Abstract
In this chapter, I introduce my book, which is an analysis of how the teaching and learning of gender and sexual diversity happen in South African schools. Troubling, while threateningly broad, is used with intent to open up the silence on how heterosexuality is normalized and made compulsory in schools. Troubling is used to disrupt the prevailing assumptions and make visible the challenges that frame the teaching and learning of non-normative sexualities while highlighting the potential for rethinking our conceptions of the social and cultural representations thereof.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allan, A., Atkinson, E., Brace, E., DePalma, R., & Hemingway, J. (2008). Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places: Addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in the primary school. Sex Education, 8(3), 315–328. doi:10.1080/14681810802218395.
Baxen, J. (2008). Teacher identity and the challenge of teaching about, and within, the context of HIV/AIDS. In M. Dunne (Ed.), Gender, sexuality and development (pp. 171–183). Sense Publishers.
Bhana, D. (2002). Making Gender in early schooling: A multisided ethnography of power and discourse: From grade one to two in Durban. Durban: University of Atal.
Bhana, D. (2009). “They have got all the knowledge”: HIV education, gender and sexuality in South African primary schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 30(2), 165–177.
Bhana, D. (2012a). Understanding and addressing homophobia in schools: A view from teachers. South African Journal of Education, 32, 307–318.
Bhana, D. (2012b). Understanding and addressing homophobia in schools: A view from teachers. South African Journal of Education, 32(2), 307–318.
Boykin, K. (2001). Black homophobia. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from http://www.mask.org.za/articl
Bryan, J. (2012). From the dress-up corner to the senior prom: Navigating gender and sexuality diversity in PreK-12 schools. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Butler, A., Alpaslan, A., Allen, J. G., & Astbury, G. (2003). Gay and lesbian youth experiences of homophobia in South African secondary education. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education, 1(2), 3–28. doi:10.1300/J367v01n02_02.
Deacon, R. A., Morrell, R., & Prinsloo, J. (1999). Discipline and homophobia in South African schools: The limits of legislated transformation. In D. Epstein & J. T. Sears (Eds.), A dangerous knowing: Sexuality, pedagogy and popular culture (pp. 164–180). London: Cassel.
DePalma, R., & Atkinson, E. (2006). The sound of silence: Talking about sexual orientation and schooling. Sex Education, 6(4), 333–349.
DePalma, R., & Atkinson, E. (2009). Interrogating heteronormativity in primary schools: The work of the No Outsiders project. Trentham: Stoke on Trent.
DePalma, R., & Francis, D. (2013). Letting our commitments rest on the shelf: Teaching about sexual diversity in South African schools. In D. Francis (Ed.), Sexuality; society and pedagogy. Bloemfontein: SUN Media.
DePalma, R., & Francis, D. (2014). South African life orientation teachers: (Not) teaching about sexuality diversity. Journal of Homosexuality, 61(12), 1687–1711. doi:10.1080/00918369.2014.951256.
Department of Basic Education (2011). Curriculum and assessment policy statement grades 10–12 life orientation. Pretoria: Government Printing.
Department of Education (2002). Revised national curriculum statement grades r-9 (schools). Pretoria: Government Press.
Department of Education (2006). Teacher guide life orientation. National curriculum statements grade 10–12. Pretoria: Department of Education.
Dlamini, Z. (2005). SAHRC steps into dance row. City Press. May 1.
Donelson, R., & Rogers, T. (2004). Negotiating a research protocol for studying school-based gay and lesbian issues. Theory Into Practice, 43(2), 128–135. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4302_6.
Epprecht, M. (2013). Sexuality and social justice in Africa: Rethinking homophobia and forging resistance (African Arguments). London: Zed Books.
Epstein, D. (1997). Boyz’ own stories: Masculinities and sexualities in schools[1]. Gender and Education, 9(1), 105–116. doi:10.1080/09540259721484.
Epstein, D., & Johnson, R. (1998). Schooling sexualities. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Ferfolja, T. (2007). Schooling cultures: Institutionalizing heteronormativity and heterosexism. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11(2), 147–162. doi:10.1080/13603110500296596.
Francis, D. (2010). Sexuality education in South Africa: Three essential questions. International Journal of Educational Development, 30(3), 314–319. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.12.003.
Francis, D. (Ed.) (2011). Acting on HIV and sexuality. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Francis, D. (2012). Teacher positioning on the teaching of sexual diversity in South African schools. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 14(6), 597–611. doi:10.1080/13691058.2012.674558.
Francis, D. (Ed.) (2014). Sexuality, society and pedagogy. Bloemfontein: SUN Media.
Francis, D., & DePalma, R. (2015). “You need to have some guts to teach”: Teacher preparation and characteristics for the teaching of sexuality and HIV/AIDS education in South African schools. SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS, 12(1), 30–38.
Francis, D., & Msibi, T. (2011). Teaching about heterosexism: Challenging homophobia in South Africa. Journal of LGBT Youth, 8(2), 157–173. doi:10.1080/19361653.2011.553713.
Gevisser, M., & Cameron, E. (1995). Defiant desire. New York: Routledge.
Govender, P. (2013, November 22). Lesbians get nod for matric farewell. Sunday Times.
Griffin, P., & Ouellet, M. (2003). Historical trends in addressing LGBT issues in schools. Equity and Excellence in Education, 36(2), 106–124.
Habib, S. (2007). Female homosexuality in the Middle East: Histories and representations. New York: Routledge.
Harper, G. W., Brodsky, A., & Bruce, D. (2012). What’s good about being gay? Perspectives from youth. Journal of LGBT Youth, 9(1), 22–41. doi:10.1080/19361653.2012.628230.
Helleve, A., Flisher, A. J., Onya, H., Mũkoma, W., & Klepp, K.-I. (2011). Can any teacher teach sexuality and HIV/AIDS? Perspectives of South African life orientation teachers. Sex Education, 11(1), 13–26. doi:10.1080/14681811.2011.538143.
Helleve, A., Flisher, A., Onya, H., Mukoma, W., & Klepp, K. (2009). South African teachers’ reflections on the impact of culture on their teaching of sexuality and HIV/AIDS. Culture Health & Sexuality, 11, 189–204.
Hoad, N., Martin, K., & Reid, G. (Eds.) (2005). Sex and politics in South Africa. Johannesburg: Double Storey.
Hugo, W., & Wedekind, V. (2013). Six failures of the pedagogic imagination: Bernstein, Beeby and the search for an optimal pedagogy for the poor. South African Review of Education, 19(1), 139–157.
Irvine, J. M. (1997). One generation post-Stonewall: Political contests over lesbian and gay school reform. In M. Duberman (Ed.), A queer world: The centre for lesbian and gay studies reader (pp. 572–588). New York: New York University Press.
Johnson, B. (2014). The need to prepare future teachers to understand and combat homophobia in schools. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(4), 1249–1268.
John, V. (2011, December 2). A lesson in sexual tolerance. Mail and Guardian. Retrieved from http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-02-a-lesson-in-sexual-tolerance
Jones, T. (2009). Framing the framework: Discourses in Australia’s national values education policy. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 8(1), 35–57. doi:10.1007/s10671-008-9058-x.
Jones, T. (2013). How sex education research methodologies frame GLBTIQ students. Sex Education, 1–15. doi:10.1080/14681811.2013.806262.
Jones, T., Gray, E., & Harris, A. (2014). GLBTIQ teachers in Australian education policy: Protections, suspicions, and restrictions. Sex Education, 14(3), 338–353. doi:10.1080/14681811.2014.901908.
Judge, M., Manion, A., & De Waal, S. (Eds.) (2008). To have to hold. The making of same sex marriage in South Africa. Auckland Park: Fanele.
Khalane, S. (2013, January 14). School’s gay policy under fire. Sowetan.
Kosciw, J., Gretak, E., Bartkiewicz, M., Boesen, M., & Palmer, N. (2012). The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our nation’s schools. New York: GLSEN.
Kowen, D., & Davis, J. (2006). Opaque young lives: Experiences of lesbian youth. Agenda, 20(67), 80–92. doi:10.1080/10130950.2006.9674701.
Kumashiro, K. (2001). “Posts” perspectives on anti-oppressive education in social studies, english, mathematics, and science classrooms. Educational Researcher, 30(3), 3–12. doi:10.3102/0013189X030003003.
Kumashiro, K. (2002). Troubling education: Queer activism and anti-oppressive pedagogy. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Manion, A., & Morgan, R. (Eds.). (2006). The gay and lesbian archives: Documenting same-sexuality in an African context. Agenda, 67.
Martino, W. (1999). Its okay to be gay: Interrupting straight thinking in the English classroom. In W. J. Letts & J. T. Sears (Eds.), Queering elementary school science (pp. 137–150). New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Martin, R. (2009, September 1). Gay youth expelled from school for wearing a dress. Womanist Musings.
Masego, A. (2009, August 28). Back to school for boy who wears dress. Sowetan.
McArthur, T. (2015). Homophobic violence in a Northern Cape school: Learners confront the issue. Agenda, 1–7. doi:10.1080/10130950.2015.1056587.
Mitchell, C., & Pithouse, K. (Eds.) (2009). Teaching and HIV & AIDS. Johannesburg: Macmillan South Africa.
Moletsane, R., Mitchell, C., & Smith, A. (Eds.) (2012). Was it something I wore? Dress, identity, materiality. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
Moletsane, R., Morrell, R., Unterhalter, E., & Epstein, D. (2002). Instituting gender equality in schools: Working in an HIV/AIDS environment. Perspectives in Education, 20, 37–53.
Msibi, T. (2012). “I’m used to it now”: Experiences of homophobia among queer youth in South African township schools. Gender and Education, 24(5), 515–533. doi:10.1080/09540253.2011.645021.
Mthethwa, N., & Mashigo, A. (2009, August 28). Gender bender! Principal chases Given (18) away. Daily Sun.
Mumtaz, G., McFarland, W., Kaplan, R., & Akala, F. (2011). Are HIV epidemics among men who have sex with men emerging in the Middle East and North Africa?: A systematic review and data synthesis. PLoS Med, 8(8). doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000444
Ndlovu, A. (2014, August 18). Raped, killed for being gay. Times Live.
Newman, L. (2009, June 10). Bullied boy tried suicide, says mother. IOL News.
Nyeck, S., & Epprecht, M. (Eds.). (2013). Sexual diversity in Africa, theory and citizenship. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Pather, R. (2015a, July 1). Acting UCT SRC president investigated for alleged homophobic comment: “We are institutionalizing and normalizing sin!.” The Daily Vox.
Pather, R. (2015b, July 1). Normalising sin. The Daily Vox. Retrieved from http://www.thedailyvox.co.za/acting-uct-src-president-investigated-for-alleged-homophobic-comment-we-are-institutionalizing-and-normalizing-sin/
Pattman, R. (2005). “Boys and girls should not be too close”: Sexuality, the identities of African boys and girls and HIV/AIDS education. Sexualities, 8(4), 497–516. doi:10.1177/1363460705056623.
Petrovic, J., & Rosiek, J. (2003). Heteronormative subjectivities of Christian pre-service teachers. Equity and Excellence in Education, 36, 161–169.
Potgieter, C. (2014, June 3). Schools unsafe for gay pupils. Pretoria News.
Reddy, V. (2001). Homophobia, human rights and gay and lesbian equality in Africa. Agenda, 16(50), 83–87. doi:10.1080/10130950.2001.9675997.
Rich, A. (2004). Reflections on “compulsory heterosexuality.”. Journal of Women’s History, 16(1), 9–11.
Richardson, E. (2004). “A ripple in the pond”: Challenging homophobia in a teacher education course. Education as Change, 8, 146–163.
Richardson, E. (2008a). Researching LGB youth in post apartheid South Africa. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Issues in Education, 3, 135–140.
Richardson, E. (2008b). Using film to challenge heteronormativity. Journal of LGBT Youth, 5.
Richardson, E. (2009). Considering the lives of LGBTI youth in HIV & AIDS education efforts. In C. Mitchell & P. Pithouse (Eds.), Teaching and HIV & AIDS in the South African classroom. Johannesburg: Macmillan.
Rooth, E. (2005). An investigation of the status and practice of life orientation in South African schools in two provinces. Cape Town: University of Western Cape.
SAPA. (2013, January 13). Academy claims to cure homosexuality. Sunday Times.
Shefer, T. (2015). Resisting the binarism of victim and agent: Critical reflections on 20 years of scholarship on young women and heterosexual practices in South African contexts. Global Public Health, 1–13. doi:10.1080/17441692.2015.1029959.
Steyn, M., & van Zyl, M. (Eds.). (2009). The prize and the price shaping sexualities in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Tamale, S. (2008). The right to culture and the culture of rights: A critical perspective on women’s sexual rights in Africa. Feminist Legal Studies, 16(1), 47–69. doi:10.1007/s10691-007-9078-6.
Tapfumanei, W. (2006). Gays and lesbians in Africa defy odds. In Behind the mask. Retrieved from http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=namibia&id=1378
Unterhalter, E., Epstein, D., Morrell, R., & Moletsane, R. (2004). Be yourself: Class, race, gender and sexuality in South African schoolchildren’s accounts of social relations. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 12(1), 53–72. doi:10.1080/14681360400200189.
Willigg, C. (2001). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and method. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Francis, D.A. (2017). Introduction. In: Troubling the Teaching and Learning of Gender and Sexuality Diversity in South African Education. Queer Studies and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53027-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53027-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53026-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53027-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)