What have encounters with sexual minority parties brought to non-sexual minority teachers?

Focusing on the Record of Practices to “Sexual Diversity” in the “Quarterly Journal of Sexuality”

Abstract

　　 This study aims to determine what encounters with sexual minorities have done to “nonsexual minority” teachers charged with sexuality education. 　　 Many teachers were unaware of sexual minorities’ existence in their immediate surroundings and viewed them as irrelevant to themselves and their children. By encountering sexual minorities, teachers learned that sexual minorities could exist among children and became aware of their prejudices. Thus, they adjusted their sexuality education practices. 　　 For the teachers, the presence of sexual minorities in their daily lives forced them to rethink their values of “normal／abnormal” and “knowledge／ignorance,” and whether to treat them in school. The “encounter” with the participants was not only a new experience but also led to a reconsideration of the practitioner's view of sexuality and the need to not erase the presence of those in front of them. 　　 One factor that made this practice possible was the opportunity to “learn together” through the private educational research movement and the study of teaching materials on campus. These opportunities allowed us to both look at ourselves relatively and provided an opportunity to confirm with our peers our awareness of the issues we wanted to bring to the children through our practices and to refine these practices themselves. 　　 Essentially, thinking about and practicing “sexual diversity” was an opportunity for the children to become aware of how unequal society is in terms of gender and sexuality and learn to change it. Above all, it was an opportunity for the teachers themselves to review their attitudes toward gender and sexuality.