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CULTURAL
DIVERSITY: MANAGING SAME-SEX ORIENTATION IN THE CLASSROOM
by Henny Burke
- 2
Part
2
Now
coming back to my starting point which is really Cynthia Nelson's
argument that queer theory could provide implications for
teaching, I can't see it. For one thing I think queer theory
is a nice idea, but fundamentally flawed and therefore, completely
unsuitable for providing pedagogical implications. My second
criticism of Nelson is that even if she herself can accept
queer theory intellectually she really doesn't pull out and
explain how queer theory can have practical implications for
teaching.
In
the final part of her article Cynthia Nelson observes a grammar
class taught by a teacher (Roxanne) actively working on the
topic of lesbian and gay identities in the classroom. "One
month into the course, Roxanne passed out a worksheet that
she had written for homework as part of a unit on modal verbs
in English. The next day, the students discussed their written
answers in small groups. A lively discussion of Scenario 3
- "Those two women are walking arm in arm" - ensued."
One
student comes up with "They could be lesbians" and finally
the discussion shifts from grammar to a discussion about whether
this would be true in the students' own countries. A transcript
of 3 minutes from the 15-minute class discussion is reproduced
in the article.
My
initial reaction to this was one of dislike because I don't
like to see grammar treated as something devoid of context
and being pulled from artificial sentences. If we are going
to analyse language then let's put it in context and analyse
its communicative meaning as well as the form. I also found
the jump from an artificial grammar exercise to a personal
discussion quite forced and fairly face threatening for both
the teacher and her students. What I found interesting and
heartening was that the topic of gays and lesbian sexuality
was at least being tackled.
So
what is it that I propose because so far all I seem to be
doing is criticising everybody else.
My
idea is to introduce same-sex orientation in a way that will
not reinforce stereotypes or jeopardise people's working situations
or play havoc with the classroom dynamic. My idea is to treat
lesbianism & gayness as a culture and go to the texts of that
culture for language work e.g.. use listening texts from BBC
World Service radio phone-ins: recently Angela Mason of Stonewall
was the guest of a World Service phone-in where the issues
of lesbian & gay parenting was debated. All kinds of people
from all over the world phoned in.
BBC
World Service also has a soap opera called Westway where two
characters have just begun to have a gay relationship. Every
two weeks on Sunday mornings there is a "feedback programme" called Write On and the listeners write in and give their
opinions on the programmes. Last Sunday they were writing
in about the gay relationship on Westway and there were all
kinds of opinions being expressed. It was material that could
be exploited very fruitfully in an ELT class. Now I tell my
students to listen to the BBC as a way of getting listening
exposure.
We
could take readings from Diva magazine. Diva is an innocuous
monthly magazine for "gay women" produced in the UK. Stonewall's
web page has interesting articles on gay parenting, discrimination
at work etc. The texts are there.
NOW
THIS IS IMPORTANT WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY NOW: WHAT I DO NOT
PROPOSE:
I
do not propose that teachers come out in the classroom or
actively encourage their students to do so.
WHAT
I DO PROPOSE:
Concentrate
on text. It is by concentrating on text and treating this
issue as an example of cultural diversity it will cease to
be a taboo, silenced area and at the same time focussing on
text is a distancing device for both teachers and students
alike. And in terms of pedagogical approach a "genre approach" where text analysis is the main vehicle seems to be the best
way of ensuring we look at language in context and transmit
to the students its communicative value.
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