Teachers' perceptions on including gay and lesbian issues in the classroom

Abstract

Social values—including beliefs about gay and lesbian people—develop at an early age. But a common assumption in most school communities is that gay and lesbian issues are not relevant to children. It is thought that there is no age appropriate way to bring up the subject without discussing sexual acts. The purpose of this study was to describe elementary school teachers’ perceptions of including gay and lesbian issues in the classroom. This study also investigated the support and opposition elementary school teachers would face when including these topics during classroom discussions. A questionnaire was developed by the researcher to gather information on discussing homosexual issues in the classroom. Eleven elementary school teachers within the Menomonie, Wisconsin area completed the questionnaire. The findings of the study illustrated perspectives of teachers faced with the issue of including gay and lesbian topics in the classroom, and determined the reasons behind their decisions. All of the teachers shared feelings of uncertainty and caution about discussing gay and lesbian issues in their classrooms. None of the selected teachers included education about this topic. The goal was for educators to examine the possibilities of how to include gay and lesbian issues in the classroom and better prepare themselves to respond to students’ concerns surrounding this topic.