Peer education regarding respect for LGB individuals can be understood as citizenship education with a specific content. Students who participate in an intervention to increase respect for sexual... Show morePeer education regarding respect for LGB individuals can be understood as citizenship education with a specific content. Students who participate in an intervention to increase respect for sexual and gender minorities may also increase their general citizenship competences. Also, participation in such an intervention may strengthen students’ awareness of the relationship between reflections on citizenship and attitudes toward LGB people. A peer educator intervention on sexual and gender minorities was implemented in pre-vocational secondary education by peer educators and 13 to 17 years old students. We examined the impact on attitudes toward LGB peers with a one-group pretest post-test design, and also used this method to examine reflections on acting as a democratic citizen. We found one significant (positive) correlation between a positive judgment of LGB peers and reflection on acting in a socially responsible manner, which was one of the three democratic citizenship reflection scales we used. No effects were found on either attitudes toward LGB peers or reflection on acting as a democratic citizen. Peer education that is more integrated into the daily social practice of students may increase impact. Show less
Process evaluations of peer education on the topic of sexuality and relationships pay little attention to the activities implemented by peer educators. Process evaluation with other target groups... Show moreProcess evaluations of peer education on the topic of sexuality and relationships pay little attention to the activities implemented by peer educators. Process evaluation with other target groups indicate clusters of activities that refer to educator skills, offering a safe place to learn, and efforts to change attitudes. An overarching factor named life experiences influences how peer educators implement activities. In this study, a peer education for social acceptance of LGBT was created and implemented in pre-vocational secondary schools. Students trained as peer educators implemented peer education, and after the implementation, they were interviewed about their activities. Sharing the coming-out story appeared to play a central role in the peer education intervention and its perceived outcomes. Show less
