Core Values and the Identity-Supportive Classroom: Setting LGBTQ Issues within Wider Frameworks for Preservice Educators

In this article, the author describes how he introduces a new group of teacher education students or other preservice educators to the research about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth and schooling-related issues. A list of rights serves as a backdrop for a presentation and discussion of current data about the school experiences of LGBTQ students and about the risks that these youth face both in and out of school. The author uses recent key data from two sources: (1) Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) School Climate Survey; and (2) Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MYRBS). The exploration of LGBTQ issues in classrooms and schools takes place amid a larger conversation about how schools provide or fail to provide opportunities for students from various historically marginalized groups to develop positive identities as learners. (Contains 4 notes.)