Trauma-informed sexuality education: recognising the rights and resilience of youth

Experiences of maltreatment during childhood and the emergence of sexuality during adolescence are both critical developmental issues that intersect in meaningful ways, yet the two are often isolated from each other in practice. Despite the prevalence of childhood maltreatment, sexuality education does not accommodate young people with trauma histories. This results in curricula and content that ignore the particular needs and experiences of a proportion of students in sexuality education classrooms. Trauma interventions commit a similar oversight by neglecting the prospects for positive, growth-promoting sexual experiences and relationships among young people who have been abused. The failure to account for young people's resilience in the sexual domain results in treatment approaches that emphasise sexual risks (e.g. revictimisation) and problem behaviours to the exclusion of guidance in cultivating positive sexualities. Consequently, many forms of sexuality education and maltreatment interventions may be of limited effectiveness and relevance in promoting the future sexual well-being of young people with histories of trauma. To redress this gap, we advocate for trauma-informed sexuality education, an approach that acknowledges past experiences of abuse, the promise of resilience, and young people's right to positive sexualities.     

The constraints of youth: young people,active citizenship and the experience of marginalisation

ABSTRACT

This paper charts the experiences of a group of young people and their involvement in a local government initiative to engage young people in public decision-making. Activated through a youth leaders’ council that sought to influence and inform local government decision-making, the participating young people were given responsibility for enacting focus projects in collaboration with local government personnel. However, this method of simply bringing young people together with local government decision-makers did not automatically alter the way that decisions came to be made and ironically resulted in interactions that went some way to further reinforce existing perceptions of young people as incapable in situations of public administration. This paper reports on a case example detailing an interaction between the youth leaders and local government councillors, and will suggest that the experience of the young people involved in the youth leaders’ council can be understood against a dynamic of ‘constraint’.     

Benefits for immigrant-origin and nonimmigrant-origin youth of discussing immigration in gender and sexuality alliances

In a time of unprecedented polarization in the United States, particularly concerning immigration, schools are uniquely positioned to help students understand the consequences of drastic policy changes. Beyond formal settings such as social studies classes, extracurricular activities may be important for fostering discussions about sociohistorical and policy issues. Such discussions could serve to empower youth from marginalized populations and raise their critical consciousness. Yet the potential outcomes of discussions in these extracurricular settings have not been studied in depth. Using data collected in school-based Gender-and-Sexuality-Alliances (GSAs) throughout Massachusetts during the periods leading up to and following the 2016 US Presidential election, we examined whether discussions of immigration issues in GSAs were associated with greater empowerment and critical consciousness among 580 youth (M _Age = 15.59, range = 10–20 years). Multilevel structural equation models showed that the frequency with which youth discussed immigration, relative to their fellow members, was positively associated with residualized change in perceived peer validation for members in general and with residualized change in hope for immigrant-origin members only. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find significant associations for critical consciousness. Findings suggest how groups addressing issues of equity and justice can promote members' empowerment.     

Sociocultural anchors for incorporating sustainability in youth movements: Comparison among secular,religious, and ultraorthodox movements

Abstract

In Israel, youth movements (YMs) comprise a main agent for nonformal education of youth and a youth-engagement framework in which civic engagement can be expanded to address environmental challenges. A major source of sociocultural diversity among YMs is their religious identity, based on the categorizations of secular, religious, and ultraorthodox. We compared, among these groups, the environmental literacy (EL) characteristics of “young-guides” and YM-leaders’ perspectives of sustainability in relation to their YM. Differences among groups were found in the young-guides’ EL: members of secular YMs demonstrated greater EL and openness to including pro-environmental activities within their YM. “Judaism as a platform for addressing sustainability” emerged as a major theme from leaders’ interviews. Implications for meaningful incorporation of sustainability and EE within the groups are discussed.     

Teaching sexual matters in Taiwan: the analytical framework for popular culture and youth sexuality education

Although most teachers realize the potential of using popular culture within the sexuality education classroom, incorporating it successfully is complex. Especially, how can teachers critically analyse the ideology contained in popular culture without lapsing into moralizing and design motivating activities? For teachers in Taiwan, whose training has involved abstinence-only sex education and discourse, avoiding such activities is an even greater challenge. This study attempts to present an analytical framework for development students' sexual literacy through popular culture to respond to these issues. The framework for using popular culture sexual literacy as a pedagogical tool enables teachers to shift from analysing popular culture itself to understanding the lessons regarding sexuality and gender that students derive from it. Using this analytic framework, teachers can establish an interesting and meaningful method to discuss sex and intimacy relationship issues and facilitate students' inquiry into the multiple understanding of sexuality and gender; especially in discussing and understanding the desire of adolescent girls. Through this framework, the true needs of students in sexuality education can be addressed. This pedagogical approach also relates the course content to the practical experiences of young students and alters student opinions on formal sexual education.     

What does the teaching and learning of sexuality education in South African schools reveal about counter-normative sexualities?

ABSTRACT

Using the interlocking concepts of power, knowledge and discourse, this article focuses on how counter normative sexualities are discursively constructed in the sexuality education classroom and with what effects. Drawing on in-depth interviews with teachers and classroom observation, the evidence highlights the presence of specific discourses about the teaching and learning of sexuality diversity. First, while many teachers argued for the inclusion of counter-normative sexualities, in their teaching and responses they privileged heterosexuality as legitimate and natural and same-sex sexualities as deviant and Other. Second, teachers’ discourses construct queer youth not only as innocent and childlike but also as hypersexual and rebellious – requiring discipline and intervention. These constructions link closely to discourses of pity and tolerance, or blame when counter-normative sexualities were expressed. Finally, despite heterosexuality being privileged in the classroom, teachers’ and pupils’ questions about gender and sexuality diversity suggest the need for a more defined and inclusive curriculum sexuality education curriculum. Findings justify concern about how counter-normative sexualities are addressed in the sexuality education classroom and advocate for improvement in teaching and learning about counter-normative sexualities in South African secondary education.     

Constructing citizenship in post-conflict contexts: the cases of Liberia and Rwanda

In post-conflict and fragile contexts, one central aim of education is to prepare citizens to rebuild society and manage conflict. In this paper, we discuss the ways that citizenship education, students’ civic attitudes, and student civic practices vary across two post-conflict contexts in Africa: Liberia and Rwanda. First, we consider the historical and current complexities of citizenship education in these countries drawing on a post-colonial framework and Osler and Starkey’s three dimensions of citizenship. Next, we discuss survey and interview data from secondary students based on separate multi-level case studies in the respective countries. We note differences and similarities in student conceptions of good citizenship, civic identity, classroom climate, and civic engagement across the two countries, as well as variation by school type and gender. Some notable findings included less active conceptions of citizenship and openness to discussing controversial issues in Rwanda than in Liberia, and less participation in out of school activities among young women than young men. These and other results highlight differing contextual values of development, security, freedom of speech, and civic action and the overall importance of citizenship education in a post-conflict context.     

立德树人视域下新时代青年培养的三维探索

落实立德树人根本任务,是新时代贯彻党的教育方针的根本体现,坚持立德树人,把握青年运动的风向标,对于激励新时代中国青年为实现全面小康与民族复兴而奋进具有重大意义。从"为什么培养"看,新时代青年的价值与规律、主题与担当、现实与要求,是培养新时代青年的价值意蕴;从"培养什么"看,坚定的理想信念的时代内涵、家国情怀与人类关怀,是培养的前提、重点与关键;从"怎么培养"看,党的领导培养是根本、全社会培养是保障、实践中培养是途径,必须做到新时代青年要跟党走、听党话;做到新时代青年被关心、被尊重;做到新时代青年要联系现实、立足行动,以不断促进新时代中国青年的培养。     

湘楚文化与青年任弼时的价值选择

文化的历史与地域风习是成就杰出人物的原生性土壤。任弼时的价值选择和他的成长 既是十月革命炮声的震荡、马克思主义引导的结果,也是湘楚文化土壤,尤其是湘学学风熏陶、濡染和滋 润的结果。     

Participatory capital: Bourdieu and citizenship education in diverse school communities

A priority toward creating ‘active’ citizens has been a feature of curricula reforms in many income-rich nations in recent years. However, the normative, one-size-fits-all conceptions of citizenship often presented within such curricula obscure the significant differences in how some young people experience and express citizenship. This paper reports on research that explored the citizenship perceptions and practices of New Zealand social studies teachers and students from four diverse geographic and socio-economic school communities. Attention was drawn to the scale of their citizenship orientations and participation (local/global). Drawing on Bourdieu’s conceptual triad and his species of capital in particular, the author posits that the differences observed between school communities can be usefully explained by a concept of participatory capital. The paper concludes with some reflections on the implications for young people who fail to access the ‘symbolic’ global participatory capital associated with much contemporary citizenship education.     

A future of possibilities: Educating children living in HIV impacted households

Close to one and a half million Kenyans reportedly live with HIV/AIDS. Using qualitative in-depth interviews this study explores the ways in which parents living with HIV/AIDS navigate their social and economic environment to provide educational opportunities for their children. Barriers identified include the economic costs of a free primary education, and the emotional implications of living in an HIV affected household. Respondents demonstrate a persistent utilization of internal and external resources in navigating these barriers. These findings support family economic interventions that enable parents guarantee an educational future for their children.     

The political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: Social class reproduction,educational distancing and job competition

This is the first of two articles on the political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education (UPE) (in sub-Saharan Africa. It explores three key sets of factors which are powerfully influencing the degree to which the UPE goal is likely to be attained in SSA. These are the rapid emergence of new social class relations which are closely related to key educational developments in many countries, (in particular the rapid growth of higher education and private schooling provision) and the overall demand for primary education and especially the intensifying competition for jobs in the formal sector. This provides the essential contextual background for the second paper which draws on political settlement analysis to explore the politics of UPE in SSA and, in particular, the level of elite political commitment for the attainment of UPE.     

后现代文化对青年的负面影响及其对策分析

对青年而言,后现代文化具有革命性与破坏性的两面性,成长期的青年往往不能批判地对待后现代文化的破坏性一面,从而导致了一些负面的影响。导致这样的负面影响,有多方面的根源,有社会层面的原因,有后现代理论本身的原因,也有青年独特的反叛特质的原因。针对如何消解后现代文化对青年的负面影响,我们相应地设想了三种对策,即教育救治、理论救治与社会救治。     

Teaching about queer families: surveillance,censorship, and the schooling of sexualities

In this paper, we investigate primary school teachers’ reflections on addressing the topic of same-sex families and relationships in their classrooms. Informed by queer theoretical and Foucauldian analytic approaches, we examine teachers’ potential use of texts, such as picture storybooks, which introduce representations of same-sex relationships and desire. By employing a case-study approach, our aim is to provide insights into the pedagogical decisions and the heteronormative conditions under which three teachers in the Australian context attempt to deal with the topic of same-sex families/relationships. Attention is drawn to the regulatory surveillance of the parental gaze and the silencing and marginalization of sexual identity issues in order to illuminate the ways in which the micro politics of teaching about queer families and relationships are inextricably linked to broader macro processes governing the institutionalizing influences of heteronormativity, heterosexism and homonegativity. Implications for teacher education are outlined.     

Exploring youth engagement in agricultural development: the case of farmers’ children in the Philippines as rice crop manager infomediaries

Purpose: This paper explores the intersections between community development and youth development in an initiative that mobilized farmers’ children as Rice Crop Manager (RCM) infomediaries (information mediators). RCM is an ICT-enabled nutrient management application.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study engaged 30 farmers’ children in high school level from the provinces of Pangasinan, Isabela, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Bukidnon, and Davao del Norte from November 2016 to October 2017. They interacted with the research team (the authors) and the RCM-SMS platform that sends text messages regarding fertilizer recommendations. A staff member from the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) also called the students for some follow-up questions. The research team conducted three rounds of interviews with the students concerning the messages and calls that they received and what they did with the information.

Findings: This study finds that farmers’ children can perform infomediary roles quite effectively. Academically excellent children and those involved in farm work performed best.

Practical Implications: The study provides guidance on similar initiatives tapping young people in agricultural development.

Theoretical Implications: This paper finds that while Community Youth Development (CYD) Theory provides a powerful lens in understanding community and youth development intersections, some identified outcomes may overlap and may not be very easy to observe. Hence, the identified outcomes may be revisited for clarity and to make them more all-encompassing.

Originality/Value: The paper documents actual parent-child interaction when the latter is mobilized to serve as an infomediary to access nutrient management-related information on rice.     

Pedagogical renewal: Improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools

This study reports on an investigation of classroom interaction and discourse practices in Nigerian primary schools. Its purpose was to identify key issues affecting patterns of teacher–pupil interaction and discourse as research suggests managing the quality of classroom interaction will play a central role in improving the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in contexts where learning resources and teacher training are limited. The study was based on the interaction and discourse analysis of video recordings of 42 lessons and 59 teacher questionnaires from 10 States, drawn mainly from the north of Nigeria. The findings revealed the prevalence of teacher explanation, recitation and rote in the classroom discourse with little attention being paid to securing pupil understanding. The wider implications of the findings for improving the quality of classroom interaction in Nigerian primary schools through more effective school-based training are considered.     

Introduction: problematizing voice and representation in youth media production

This introduction to the special issue Voice and representation in youth media production in educational settings: transnational dialogues presents a discussion of the notions of voice and representation and an overview of the contributions to this issue, and reflects on the possibilities and limits for a transnational dialogue within current academic traditions and publishing practices.     

The political economy of attaining Universal Primary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: The politics of UPE implementation

This is the second article of a two-article review which examines how key aspects of the dominant political economy in sub-Saharan Africa are influencing the implementation of the policy of Universal Primary Education (UPE). The first article analyses three sets of factors namely new social class relations, new forms of educational competition and distancing and intensifying competition for formal sector jobs. This provides the essential contextual background for this second article which draws on political settlement analysis to explore the politics of the implementation UPE and, in particular, the level of elite political commitment to the attainment of UPE.     

Capabilities for learning to read: An investigation of social and economic effects for Grade 6 learners in Southern and East Africa

This paper considers what multilevel modelling approaches to analysing large scale cross-national surveys of education quality can tell us about the capabilities that support primary school children in learning to read. The impact of pupil background characteristics on achievement in reading towards the end of the primary cycle in sub-Saharan Africa is investigated via an analysis of the second wave of data collected by the Southern and East African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ) in six low income countries and four lower middle income small states. The findings on various pupil background, social and economic wealth-related factors associated with disadvantage/advantage are interpreted using a capability approach. Hence, the study goes beyond reiterating the well-known relationship between socio-economic status and rurality with learning outcomes to identify what it is that primary school pupils in East and Southern Africa can or cannot do that influences their acquisition of literacy.     

Using evidence and implementation experience for advocacy and policy influence: the Rwanda Emergent Literacy and Maths Initiative (ELMI) case study

This paper discusses applied research initiatives led by Save the Children in Rwanda that were used to inform advocacy and policy efforts surrounding the expansion of high quality early childhood education (ECE) services in Rwanda. Qualitative and quantitative studies were carried out around a new program focused on improving early literacy and math competencies (the Emergent Literacy and Maths Initiative (ELMI)) from 2013–2017. They include a Political Economy Analysis in 2013–2014 and longitudinal impact evaluations in 2014–2015 and 2015–2016. Together, the mixed-methods data helped to identify strengths and gaps in the Rwandan education system, potential solutions to improving ECE for all children in the country, and insights into best practices for taking successful pilot programs to scale in a low-income country. Changes in national policy and ECE service provision are discussed.