Triadic labour in teaching for the prevention of gender-based violence

In this paper, we use the Deleuzian notion of assemblage as an analytico-methodological framework to examine different types of ‘labour’ that teachers are called upon to perform when they implement a programme that teaches about gender-based violence. Drawing on interview data gathered from 129 teachers from primary and secondary schools in the Australian context, we trace the affective forces which interact to both drive and constrain teacher action. We examine the forms of emotional, political and pedagogical labour that teachers exert when required to open silenced topics in the face of resistance to gender equity initiatives, and concerns about evoking distress among affected parties. Our analysis highlights the importance of a providing an assemblage of institutional and relational support that can help create the conditions of possibility needed for teachers to open classroom conversations on sensitive matters relating to gender-based violence.