Plenary Session IV: Bridging the Social Divide through Inclusive Education
The Pedagogy of the Repressed? Teachers, HIV and Sex Education
David Clarke, International Education Specialist, Thailand
The paper will investigate the international research literature on the difficulties teachers are facing in implementing school-based HIV education programmes, especially when attempting to teach sexual and reproductive health. Drawing on a wide range of contexts, it will identify the main factors which tend to undermine teacher confidence and motivation in this field. It will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the life skills approach to HIV education from a teacher's perspective. The paper will include an investigation of the personal, social and professional dimensions of widely documented teacher-related problems in HIV curriculum delivery which can result in selective or even no teaching of the HIV education programme. To what extent are teachers to blame for poor implementation practices? Going beyond the problem, it will examine the evidence for a range of strategic interventions which enable teachers to overcome these issues and to deliver effective sex education for HIV prevention.
Download the paper (pdf, 80kb) and presentation (pdf, 80kb)