Some teachers reported feeling uncomfortable talking to their students about sexuality due to their beliefs or perceptions about what’s appropriate—often conflating sexual orientation with sex—while others felt pressure from administrators or parents to keep tight-lipped. And a lack of professional development on how to address LGBTQ issues and bullying has left teachers ill-equipped to establish LGBTQ-inclusive cultures or to identify anti-LGBTQ behaviors and harassment.
Meanwhile, the emergence of highly politicized issues like allowing transgender students to use bathrooms aligned with their identity has raised the LGBTQ profile nationally but made constructive dialogue harder.
This online course is designed to educate teachers about lesser-known sexual and gender identities and offer strategies for being an ally to students and parents who identify as LGBT+.
Teachers will learn how to use inclusive language to respect and validate a wider variety of identities. They will recognize a variety of strategies for combating bullying of LGBT+ students and how to create a safe space for students who identify outside of the set norms in society, within their classrooms in the course, Working with LGBT+ Students and Families.
