The Attitudes of Prospective Teachers towards Homosexuality: A Case Study in Konya

Abstract

Sexuality has played a natural and significant role in human life throughout history and the interpretations of the values related with sexuality have varied in time and place (Pınar ve diğ., 2009). Homosexuality is also interpreted in various ways. In the modern Turkey, homosexuals are among the discriminated and marginalised groups (Gelbal ve Duyan, 2006; Oksal, 2008). This study tried to determine the attitudes of prospective teachers towards homosexuality. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the attitudes of the participants vary according to gender, age and domains. Regarding this aim, the following research questions were put forward: Do the attitudes of the participants vary according to gender? Do the attitudes of the participants vary according to age? Do the attitudes of the participants vary according to domains? The study group was comprised of 488 students who were studying at Ahmet Kelesoglu Education Faculty, Necmettin Erbakan University, in Konya, Turkey in the academic year 2011-2012. The number of female participants was 319 and the number of males was 169. The age of participants was between 19 and 22. The Attitudes towards Lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG) and Personal Information Form were used as data gathering instruments. As regards the studies into gender variable, males have been found to have more negative attitudes than females. As for the findings related with age variable, 21-22 year old participants were found to have more positive attitude towards homosexuals than other age groups. The findings about the domain of the participants showed that the students with equal-weighted had more positive results towards homosexuality.