Workshopping the Ethnodrama: The Bite of the Teacher’s Pet
Location
3035
Format Type
Workshop
Format Type
Workshop
Start Date
January 2016
End Date
January 2016
Abstract
In this performance-workshop session, a work-in-progress ethnodrama (Saldaña, 2011) is interactively performed and discussed with session attendees. “The Bite of the Teacher’s Pet” concerns the formative retrospective experiences of a former English language teacher who engaged his adult second-language learners in composition topics related to his own marginalized identity as a gay man, resulting in unintended and painful encounters within and around the discursive faultlines (Menard-Warwick, 2009) of gender, sex, and sexual orientation. Data for the inquiry included field notes, instructor and student discussion-board entries, and student-produced argumentative essays.
“…it wasn’t long before I experienced the first bite of the teacher’s pet. It wouldn’t be the last. Trudy—after someone suggested that gay adoption should be made legal in our state—nearly jumped out of her seat, shouting, ‘Never! Never, never, never! Same sex must not raising children. Parents—or adopted parents—should be model. Same sex don’t have decent behavior or morality. -lead children to abomination and malediction!’ A woman of thirty from Haiti, Trudy is someone I considered to be the perfect student. She was a hard worker. She arrived on time with homework completed and contributed actively to discussions. I liked Trudy. I knew Trudy liked and respected me. The sting, however, of hearing these words from a student with whom I’d felt such an affinity was extremely painful. My intention had been to remain neutral in class discussion, but I felt unable to resist. I did so carefully, struggling to remain objective. Is that even possible?...”
Workshopping the Ethnodrama: The Bite of the Teacher’s Pet
3035
In this performance-workshop session, a work-in-progress ethnodrama (Saldaña, 2011) is interactively performed and discussed with session attendees. “The Bite of the Teacher’s Pet” concerns the formative retrospective experiences of a former English language teacher who engaged his adult second-language learners in composition topics related to his own marginalized identity as a gay man, resulting in unintended and painful encounters within and around the discursive faultlines (Menard-Warwick, 2009) of gender, sex, and sexual orientation. Data for the inquiry included field notes, instructor and student discussion-board entries, and student-produced argumentative essays.
“…it wasn’t long before I experienced the first bite of the teacher’s pet. It wouldn’t be the last. Trudy—after someone suggested that gay adoption should be made legal in our state—nearly jumped out of her seat, shouting, ‘Never! Never, never, never! Same sex must not raising children. Parents—or adopted parents—should be model. Same sex don’t have decent behavior or morality. -lead children to abomination and malediction!’ A woman of thirty from Haiti, Trudy is someone I considered to be the perfect student. She was a hard worker. She arrived on time with homework completed and contributed actively to discussions. I liked Trudy. I knew Trudy liked and respected me. The sting, however, of hearing these words from a student with whom I’d felt such an affinity was extremely painful. My intention had been to remain neutral in class discussion, but I felt unable to resist. I did so carefully, struggling to remain objective. Is that even possible?...”
Comments
If possible, a one-hour workshop session/block is requested to provide opportunity for both reading and discussion of the ethnodrama. Many thanks. - Carter