It’s not all rainbows and unicorns: Straight teacher allies reflect on privilege

Abstract

The role of allies in social movements is an area of social justice activism that is at times celebrated and at other times contested. Sometimes, allies are celebrated for the “good work” that they do to support marginalized people in their struggle against oppression. They undertake challenging and demanding social justice work, often with little to no institutional support or training motivated by a desire to support all the students they teach. In other circumstances, allies are criticized (in some cases quite appropriately) for being naïve, self-interested, privileged, and—put pejoratively—”do-gooders.” Despite the discomfort that discussions of allies and their contributions may cause, particularly for some allies themselves, the role that allies play in social movements is an important area of exploration. In this discussion, I argue that teacher allyship needs to be envisioned differently, but not completely discontinued. Drawing on data from interviews with educators in Ontario, I argue that teacher allies must become responsible assets to social justice by resisting the dominant narrative of allyship and strive for on-going reflexivity.