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This paper explores students', preservice teachers' and inservice teachers' perceptions of the contributions and challenges of using participatory visual methodologies (PVM) to enhance HIV education in rural schools. Drawing on findings from three research projects conducted in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, four positive contributions are identified: 1) novelty, fun and engagement; 2) amplifying youth voices; 3) the facilitation of teachers' reflexive learning; and 4) the production of local resources in under-resourced schools. Challenges include: 1) limited technology access; 2) teacher discomfort; and 3) resistance to PVM integration. Teachers and young people, especially in under resourced rural settings, can benefit from integrating such methodologies into their responses to HIV and AIDS. However, sustainable integration must rely on choosing the most appropriate participatory visual methodologies given the technological resources available in school. The paper concludes with recommendations to optimise participatory visual methodologies integration into rural school-based HIV responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed using queer theory and intersectionality theory, this paper unpacks the various ways in which Black South African male teachers who engage in same-sex relations negotiate and manage their identities in a context deeply riddled by the history of apartheid. Eight male teachers were interviewed using a life history methodology. Consistent with many international studies on the work experiences same-sex identifying teachers, the paper argues that the interviewed male teachers draw on a passing act in order to manage their identities in school contexts characterised by a culture of heteronormativity. This adopted passing act mainly draws upon the enactment of hyperprofessionalism, a localised form which safeguards same-sex 'desiring' teachers against possible homophobia. While this form of passing grants teachers significant respect and power, leading at times to the disruption of homophobia, not all teachers enjoy this power. Some teachers are forced out of their schools by threatened managers. The paper calls for more interventionist work at both basic education and higher education levels in South Africa in order to make schools more inclusive and welcoming for all students and teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the vulnerability of orphans to sexual violence in and around their township secondary school. Using photovoice as a methodology with which to unearth these experiences and narratives, we examine how such an approach might engage the voices of orphans to inform thinking regarding sexual violence. Our analysis was informed by our desire to engage learners as critical and creative thinkers who are capable of grounding and thinking critically about their own issues. Findings highlight the vulnerability of orphaned girls both in and outside school. The photographs they produced demonstrate the pervasive nature of sexual violence directed against them. Photovoice enabled both ourselves and our participants to investigate experiences of sexual violence among orphaned learners. In particular, as a participatory visual method, photovoice facilitated the development of a transformative pedagogy in which we created a safe space for orphaned learners, a group that is often marginalised and silenced in many spaces to speak about their experiences. While many groups, particularly poor girls and women, experience high rates of sexual violence, the vulnerability of orphaned girls and boys is further increased by their social status within their families, communities and at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with disabilities are at increased risk of exposure to HIV, yet they lack access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support including sexuality education. Lack of knowledge, skills and confidence of educators teaching sexuality education to learners with disabilities is related to this increased vulnerability. This study identifies possible challenges educators of learners with disabilities face when teaching sexuality and HIV education. Five focus groups were conducted in three purposely selected types of special schools representing four impairment groups in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Educators recognise that teaching about sexuality is part of the South African Life Orientation curriculum and understand its importance to learners. However, they identified a number of challenges to such work, including barriers in communication and language, cultural values and expectations, learners' knowledge and behaviour, handling of sexual abuse cases and the teachers' own life experiences. Educators feel a lack of support from parents, departments of education, fellow educators and members of the community. They report the need for training and adapted HIV and sexuality education tools and resources to accommodate learners with disabilities. This training needs to provide knowledge on disability and HIV, offer guidance on disability-appropriate communication strategies, deal with sexual abuse and include educational tools for the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The stakes are high for sex education in South Africa: it has been estimated that 8.7% of young people live with HIV. Within primarily US and UK contexts, there has been much debate over the relative merits of abstinence-only and comprehensive sexual education programmes. These perspectives have largely been presented as irreconcilable, but in-depth interviews with 25 life orientation teachers across the Free State Province of South Africa reveal that teachers may attempt to reconcile aspects of the two into a hybridised perspective. They promote abstinence as the only appropriate choice for young people while recognising the value of some of the broader issues of comprehensive sexuality such as relationships and safe sex. We attempt to make meaning of this hybridisation and present two arguments: that the specific South African context challenges the idea that these two contradictory positions cannot be mixed and that they might be strategically combined to promote a comprehensive sexuality education that builds a sense of agency and responsibility without alienating young people through moralism. We conclude with a brief description of future directions that classroom practice and teacher preparation might take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]