Teachers’ conceptions of, and obstacles to, sex education in portuguese primary schools

Abstract

Teachers’ conceptions result from the interaction between their scientific knowledge, their systems of values, and their social and professional practice. Obstacles to teaching sex education may have several origins: epistemological, didactical, psychological and social. The aim of this research is to identify teachers’ conceptions and obstacles, that prevent them from teaching sex education. We intend to apply several research instruments: questionnaires, debates, focus groups, individual interviews and specific cases registration. The research starting point was the questionnaire. Its preliminary results suggest that sexual intercourse, fertilisation and sexual pleasure are the most difficult content, that the environmental milieu, the community and the church are the main obstacles to teaching sex education, and that specific training for sex education teaching seems to be necessary.