1.14 Course of the study
2.3.3 Sexuality education
Gonzales-Acquaro (2009, p.1) defines ‘sexuality education as a life-long process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs and values. It encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles’.
Stronch (1988, p.88) defines ‘sexuality education as an institution to develop understanding of the physical, mental, emotional, social, economic and physical aspects of interpersonal relationships, the physiological and cultural foundations of human development, sexual reproduction of various stages of growth, as well as the opportunities for pupils to acquire knowledge about sexuality education which will support the development of responsible sexual behavior’. Van Rooyen and Louw (1994) assert that sexuality education is pre-eminently a matter of education and relates to all issues concerning the particular sexuality of the child, being typically a boy or girl. Vergnani and Palmer (1998, p.5) view ‘sexuality education as an on-going process that should ideally start at home and be complemented by sexuality education at school that starts in Grade 1 and continues throughout schooling’. For Ajuwon (2005) sexuality education is a process of how an individual learns to be comfortable with all aspects of being human. Furthermore, sexuality education can be described as a process of providing information, skills and services that enables people to adopt safe sexual behaviours, including abstinence, non penetrative sex such as hugging and holding hands, as well as correct and consistent use of condoms.
Kavivya (2003) writes that sexuality education addresses the biological, socio-cultural, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality from the cognitive domain (information), affective domain (feelings, values and attitudes) and the behavioural domain (communication and
decision-making skills). This education enables the young person to know himself/ herself and hence relate comfortably with others. Sharing this view, the National Guidelines Task Force (2004) in Gonzalez- Acquaro (2009, p. 30) state that sexuality education ‘is a lifelong process of acquiring information and forming attitudes, beliefs and values about identity, relationships and intimacy. Its curriculum encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image and gender roles. It is a curriculum that teaches knowledge, behaviours, attitudes and skills that promote committed family relationships, healthful relationships, good character, healthful sexuality and reproductive health. Sexuality education addresses the biological, socio-cultural, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality from a cognitive, affective and behavioural domain including skills to communicate effectively and making responsible decisions’.
According to UNESCO (2009) sexuality education is an age appropriate, culturally sensitive and comprehensive approach that includes programmes providing scientifically accurate, realistic, non- judgemental information. Comprehensive sexuality education provides opportunities to explore one’s own values and attitudes and to build decision-making, communication and risk-reduction skills about all aspects of sexuality. Furthermore, it promotes critical thinking, self actualization and behavioural change through gaining knowledge about the body, healthy relationships, sex abuse, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infection prevention and many other topics regarding human sexuality and sexual and health reproductive rights. A comprehensive sexuality education programme will respect diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community and will implement and augment sexuality education children receive from families, religious and community groups and health care professionals.
However, much depends not entirely on whether children receive any kind of sexuality education from various institutions. The onus rests on whether the parents and communities are actively engaged in the designing of the programmes that will provide their children with the necessary information and skills. These acquired skills and information will enable children to become critical
thinkers, enhance their problem-solving strategies and be able to make informed decisions, regarding their own lives and those of others. The implementation of a comprehensive sexuality education programme would deem a fruitless exercise unless all stakeholders are actively and meaningfully engaged. Moreover, unless the children themselves are actively engaged in the processes and the programmes designed to suit their needs, its implementation would pose a challenge to all the stakeholders involved. Thus, most of the literature reveals that ‘sexuality education has remained an area of much contestation in schools. ‘The quality of programmes and decisions contained in the curriculum that should be presented in schools, rest with the local management. Such programs are specifically designed to comply with the knowledge that students already possess from home’ (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 2001, p.2).
The Action Health Incorporate [AHI] (2003) in Adepoju (2005, p.3) describes ‘ sexuality education as a planned process of education that fosters the acquisition of factual information, the formation of positive attitudes, beliefs and values as well as the development of skills to cope with the biological, psychological, socio-cultural and spiritual aspects of human sexuality’. The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (1995, p. 9) states ‘it is the interactive relationship of these dimensions that describes an individual’s total sexuality’. In addition, sexuality education seeks to assist children in developing a positive view of sexuality, provides them with the skills for taking care of their sexual health and helps them acquire skills to make decisions now and in the future (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 2003). Sexuality education teaches that religious principles, beliefs, rules and regulations and ethical considerations affect everyday interactions just as culture, role models in families and friends impact on people as well. Sexuality education is simply the art of learning how to conform to a certain way of living by being able to reason, examine and monitor oneself in clearly defined terms (Adepoju, 2005).
Sexuality education is fundamental to understanding oneself as a unique individual. It is a means of communicating with oneself and those around you by providing space for effective and meaningful interactions between and among fellow human beings.
2.3.4 Experiences
All human beings have experiences, but individuals experience things in different ways (Vijialakshmi, 2009). Cullingford (1995, p.80) asserts that ‘we learn from experience which consists of a series of events which happen to affect us. In addition, these experiences influence our response to them, and thus our behaviour and action’. ‘Lived experience in its most basic form involves our immediate and spontaneous awareness of life. A lived experience has a certain quality that is recognised in retrospect. Dilthey (1985) in Van Manen (1990, p.35) posits that ‘the meanings we give to lived experience are always of some past event or happening and can be regarded as an episode in the totality of life’. Human experience in my view is an occurrence in an individual life at a specific period and varies with time, frequency and nature. Experience, in this instance refers to the series of events or happenings that have impacted the lives of educators teaching sexuality education in Life Orientation to Grade 6 and 7 learners at school.
2.3.5 Life Orientation
One of the eight learning areas, contained in the South African Outcomes-Based Education [OBE]
curriculum is the Life Orientation subject (Department of Education, 2002; 2003). The Life Orientation subject include guidance, vocational and career education, life skills education, health education, environment, religious instruction and citizenship education (Rooth, 2005). Under the general umbrella of Life Orientation, the above aspects have been re-organised into five core areas:
‘Health Promotion, Social Development, Personal Development, Physical Development and Movement, and Orientation to the World of Work’ (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana, 2006, p.26). ‘Life Orientation aims to equip learners for meaningful living in a changing society, in other words, for the development of self- in- society’ (Department of Education, 2003, p.19).