Preparing yourself

Values

Inclusive sexuality and relationships education helps young people appreciate the diversity of values, attitudes and beliefs in a society. It is essential that teachers avoid imposing their own personal values on students either implicitly or explicitly. The role of the teacher is to provide opportunities for students to examine the range of values relating to sexuality issues and to encourage students to discuss these issues at home. Teachers can encourage and uphold those common, core values shared by the community generally contained in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005).

Parents/carers are the primary sexuality educators of their children. Children will acquire their beliefs and values from their parents/carers. It is a parent/carer’s right and responsibility to share their beliefs with their children.

For further information refer to:

• Values Education for Australian Schooling

Getting comfortable talking about sexuality with students

Will I lose credibility if I don't know all the answers or if I am uncomfortable with some issues?

It is not important to know the answer to every question you just need to be askable and to let students know you value and respect their questions and will find out the answer when you don’t know.

Sexuality can be a sensitive topic for people to discuss. Acknowledging embarrassment can make teachers and students feel more comfortable. Knowing where to look for information is an important strategy to assist with feeling more comfortable. A sense of humour and positive attitude to sexuality are also useful. If you feel you are unable to teach sexuality you might consider team-teaching with a colleague.

What about responding to students’ questions that I feel don’t need to be answered?

Questions that might seem silly to adults can be very important to children and young people. It is important to consider every question to be a valid question. Responses need to be brief, positive and factual and answered in a level matching the age and developmental stage of the students. A question box allows students to ask questions that might be embarrassing in front of peers.

Professional development for sexuality and relationships education

Specific issues may need to be addressed in the school environment for teachers to feel confident to implement a program. There are many strategies to increase teacher confidence in providing sexuality and relationships education. Some suggestions are:

• teachers work in pairs or small teams to team teach, with a more experienced or confident teacher leading the program
• regular staff meetings to discuss the sexuality and relationships education program, share successes and experiences, problem solve and provide peer support

(Blake and Muttok, 2004)

FPQ offers training and support in the area of sexuality and relationships education. Professional development can develop knowledge, skills and promote comfort in discussing sexuality and relationships education topics.

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References