The labyrinth of HIV and AIDS education and teaching
3.5 Responses to HIV and AIDS education and teaching
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The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 (Department of Education, 1996). This Act, amongst other things, regulates admissions and exclusions of learners, and protection of HIV- infected learners. It is compulsory, this Act stipulates, for all learners between 7 -15 years, to attend school. Depending on their socio-economic contexts, some learners will be exempt from paying school fees. In line with EFA goals and UPE, as well as the South African Constitution, this Act ensures that young children have a right to basic education. As such, young children will be at school to receive HIV-prevention messages and relevant HIV- related knowledge, attitudes and life skills, which prevents HIV-infection.
National Policy on HIV/AIDS, for learners and educators in public schools, and students and educators in Further Education and Training Institutions (Department of Education, 1999). Guidelines for managing HIV and AIDS in schools and further education and training (FET) institutions are provided. Effective HIV-prevention and care in public education systems is, therefore, the main focus of this policy. In line with the South African Constitution, this policy protects constitutional rights to: basic education, privacy, a safe environment and non-discrimination. HIV and AIDS education as well as life skills, this policy stipulates, should be integrated across the curriculum. Moreover, specific knowledge about the HIV and AIDS epidemic; HIV-transmission, HIV-prevention and support are outlined in this policy. According to this policy, the main purpose of HIV and AIDS Education is:
to prevent the spread of HIV infection, to allay excessive fears of the epidemic, to reduce the stigma attached to it and to instil non- discriminatory attitudes towards persons with HIV and AIDS. Education should ensure that learners and students acquire age and context- appropriate knowledge and skills in order that they may adopt and maintain behaviour that will protect them from HIV infection (DoE, 1999, p. 10)
Norms and Standards for educators (Department of Education, 2000). This policy recognises seven roles of teachers, which reflect their changing roles, especially in an HIV and AIDS context. These roles were described earlier in this chapter. The learning mediator, subject specialist and most importantly, the community, citizenship and pastoral roles of teachers are significant when teaching about HIV and AIDS.
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Education white paper 6: Special needs education: Building an inclusive education and training system (Department of Education, 2001). This policy stipulates that all learners, most importantly vulnerable learners, receive a quality education, which addresses intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning, such as severe poverty, diseases, HIV and AIDS, disability, inadequate resources and support for teachers, and stereotyping to name just a few. Within such an inclusive education and training system, and especially within the HIV and AIDS context, teachers would need to recognise and accept not only individual needs and strengths, but also differences of learners. As such, besides empowering learners and encouraging appropriate attitudes and behaviour, the role of teachers is also to support learners infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.
National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) grades R-12 (Department of Basic Education, 2011). This policy outlines specific outcomes and content to be taught in Life Skills (grades R-6) and Life Orientation (grades 7- 12). HIV-related knowledge, attitudes and values are specified within the personal and social well-being component of the Life Skills curricula (grades R-6): development of the self;
health and environmental responsibility and social responsibility. The Life Orientation curricula (grades 7-12) focus on the following areas or topics: development of the self in society; health, social and environmental responsibility; constitutional rights and responsibilities; physical education world of work and study skills. While HIV and AIDS knowledge, attitudes and skills are clearly specified in the Life Skills grades R-9 curricula, guidelines are not as specific in the grades 10-12 Life Orientation curriculum. Life Skills and Life Orientation are considered to be main stand-alone or carrier subjects to teach HIV and AIDS education, nevertheless, this policy recommends that HIV and AIDS be integrated across all subjects of the curriculum.
Such policy frameworks and management of these are essential for effective HIV and AIDS education. In a sense, these policies guide the response of schools in general, and teachers in particular, to the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS on education systems. Effective implementation of such policies has increasingly come under scrutiny. While teachers are not actively engaged in developing such policies, they are nevertheless at the forefront of policy implementation. In light of this, I propose the urgent need to consider how teachers respond
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to such policies and teaching about HIV and AIDS education. The following section examines precisely how teachers engage with such policies and address HIV and AIDS education in their schools and classrooms.
3.5.2 Teachers’ response to HIV and AIDS teaching
Teachers not only carry the huge burden of effective HIV and AIDS education programmes, but also endure much of the blame for ineffectiveness of such programmes. Even though teachers are recognised as pivotal in HIV and AIDS education, evidence of their responses to teaching about HIV and AIDS is, nevertheless, lacking. This highlights a discrepancy:
teachers are believed to have crucial roles in HIV and AIDS teaching, yet research on teachers’ roles and responses to teaching about HIV and AIDS is extremely limited.
A significant concern, of studies focussing on school-based HIV and AIDS education programmes, is the knowledge levels of teachers. If teachers are to equip learners with relevant HIV and AIDS information, then it makes sense for teachers themselves to have appropriate knowledge levels to teach such information. Evidence, however, suggests contradictory responses. As outlined earlier in the chapter, teachers in Peltzer’s (2003) study believed that they are knowledgeable to teach about HIV and AIDS. This finding is consistent with that of Visser (2004) that teachers with high levels of knowledge were more willing to teach about HIV and AIDS. In contrast, Boler et al. (2003) established that teachers in India and Kenya indicate that they have inadequate knowledge to teach about HIV and AIDS. McGinty and Mundy (2009), likewise, found gaps in HIV-related knowledge;
however, this was in Namibian Bachelor of Education students and not teachers.
Of interest, linked to teachers’ knowledge, is teachers’ responses regarding their confidence and comfort in teaching sexuality and HIV and AIDS education. Helleve et al. (2009a) examine South African and Tanzanian teachers’ responses which indicate, generally, that teachers are confident and comfortable teaching such topics. South African teachers, however, have lower levels of confidence compared to Tanzanian teachers. Conflicting responses from teachers in India and Kenya, nevertheless, highlight the overall low confidence levels of teachers (Boler et al., 2003). Related to this, Mathews et al. (2006)
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establish that higher levels of confidence and self-efficacy translate into greater possibilities of overcoming barriers and implementing HIV and AIDS education programmes. Factors influencing teachers’ decisions to teach about HIV and AIDS include: HIV interactive context, past HIV and AIDS training, school climate and general disposition, with teacher training and school policy being the most significant influences.
Baxen (2010) and Helleve et al. (2009b) scrutinise teaching about sexuality and HIV and AIDS of Life Skills and Life Orientation teachers respectively in South Africa. The complexity of cultural contexts and positioning of teachers, are highlighted in these studies.
Helleve et al. (2009b), in particular, examine teachers’ responses to perceived cultural differences between local communities and HIV and AIDS content taught. Adopting the concept of a cultural diamond, HIV and AIDS teaching is underscored as a cultural practice, which is perceived by the teacher, as creator of meaning and receiver of ideas, in diverse ways. Additionally, teachers are positioned not only in adaptive positions, but also in moralistic positions, experiencing personal as well as cultural contradictions in their teaching about sexuality and HIV and AIDS.
This brief overview of teachers’ responses highlights the dearth of such studies and signals possible directions for future research.