Troubling the Teaching and Learning of Gender and Sexuality Diversity in South African Education

160 Pages·2017·1.771 MB·English

by  Dennis A. Francis (auth.)

TROUBLING THE
TEACHING AND
LEARNING OF
GENDER AND
SEXUALITY
DIVERSITY IN
SOUTH AFRICAN
EDUCATION
Dennis A. Francis
QQUUEEEERR Series Editors
SSTTUUDDIIEESS && William F. Pinar
EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN Nelson M. Rodriguez,
& Reta Ugena Whitlock
Queer Studies and Education
Series Editors
William   F. P inar
Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy
University of British Columbia
Vancouver ,   British Columbia, Canada
Nelson   M. R odriguez
Women’s & Gender Studies
The College of New Jersey
Ewing ,  New Jersey, USA
Reta   Ugena Whitlock
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw ,   Georgia, USA
LGBTQ social, cultural, and political issues have become a defi ning fea-
ture of twenty-fi rst century life, transforming on a global scale any number
of institutions, including the institution of education. Situated within the
context of these major transformations, this series is home to the most
compelling, innovative, and timely scholarship emerging at the intersec-
tion of queer studies and education. Across a broad range of educational
topics and locations, books in this series incorporate lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and intersex categories, as well as scholarship in queer theory
arising out of the postmodern turn in sexuality studies. The series is wide-
ranging in terms of disciplinary/theoretical perspectives and methodologi-
cal approaches, and will include and illuminate much needed intersectional
scholarship. Always bold in outlook, the series also welcomes projects that
challenge any number of normalizing tendencies within academic scholar-
ship from works that move beyond established frameworks of knowledge
production within LGBTQ educational research to works that expand the
range of what is institutionally defi ned within the fi eld of education as
relevant queer studies scholarship.
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/14522
Dennis   A .   Francis
Troubling the
Teaching and
Learning of Gender
and Sexuality
Diversity in South
African Education
Dennis   A.   Francis
Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology
Stellenbosch University ,
South Africa
Queer Studies and Education
ISBN 978-1-137-53026-4 ISBN 978-1-137-53027-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53027-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016954177
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 017
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
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material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Cover illustration: © Hisham Ibrahim / PhotoV / Alamy Stock Photo
Printed on acid-free paper
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The registered company is Nature America Inc.
The registered company address is: 1 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004, U.S.A.
A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Intellectual work is collective work and, over the last decade or so , many
colleagues and advisers shared in partnering, supporting and encourag-
ing me through the manuscript, especially Jean Baxen, Christa Beyers,
Anthony Brown, Renée DePalma, Jonathan Jansen, Pumla Gobodo-
Madikizela, John McAllister, Sechaba Mahlomaholo, Priscilla Mensah,
Lebo Moletsane, Thabo Msibi, Milton Nkoane, Rob Pattman, Kathleen
Pithouse-Morgan, Finn Reygan, Eric Richardson, Neil Roos, Michael
Samuel, Tammy Shefer, Hellene Strauss and Frans Swanepoel. Thank you
for your role in getting me to this current place.
We often forget to thank those we learn with and I would be remiss
if I did not thank my graduate students for the many conversations that
helped shape this book. My thanks to Sianne Abrahams, Melissa Barnes,
Paul Chappell, Carmen Chetty, Tamsyn Eccles, Stacy Johnson, Anock
Kapira, Gabriel Hoosain Khan, Busisiwe Madikizela, Lineo Mapethla,
Lungile Masinga, Percy Mdunge, Jabu Myeza, Marguerite Müller, Henry
Nichols, Fisani Shabalala, Eben Swanepoel, Glodean Thani, Philippa
Tumubweinee and Lesley Wright. You all rock!
The teachers and LGBT youth who generously gave of their time and
stories must remain anonymous and yet I am most thankful to them.
I must also thank the Fulbright for granting me a visiting scholar award
to New York University to complete the book.
I appreciate the hospitality extended to me at New York University
by Ann Pellegrini, Robert Campbell, Mike Funk and Monroe France.
Friends and family in the US who helped along the way include Paulette
Dalpes, Rajendra Chetty, Cris Beam, Neville Hoad, Gerardo Lopez, Rani
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Varghese, Zoë Francis, Tanya Williams, Jamie Washington, Samuel offer
and Kevin Kumashiro.
My greatest thanks and love are due to my partner, Emma, for her
insightful and supportive engagement.
This book was supported by a National Research Foundation Grant
(Competitive Program for Rated Researchers: CPRR13082330440)
and a National Research Foundation Grant (Education Research Grant
ERSA13110857621). The fi ndings and opinions expressed in the book
do not necessarily refl ect the position or policies of the NRF.
In the end, this book is dedicated to Kathy Obear, who introduced me
to the scholarship of gender and sexuality diversity. Kathy’s mentorship,
commitment, and endless support will always be remembered.
C
ONTENTS
Part I Introduction and Background 1
1 Introduction 3
2 Troubling Anti-Oppressive Education 1 9
3 Troubling the Research 33
Part II Troubling Compulsory Hetersosexuality 55
4 Troubling the Visibility and Invisibility of Non-Normative
Sexualities in Schools 5 7
5 Shifting Positions of Inclusion 7 1
6 Troubling the Agency-Victimhood Trope 8 9
7 Compulsory Heterosexuality 109
vii
viii CONTENTS
Part III Conclusion 135

8 Conclusion 1 37
Index 151
S E
ERIES DITORS
LGBTQ social, cultural, and political issues have become a defi ning fea-
ture of twenty-fi rst century life, transforming on a global scale any number
of institutions, including the institution of education. Situated within the
context of these major transformations, this series is home to the most
compelling, innovative, and timely scholarship emerging at the intersec-
tion of queer studies and education. Across a broad range of educational
topics and locations, books in this series incorporate lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and intersex categories, as well as scholarship in queer the-
ory arising out of the postmodern turn in sexuality studies. The series is
wide-ranging in terms of disciplinary/theoretical perspectives and meth-
odological approaches, and will include and illuminate much needed inter-
sectional scholarship. Always bold in outlook, the series also welcomes
projects that challenge any number of normalizing tendencies within aca-
demic scholarship—from works that move beyond established frameworks
of knowledge production within LGBTQ educational research to works
that expand the range of what is institutionally defi ned within the fi eld of
education as relevant queer studies scholarship.
William F. Pinar holds a Canada Research Chair at The University of
British Columbia (UBC). Before moving to UBC in 2005, Pinar taught
queer theory at Louisiana State University, where he served as the St.
Bernard Parish Alumni Endowed Professor. He has also served as the
Frank Talbott Professor at the University of Virginia and the A. Lindsay
O’Connor Professor of American Institutions at Colgate University. He
has lectured widely, including Harvard University, McGill University, and
the Universities of Chicago, Oslo, Tokyo, and Wisconsin-Madison.
ix