Stepping out of our comfort zones:  an examination of pre-service teachers’ responses to a critical analysis of gender/power relations in sexuality education.

Year: 2013

Author: Harrison, Lyn, Ollis, Debbie

Type of paper: Abstract refereed

Abstract:

The focus on critical health literacy in the new Australian Curriculum makes it imperative that pre-service teachers acquire these skills in order to foster critical thinking in their students. This paper discusses pre-service teachers' responses to a critical analysis of gender/power relations using examples from a final assessment for an intensive elective unit called Teaching Sexuality in the Middle Years. Despite the focus on critical literacy in this unit some students resisted or were unable to engage with this approach in their assessments, although appearing to do so in workshops. We end this paper with a consideration of some of the implications for practice.

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