Citation: Gosse, D. (2005, August 24). My arts-informed narrative inquiry into
homophobia in elementary schools as a supply teacher. International Journal of
Education and the Arts, 6(7). Retrieved [date] from http://www.ijea.org/v6n7/.
Abstract
Using fiction writing techniques, such as the creation of
composite characters and scenarios gathered from data collection and
the author’s tacit knowledge, this narrative teacher inquiry illustrates
how anti-homophobia education might unfold in an elementary school.
The art of yarning or storytelling is explored as an effective tool to
confront homophobia with elementary school students and teachers.
The author manipulates tone and style to create a bridge between the
academy and the public, especially reaching out to teacher candidates
and practicing teachers to share his insights and imagined possibilities.
This research draws from poststructural sensibilities, challenging binary
systems of gay-straight and male-female, exploring how accepted
heterosexist and misandrous knowledge and social beliefs are
constructed and upheld, and ultimately soliciting questionings so that
status quo assumptions may be ruptured. In this supply teacher’s
fictional narrative, the imagination is celebrated as a provocative mode
of artful educational inquiry.