EEH315 - Teaching Sexuality and Relationship Education

Content

Sexuality does not suddenly emerge at secondary schools. Primary school age students live in a social context where they are exposed to messages about sexuality on a daily basis in the media through television, music, and advertising and from their peers. Sex is often joked about and discussed in derogatory or stereotypical ways. The correct information about human sexuality, including the positive aspects, is often kept hidden from children.

Generally children who receive a comprehensive sexuality education from an early age:

• understand and accept with confidence physical and emotional changes
• feel positive about their bodies
• appreciate individual difference
• are more likely to make informed and responsible sexual decisions in later life
• feel good about themselves and their gender
• are capable of communicating about sexual matters
• understand appropriate and inappropriate behaviour
• are less vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse (Family Planning, Queensland 1996).

Sexuality education can be confronting and challenging for teachers and currently there is very little professional development in the area of health and sexuality education, particularly for primary teachers. Current programs in primary schools are often taken by outside agencies in one off blocks. This approach does not provide any continuity in teaching and goes against research that suggests classroom teachers are the best people to teach sexuality education. Research also indicates that secondary school teachers find this a difficult area to teach. Graduating teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to integrate sexuality education content, issues and activities in health education programs in line with the Victorian Curriculum and student wellbeing policies and practice. Teachers need skills to provide effective teaching and learning activities, assess resources, deal with potentially sensitive issues with students and allay possible parental concerns. This unit is taught in intensive mode and includes the following content:

• setting the context: the current situation
• discourses in sexuality education
• physiological aspects of sex and sexual health
• frameworks and policies
• gender and sexuality
• gender and sexual diversity
• cultural and religious diversity
• developing age-appropriate approaches
• dealing with sensitive issues
• whole school approaches to sexuality education

Learning outcomes

Each unit in your course is a building block towards Deakin's Graduate Learning Outcomes - not all units develop and assess every Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO).

Assessment

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning resource

The texts and reading list for EEH315 can be found via the University Library.

Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

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Unit fee information

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