All Teachers Are Vulnerable but Especially Gay Teachers: Using Composite Fictions to Protect Research Participants in Pupil—Teacher Sex-Related Research

Abstract

The ways in which the media searches out, depicts, and writes about teacher-pupil sex-related topics have implications both for researchers working in the area and, sometimes more seriously, for the people who participate in and contribute to that research as respondents. In this article, the authors discuss, and provide an example of, the composite fiction strategy they developed and decided to adopt primarily for purposes of protection when writing up a project that investigated the perceptions and experiences of teachers (and those of members of their families, their friends, and colleagues) who had been accused of sexual abuse of pupils, which they said they had not committed and of which they were eventually cleared.

‘It Takes Me Half a Bottle of Whisky to Get through One of Your Assignments’: Exploring One Teacher Educator's Personal Experiences of Dyslexia

“…There was the likelihood that the research would ‘touch on deeply personal, private and possibly painful matters’ (Goodson & Sikes, , p. 91), and this was made explicit to Kitty from the onset of the research. We agree with Goodson and Sikes () that promises of confidentiality and anonymity can only be tentative, and thus, drawing on the work of Clough () and Piper and Sikes (), we have fictionalized the data in places to protect the anonymity of the informant and the individuals that she talks about in her account.…”

Researching Allegations of Sexual Misconduct in Schools: The Need for a Narrative Approach

“…These differences should not be overlooked or minimised. (2000: 926) Within the stories we crafted (and which can be read in Piper and Sikes 2010;Sikes and Piper 2010), we did not invent anything that directly related to peoples' experiences and perceptions of allegations of abuse as told to us. Only characters, contexts and settings were fictitious.…”

“…We needed to protect our participants and adopted strategies to that end (see Piper and Sikes 2010;Sikes and Piper 2010;Sikes 2010a, b for detail). Thus, we have not disclosed any specific contextual information which could lead to identification of individuals nor are we prepared to say exactly how many people we spoke with (except that it was in excess of 25).…”

‘Spectacularly exposed and vulnerable’ – how Irish equality legislation subverted the personal and professional security of lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers

“…given the formative role of teachers and teaching as well as the relationship between teachers and minors, LGB teachers are particularly vulnerable to accusations of deviancy and, indeed, sex abuse (Coen, 2007;Piper and Sikes, 2010). Nonetheless, there is agreement as to the key role for teachers in educating young people about LGB issues (Wyatt et al, 2008: Craig at al., 2011.…”

“…International studies have consistently highlighted the difficulties experienced by Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual teachers from around the world as they attempt to negotiate their personal and professional identities within the context of an often-hostile work environment (Connell, 2015;Endo et al, 2010;Gust, 2007;Irwin, 2002, Piper andSikes, 2010;Rudoe, 2010). This is not a new phenomenon.…”