Triadic labour in teaching for the prevention of gender-based violence

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we use the Deleuzian notion of assemblage as an analytico-methodological framework to examine different types of ‘labour’ that teachers are called upon to perform when they implement a programme that teaches about gender-based violence. Drawing on interview data gathered from 129 teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Australian context, we trace the affective forces which interact to both drive and constrain teacher action. We examine the forms of emotional, political and pedagogical labour that teachers exert when required to open silenced topics in the face of resistance to gender equity initiatives, and concerns about evoking distress among affected parties. Our analysis highlights the importance of a providing an assemblage of institutional and relational support that can help create the conditions of possibility needed for teachers to open classroom conversations on sensitive matters relating to gender-based violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Affect
• assemblage
• gender
• gender-based violence
• teaching labour

Acknowledgement

The interviews reported in this study were conducted as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage project titled ‘Determining Implementation Drivers in Resilience Education’. This three-year project (2016–2019) examined the factors that influence the uptake and the implementation of the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) programme. We would like to thank the research team involved in this project, the Department of Education and Training and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation for their research funding and support.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes on contributors

Helen Cahill is professor of education researching in areas of youth studies, education and teacher development. Helen leads inter-disciplinary and multi-method research with a particular focus on the use of participatory methods to investigate youth wellbeing, sexuality, mental health, gender and youth leadership.

Dr Babak Dadvand is a research fellow and a lecturer at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Babak's research is in areas of diversity, social justice and inclusive education, civics and citizenship education, and teaching and teacher education.

Notes

1 Safe Schools programme was an Australian three-year federally funded national programme that began in 2013. The programme aimed to ensure the safety of LGBTIQ+ students in schools. Safe Schools programme became the topic of controversy in 2016 and its federal funding was not renewed by the coalition government, though the state Department of Education in Victoria continued to support the programme.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Research Council [grant number LP160100428].