(Mis)adventures of a Queer Student Teacher

Last night I prepared a resume to distribute to potential employers at the biggest education career fair in the province. The Faculty of Education advised us to include a picture and our gender on the resume, which gave me pause. I decided pretty much immediately not to include my gender, because there is not a simple enough answer for a one-page resume, and any simple answer I gave would either feel untrue to myself or be likely to prevent my application from being considered. However, deciding on the picture component was a bit more difficult. If I included my picture, I might as well scrawl “lesbian” or “trans” on the top of my resume.  At the same time, everyone else would likely be including a picture and my resume would probably garner less attention without one.  I somehow convinced myself that maybe some employers might welcome a queer applicant. Maybe there would be a queer employer there, and I would stand out in a good way. I don’t think there is anything unprofessional about how I look. I decided to include my picture.

This morning, I put on a nice grey button-up dress shirt with a navy blue sweater vest and some greyish brown cords. I made sure my hair was tidy. I went to the career fair thinking I looked pretty good. I circulated among the booths and submitted some resumes to my preferred school districts, which tended to have line ups. I noticed the Maple Ridge booth was vacant, and thought I’d introduce myself to the representative. I walked over, smiled, said hello, and told her my name with my hand extended for a handshake. Everyone was shaking hands at the career fair, it seemed like a good thing to do. Rather than shake my hand, she folded her arms. I thought, maybe she’s a germaphobe. But she didn’t even smile or take my resume. She said they were only hiring for a few select positions. I said thank you and walked away feeling embarrassed and wondering why she was so rude to me.

I walked over to the station for the Council of International Schools, introduced myself to the representative and requested some literature. A pretty woman, my age, with long brown hair then approached the table and handed the man her resume. He took it, looked at the picture and said “Wow. What do you teach?” She responded with, “High School English.” He then mouthed the words “I heart you” while he drew a heart on his chest and pointed to her. She giggled, he handed her his brochure, and they chatted. I was ignored and he didn’t even give me the brochure I had requested. I waited until they were finished and then asked if international schools tend to have a high turn over rate among the students. He answered – yes they can. And that was it, as though I was not worth his time to give a thoughtful response to.

I briefly chatted with a representative from an all-female private school called Crofton House. While she was willing to shake my hand and answer my questions, it was clear from her body language and tone that I was not what she was looking for. They weren’t what I was looking for either.

I was beginning to feel discouraged. I probably shouldn’t have gone to the Calgary School Board next. But I thought the representative seemed gay (!), so I chatted him up. When the ice was broken, I asked if the Board was welcoming of gay and lesbian teachers. He was caught off guard, and said that Calgary has “…multidiversity” and there are many homosexual teachers and students, but he wouldn’t look me in the eye. Also, the word ‘homosexual’ threw me off – folks who use that word tend not to be allies. I thanked my lucky stars he’s from Alberta and I have no intention of moving there, anyway.

I’m pleased to say that the woman for the Vancouver School Board was incredibly kind and professional, and Vancouver is my top choice …though 800 teachers there just got potential layoff notices. The Northwest Territories folks were also quite pleasant, but their disposition stemmed from desperation! Still, I’ll give them some thought. After today, I’m beginning to wonder about how being visibly queer will affect my job prospects.

Filed under: Teacher Education Program Tagged: | career fair