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Teachers in Lady Agatha's Boarding School (Lady Agatha's) find teaching Sex and Relationships Education (RSE) uncomfortable. This paper investigates one aspect of the discomfort that they feel, namely the impact RSE has on their professional status as teachers. I use focus group data to reflect on the professional and personal location of teachers at Lady Agatha's and to explore their understanding of RSE through the recurring themes of professionalism and professional reputation as symbolic capital; deprofessionalisation and risk as symbolic violence; and the connects and disconnects between the doxa and illusio of the school. Findings suggest that by interrogating the sites of symbolic violence which generate RSE discomfort, we can start to unpick the fabric which creates discomfort about RSE, allowing both for a deeper understanding of RSE discomfort in teachers and an opportunity to address this discomfort as a barrier to RSE delivery at Lady Agatha's. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the retrospective accounts of eight LGBT+ students aged 18–21 attending a university in Northern England. Using interpretivist methodology, qualitative research was conducted to explore how their sex and relationships education impacted upon their needs as a sexual and/or gender minority. An under-researched aspect of experience was also investigated: namely, how LGBT+ people learned about sex and relationships if not in a formal school setting. Two focus groups were used to examine these areas of interest and similar patterns in both groups were apparent. Themes such as the impact of heteronormative value systems, pornography as an educational resource, and the use of online Blogs and search engines as a source of alternative education were highlighted. Findings demonstrate how participants' experiences of sex and relationships education were largely non-inclusive and irrelevant to their needs. The paper concludes with practical suggestions to ensure subsequent generations of LGBT+ pupils receive a more inclusive educational experience, supported by approachable teachers who are comfortable and competent teaching the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that intimate relationship violence and coercive control are prevalent in young people's relationships. Furthermore, young people often fail to recognise such behaviour as abuse. While such findings indicate the normalisation of controlling and coercive behaviours amongst young people, there is little focus on how these behaviours are normalised. This paper presents findings from a study exploring young people's experiences and expectations of intimate relationships. Focus groups were conducted with young people (aged 13 to 18 years) in schools in the West Midlands, England. Young people talked of navigating precarious and competitive heterosexual relationships. Their expectations and negotiations of these relationships often upheld and reinforced gender double standards around dating practices. Young people's discussion also highlighted how they came to accept and rationalise controlling and coercive behaviours as 'love', 'care' and 'protection', legitimising these practices as reasonable. Heteronormativity remains a dominant discourse shaping young people's experiences and expectations of relationships with coercion and control being defining features of this discourse. Supporting young people to critically examine constructs of heterosexuality and gender norms should be a key component of England's forthcoming statutory Relationship and Sex Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite public outcry, South Africa has decided to roll out comprehensive sexuality education in schools. Currently, however, there are no scripted lesson plans for teachers of learners with visual impairment. Local literature suggests that the current sexuality education curriculum fails to engage with sexuality diversity and is imbued with notions of compulsory heterosexuality and able-bodiedness, perpetuating homophobia, transphobia and ableism in schools and broader communities. The paper sought guidance from disability professionals on how to best address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other sexualities' (LGBT+) issues as part of comprehensive sexuality education for learners with visual impairment. Bourdieu's work on doxa, orthodoxy and heterodoxy underpinned the study. Three professionals working with learners with visual impairment were interviewed in a focus group, and one school principal working in a school for learners with visual impairment was interviewed individually. Data were thematically analysed. Pre- and in-service teachers are encouraged not to see comprehensive sexuality education offered to learners with visual impairment as different from that provided to their sighted peers. Professionals urged teachers to accept LGBT+ learners with visual impairment in their dress, expression and embodiment. However, teachers need to be aware of learners' cultural and religious differences. Current lesson plans need to be revisited to safeguard against compulsory heterosexuality and able-bodiedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the views of male and female learners regarding how Life Orientation (LO) sexuality education is taught at their schools. Learners in the study were selected from five former 'Black' schools in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. Focus groups were used to identify what learners could recall about their LO sexuality education classes. The strong trend in the data speaks to how LO sexuality education implies a gendered, heteronormative and moralistic approach to youth sexuality which silences and negates same sex relationships and girls' accounts of sexuality. Although LO sexuality curricula are, as crafted on paper, often sophisticated learning programmes, participants point to a disjuncture between the official LO sexuality education curriculum and how LO sexuality education is taught in the studied schools. The paper concludes with some specific recommendations for teachers to promote a non-judgemental approach to sexuality education that challenges heteronormativity and other gendered injustices as part of the teaching of LO sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notions of 'participation' in sexuality education has gained considerable traction in recent years - with participation being regarded as a fundamental right and a critical means to empower young people. However, the notion has increasingly been subject of debate, with critics problematising the manner in which participation is operationalised, and questioning the assumed impact of participation in relation to sexuality education goals. This paper contributes to these debates by examining the under-researched gendered dimensions of participation of young people in sexuality education. It utilises data from a qualitative study conducted in 2015 on young women and men's (10-15 years old) perceptions of their participation in the dance4life programme, an in-school sexuality education programme in Jinja district in eastern Uganda. The paper highlights subtle but important differences between young men and women's participation in the programme, which are arguably reflective of existing gendered hierarchies. We conclude by providing recommendations on how to address gender differences in participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As online pornography has become more readily available and accessible, educators have begun to grapple with how to address young people's engagement with it. Much of this discussion centres the view that pornography is an inherently problematic genre that young people should be inoculated against through comprehensive media literacy education – an approach that often ignores the nuance of young people's engagements with porn and which often isolates pornography as outside of and infringing upon young people's everyday lives. Using thematic narrative analysis, this paper examines excerpts from focus groups with undergraduate students at a Canadian university examining their experiences with and thinking on pornography and sex education. Findings suggest that participants' pornography-related narratives are connected both to their own personal, lived experiences with pornography and to the broader structural and relational aspects of their sexual and social worlds in ways that complicate traditional media literacy interventions. Small-group discussions on pornography therefore emerge through this study as potentially productive pedagogical sites for educators seeking to develop a more expansive and ethically oriented approach to sex and sexuality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual health promotion and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) are influenced by interrelated social and cultural factors, particularly in a rural setting. This paper reports on findings from interviews with young people when asked about experiences and perspectives accessing RSE and sexual health services in a small rural Australian town. Fifteen young people (16–24 years) participated in semi-structured focus groups and interviews. Data was analysed and coded with four key themes emerging: relevant and credible sexual health education; make it easy; GP accessibility; and discreet condom supply. The findings of this study have practical implications when addressing community level sexual health and RSE needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses sexuality and relationship education (SRE) in a Swedish college programme aimed at young people with mobility impairments. Interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore students’ experiences of the structure, content and usefulness of SRE, and college personnel’s SRE practices. Results show that, although many of the issues covered are pertinent for all young people, being disabled raises additional concerns: for example how to handle de-sexualising attitudes, possible sexual practices, and how reliance on assistance impacts upon privacy. Crip theory is used as an analytical framework to identify, challenge and politicise sexual norms and practices. Students’ experiences of living in a disablist, heteronormative society can be used as resources for developing cripistemologies, which challenge the private/public binary that often de-legitimises learners’ experiences and separates them from teachers’ ‘proper’ knowledge production. Crip SRE would likely hold benefits for non-disabled pupils as well, through its use of more inclusive pedagogy and in work to expand sexual possibilities. Crip SRE has the potential to disrupt taken-for-granted dis/ability and sexuality divides as well as to politicise issues that many young people presently experience as ‘personal shortcomings’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New York City (NYC) is considered to be one of the world’s most progressive cities and gender and sexuality diversity (GSD)-inclusive education departmental policies appear to reflect these values. However, even within such a context, NYC educators report challenges in their work to meet the needs of trans/gender-diverse students and the visibility of trans/gender diversity more generally within their pre-K - 12 school communities. This paper reports on interview data from 31 school staff members from nine public and independent schools located in the NYC metro region, with a specific focus on their framing of inclusivity and bullying, and reported support of trans/gender-diverse students. Based on educators’ representations of their schools, the nine schooling environments fell into two broad clusters: (1) those framing trans/gender inclusivity as an anti-bullying initiative and working at the minimum policy requirements, and (2) those working beyond bullying discourses and policy frameworks to conceptualise trans/gender inclusivity as integral to the school’s mission and as offering clear whole-community benefit. Findings support the constraints of bullying discourse on even supportive educators’ curricular ‘translation’ of GSD-inclusive policies, reinforcing the need for relevant policy reframing and targeted of professional development opportunities, particularly for school leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various health promotion strategies have been implemented in South Africa aiming to encourage young people to talk about issues of sexuality and HIV with their parents/caregivers. Although parent/caregiver sexual communication may be an effective method of influencing sexual behaviour and curbing the incidence of HIV, very little is known about how young people with disabilities in South Africa communicate about these traditionally difficult subjects with their parents/caregivers. Based on findings from a participatory study conducted amongst 15–20-year-old Zulu-speaking youth with physical and visual disabilities, this paper explores how they perceive youth–parent/caregiver communication about sexuality and HIV. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, the paper outlines how disabled youth–parent/caregiver sexual communication is governed by cultural customs, sexual secrecy and constructs of innocence. It also argues that the experiences and perceptions of young people with disabilities are critical to the development of future interventions to assist parents/caregivers develop communication strategies that help disabled young people make sense of sexual behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses pre-service teachers' responses to a critical analysis of gender/power relations using examples from a final assessment for an intensive elective unit called Teaching Sexuality in the Middle Years. This unit critically examines gender/ power relations, the production of difference, heteronormativity and pleasure and desire, employing a feminist post-structural framework. Despite the focus on critical thinking, reflection and interrogating structural inequalities in this unit some students were resistant or unable to engage with this approach in their assessments, although appearing to do so in workshops. We consider the broad range of sexuality education discourses mobilised by this unit to try to make sense of what looks like resistance but may be something more complex and difficult to negotiate. The paper ends with a consideration of some of the implications of this approach for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details findings from an evaluation of a gendertransformative sexual and reproductive health and rights group education programme facilitated with young men aged 15-24 years in South Africa. A total of 475 young men participated in the group education programme. A self-administered pre- and postquestionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of the participants, and focus group discussions were facilitated. A total of 265 young men completed both the pre and post-questionnaires. Findings from the surveys as well as the focus group discussions showed positive changes in gender equitable attitudes, contraception and condom use. Results indicate that the young men who participated in the group education learned to identify harmful gender norms and actively questioned these constructs both within their personal lives and in the broader community. The intervention enabled some participants to envision alternative versions of masculinity and femininity, thus enabling them to adopt a new way of being, with transformed attitudes concerning household and gender roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous classroom-based interventions have aimed to improve sexual health outcomes for young people, yet few have shown strong, lasting effects. Ecological approaches that address multiple levels of a young person’s environment offer largely untapped potential to positively change sexual behaviour. This paper presents results of a cluster-randomised trial of a multicomponent sexuality education intervention that integrated a classroom curriculum, parent education workshops and materials, peer advocate programme, and sexual health services at 10 urban high schools. An implementation evaluation, employing quantitative and qualitative instruments, was conducted to examine whether the individual components of the intervention were delivered as planned and how they were received by the target populations. Multilevel modelling was used to evaluate the effect of the multicomponent intervention on outcomes at one-year follow-up. Results showed that the intervention components were successfully implemented with and well received by target populations. Students receiving the multicomponent intervention reported greater increases in the use of sexual health services (odds ratio [OR] = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.09–2.75) and the likelihood of carrying a condom (OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.44–5.09) relative to those receiving a control condition. No effects were found for other behaviours, possibly due to low prevalence of sexual activity in the sample and the small number of schools randomised. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the development and evaluation of an interactive, narrative-based, multimedia game to promote learning and communication about sexual violence and health topics. High school-aged participants created the game concept in a three-week workshop, after which assets were assembled and refined by a university-based game design lab. The outcome,Lucidity, was a multimedia game with a nonlinear narrative that led to two different outcomes based on player decisions. The narrative followed the life of one character, an African American woman named Zaria who remembers and grapples with a sexual assault from her past. The player discovers parts of the story by reading comics, watching videos, navigating interactive websites and playing short videogames. The final evaluation consisted of gameplay, a post-game focus group and follow-up interviews. Twenty-four young people participated in three focus group discussions (n = 9,n = 5,n = 10); 23 participated in the follow-up interviews. Salient themes identified in the focus group discussions included: overall approval of the game, the acquisition of new knowledge and minimal past exposure to conversations or education about sexual violence. At follow-up, almost all (n = 22) had initiated a conversation about sexual violence with a parent, peer and/or teacher.Luciditysucceeded in engaging young people and facilitating communication with adults and peers regarding sexual violence and other sexual health topics. Ultimately, a game-based intervention such as this represents a feasible approach for introducing issues of sexual violence, with potential for future implementation in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous research has pointed to the potential of entertainment media as a source of informal sex education for young people. New social media may offer additional potential in this respect. In this paper, we consider the pedagogical possibilities and limitations of online fan forums, via a case study of the forums of the controversial British teen drama seriesSkins. We analyse discussions of the realism of the series' representation of teenage life, and of specific issues (virginity, attractiveness and gay sexuality). We compare participants' discussions of their own experiences – in a section of the forum entitled ‘advice on life’ – with their discussions of the series and the characters. We find that the presentation of issues to do with sexuality sometimes challenges young people to engage in debate, and to move beyond established discourses. However, the value of the series in this respect depends crucially on its ‘openness’ – that is, its avoidance of fixed moral positions – and on its perceived plausibility and authenticity. The forum emerges as a new space for non-formal, peer-to-peer education that has limitations as well as new pedagogical possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Southern states of the USA, where rates among youth are higher than in the rest of the nation. This paper reports on findings from a pilot study of an HIV prevention intervention that uses interactive theatre to educate young people about sexual health. The intervention was developed in Los Angeles and adapted for testing in the Southern USA, with its legacy of abstinence-based approaches to sexual health education. This study assessed intervention effects among a sample of young people in two public high schools in North Carolina. We used a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental evaluation design to assess changes in 317 ninth-grade participants' knowledge and attitudes about HIV. At post-test, we found statistically significant increases in participants' HIV knowledge (t = 60.14;p = 0.001), as well as changes in attitudes (χ2 = 8.23;p = 0.042) and awareness (χ2 = 4.94;p = 0.026). Focus group data corroborated an increase in HIV knowledge and a reduction in HIV stigma as successful outcomes of intervention participation. The findings make an important contribution to the literature on theatre-based interventions for sexual health education. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering sociocultural and political context in implementing HIV prevention interventions in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum was introduced in Fiji schools in 2010 in response to concern about increasing teenage pregnancies and young people's vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and other health and social problems. However, conservative and suspicious parental attitudes towards FLE have been an obstacle. The need for an educational programme for parents to complement the FLE curriculum taught in schools is now urgent. This study examines parents' views on the sex and sexuality component of the FLE curriculum. Data were collected from 474 individuals using questionnaires, focus groups and face-to-face interviews. Participants represented different ethnic groups with Indigenous Fijians, women and Christians in the majority. The influence of the Christian religion on negative attitudes towards homosexuality and the use of protection is strong, as is parents' resistance to discussing sex education with their children. The paper concludes with suggestions on how to counter parents’ resistance to what they negatively perceive as Western or unbiblical ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents findings from focus group interviews conducted in Swedish government group homes for young people with a history of psychosocial problems, substance misuse and criminal behaviour. Participants were asked to reflect on a newly developed sex education curriculum located within a harm-reduction paradigm prior to its implementation. In addition to appreciating the proposed 10 sessions, young people positively evaluated the proposed dialogical and norm critical teaching style as likely to facilitate productive discussion about sexuality. Findings will contribute to future implementation of the sex education curriculum across a range of institutional settings. Results also highlight the democratic aspects of involving vulnerable young people in matters that directly concern them, and underline the importance of properly contextualised forms of sex education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]