The Hybrid Construction of Sexuality in Mexico and its Impact on Sex Education

As is now widely established, sexuality is a historically and culturally specific social construction. In Mexico, such construction has been dominated by different institutions and discourses at different times. From pre-Hispanic times to today, this article traces the ideas that main institutions, like the Catholic Church, have ingrained in Mexican sexual culture and shows how they have changed over time. At present, sexuality has become a contested arena?like never before?in which very diverse discourses contend for hegemony. Formal sex education has not been alien to this debate, in which religion, medicine, gender equity discourses and ethics seem to have a differential input in curricula and textbooks. This article discusses the expression of this tension in formal sex education in Mexico.     

Sexual Health Equity in Schools: Inclusive Sexuality and Relationship Education for Gender and Sexual Minority Students

ABSTRACT

This paper offers a review of school-based sexuality and relationship education as it relates to gender and sexual minority (GSM) students. Framed by a queer theory lens, the paper examines four main topics: (a) sexual health and relationship risks for GSM youth, (b) comprehensive school-based sexuality education as a protective factor for sexual health and relationship risks, (c) the current availability of relevant sexuality education for GSM students in the United States, and (d) inclusive schools as a social determinant of health. The author advocates for health equity, and offers suggestions for inclusive, comprehensive sexuality and relationship education to provide relevant, accurate, positive information for all students.     

The Components of Great Sex: Sexuality Education for People Who Desire to Scale the Heights of Optimal Sexuality

Ubiquitous “sex tips” in popular media evidence an unquenchable public interest in learning how to experience “great sex,” and studies confirm that a great sexual relationship correlates to general relationship satisfaction, which in turn correlates to overall happiness. However, sexologists have paid scant attention to “optimal sexuality” and have focused instead on sexual dysfunction. While studies of optimal sexuality are few, we know enough to conclude that the paths to great sex depicted in popular media are largely dead ends. This article provides a framework for giving professional guidance to seekers of optimal sexuality.     

教育投资与教育公平

我国当前的教育投资存在很多问题,本文意在分析我国教育投资的现状,找出其中不合理的因素,并从纵向和横向分析教育投资对教育公平所造成的影响,在此基础上,探讨了解决的对策。     

教育公平与和谐教育

促进社会和谐,全面建设小康社会是党的十七大的基本精神。和谐社会需要和谐教育,而教育公平又是和谐教育的基础。本文从宏观和微观两个层面,阐述了教育公平的基本含义,主张"差异而公平"是教育的基本原则,并提出了办学体制灵活化、学校课程多样化、评价制度多元化、学校文化和谐化的改革建议,以实现教育公平,促进社会的和谐发展。     

欧洲性教育标准述评

随着欧洲各国对性教育重要性认识的提高,加之欧洲各国性教育发展水平不一致,性教育标准多样,无统一的标准,不利于各国相互借鉴以改善性教育。鉴于此,世界卫生组织欧洲区域办事处和联邦健康教育中心于2010年联合制定了欧洲性教育标准。该标准从信息、技能、态度三个方面对6个年龄段的性教育制定具体的内容。该标准首次引入全面性教育(holistic sexuality education),重新定义了性教育年龄段,丰富了性教育的内容,并强调各个年龄段前后衔接。欧洲性教育标准值得借鉴,中国今后在性教育方面应摒弃传统性教育观念、倡导"全面性教育",注重学校性教育内容的广泛性与实用性,以一种积极、整体的方式讲授关于性健康和预防性侵犯的知识,并注重培养高尚的性道德,树立正确的性价值观。     

Guest Speakers in School-Based Sexuality Education

This study, using data from a statewide survey (n = 332), examined teachers’ practices regarding the inclusion of guest speakers to cover sexuality content. More than half of teachers (58%) included guest speakers. In multivariate analyses, teachers who taught high school, had professional preparation in health education, or who received professional development covering sexually transmitted disease (STD) or pregnancy prevention had greater odds of including guest speakers (all p <.05). Teachers who included guest speakers covered more sexuality topics and were more likely to cover controversial topics (p <.05). Findings have implications for teachers, school policies, and organizations that offer sexual health education and outreach.     

高等教育收费制度与教育公平

我国现行的高等教育收费只度不仅符合受益者付费原则,而且使各阶层社会成员受教育机会均等,并增加高等学校收入,减少了高校对政府财政预算教育经费的压力。但同时收费制度也为教育公平带来了负面影响,因此我们需要对高等教育收费制度实施改革,政府拨款方式的转变,部分教育成本负担的转嫁,及分层次按差别收费。     

Change and Equity in Higher Education

In this article, I explore the dynamic relationship between political and organizational change in higher education. Change is interrogated in relation to policies and discourses of New Right reform, mass expansion, new managerialism, equity and post‐modernist theories of power, with questions raised about the interconnection of demographic changes, consumer entitlement and equality of opportunity. I consider the extent to which economic, intellectual and socio‐cultural changes intersect. Equity is examined in relation to the democratic rhetoric of enhanced access and connections are made between equality and quality by questioning the changing nature of the product being accessed by new student populations.     

Higher Education and Equity in Portugal

The main topic of this article is to consider the role of the State in providing higher education in Portugal, paying attention to the fact that the privatisation of higher education has been in place since the eighties (Amaral 1999) and also that it is difficult for students and their families to find the monetary resources needed for attendance at university (Cabrito 1999). The discussion focuses on the funding of higher education in a quasi-market situation (Le Grand et al. 1993), as Portugal hasn't escaped the universal trend towards privatisation of education (Whitty et al. 1998). In the last decade, the relationship between State, universities and students has been changing rapidly (Acherman et al. 1989; Barr et al. 1993; Williams 1990; Henkel et al. 1999), and some arguments are presented that equity in access to higher education must be guaranteed (Mora 1997; UNESCO 1998; Williams 1992). In this connection, the need is argued for free attendance on higher education and State subsidies to students to cover the costs of education. Firstly, the economic and social condition of university students is presented. Using data from two periods, one academic year from the 60s and one from the 90s, the increase in the degree of equity that the university system had known in recent decades can be verified. According to the analysis, the Portuguese population in general is better represented in the university student body nowadays, than in the 60s. Therefore, it is possible to discuss the maintenance of a low degree of equity in the Portuguese university system. For this, the economic and social condition of university students is compared with – that of the Portuguese population in the 90s. Secondly, the expectations of the students of higher education are presented, in order to understand the value attached by them to a university degree, which explains the social demand for education. Finally, the costs of higher education, both private and public, are evaluated. From this evaluation, it is possible to conclude that the principal source of funding of higher education costs is the student and his/her family and to discuss the need for a more interventionist State in higher education financing. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Talking about Sex in Sex Education

In the context of the recent controversy and confusion around sex education in Britain, I argue that an understanding of how boys and girls talk about sex and an awareness of the different and changing social worlds boys and girls inhabit, are crucial starting points for formulating sex education policies. Sex education is often embarked on without adequate understanding of the social context of sexuality and of the significance of changes in sexual practice that have occurred over the past few decades. Drawing on interviews and group discussion with male and female adolescents, I illustrate the difficulty boys and girls have communicating with each other and how for boys, to be intimate is to forego their dominance. I argue that there is a need to develop ways in which the power relations between boys and girls can be addressed and the derogatory way menstruation, pregnancy, and girls are perceived by boys can be challenged.     

Human Sexuality Instruction in Counselor Education Curricula

The authors sent a questionnaire assessing curricula on sexual counseling to chairpersons of all counselor education programs in the United States. Results show the current status of sexuality instruction for counselors.     

对教育公平与效率关系的思考

教育公平与教育效率是相关范畴而不是相对范畴，二是一种弱相关的关系，其中任何一方的提高并不必然导致另一方的提高或受到抑制。教育公平与效率是衡量教育的两个重要尺度和教育所追求的两大价值目标，二各有其内在的规定性和不同的制约因素，各自具有其独立的价值。缺失公平的效率不可能成为教育制度的基本支柱，同样，没有效率的公平也不能作为教育制度的现实基础。