The global alliance for lgbt education toolkit Working with Schools 0

Questionnaires for implementation in schools

We would like to refer to two questionnaires that have been developed specifically to measure homophobia in schools: the School Climate Survey of GLSEN (U.S.A.) and the School Safety Quick Scan of Rutgers Nisso Group & EduDivers (Netherlands). Both instruments have been used extensively and proved to be reliable.
The School Climate Survey

The School Climate Survey is a long questionnaire (74 items, 23 pages). It focuses mainly on LGBT issues, but there are also questions on other forms of discrimination and the school in general.

Subjects that are asked about are:

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  Hearing homophobic remarks in school
  
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  Hearing racist remarks in school
  
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  Hearing sexist remarks in school
  
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  Hearing remarks on gender expression in school
  
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  Safety and harassment in school
  
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  Characteristics of you school (general and related to LGBT)
  
• 
  Academic experiences and plans
  
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  Feeling comfortable in school (mostly related to LGBT issues)
  
• 
  Personal characteristics
  

Because of the length of the questionnaire, it seems the School Climate Survey is best usable in schools that are already interested in mapping the situation on LGBT issues, or online.

The GLSEN Survey is not a public document, but it can be obtained in English and Spanish from GLSEN ([e-mail]).

The School Safety Quick Scan

The School Safety Quick Scan is a shorter questionnaire with 28 items (6 pages). This questionnaire is an adaptation on the Dutch National School Safety Survey (which does not focus very much on LGBT issues) to which 12 gay and lesbian items and some items about non gender conforming behavior were added. These items are completely embedded in a range of more general questions about school social safety. Subjects that are asked about are:

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  What happens at school? (range of negative incidents)
  
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  Do you feel safe at school?
  
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  Interacting with others
  
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  How do you treat each other in your class?
  
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  What is it like in you school?
  

The School Safety Quick Scan is available in three versions: primary school students, secondary school students and teachers. Because of its focus on safety in general and it's short length, the School Safety Quick Scan is usable in a range of schools even if schools are not interested in or resistant against LGBT issues. The results yield practical advice on social safety in general to the school. It also makes it possible to relate LGBT safety to more general safety concerns. However, the number of questions related to LGBT issues is limited and therefore less adequate as an in depth needs assessment.

Suggested core questions in school research

Below are two questions we advice researchers to ask consequently about discrimination of LGBT teenagers in schools. They focus on social exclusion and on social support. The questions can be used in a local youth health monitor, in specific studies into the school situation or in the region or in evaluation studies with (for example educational) interventions.

The questions ask for specific behavior rather than cognitive or attitudinal opinions, which make them more usable in different cultural and social contexts.

Next to a question concerning social exclusion, it is important to ask a question concerning social support. From research in the Netherlands¹, it became clear how important mutual social support in schools is for a good school environment in general and specifically for vulnerable teachers and student, like LGBT.
The questions have been developed by the Dutch Institute for Social Sexual Research (the Rutgers Nisso Groep). They give a statistically reliable indication for the social acceptance of homosexual young people. They can also be used to translate facts in practical school policy.
1. Social exclusion

For the BOYS: Suppose there is a boy in your class who fancies boys (he is gay). What would you do, would you hesitate to do, or would you not do?

For the GIRLS: Suppose there is a girl in your class who fancies girls (she is lesbian). What would you do, would you hesitate to do, or would you not do?
a. I would feel at ease becoming friends with him/her

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

b. I would make it clear he/she should keep his/her hand off me

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

c. I would feel at ease making homework with him/her

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

d. I would rather sit next to someone else during the break

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

e. I would find it annoying to share a room with him/her on a school excursion/project week

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

To discuss social discrimination more widely, you can take a similar questions relation to racism or gender:
For the BOYS: Suppose there is a boy in your class who is not originally Dutch, but from another culture (for example Moroccan). What would you do, would you hesitate to do, or would you not do?

For the GIRLS: Suppose there is a girl in your class who is not originally Dutch, but from another culture (for example Moroccan). What would you do, would you hesitate to do, or would you not do?

(Use the same questions/answer possibilities as in question 1a)
The answer on these questions gives you an indication of the integration of several groups of young people and offers you the opportunity to make a comparison between intercultural and homosexual integration.
2. Social support

For the BOYS: Suppose there is a boy in your class who tells some students he is gay. Within a week the whole school knows it. Some students tease him or make nasty comments. Problems arise in your class too. What would you do?

For the GIRLS: Suppose there is a girl in your class who tells some students she is lesbian. Within a week the whole school knows it. Some students tease her or make nasty comments. Problems arise in your class too. What would you do?
a. I think it is his/her own fault, he/she could have known there would be trouble. I would not do anything.

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

b. I regret his/her situation, but I would not do anything

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

c. I would defend him/her, as long as I don’t get into problems myself

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

d. I would defend him/her, even when I would get into problems because of it

 certainly,  yes,  maybe, maybe not,  no,  certainly not

Source: Graaf, H.; Meerendonk, B. van de; Vennix, P.; Vanwesenbeeck, I. (2003) "Health Teacher, Health School. Job perception and health of homosexual and bisexual teachers", Enabling Safety for Lesbigay Teachers/RutgersNissoGroep, Dekkers, Utrecht (full report available from http://www.edudivers.nl/onderwijsbeleid/onderzoek/graaf_2003/english)