From Pre-Service to Professional Teaching: A Longitudinal Study of Two LGBTQ+-identifying First-Year Elementary Teachers’ Experiences

ABSTRACT

Researchers have documented that being an LGBTQ+-identifying teacher can present particular challenges and marginalizing experiences. This longitudinal, qualitative study is a follow-up to a year-long endeavor documenting the experiences of one gay and one lesbian-identifying preservice teachers as they navigated school and a professional job search. In this study, we followed these same two teachers as they entered their first year of professional teaching in academic year 2015–2016, and we present the experiences, difficulties, challenges, and navigation of these two LGTBQ+-identifying elementary teachers. The two participants also recently (2020) reflected back on their first year of professional teaching some four years prior, and we used their insights to chronicle another layer of reflection on their professional experiences. With these elementary teachers’ experiences at the center, this study offers implications for school systems about how to recognize, support, and advocate for LGBTQ+-identifying teachers, particularly those new to the profession.

KEYWORDS:

• Gay and lesbian teachers
• early career
• mentorship
• longitudinal study

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.