And They Were Wonderful Teachers: Florida's Purge of Gay and Lesbian Teachers is a history of state oppression of gay and lesbian citizens during the Cold War and the dynamic set of responses it ignited. Focusing on Florida's purge of gay and lesbian teachers from 1956 to 1965, this study explores how the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, commonly known as the Johns Committee, investigated and discharged dozens of teachers on the basis of sexuality. Karen L. Graves details how teachers were targeted, interrogated, and stripped of their professional credentials, and she examines the extent to which these teachers resisted the invasion of their personal lives. She contrasts the experience of three groups--civil rights activists, gay and lesbian teachers, and University of South Florida personnel--called before the committee and looks at the range of response and resistance to the investigations. Based on archival research conducted on a recently opened series of Investigation Committee records in the State Archives of Florida, this work highlights the importance of sexuality in American and education history and argues that Florida's attempt to govern sexuality in schools implies that educators are distinctly positioned to transform dominant ideology in American society.

Teachers, in general, are hired to conform with set values of the community which hires them. They are expected to reflect conventions which correspond with an ideological model of behavior sanctioned by the state and by the community in which they work. In a publicly funded educational system, not only are teachers expected to transmit dominant ideologies, but, as representatives of the state, they are assumed to embody the dominant values of the society which hires them. The notion of lesbian teachers inevitably contradicts mainstream assumptions about female teachers--women whose image stereotypically corresponds with and implicitly conveys traditional female "virtues" of purity, dedication, and nurturance. Using an analysis that combines feminist concepts of patriarchy with Gramsci's notion of hegemony, this book is an institutional ethnography which begins from the standpoint of lesbian teachers, but, at the same time, locates their experiences in the immediate social organization from which they arise and which gives them meaning. Through intensive interviews with nineteen lesbian teachers, Khayatt explores these womens' lives as they themselves describe them: How do they conceal their sexuality? How do lesbian teachers cope in the classroom? How do they deal with their perceived need to live a double life? To whom do they come out? Why do they feel unsafe to be out despite the potential protection of legal rights? And, finally, what would they stand to lose if found out?

How do gay and lesbian teachers negotiate their professional and sexual identities at work, given that these identities are constructed as mutually exclusive, even as mutually opposed? Using interviews and other ethnographic materials from Texas and California, School’s Out explores how teachers struggle to create a classroom persona that balances who they are and what’s expected of them in a climate of pervasive homophobia. Catherine Connell’s examination of the tension between the rhetoric of gay pride and the professional ethic of discretion insightfully connects and considers complicating factors, from local law and politics to gender privilege. She also describes how racialized discourses of homophobia thwart challenges to sexual injustices in schools. Written with ethnographic verve, School’s Out is essential reading for specialists and students of queer studies, gender studies, and educational politics.

Based on a qualitative research study of gay and lesbian teachers, Unmasking Identities explores how these educators negotiated their gay and teacher identities in a climate where the two have historically been pitted against each other. This process of integrating their sexual identities with their roles as teachers was impelled and impeded by several factors, including community atmosphere, school culture, and family status. Janna M. Jackson demonstrates that these gay and lesbian teachers made direct and indirect connections between their experiences related to being gay or lesbian and their classroom practices of creating safety, promoting social justice, and building on students' understandings. This unique book explores what happens when identities are oppressed and suppressed and the consequences when they finally break free. Unmasking Identities provides theoretical understandings and practical advice for teachers, administrators, and policymakers who are concerned about gay and lesbian issues. This engaging text will appeal to those interested in gender studies and issues in education. Book jacket.

Gay and lesbian teachers have traditionally dwelt in the deepest of closets. But increasing numbers of young people are now served by teachers who are out and proud. Here, for the first time, educators from all regions of the country tell about their struggles and victories, as they have put their own careers at risk in their fight for justice.

Teachers, in general, are hired to conform with set values of the community which hires them. They are expected to reflect conventions which correspond with an ideological model of behavior sanctioned by the state and by the community in which they work. In a publicly funded educational system, not only are teachers expected to transmit dominant ideologies, but, as representatives of the state, they are assumed to embody the dominant values of the society which hires them. The notion of lesbian teachers inevitably contradicts mainstream assumptions about female teachers—women whose image stereotypically corresponds with and implicitly conveys traditional female "virtues" of purity, dedication, and nurturance. Using an analysis that combines feminist concepts of patriarchy with Gramsci's notion of hegemony, this book is an institutional ethnography which begins from the standpoint of lesbian teachers, but, at the same time, locates their experiences in the immediate social organization from which they arise and which gives them meaning. Through intensive interviews with nineteen lesbian teachers, Khayatt explores these womens' lives as they themselves describe them: How do they conceal their sexuality? How do lesbian teachers cope in the classroom? How do they deal with their perceived need to live a double life? To whom do they come out? Why do they feel unsafe to be out despite the potential protection of legal rights? And, finally, what would they stand to lose if found out?

Roberta 'Bobby' Blanchard is crushed when an accident forces her to leave the glamorous world of professional field hockey. Little does she know that in her new job as Games Mistress at Metamora Academy, she will unearth more than one girl's hidden abilities and spur some ardent rivalry between pupils and teachers, both on and off the hockey field. With a fearsome field hockey team to build and the suspicious death of the former Maths Mistress to solve, Bobby Blanchard has her hands full. And along the way, she might also just learn some thrilling lessons about love...

Lori Horvit'z short stories, poetry, and creative nonfiction have appeared in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. Horvitz, the recipient of an M.F.A. in creative writing from Brooklyn College, and a Ph.D. in English from SUNY Albany, she has been awarded writing fellowships from Yaddo, Ragdale, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Blue Mountain Center, Cottages at Hedgebrook, and Fundaci=n Valparaiso. She is Associate Professor of Literature and Language at UNC-Asheville, where she teaches courses in creative writing, literature, and women's studies. --Book Jacket.

The Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies surveys the field in some 470 entries on individuals (Adrienne Rich); arts and cultural studies (Dance); ethics, religion, and philosophical issues (Monastic Traditions); historical figures, periods, and ideas (Germany between the World Wars); language, literature, and communication (British Drama); law and politics (Child Custody); medicine and biological sciences (Health and Illness); and psychology, social sciences, and education (Kinsey Report).

Teacher identity is shaped by recognition or its absence, often by misrecognition of others. Recognition as a teacher, or the strong and complex identification with one’s professional culture and community, is necessary for a positive sense of self. Increasingly, teachers are entering educational settings where difference connotes not equal, better/worse, or having more/less power over resources. Differences between discourses of identity are braided at many points with a discourse of racism, both interpersonal and structural. Teacher Identity and the Struggle for Recognition examines the nature of identity and recognition as social, cultural, and political constructs. In particular, the contributing authors to the book present discussions of the professional work necessary in teacher preparation programs concerned with preparing teachers for the complexities of teaching in schools that mirror an increasingly diverse society. Importantly, the authors illuminate many of the often problematic structures of schooling and the cultural politics that work to define one’s identity – drawing into specific relief the nature of the struggle for recognition that all face who choose to entering teaching as a profession.