Problematising intersectionality, allyship and queer pedagogy in TESOL Down Under: A trio-ethnographic approach (19957)
Research exploring gender, sexuality and identity in English Language education has demonstrated the exciting potential for LGBTQIA+ inclusive education approaches in a variety of sociopolitical and culturally specific contexts (e.g., Banegas, 2020; Nelson, 2009; Paiz, 2018; Trinh, 2021). Despite the promising work established by queer educators and allies in the Global North and South, research inquiry relating to queering pedagogies in education has been scarce in the Australian context, let alone TESOL and foreign language education. Ironically, Australia is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) countries on Earth and yet Anglo-Australian colonial settler culture retains its pervasive hold over our social, cultural, and educational discourses, severely limiting critical pedagogical transformation at all levels of education.
Through a critical ethnographic lens, three educators intersecting Applied Linguistics, TESOL and Social Science explore their intersectional identities and lived experiences across ally, queer, Western and CaLD perspectives in this presentation. Bringing their subjective positions to the fore along with their racial, linguistic, religious, pracademic and sexual identities, they initiate both their own and three-way ‘soul-searching’ dialogues by being honest with their understandings, experiences, and concerns with queer pedagogical practices in (language) education in Australia and beyond. Whilst some of the conversations could expose ‘dark sides’ of their own teaching practices, they deem the process integral to helping them better understand who they really are as (queer) educators and allies. Through critical queer pedagogy (Mayo & Rodriguez, 2019; Seal, 2019), they critically problematise the paucity of LGBTQIA+ inclusive education currently exercised in Australia, and how they can build empathy, respect, and inclusion in ESOL classrooms whilst raising awareness of intersectionality and allyship. The dynamic trio envisions that this process will enable them to collectively develop lesson episodes for supporting ESOL learners with language development through utilising critical and creative pedagogies.
