Queer Teachers of Color Exploring and Developing Personal and Professional Identities

Abstract

This study utilized a theoretical lens based on and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) and Queer of Color Critique in Education (Brockenbrough, 2015) to examine the narratives of eight Queer Teachers of Color enrolled in a Queer Studies in Education course at a Minority-Serving Institution. A collaborative analysis of interviews with these teachers revealed shared and unique understandings about their own identities and their lived experiences within K-12 educational settings, based on their multiple socioculturally constructed identities. This study highlights the personal stories of QTOC and the importance of different learning modalities and demonstrates how self-reflection can be used to pass on knowledge to others in their surrounding community.These narratives encourage other collective work for instructional transformation.