Factors That Have an Impact on Educator Pedagogues in Teaching Sexuality Education to Secondary School Learners in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

In a bid to reduce rates of HIV and AIDS, teenage pregnancy and STIs in this high-risk age group, sexuality education, as provided via the Life Orientation (LO) curriculum, is aimed at providing standardised prevention of risky sexual behaviour to all school-going youth in South Africa. The programme is facilitated by the LO educators who strive to develop learners’ abilities to make healthy choices for their own lives. Qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews with six educators from four different socio-economic status schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were conducted and analysed using Thematic Content Analysis. Educators were selected via random sampling which is representative of poverty quintiles 2–5 in the Umlazi district of KwaZulu-Natal. The findings of the study demonstrate that while educators were personally aware of and were practicing suitable pedagogy adapted to the needs of their learners, their school environments presented challenges which were perceived as barriers to their intentions to implement these best suited practices. LO educators, however, demonstrated the ability and skill to overcome these barriers by creating relationship-centred learning. The provision of resources by the government, curricular changes of repetitive subject content and participatory learner-educator–centred learning is required to overcome the challenges in low-resourced schools.