can be produced within the classroom with the potential of troubling education. In that respect we draw on socio-dramatic theories of Augusto Boal (1995), arguing that through the Theatre of the Oppressed (see next section), a transformative space of possibilities can be produced. Within that particular space, counter-public spaces are created where the students/participants take part in creating something new and finding solutions to societal problems. In other words, they start to see and understand the world from the viewpoint of others, in our case from those that are oppressed and marginalised based on sexuality.

We draw on ethnographic research in different high schools in Iceland and South Africa with the aim of exploring how the students who participated in the Boalean drama workshop sessions experienced it, and whether their attitudes (ways of thinking) towards sexuality and gender diversity changed during the sessions. We also discuss whether the sessions created some kind of queer/transformative counter-space, in which the prevailing (hetero)norms are questioned and/or disturbed. Our aim here is not to generate a comparison between Iceland and South Africa. Rather, it seeks to contribute to the development of international studies by bringing together the research, insights and debates in South Africa and Iceland with each other on how theatre work/drama can be used to respond to heterosexism, homophobia and discrimination in schools, and hence create a supportive and inclusive school environment for all students.

Critical pedagogy, social change, and the Theatre of the Oppressed

Critical pedagogy has its roots in the philosophy of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. In 1970 he published his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, arguing that education and teaching is always connected to politics, and that knowledge transmission is never a neutral activity. In fact, knowledge is produced and controlled by the ruling elite (the oppressor), which through the education system maintains their hegemony and power in the society. Thus, the goal of Freirean critical pedagogy is emancipation from oppression through an awakening of the critical consciousness (conscientização). When achieved, critical consciousness encourages individuals (the oppressed) to effect change in their world through social critique and political action (Freire, 1970). Boal was inspired by Freire’s work and educational philosophy, which he used to develop a new approach to theatre, called Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). In line with Freire’s (1970) consciousness-raising approaches, Boal’s (1992, 1995) TO addresses oppression by focusing on image, sound, as well as tearing down the invisible wall between the performers and the audience. Forum Theatre (FT), a participatory improvised theatre form, is one of the TO’s approaches that aim at raising consciousness, as well as enabling debate and critical reflection. This theatre form also encourages a democratic form of knowledge production that engages the audience in their own learning and unlearning. In FT, Boal (1995) repositions the audience as ‘spect-actors’ or active participants who raise consciousness about how oppression works and who enact scenarios that challenge antagonists and oppressive dynamics to create a more socially just environment. The ‘joker’ or facilitator in Boal’s (1979) FT engages the spect-actors in thinking of and performing scenarios that offer solutions to challenge the antagonists. This participatory process enables participants to enact and engage with issues rather than ignore opposing arguments. Although spect-actors, as individual agents, and the joker have the potential to determine the flow of the scenes, the emphasis of FT is on social learning. As Boal (1992) argues, FT is a participatory form where the audience and the actors learn together; they are not passive recipients. FT supports learning and offers multiple positions and solutions rather than precise and single answers to oppression and other social issues.

Another form of Boalean TO is Image Theatre (IT), where the participants shape each other’s body, using them as ‘clay’. IT is a tool for social change that includes many exercises that all aim to unveil social views and values. It is often used to explore internal or external oppression, unconscious thoughts and feelings. A certain concept or theme is used to ‘shape’ three-dimensional images, or statues based on the existence, feelings and experiences associated with oppression and social factors that have a restrictive effect on an individual’s thoughts. However, the work is never stable—images are simply the beginning of discussions that evolve in the process. One exercise of the IT is called ‘Cops in the Head’, which symbolises the social values and moral controls that influence us daily. The ‘cop’, according to Boal, could be a family member, peers, teachers, the media or the discourses within society. Boal adds that if individuals agree to particular social values and moral controls, it would be important to determine where the ‘cops’ came from to deal with the rhetoric that had a negative impact on individuals. The aim is to learn to identify and transform the rhetoric and social factors that have oppressive effects on the freedom of individuals. Boal argues that the person should learn to perceive the cops in the head and understand the true nature of them, and then find out what to do. Boal believes that with this method, participants reaffirm their understanding of social views, traditions and values (Boal, 1995).

Various scholars who have studied or used drama in education have pointed out the benefits of using Boal’s method, believing that it is a successful way of working towards equality within society (Fischer, 2002; Neelands & Nelson, 2013; Twomey, 2005). Neelands and Nelson (2013) emphasise that TO is an effective way of promoting gender equality among students. The methods facilitate understanding of social barriers and bring experience into the classroom. They add that by investigating the unequal distribution of power, students can develop a willingness to have a positive impact on their community as well as an understanding of power and an ability to make use of it.

In the following sections we discuss examples of how the use of TO-inspired curriculum raised consciousness about discrimination based on sexuality and enabled the young people in the Icelandic and South African high school studies to take social action within the safety of the classroom by participating in a Boalean TO, giving them the opportunity to influence the play and its outcome. Our data consists of interviews with high school students from Iceland and South Africa, field notes and a research diary. All the interviews were conducted by the authors, transcribed and analysed with the help of thematic analysis. In the next sections, we present findings from each study in the form of analytic vignettes in which we reflect on the use of TO to queer and transform school spaces in each context. In the vignettes, we draw on the ethnographic field notes and diary data. In the subsequent section, we focus in more detail on the findings from the interviews with the young people who participated in the projects.

Anti-oppressive education through Boalean drama workshops in Icelandic and South African high schools

Analytic vignette 1: understanding the pink holocaust in an Icelandic high school

Participants comprised 27 students in addition to one teacher and the third author, Aðalsteinn Oddsson. Aðalsteinn directed four lessons in a course on the history of the Holocaust, of which the topic during these lessons was about the so-called pink holocaust. Aðalsteinn wrote a drama scene for the research, based on the book The Men with the Pink Triangle. Two one-on-one interviews were conducted as well as a group interview with seven participants. These interviews were used to explore how the students experienced the lessons.

In the lessons three different methods were used: Forum Theatre, Image Theatre and a learning process that was given the name the three circles. Students were divided into five groups, with about five to six members in each one. To begin with students worked with the three circles, a learning process, which was adjusted from the Stanislavski System, which is a method that has been widely used in theatre (see e.g. Benedetti, 2013). With the three circles and participation of students in TO, the main goal was to encourage them to identify unwanted reactions and ill-considered use of words, train their intuition and promote critical awareness about discrimination and privileges of others. The goal of using the three circles was to get students to explore the main characters in the hope of gaining a deeper insight to their mind-set and social world as well as helping them to put themselves in the characters’ shoes. Emphasis was placed on exploring the dominant racial ideology and views about homosexuality at the time of the Third Reich and various systems that affect the expectations, desires and behaviour of individuals; students were encouraged to critically examine the story behind the characters and the environment in which the story occurs.

The outermost circle contained issues pertaining to the dominant worldview of that time period (see Figure 1.1)—the social and cultural values, attitudes towards gender roles, masculinity and femininity, religion, sexuality, different classes and groups, and which individuals and groups had most influences. The middle circle was thought of as a support for the background story with regard to the main characters, sex, age, race, gender, family, class, political views, religion, education and health. Those factors that shape the character...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of contributors
• Introduction: schools as queer transformative spaces
• Part I Educators and curriculum developers
• Part II Queer youth and school experiences
• Part III Parents
• Index