This dissertation is a year-long qualitative exploration of the experiences and perspectives of classroom teachers who identify as \"allies\" or \"supporters\" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) public school students. Nine teachers representing five secondary schools in Central New York participated in three semi-structured interviews and approximately fifteen hours of classroom observation. Questions driving this research focused on (1) how teacher allies make meaning of LGBTQ students' needs and their roles in addressing those needs; (2) how participants integrate \"ally\" work into the larger context of their professional practice; and (3) participants' management of stigma or resistance around their \"ally\" work. Findings illuminate how educators engage in the work of supporting LGBTQ students without directly speaking about or acknowledging how gender and sexuality are relevant to experiences of teaching and learning. Educators instead framed the needs of LGBTQ students and the possibilities for improving their school experiences within broader frameworks of supporting diversity, teaching tolerance, safe schools, and anti-bullying. It will be argued that these frameworks provide rhetorical and instructional tools for talking about and implementing strategies that aim to encompass the needs of \"all students\" but do not require educators to consider how or why heterosexual, gender conforming identities are privileged and LGBTQ identities are marginalized in school environments.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation is a year-long qualitative exploration of the experiences and perspectives of classroom teachers who identify as "allies" or "supporters" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) public school students. Nine teachers representing five secondary schools in Central New York participated in three semi-structured interviews and approximately fifteen hours of classroom observation. Questions driving this research focused on (1) how teacher allies make meaning of LGBTQ students' needs and their roles in addressing those needs; (2) how participants integrate "ally" work into the larger context of their professional practice; and (3) participants' management of stigma or resistance around their "ally" work. Findings illuminate how educators engage in the work of supporting LGBTQ students without directly speaking about or acknowledging how gender and sexuality are relevant to experiences of teaching and learning. Educators instead framed the needs of LGBTQ students and the possibilities for improving their school experiences within broader frameworks of supporting diversity, teaching tolerance, safe schools, and anti-bullying. It will be argued that these frameworks provide rhetorical and instructional tools for talking about and implementing strategies that aim to encompass the needs of "all students" but do not require educators to consider how or why heterosexual, gender conforming identities are privileged and LGBTQ identities are marginalized in school environments.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Smith, Melissa J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Cultural Foundations of Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Elizabethe C. Payne"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:54:59Z","subjects":["LGBT allies","social foundations","teachers","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://surface.syr.edu/etd/151","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Elizabethe C. Payne"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Smith, Melissa J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Cultural Foundations of Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["LGBT allies","social foundations","teachers","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/151"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation is a year-long qualitative exploration of the experiences and perspectives of classroom teachers who identify as \"allies\" or \"supporters\" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) public school students. Nine teachers representing five secondary schools in Central New York participated in three semi-structured interviews and approximately fifteen hours of classroom observation. Questions driving this research focused on (1) how teacher allies make meaning of LGBTQ students' needs and their roles in addressing those needs; (2) how participants integrate \"ally\" work into the larger context of their professional practice; and (3) participants' management of stigma or resistance around their \"ally\" work. Findings illuminate how educators engage in the work of supporting LGBTQ students without directly speaking about or acknowledging how gender and sexuality are relevant to experiences of teaching and learning. Educators instead framed the needs of LGBTQ students and the possibilities for improving their school experiences within broader frameworks of supporting diversity, teaching tolerance, safe schools, and anti-bullying. It will be argued that these frameworks provide rhetorical and instructional tools for talking about and implementing strategies that aim to encompass the needs of \"all students\" but do not require educators to consider how or why heterosexual, gender conforming identities are privileged and LGBTQ identities are marginalized in school environments.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Teacher Allies: An Exploration of the Professional Experiences of Teachers Who Support LGBTQ Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Elizabethe C. Payne"],"dc:creator":["Smith, Melissa J."],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation is a year-long qualitative exploration of the experiences and perspectives of classroom teachers who identify as \"allies\" or \"supporters\" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) public school students. Nine teachers representing five secondary schools in Central New York participated in three semi-structured interviews and approximately fifteen hours of classroom observation. Questions driving this research focused on (1) how teacher allies make meaning of LGBTQ students' needs and their roles in addressing those needs; (2) how participants integrate \"ally\" work into the larger context of their professional practice; and (3) participants' management of stigma or resistance around their \"ally\" work. Findings illuminate how educators engage in the work of supporting LGBTQ students without directly speaking about or acknowledging how gender and sexuality are relevant to experiences of teaching and learning. Educators instead framed the needs of LGBTQ students and the possibilities for improving their school experiences within broader frameworks of supporting diversity, teaching tolerance, safe schools, and anti-bullying. It will be argued that these frameworks provide rhetorical and instructional tools for talking about and implementing strategies that aim to encompass the needs of \"all students\" but do not require educators to consider how or why heterosexual, gender conforming identities are privileged and LGBTQ identities are marginalized in school environments.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/151"],"dc:subject":["LGBT allies","social foundations","teachers","Education"],"dc:title":["Teacher Allies: An Exploration of the Professional Experiences of Teachers Who Support LGBTQ Students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Cultural Foundations of Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:54:59Z"}