LE3 .A278 2022

2022

Surette, Tanya

Acadia University

Master of Education

Masters

Counselling

Education

This study engaged narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of four queer educators in Nova Scotia’s education system. Grounded in critical, minority stress, and queer theories, this research was guided by the curiosity: “What are the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ educators in Nova Scotia?” While a gap remains in research examining the experiences of queer educators, the peer-reviewed erudition is not currently documenting the revolution of social systems that are happening through activism and the revolutions that continue to happen despite the lack of representation in academia. Participants, selected using an intersectional process, were interviewed twice and invited to speak to their lived experiences as queer educators in Nova Scotia. Three large themes emerged in the thematic analysis from the interview data that collectively revealed what queer educators have been experiencing across time and geography in their positions as educators in the education system. They shared the impact of the supports, the work, and the microaggressions they experience. Tokenistic experiences were continual in their emergence in the thematic analysis; the queer educators are taking on more responsibilities due to their membership to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community outside of their job description. They highlighted the impact of hegemonic influence and how microaggressions have been given to the queer educators, without ask, and how they are experiencing them firsthand, vicariously, and through institutions that are upheld by the status-quo of heterosexism and cisgenderism. The queer educators have ideas for how they would like the future to look and what can be done to support their existence in a system that currently is not made for them to thrive. The participants’ stories contained within the unique findings and thematic analyses offer insights and opportunities for transformation that would be beneficial to the education system and those currently within it and those aspiring to join it. This thesis will capture the findings of this research that give invitation to consider ways for educational systems and individuals to interrupt ongoing instances of harm, continue practices that are affirming, and create more than a superficial existence of performative allyship.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3871