Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
A staff development program for antihomophobia education in the secondary schools
Abstract
The purpose of the study was, having elaborated a theoretical rationale, to assess the impact of a twelve-hour anti-homophobia workshop on the attitudes and professional practice of 16 staff participants at the public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theoretical aspect included an application of Kohlberg moral development theory and theories of sexism to an analysis of homophobia. The resulting Stage Model of bigotry was used in conducting the voluntary staff development workshop, "Gay and Straight at CRLS: Creating a Caring Community." The methodology included analysis of the responses to a questionnaire and interview given two years after the workshop was conducted. The results show that participants were more likely to be female, politically and religiously liberal staff members with little or no academic experience with the topic of homosexuality. Response to the workshop was very positive with an emphasis on empathizing with families of gay/lesbian people, being moved by testimony of co-workers dealing with their own experiences as gay/lesbian teachers or as parents of gay/lesbian children, and recognizing the inhospitable environment at the high school for gay/lesbian students. Most of the participants felt the workshop sharpened their view of homosexuality as an issue at the school and made them more likely to confront homophobic attitudes/behaviors around them. Participants' near unanimous support for a gay/lesbian student support group, which has been formed at the school as a consequence of the workshop, underscores the idea that a community of caring (Kohlberg Stage 3) was the moral atmosphere created by the workshop.
Subject Area
Teacher education|Ethnic studies|Developmental psychology|LGBTQ studies
Recommended Citation
Lipkin, Arthur Samuel, "A staff development program for antihomophobia education in the secondary schools" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9100523.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9100523