Teachers' Receptiveness and Comfort Teaching Sexuality Education and Using Non-Traditional Teaching Strategies
Abstract:This article reports on the comfort level of 97 Philadelphia eighth-grade teachers using non-traditional teaching strategies in sexuality education classes. Most were comfortable teaching sexuality education and undeterred by external factors such as students' religious beliefs, lack of administrative support, or parental protest. However, a quarter to a third of teachers reported never or rarely using activities such as role-plays, small-group discussions, and problem-solving exercises. The greatest perceived barriers to teaching sexuality education and using alternative teaching strategies were lack of materials, lack of time, and difficulty with facilitation under traditional classroom structure. Although more research is needed to better understand barriers to using alternative strategies, teachers in two focus groups suggested 1) restructuring classroom settings to match the demands of new teaching strategies, and 2) 'experience-appropriate' curricula.
Author(s): HAIGNERE, Clara S.; CULHANE, Jennifer F.; BALSLEY, Catherine M.; and LEGOS, Patricia
Publication: Journal of School Health, Vol. 66, No. 5, pp. 140-144
Date Published: 4/1/1996
Pages: 5
Location Code: 8173