Power/knowledge, visibility & heterosexuality: the lives of white teachers working in English-medium international schools in East & Southeast Asia

Bellamy, C.J., 2024. Power/knowledge, visibility & heterosexuality: the lives of white teachers working in English-medium international schools in East & Southeast Asia. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This thesis is about the life experiences of White, Western, heterosexual teachers in international school communities in East and Southeast Asia. It explores ways of living Whiteness and ways of living heterosexuality in this context, and how this is different for White men and White women. It considers how international mobility, place and presence shape and reshape teachers’ identities. It examines the ways in which localised power- inflected discourses constitute White, heterosexual subjectivities.

The research involved a series of one-off interviews with thirteen teachers from the UK, Europe, the USA and New Zealand: nine men and four women. The semi-structured interviews covered their reasons for teaching overseas and why in East/Southeast Asia, and the social positioning of White, Western teachers in international school communities in the region. Combining the work of Goffman (1959) and Foucault (1977; 1978; 1980; 1985; 1986; 1988), the analysis is focused on the ways in which discourses of ‘race’, gender, sexuality and sex interact in the relations of power and knowledge in this context, and in the performance of the teachers’ identities. I use a Goffmanian toolkit to examine the experiences of the participants through a Foucauldian lens. The analysis sets out to problematise the identities available to the participants, and others like them. This rather unusual application of different theories, which are not always complementary, to study the life experiences of a little researched group of people, is what makes this thesis unique. The aim is to seek a better understanding of the situation by considering the power-relations upon which categories of gender and sexual identities in this context are dependent, and how these ideas are regulated.

This thesis highlights the need for White, Western, heterosexual teachers in international school communities in East and Southeast Asia to be reflexive and to consider the ways in which normative ideas about gender, heterosexuality and Whiteness in this context affect their sense of self. This is recommended as a starting point for teachers to confront some of the dominant ideologies in this and other similar contexts, both at school and in their own lives. Similarly, international school leaders are encouraged to acknowledge the challenges to teachers’ identities in this context, and for this to be reflected in schools’ approaches to the induction of new teachers and in teachers’ continuing professional development.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Bellamy, C.J.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Paechter, C. Thesis supervisor SGY3PAECHCF orcid.org/0000-0003-3050-5571 Clapham, A. Thesis supervisor EDU3CLAPHA orcid.org/0000-0001-5066-134X
Date:	May 2024
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	04 Oct 2024 13:56
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2024 13:56
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52361

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