LGBTQ+ Language Teacher Educators’ Identities and Pedagogies: Testimonio and Duoethnography

Abstract

In the call for diversity and social justice in language teacher education, it is necessary to explore the identities and pedagogies of LGBTQ+ identified language teacher educators. In this article, we (two teacher educators, one from Chile and the other from the United States), through a testimonio-based duoethnographic study, explored our LGBTQ+ identities and pedagogies, and our experiences in initial teacher education. From our experiences and reflections shared through conversations and writings, we identified themes to envision LGBTQ+ initial teacher education: pedagogies from identities, making visible as LGBTQ+ teacher educators, intersectionality of LGBTQ+ with other issues of oppression, and non-LGBTQ+ allies and teachers. We conclude that initial teacher education must make LGBTQ+ more visible in education and the school curriculum. We further pose an ethical responsibility on LGBTQ+ language teacher educators as agents of change toward achieving social justice. Finally, recommendations for further research on LGBTQ+ language teacher identities are presented.