Core Values And The Identity-Supportive Classroom Summary

This is a scholarly journal by Elizabeth Marshall, a professor in the Department of Education. Marshall introduces a primary objective of modifying teacher certification programs by implementing LGBTQ awareness into them. She also notes that teachers should embrace sexual diversity in their classrooms by incorporating LGBTQ issues into their curriculum. I will be using this source to defend my argument on how critical is it to address other sexualities in school, especially in health courses for adolescents.

Education is an important factor in life in order to thrive, but LGBT students face harassment in school due to their identity. According to a Human Rights report conducted in 2001, two million American students in the LGBT

[The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) organization at my high school, which meets twice per month, generated a list of concerns that they shared with school administration. The focus was specifically about gender identity, the lack of support from school staff, and the daily scrutiny they face as a result of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Through collaboration with my colleagues it was evident that there had been an increase in teacher and student referrals surrounding gender identity. The feedback from GSA clearly identified that as a school we are not meeting the needs of our LGBT students and those struggling with sexual orientation. Members of the GSA clearly feel that teachers ignore negative comments like “gay” and “faggot” when they hear them in class, that teachers may not clearly understand gender neutral language, and that our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students do not feel safe and protected in school. Students needed support advocating for their right to use a restroom, correct pronoun, etc., requiring district, community, parent, and colleague

In the last few decades more and more young individuals identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, which has sparked a level of interest in educators, as well as researchers to determine the amount of students who feel uncomfortable in their school settings, and why. This research paper will inform educators what the need to understand and protect the students in their classroom in order to create a more diverse, healthy and cooperative learning environment for all students. When students are in the educational setting they should not be afraid to attend school or be uncomfortable; educators should make their classrooms and their school a safe havens for all students, no matter their sexual preference. The purpose of this paper is to inform the readers about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community history, how it suffers harassment, prejudices, school difficulties, policies that are in place to assist students, as well as some possible solutions to assist in the education setting.

Supported by my high school principle, I researched the topic, created and presented a multimedia workshop to the Roslyn School District faculty discussing positive interventions for LGBTQ youth facing discrimination. The purpose of the training was to increase awareness of LGBTQ youth, to identify language that supports inclusion, and to offer interventions that address bias and discrimination in school settings.

In my paper I will be discussing homophobia in schools and how it affects students and even teachers. Homophobia in schools is the leading cause of suicide and depression among teenagers and young adults. I believe that this is a crucial situation and needs to be addressed both at home and in school. School officials must be permitted and comfortable with addressing issues of homosexuality and homophobia that students may have. This is crucial in not only enabling a LGBT teenager to get an education that is in a non-hostile environment, but also in enabling the student to become a strong confident adult.

Inequities facing the LGBTQ community will take a long time to resolve. However, by implementing an inclusive health curriculum and giving knowledge to students about the LGBTQ community, we can combat bias and discrimination in schools. In schools, students are given foundational knowledge that will be useful to them in the future.

Coming from a religion where defining yourself as LGTBQ is shamed upon and is sin. However, being born and raised in Oakville, Ontario I have always had a very open mind to everyone’s gender, sexuality and gender expressions. I think as a teacher it is very important to respect and understand queer pedagogy. Goldstein et al., (2007) and Skyes (2011) argue that schools need to change in order to meet the needs of diverse group of students.

Emily: I chose to attend the LGBTQ Education Conference in Seattle, WA. This conference was primarily directed towards educators and administrational support staff within academic settings, and was hosted by the SAFE Schools organization of Washington State. The objective that SAFE Schools sought in this conference was to introduce educators and school support staff to the history of the LGBTQ community, as well as to offer a tool box of skills that they can pull from to create the safest learning environment possible for students who align with a LGBTQ orientation (Safe Schools, n.d.). During the conference, a panel of educators discussed current issues their schools are facing, and how they

In “We must celebrate gender and sexual diversity in our schools” published in The Conversation, February 16 2016, Lucy Nicholas argues that the current commentary on the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) community against schools and the SSC (Safe Schools Coalition) is extremely out of touch. Many of youths already understand their sexuality, whether it be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual.

After reading week 13’s article by Coiser (2009) I agreed with the teachers who were served that said they would intervene if a queer student felt a problem was arising at school. The sad thing is that Coiser (2009) states that students from queer families do not feel confident that their teachers would intervene if a problem arises. This made me think back to my previous comment about how I am unaware of the queer families at

As children we are taught to love and accept other, however, this is not always the case. More often than not we never taught to love those different from us, instead we go on through life only loving those who are similar to us, our unintentional intolerance remaining uncorrected. Growing up without that nurturing hand teaching us to live in a world that is far more diverse than it has ever been, leaves us as intolerant and uneducated adults, whether it is, or is not, by our own doing. In American society, time and time again, the failure to practice what is preached in our so-called values has been our only success. From the segregation of African-Americans to the oppression of Women, and now the fearful and sometimes violent discrimination against LGBTQ oriented individuals is the nation’s most recent atrocity. By standardizing the image of what love and the human identity is to a typical heterosexual individual, society is limiting the diversity of the nation and degrading the lives of so many valuable people. What’s more is the fact that this intolerance that is permeating all levels of society is almost centralized in the most significant aspect of any society: its schools. Schools everywhere are ignoring the high concentration of LGBTQ discrimination by their students and even faculty. It is extremely hard to believe that this kind of behavior is tolerated in schools, not to mention the fact of its being taught in churches all across the nation. With

GSA groups have been around since the 1980’s and according to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network there are currently over 4,000 school based groups throughout the United States (Currie, Mayberry, and Chenneville, 2012; Tommey, Ryan, Diaz, and Russell, 2011). GSA groups came out of the Gay Rights Movement during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Adolescents identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) or align within the context of this spectrum have been victims of bullying, discrimination, prejudice, persecution, and hate within the school system. For one decade, between 1999 and 2009, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in the United States asking students to describe their high school milieu. According to the findings, 61% of LGBT students feel unsafe, 72% report hearing degrading comments, 85% are verbally harassed, and 40% are physically harassed (Fetner, Elafros, Bortolin, and Drechsler, 2012). The statistics for minority high school students including Latinos and African Americans had slightly elevated rates in both verbal and physical harassment. It was not until the realization that LGBT adolescents, like other adolescents, spend the majority of their time within the confines of the American public education system and suffer, did acknowledgement of creating a safe space for LGBT students develop (Toomey et. al, 2011).

District policies from each of the 29 districts sampled were reviewed to determine the extent to which policy vernacular enumerated LGBT students. Enumeration values included sexual orientation, sexual preference, LGBT, GLBT, homosexual, and gay (refer to Appendix E for complete checklist matrix). The district policies sought during the document analysis portion of the study included: (a) Anti-Violence and Non-Discrimination, (b) Bullying, (c) Code of Conduct, (d) Equal Educational Opportunity, (e) Equal Employment Opportunity, (f) Harassment and Violence Prevention, and (g) Mission

Most LGBT youth become happy with who they are which gives them room to thrive during their adolescent years. Attending a school that has a safe and comfortable environment for every student is especially important. Positive environments can help all youth achieve good grades and maintain good mental and physical health. However, some youths are more likely than their straight peers to experience bad health and life outcomes. Experiences with violence, compared to other students, come easy to LGBT individuals that can cause increased risks for unfortunate circumstances.‘Violence’ includes behaviors such as teasing, harassment, and physical assault. It is important that students at risk have access to resources and support to deal with any questions or challenges they may have or face as they mature. Surveyed LGBT students reported 10% were threatened or injured, 34% were bullied, and 28% were bullied electronically.