- Year 2023
- NSF Award #1951836
- Registration Current Noyce Scholar
- First Name Owen
- Last Name Lewis
- Discipline Physics
- Institution St. Cloud State University
Abstract
How can high school teachers be prepared professionally to support LGBTQ+ youth? What support do students who identify as LGBTQ+ need? And are preservice teachers ready to manage different LGBTQ+ issues that may come up at any point during the school year? In this study, 18 pre-service teachers served as participants who responded to questions related to their readiness and additional resources that might help them deal with issues that their LGBTQ+ students may experience in high school. The survey responses were analyzed and categorized by themes, and poetic inquiry was employed to allow better understanding of the data. Findings from the study suggest that more support for LGBTQ+ students is needed to improve their quality of education in high school. There are still many issues facing LGBTQ+ youth in the modern day. Finally, there needs to be a push for preservice teachers to have more training in LGBTQ+ issues. Implications of the findings directly tie into policies that must find their way into high school settings in order to give students in the LGBTQ+ community a better education and furthermore better lives to live.
