‘That happened to me too’: young people’s informal knowledge of diverse genders and sexualities

Abstract

This paper explores how young people of diverse genders and sexualities share information about sex, sexualities and genders. Formal approaches to education often fail to consider young people’s communication and information exchange practices, including the circulation of peer knowledge through social media. In the wake of recent Australian backlash against the Safe Schools Coalition, we can observe how homophobia and queerphobia in the broader community can impact upon young peoples’ ability to learn about themselves and their bodies through formal education. Yet young people of diverse genders and sexualities can be observed to support each other in peer spaces, utilising their knowledge networks. This paper explores young people’s informal learning practices, the capacity of peer networks to support and educate young people, and the challenges of recognising such networks in a culture in which health and education discourses present them as ‘risk subjects’ rather than ‘health agents’. These issues are discussed in relation to our own experiences in research and health promotion, including one author’s role as a youth peer educator. Drawing on our workplace experiences, we provide a number of anecdotal examples which highlight the complexities of informal knowledge practice and information circulation, and the ways these can challenge and reform professional health, education, and research approaches.     

‘It's got to be about enjoying yourself’: young people,sexual pleasure,and sex and relationships education

Pleasure as a component of sexualities and relationships education (SRE) has been subject to much recent discussion. Arguably, academic debate has been more prominent than practitioner perspectives, with theoretical articulations and critique superseding pragmatic attention to integrating pleasure into learning about sexualities and relationships. Though there are exceptions, sexuality education that recognises pleasure and desire for young people remains absent in many contexts, despite calls for its inclusion for more than two decades. This paper offers a synthesis of expert opinion to outline the importance of pleasure and positive SRE to sexual health, rights, equality and safeguarding against coercion and harm. The paper acknowledges the often uneasy associations between sexuality, education and youth by identifying key political and academic debates, before offering a rationale on ways forward that may help persuade curriculum gatekeepers of its merits. Analysis focuses mainly on young women with reflections on current knowledge and the need for more empirically based research and theorising on boys and men. Policy developments relate to the UK, though issues raised have direct relevance for contexts where SRE is similarly contested.     

‘I’m good,but not that good’: digitally-skilled young people’s identity in computing

Computers and information technology are fast becoming a part of young people’s everyday life. However, there remains a difference between the majority who can use computers and the minority who are computer scientists or professionals. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews with digitally skilled young people (aged 13–19), we explore their views and aspirations in computing, with a focus on the identities and discourses that these youngsters articulate in relation to this field. Our findings suggest that, even among digitally skilled young people, traditional identities of computing as people who are clever but antisocial still prevail, which can be unattractive for youths, especially girls. Digitally skilled youths identify with computing in different ways and for different reasons. Most enjoy doing computing but few aspired to being a computer person. Implications of our findings for computing education are discussed especially the continued need to broaden identities in computing, even for the digitally skilled.     

Students’ knowledge acquisition and ability to apply knowledge into different science contexts in two different independent learning settings

Background: Recently, there is a growing interest in independent learning approaches globally. This is, at least in part, due to an increased demand for so-called ‘21st century skills’ and the potential of independent learning to improve student skills to better prepare them for the future.

Purpose: This paper reports a study that explored the effectiveness of two different independent learning approaches: (i) guided independent learning and (ii) unguided independent learning with independent research, in enabling students in an undergraduate Macromolecules course to acquire knowledge in one chemistry context and apply it successfully in another.

Sample: The study involved 144 chemistry students commencing their first term of undergraduate study at a northern university in England. Students completed pre- and post-intervention tests containing 10 diagnostic questions, of which 4 measured students’ knowledge acquisition in one context and 6 measured their ability to apply it in another.

Design and methods: Diagnostic questions had been identified using a Delphi approach. Paired t-tests and chi-square tests were used to analyse the significance of any change in students’ responses to the diagnostic questions and the number of responses evidencing misconceptions, respectively.

Results: Whilst guided independent learning settings were found to improve students’ knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge in novel situations, unguided independent learning had no statistically significant effect. Unguided independent learning was also linked to a statistically significant increase in the number of student misconceptions in one of the diagnostic questions.

Conclusions: The results of this study show that guidance in independent learning activities is a key necessity for effective learning in higher education. This paper has strong relevance and high significance to tertiary STEM education, especially in the light of increased importance of teaching, such as the Teaching Excellence Framework in the UK, and shifts to more independent learning activities.     

‘The students do not know why they are here’: education decision-making for Syrian refugees

This case study, conducted collaboratively between education scholars and education practitioners, describes and analyses the ways in which Syrian refugee teachers and an NGO are developing and implementing non-formal education (NFE) programming in three refugee settlements in Lebanon. Utilising the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, we analyse teachers’ and programme administrators’ decision-making processes regarding curriculum, language of instruction, and pedagogy as well as how and why these decisions are made in the absence of a guiding framework or policy for NFE. We also consider the ways in which the nation-state writ large still helps to influence these decisions in the ‘global era’.     

‘Sent out’ and Stepping Back In: stories from young people ‘placed at risk’

This paper invokes the voices of young people who had been separated from mainstream schooling because they were positioned as ‘disengaged’ and ‘at risk of failing’. The authors argue that streaming students out of schooling needs serious questioning as an escalating number of young people are framed as non-performers within a globally competitive educational market. Throughout the paper we use critical ethnographic slices to expose the experiences of the 24 young people interviewed who together with mentors shared personal insights whilst attending a re-engagement programme in Australia in the year 2010. Their responses unearth a ‘wickedness’ and a preoccupation during their schooling with performance and school improvement. In response, we privilege student interpretations of their own marginalisation as an activist form of ‘speaking back’ to the social and economic conditions and limitations dominating their lives.     

‘It's a year and then that's me’: masters students' decision‐making

This paper explores the decision‐making of students entering full time UK taught masters degree courses. The findings come from an ongoing research project, Career progression and employability for full time UK resident masters students. Little previous work has focused on these students and their process of transition (however long) from undergraduate studies. Analysis of the data from in‐depth interviews with 24 students from six masters courses across two universities has led to the development of a threefold classification to summarize students' circumstances on entry to their courses. Alongside this, Bourdieu's notions of field, social, cultural and economic capital and habitus have proved valuable in making sense of the data. I argue that students' decisions to pursue full time higher level study are related to their circumstances on application, their dispositions and the resources they have available to them that are relevant to their masters level study. Key differences in the students' circumstances are cross cut by key common themes, suggesting that they bring their prior dispositions to their decision‐making, which is firmly located within the opportunity structures they perceive as relevant to themselves. The complexities of the students' decision‐making appear to be a far cry from the narrow policy notion of students as rational actors seeking economic gain.     

‘We’re not trying to turn them into middle-class Guardian readers’: constructing the offender in the probation ‘classroom’

Over the past 10 years, cognitive-behavioural programmes have come to be seen as a standard form of rehabilitation for offenders in the United Kingdom. However, the majority of research has tended to evaluate the programmes purely within the evidence-based context of the ‘What Works’ criminal justice agenda. By placing the programmes within their social and political context, this article suggests that they function as neo-liberal regimes of governance that aim to ‘responsibilise’ offenders. Through an analysis of interviews with probation practitioners, the article explores how ‘othering’ discourses relating to offenders intersected with gendered, classed and ‘raced’ social identities. Consequently, young white, working-class masculinities were constructed within this educational environment as impulsive, irresponsible and ‘cognitively deficient’. Thus, the article calls for a discursive shift away from cognitive-behavioural rehabilitation techniques and towards more genuinely inclusive, socially just, and holistic educational programmes for probationers.     

‘Due to all this fear,we’re getting less freedom’: young people’s understandings of gender and sexual violence in New Delhi,India

This paper explores young people’s understandings of gender and sexual violence in New Delhi, India, based on multi-method research conducted with young people (aged 15–17) in three co-educational secondary schools. Fieldwork took place shortly after the 2012 Delhi gang rape that sparked widespread debates about violence against women in India, and so sexual violence became an important frame for students’ discussions around gender and sexuality. Young people’s understandings are considered within gender narratives – of ‘can-do’ and ‘vulnerable’ girlhood, and of ‘hero’ and ‘good boy’ masculinities – which already shaped their day-to-day experiences of schooling. Findings suggest that tensions arising from these often contradictory narratives led to frustrations among girls, while the dominance of conversations about sexual violence led to confusions in both girls’ and boys’ understandings of sexuality. Reflections are offered on ways schools can better support young people as they learn about gender and sexuality from diverse and contradictory sources.     

‘How are we going to do it?’ An exploration of the barriers to access to higher education amongst young people from disadvantaged communities

The number of young people progressing to higher education (HE) in Ireland has grown significantly over the last three decades but inequality of access and participation remain a major policy challenge. This article sets out to explore the factors which impact on levels of participation in HE by young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, based on interviews and focus groups with 70 secondary school students and 25 parents in three case-study locations. In line with previous research, we found that financial considerations continue to have an important influence on decisions about whether to go on to higher education. The findings in relation to young people’s aspirations and orientations to HE present a more complex picture. While the majority of students aspired to go on to HE, this was countered by a lack of confidence in relation to certain aspects of college life, both social and academic.     

‘I'm not a real risk-taker’: moral identity construction and sexual-risk perceptions among a group of young rural Tasmanians

Some young people are labelled more ‘at-risk’ of harming themselves through various behaviours, such as having sex, than others. However, such distinctions between young people are ambiguous, as youth itself is imagined as inherently risky. At-risk discourse has fuelled the existing links between youth and risk, and morality and risk. It has also impeded explanations of young people's sexual risk-taking. This article examines the stories that young rural Tasmanians (a group considered to be at sexual risk) tell about their experiences of safe and risky sex. A narrative analysis highlights the way that they perceive risk through the prism of self-identity. The participants' desire not to understand the self as a ‘real’ risk-taker inhibits them from imbuing their sex practices with significant risk. The findings suggest that sexual health research and safety promotion strategies may benefit from a shift away from at-risk rhetoric and a greater emphasis on the self-identity and risk perception nexus.     

‘Learning the basics’: young people’s engagement with sexuality education at secondary schools

School-based sexuality education remains a key response to the HIV epidemic. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic study, this study explores how young people engage with sexuality and HIV- and AIDS-related education as it is delivered through the Life Orientation (LO) learning area in South Africa, in order to understand the dynamics that support or hinder engagement. Focus group discussions were held with Grade 9 and 11 learners (aged 14–18 years) from 16 randomly selected public secondary schools across three provincial districts. Results show that enjoyment of LO education was related to perceived relevance and distinctiveness, informal lesson delivery, subjective assessment standards and seemingly minimal effort. However, the perception of reduced effort tarnished the status of LO and young people’s motivation to participate. Learner engagement is influenced by a variety of cognitive, affective and behavioural pathways including internalised discourse around HIV and AIDS, gender and sexuality; the quality of youth–educator relations and teaching competencies; peer pressures; and broader cultural dynamics. The cultivation of a learning environment in which young people share and debate their views promotes engagement and critical thinking. In-service and pre-service educator training, structured activity plans and monitoring are recommended to advance the content knowledge and pedagogy of educators.     

‘We all know why we’re here’: Learning as a community of practice on Access to HE courses

This article examines the extent to which Access to Higher Education courses can be defined as communities of practice. Other studies have already revealed the importance of mutual engagement and supportive relationships between students and between students and tutors in facilitating learning. While previous studies carried out on Access to HE (AHE) courses in England and Wales have largely focused on single colleges, the study that this article draws on was carried out in three urban further education (FE) colleges using a linked case studies design and a social interactivist lens. It investigated mature students’ perspectives of their changing learning identities through their developing relationships with their tutors and with each other during their AHE courses. Qualitative data was collected from five to six self-selecting AHE students in each college using focus group interviews and from their tutors using individual interviews. The findings suggest that the AHE students in this study generally participated and interacted in a supportive and collaborative way, guided by their tutors, and how and why they did this. This mutual engagement around particular core values helped to construct communities of practice, although some students remained peripheral participants. Within these communities were considerable inequalities of power, largely sustained by the institutional structures and professional discourses within which the AHE courses were located.     

'She just got me’: supporting care experienced young people negotiating relationships and identities at school

In this article we examine the complex relationship between care experience, mental health and exclusion from school and how young people (YP) negotiate these different experiences and identities. The study is a secondary analysis, informed by symbolic interactionist theory, of interviews conducted with 19 care experienced YP in Scotland. Not all of the YP were excluded and not all had a formal mental health diagnosis, as such our study design allows interrogation of the contexts and relationships which not only facilitate but also disrupt pathways to exclusion. It also allows reconsideration of assumptions of vulnerability which are often applied to care experienced YP. Our findings suggest that these YP are moving beyond ‘role playing’ the identities ascribed to them and actively seek out relationships which enable them to construct alternative identities.     

Dutch adolescents’ narratives about democracy: ‘I know what democracy means,but not what it means to me’

In the last decade, educational scholars have studied various aspects of adolescents’ citizenship narratives. This paper reports on a qualitative study into the narratives about democracy of 27 adolescents from an urban area in the Netherlands. The aim of the study was to gain an insight into the type of democratic engagement that Dutch adolescents develop. Fourteen vocational and 13 pre-university students were selected. Each student was interviewed twice. Narrative thematic data analysis revealed that only five students had developed a strong conception of democracy. Our findings suggest that few students had spent time developing and challenging their narratives about democracy, and that few students have developed a greater sense of democratic engagement. Our paper concludes with several suggestions for furthering the study and practice of democratic citizenship education.     

‘It's good to teach them,but … they should also know when to apply it’: parents’ views and attitudes towards Fiji's Family Life Education curriculum

A Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum was introduced in Fiji schools in 2010 in response to concern about increasing teenage pregnancies and young people's vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and other health and social problems. However, conservative and suspicious parental attitudes towards FLE have been an obstacle. The need for an educational programme for parents to complement the FLE curriculum taught in schools is now urgent. This study examines parents' views on the sex and sexuality component of the FLE curriculum. Data were collected from 474 individuals using questionnaires, focus groups and face-to-face interviews. Participants represented different ethnic groups with Indigenous Fijians, women and Christians in the majority. The influence of the Christian religion on negative attitudes towards homosexuality and the use of protection is strong, as is parents' resistance to discussing sex education with their children. The paper concludes with suggestions on how to counter parents’ resistance to what they negatively perceive as Western or unbiblical ideas.     

‘They start to get malicia’: teaching tacit and technical knowledge

The sociological study of education involves focusing upon teaching and learning, upon explicit instruction and the acquisition of the tacit knowledge and skills that are essential if learners are to become enculturated into a new habitus. Sociological insight into these processes can come from research on conventional educational settings, but is greater when unfamiliar, settings are studied. This paper focuses upon a pedagogic setting of an unconventional kind – a martial art, capoeira.