‘Queer’ and ‘Teacher’ as Symbiosis? Exploring Absence and Presence in Discursive Space

Abstract

This chapter explores absences and presences in the narratives of queer men who work in the UK as educators in the 11-18 secondary phase of education. Implicit in the role of educator are professional skills enabling teachers to not merely be coaches or imparters of knowledge, but to be intimately involved in professional relationships with students and colleagues. Thus educational communities consist of a complex web of social relations in which individuals are profoundly exposed and implicated on a daily basis. This intense environment is a rich territory for considering queer absences and presences, particularly in terms of the discourses that enable and disable their expression.