PROYECCION DE ESTADO DE RESULTADOS

Participation of Sex and Relationships Education

Buston & Wight (2004) concluded that participation from pupils in sex education lessons was varied across classes. Various key factors were identified; it was apparent some of them could be universal and not specific to English schools, because they reflected the influence of developmental theories (e.g. age difference).

Participation from pupils was influenced by the atmosphere within SRE lessons. It was generally believed that a comfortable atmosphere would enhance participation

as Woodcock et al. (1992) suggested from a study of pupils’ view on sex education in England. Buston et al. (2002) identified that reducing discomfort was a important factor to engaging pupils during sex education lessons. They further identified several factors which could influence pupils’ level of discomfort, they were ‘the teacher as protector’, ‘the teachers as friend’, ‘trust between pupils’ and ‘sex education as fun’. All of them could contribute to this, and in Buston et al.’s study pupils’ discomfort was argued as an important indicator of their participation in sex education. However, studies of this field were still limited and tentative, such as Buston & Wight’s (2004) study of pupils’ participation in sex education.

The problematic nature of mixed gender sex education

During the process of reviewing studies regarding practices of SRE in England, it became apparent that gender issues were investigated by many researchers. (Measor, 2004, 2000; Measor et al., 1996; Hilton, 2001; Prentergast 1996). It was suggested male and female pupils responded differently to sex education (Measor, 2004).

Davidson (1996) specifically pointed out that boys were regarded as problematic in sex education classes due to their disruptive behaviour. Buston & Wight (2006) further argued the needs of further considerations to be made upon sex education for boys. Measor et al. (1996) attempted to explain the difference between genders by adopting gender theory which could explain different perceptions regarding the same material between male and female participants in sex education lessons. This approach was shared by Hilton (2001), who discussed the issues of working with boys in sex education by adopting elements from gender theories. Based on the findings of Measor et al. (1996) and Hilton (2001), the gender difference regarding perceptions of sex education should be found across different countries, however it was noticeable that most of these studies were from the UK.

Many attempts had been made to discuss the possibility of conducting sex education in single gender groups (Strange et al., 2003). It was believed that there were benefits for this format. For example, it was supported by female pupils as a means to eliminate the disruption from boys’ behaviour which was perceived negatively (Pretengast, 1996; Measor, 2004). Teaching SRE in mixed gender groups

had some unique benefits. Strange et al. (2003) reported that pupils claimed that mixed gender sex education could allow them to share their views with the other sex. Overall, this issue was a debatable one.

Another important dimension of this issue, as suggested by Prendergast (1995), was gender stereotyping within course materials. For example, she reported that many films, booklets and worksheets used in schools did not portray women and girls as having an active, positive sexuality comparable to that of boys and men. Reiss (1998) also argued the issues regarding gender and human sexuality were not balanced in the current Science textbooks by reviewing presentation of human sexuality in the textbooks for 14-16 year olds in the UK. For example, he noticed that none of the books reviewed in his study had any treatment of issues such as sexual harassment. Many researchers suggested that pupils of different gender prefer different topics in sex education ( e.g. Woodcock et al., 1992; Buston & Wight, 2004; Strange et al., 2003). Combining these results, we can conclude that 1) gender issue was an important topic around the effectiveness of sex education in the UK and 2) current practice failed to tackle this issue adequately. However given the lack of a theoretically informed sex education among schools in the UK, it was understandable that these findings rarely made it into real practice.

4.5 Conclusion

Sex education has always been regarded as a contentious issue. The history of policy was well documented, and historical debates had a great influence upon current practice. Sex education in England has always been highly politicised and debates regarding it were significant.

When looking at the practice of SRE under its current guidelines, the suggestion of inconsistencies among schools is strong. Practice has been greatly influenced by the power-shift between government and school governors. Although it is easy to see the tension still has its impacts on practice.

It was interesting to notice studies of sex education in England were based around hypothesis and ideologies of SRE rather than empirical practice. Suggestions and conclusions are somewhat tentative and this may be attributed to the fact that sex

matters are so controversial in this country. There have been some apparent successful innovations regarding sex education in England; however, the promotion of these programmes has been limited. Not enough is known about the gap between guidelines issued by the government and practice developed by schools.