SHH, Don't Speak: The Act of Overcoming Silencing and Empowering Acts of Education

Authors

James Coda, University of GeorgiaFollow
Margaret Robbins, University of GeorgiaFollow

Abstract

Silencing appears in various avenues – classroom interactions amongst the teacher and student, hospital situations, gender/sexual identities, bullying, mental health struggles, and other forms, thus relegating individuals to the margins. This paper utilizes queer theory and critical race feminism to examine how dis(abilities) are positioned in relation to normative societal structures. Through the methodological approaches of autoethnography and narrative inquiry, we examine our stories of marginalization and silencing that have occurred in various facets of our lives. For the field of education, these stories can provide a means for other educators to invoke self-reflection on classroom practice as a way of disrupting dominant discourses that foster marginalization and silencing of students.

Keywords

Autoethnography, Education, Queer Theory, Silencing

Author Bio(s)

James is a doctoral student in the Language and Literacy Education Department at the University of Georgia. His research interests include gender and sexuality in language education. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: jec37307@uga.edu.

Margaret is currently a Teacher-Scholar at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School and a recent graduate of the Language and Literacy Education PhD program at the University of Georgia. Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: mar.writer@gmail.com.

Publication Date

1-15-2018

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3006

Recommended APA Citation

Coda, J., & Robbins, M. (2018). SHH, Don't Speak: The Act of Overcoming Silencing and Empowering Acts of Education. The Qualitative Report, 23(1), 113-128. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3006