Disorientation and queering action in distance education: The queer lived experiences of the queer Filipino teacher

Abstract

Queer studies highlight that beyond the idea of gender and sexuality, queerness branches through a vast field of disciplines and focus, urging scholarly interest towards the queer phenomenological question regarding the peculiar and confusing experiences an individual acquires when occupying a particular space as well as the actions they do in a space. Utilizing Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology (2006) as the theoretical anchor for this inquiry, this study explored queer lived experiences through the experiences of disorientation and the queering actions of queer Filipino teachers; specifically, the mechanisms, the experiences, and the outcomes as queer Filipino teachers become challenged by the normativity of distance education, and how they addressed the challenges they experienced from the disorientation. Through interviews with eight (8) self-identified queer DepEd High School teachers from the provinces of Antique and Capiz from ages 24 to 42, this study identified that in the context of distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic, queer Filipino teachers experience disorientation through the challenges brought about by norms in the learning setup that prescribes specific actions, practices and strategies to avoid and to prioritize. As they reflect on their disorienting experiences, the queer Filipino teacher recognizes a need to change their perspective and pedagogies to orient themselves in the space of distance education. This leads them to enact queering actions through a pedagogical performance of going beyond what are obligated and expected of them, as informed by their identities as queer people, as teachers, and as queer teachers.