Queering masculinities in male teachers’ lives

Abstract

In this chapter, I draw on queer theory to make sense of one prospective male teacher’s commitment to queering heterosexuality. The focus is on examining the motivations behind this teacher candidate’s commitment to queering masculinity and his straight teacher identity. The implications of this case study for queering masculinities in male teachers’ lives more broadly are outlined in relation to drawing out the pedagogical significance of embodying masculinity as a site for interrupting heteronormativity. It is argued that there is a need for teachers to be provided with access to a conceptual vocabulary and, hence, to queer analytic frameworks that are capable of illuminating the significance of the regulatory apparatus of heterosexuality and, thus, the extent to which sexual regimes draw limits and set boundaries for implementing pedagogical practices that are committed to equity and social justice.