Session Information
08 SES 06, Health, Sexualtiy Education and HPS - Policy framings
Paper Session
Contribution
The most recent Danish educational reform of the public school has a strong focus on ensuring that all children are challenged to reach their highest academic potentials (Danish Ministry of Education, 2014). Through longer school days, goal-oriented teaching, additional lessons in Danish and math, as well as homework assistance, the ambition is to raise the academic standards of the pupils. It can be argued, that the Danish reform reflects one of the global neoliberal trends in educational systems, where focus on instrumental abilities to perform in an individualized competence-driven society and cross national comparisons (Pedersen, 2011) has won the battle over schooling as comprehensive process of critical formation (Bildung) (Klafki, 2011) or subjectification (Biesta, 2005; 2006; 2011; 2012).
However, within the reform elements of critical schooling can also be identified. This is evident in a focus of strengthening the wellbeing of pupils, but perhaps nowhere as visible, as in the new and revised national curriculum for sexuality education (Danish Ministry of Education, 2014b). The curriculum is explicitly based on the principles of critical health education (Green & Tones, 2010; Simovska & McNamara, 2015), which emphases the development of action competence of the pupils through participatory teaching and learning processes.
In Denmark, sexuality education is taught through Grades 0-9 in the interdisciplinary topic Health,Sexuality and Family Education. Sexuality education has been mandatory since 1970 and has evolved as a topic through the last 45 years, adjusting to the changing sexual health challenges and trends in pedagogical approaches. Even though the critical health education and health promoting schools approach (Buijs, 2009; Simovska & McNamara, 2015) has characterized the Danish curricula on health education through the recent decades, it can be argued that the unfolding of the pedagogical ideals and theories concerning sexuality has lagged behind. In this respect, interesting changes can be identified in the new curriculum which treats the issue of sexuality equally with the other health topics. It reflects a more holistic and positive approach to sexuality than earlier curricula, and also prioritizes content concerning diversity, democracy and rights through sexuality education. This raises the need to explore in depth which discursive orientations of sexuality education (Jones, 2011) frame the curriculum and what potentials for teaching and learning these create for schools and educators.
In this presentation we argue, that the Danish sexuality education curriculum can be understood in the Bildung perspective, as updated in the posthumanist educational theorizing represented by Biesta (2005; 2006; 2011; 2012). Biesta describes the important distinction between, on one side, socialization, and on the other, subjectification and emancipation. Subjectification is “the process of becoming a subject of action and responsibility” and emancipation “a process that challenges the particular orders that grant individuals the power to speak and act, so that new ways of speaking and acting, and ultimately new ways of being become possible” (Biesta, 2012).
Against this background, we aim to discuss the Danish national curriculum for sexuality education guided by the following questions:
- How is sexuality education framed within the Danish national curriculum? Which sexuality education discourses can be identified? Which discourses are dominant and which are absent?
- What are the possibilities and barriers can be identified which the curriculum presents for schools to engage with sexuality education aiming at subjectification and emancipation as well as social responsibility of young children concerning sexuality, relationships and sexual rights?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Biesta, G. (2005). Against learning : reclaiming a language for education in an age of learning. Nordisk Pedagogik, Vol. 25, nr. 1 (2005), 54-66. Biesta, G. (2006). Beyond learning : democratic education for a human future. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers. Biesta, G. (2011). Learning democracy in school and society : education, lifelong learning, and the politics of citizenship. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Biesta, G. (2012). Becoming world-wise: an educational perspective on the rhetorical curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(6), 815-826. Buijs, G.J. (2009). Better schools through health: networking for health promoting schools in Europe. European Journal of Education, Vol. 44, No. 4, 2009, Part 1 Green, J. & Tones, T. (2010). Health Promotion: Planning and Strategies (2nd edition). Sage Klafki, W. (2011). Theory of Bildung and Didaktik: new studies (in Danish: Dannelsesteori og didaktik nye studier) (3. ed.). Aarhus: Klim. Ministry of Education (2014). Improving the Public School. Copenhagen: Ministry of Education Ministry of Education (2014b). National Curriculum for Health, Sexuality and Family Education (in Danish: Forenklede Fælles Mål. Sundheds- og seksualundervisning og familiekundskab). Copenhagen: Ministry of Education Nordin, L. (2016). Implementing the health promoting school in Denmark: a case study. Health Education, Vol. 116, Issue: 1, pp.86 - 103 Pedersen, O.K. (2011): Konkurrencestaten (In danish: The Competition State). Copenhagen: Hans Reitzel Sex & Samfund. (2012). Study in sexuality education in schools (in Danish: Undersøgelse af seksualundervisning i skolen. Copenhagen: Sex & Samfund Simovska, V. & McNamara, P.M. (2015). Schools for health and sustainability: theory, research and practice. Dordrecht: Springer Simovska, V, Nordin, L & Madsen, K. (2015). Health Promotion in Danish schools: local priorities, policies and practices. Health Promotion International, DOI 10.1093/heapro/dav009
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