Investigating sexuality education in South African schools: A matter of space, place and culture

Eben Swanepoel,Christa Beyers

doi:10.4102/td.v15i1.612

Abstract

Sexuality education has faced various challenges in being successfully implemented within secondary schools in South Africa. Research points towards barriers thereto, which include teacher bias and limited knowledge as core mediators to socially-just education. Research in the subject of Life Orientation, specifically the theme of sexuality education, has largely focused on teacher responses and challenges within the teaching of sexuality. Scant research, however, exists on how schools as a systemic whole manifest and sustain sexuality education. This research article is guided by the primary question: how do schools, from a systemic level, mediate sexuality education in relation to space, place and culture? As such, the research reported in this article encompasses a systemic approach to understand how sexuality education is maintained within schools. Through purposive sampling, 12 participants from 6 schools in the Free State province were chosen to take part in semi-structured interviews. The sample of participants comprised Life Orientation teachers and school principals and co-managerial staff. Through the framework of cybernetics, it was found that schools face different challenges in relation to their geographical place, as well as the space within which they reside socio-economically. Core themes that emerged from the data include curriculum boundaries and teacher knowledge. We further found that culture influences how sexuality education manifests within a specific context.

Highlights

South African culture has become increasingly complex, with multicultural norms and indigenous knowledge systems having to abide by a uniform benchmark of constitutional rights based on inclusivity and acceptance of diversity (The Bill of Rights 1996)
The coding and thematic categorisation of the data established various aspects of subthemes related to space, place and culture as central themes explored in this article
Space and place are interrelated concepts, and sexuality education must be understood as a contextually based concept that is located within specific spaces

Summary

Introduction

South African culture has become increasingly complex, with multicultural norms and indigenous knowledge systems having to abide by a uniform benchmark of constitutional rights based on inclusivity and acceptance of diversity (The Bill of Rights 1996) This plurality of culture implicates teaching practices as many educational spaces are faced with the need to transfer knowledge flexible to societal norms and values (Weeks 2012). This need for the flexibility of adaptable knowledge to the 21st century paradigm to shift from static knowledge is further intensified by globalisation (Jonck & Swanepoel 2015). South African school spaces have not shown the desired influence in creating and shaping learner identities, but rather often still dictate rules and boundaries related to sex and gender, which are obstacles to the ideals of social justice and inclusivity (Swanepoel, Beyers & De Wet 2017)

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Conclusion