Socio-praxis preferences in teacher preparation for child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting

Abstract

Child abuse and neglect, particularly child sexual abuse, is a pastoral care issue that deeply concerns all education professionals. The literature strongly supports specific training for pre-service teachers about child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting, although few studies identify how such training should be academically structured. Experiential theory suggests that learning, at any age, is greatly enhanced when students experience content in practice, rather than abstractly as lectures or handouts, and that consideration of students’ needs, interests and preferences greatly enhances their engagement and learning outcomes. This study gathers and explores quantitative and qualitative data on the specific preferences that primary and secondary school student-teachers (N = 321) have for a pre-service course on child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting, considering factors, including duration, timing, mode, academic value, size and integration. Results show that student-teachers want more content regarding child sexual abuse than they currently get, they want it to be integrated with early experiential in-school learning, and they want it delivered just before their first block of practice teaching in schools. These findings support pre-service implementation of specific, engaging, socio-praxis learning experiences that accommodate student-teachers’ expressed needs and preferences, and so may be used to guide the planning and configuration of a dedicated course regarding child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting.