scholarly journals Let’s Talk about Sex: Teaching Adolescents with Intellectual Disability about Sexuality Education

Author(s):  
Anis Raihan Dzeidee Schaff ◽  
Fitri Suraya Mohamad

This qualitative case study explores the experiences of teachers who are responsible for teaching adolescents with intellectual disability about sexuality education at a secondary school in a special education programme in semi-rural Sarawak. The study investigates the teaching approaches to teach cognitive and social-behavioural aspects of sexuality education. It also documents challenges in teaching adolescents with intellectual disability about sexuality education. Findings revealed that cognitively, the adolescents’ comprehension and memory are greatly aided by the use of concrete materials, modelling strategy, and constant repetition; attention and focus in class are obtained by the use of multimedia and storytelling approach; and interestingly, the understanding about sexuality is affected by the language used in content delivery and classroom dialogue.  In the social-behavioural aspect, the findings revealed the importance of teachers and students’ comfort when talking about sexuality, mixed gender classes, peer guidance, and the adolescents’ intrapersonal intelligence. All these aspects are key in ensuring that the adolescents are able to reach an understanding and acceptance towards learning about sexuality education. The study also discovered that limitation of teaching materials, the adolescents’ unsupervised usage of the technology, and the sensitivity of sexuality education within the local home setting are among the main challenges faced by the teachers in teaching about sexuality education. The study also uncovered how the adolescents’ limited mental capabilities particularly in the social-behavioural domain has resulted in the adolescents displaying tendencies toward sexually risky behaviours which in turn, exposed them to sexually risky situations.

Author(s):  
Komalsingh Rambaree

This chapter describes the process, explains the aspects, analyses the experiences and considers the social policy implications, of cybersex among young people from the sexually conservative Mauritian society. This chapter is based on a study, in which it is found that some of young people from Mauritius are involved in cybersex. The chapter therefore argues that Internet-based technologies are further breaking down ‘the traditional and moral values’, which some politicians, religious leaders and parents want to preserve through social policy related to sexuality education in Mauritius. A sexual rights-based approach to policy making and interventions for a formal sex education programme in Mauritius is found more appropriate within this particular context, and therefore recommended in this chapter. Finally, this chapter concludes that an appropriate formal sex education for young people should take into account the ‘Net Culture’ context within which contemporary young people are growing sexually in Mauritius.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135910452110331
Author(s):  
Samah K Aburahma ◽  
Hanan Hammouri ◽  
Ethar Hazaimeh ◽  
Omar Jbarah ◽  
Ahmad Nassar ◽  
...  

Children with epilepsy are at risk for impaired social cognition and autism. We aimed at evaluating the utility of the social responsiveness scale (SRS) for assessment of social impairment in these children. Prospective study; the SRS was applied to a group of children with epilepsy and a healthy control group. Intellectual disability in the epilepsy group was assessed utilizing adapted versions of the Wechsler Intelligence and adaptive behavior scales. One hundred and one children with epilepsy and 92 healthy children were included. The majority of children in both groups had normal SRS scores. Significant differences were identified in children with high total scores indicating significant deficiencies in reciprocal social behavior; high scores were found in 16% of children with epilepsy versus 7% of normal children, p < .05, particularly involving social communication, p < .05. Intellectual disability was identified in 42% of children with epilepsy, particularly processing speed index, p < .001. Intellectual disability had a significant effect on total scores, p = .016. Children with epilepsy have increased risk of social impairments. Social impairments are more likely in the presence of intellectual disability. The SRS is a quick identification tool that can be employed in the outpatient setting.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinrich Mintrop

Using the representative database of the Second International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study, this article takes a look at civic education through the lens of expert scholars, teachers, and students. The data reveals that, as some of the experts reported, political interest is not pervasive among students and classrooms are not places where a culture of debate, controversy, and critical thinking flourishes for students. But things have changed if civic education was primarily an imparting of facts about national history and the workings of the political system. As for teachers, now the discourse of rights and the social movements associated with it top the list of curricular concerns. Large majorities of teachers share with national scholars a conceptualization of civic education as critical thinking and value education, repudiating knowledge transformation as ideal, and they recognize the wide gulf that exists between these ideals and reality. As for many students, political disinterest notwithstanding, forms of participation born out of social movements and community organizing are the preferred channels of political activity. And yet, it seems the experts have a point: the field is not where it should be.


Author(s):  
Kubilay KAPTAN ◽  
Onur YILMAZ

It is emphasized that Turkey experiences frequent earthquakes, causing extensive losses to economy, life and limb. In order to mitigate the losses due earthquakes, a number of issues are identified to be studied and managed properly on a national scale. Firstly, the importance of education and research about earthquakes and earthquake preparedness, from cradle to grave, is stressed. Secondly, for a successful solution of the risk mitigation problems, the legislative and financial structures as well as the social and technical organizations are presented. Recommendations are given, concerning the disasters management, dealing with emergency matters during and after the earthquake, and also the risk management, dealing with preparations before the earthquake. Finally, the problems related to inventory of buildings, repair and retrofitting issues, earthquake insurance, supervision of design and construction of buildings are discussed. E-learning is a new project for education based on the adoption of new computerised, multimedia and telematic technologies. Its application has deeply changed the concept of a teacher-based teaching to a student-centred educational project. It offers a great flexibility in the educational methodology, in the administration of contents, in the synchronous and/or asynchronous interaction between teachers and students, in the organisation and in the structure of the course, in the educational plans, in the support, the tracking and the evaluation of the student. E-learning could represent a great resource and a possible revolution in the concept of education and in the field of disaster education as well. In Turkey, there are some important websites concerning disaster education. These websites are reviewed to evaluate if these sites provide good e-learning environments. The official websites concerning disaster education in Turkey are scorched and the websites are reviewed according to the established protocol. Each website has been evaluated by two independent reviewers. The average scores were obtained by averaging the two scores. Of the available 6 websites, the total scores of these 6 websites varied from 42 points to 28 points (average 34+12 points). In conclusion, this report demonstrated that the e-learning of disaster education was still primitive in Turkey. It should be the first priority to implement a well-established e-learning environment to provide good disaster education.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brian Walter King

<p>The investigative aim of this thesis is to explore the role of language in the construction of sexuality agency during a classroom-based sexuality education programme for adolescents. The thesis begins with an examination of the motivations behind the study of agency in relation to sexuality. Overlapping research gaps in the fields of language and gender/sexuality and sexuality education are identified. Scholars from both fields have pinpointed difficulties with the accessing of agentive sexual subject positions by young people (particularly young women) during conversation. Investigations into sexuality education in New Zealand have suggested that ‘Discourses’ of sexuality in classrooms and broader school communities position students as ‘sexual’ while simultaneously constructing them as innocent and childlike (and thus non-sexual). These ‘large-D’ Discourses have been identified as possible reasons for a lack of decline in the rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease amongst young people despite an overt focus on such topics in sexuality education. The theory is that because they have not developed a sense of agency in relation to sexuality, young people are ill-equipped to navigate the risks of sexual activity. A question which remains is exactly how sexual agency is negotiated through ‘small-d’ discourse (e.g. ‘talk’), by young people in classrooms. This study focuses on language usage during classroom discussions of sexuality in order to shed light on linguistic strategies that young people employ in order to position themselves (or not) as sexual agents during sexuality education, and how they respond to being similarly positioned, both by others and by their classroom resources. In order to gain an understanding of the working dynamics of the school and classroom, an ethnographic approach was employed. The researcher participated in classes for a period of time before the sexuality programme began in order to observe relations between the participants, including the distribution of power amongst teacher and students. These observations were essential to comprehending the understandings that participants bring to the processes and activities under study. This approach also permitted the tracing of the emergence of a community of practice in this classroom. Through close attention to language via poststructuralist discourse analysis, it has been possible to demonstrate how interactants performatively lay claim to (or avoid) sexual agency in this community of practice. By actively participating in discussions of sexuality, the students, both boys and girls, experience being placed in sexually agentive subject positions. They respond in various ways; sometimes aligning, sometimes resisting, other times resignifying those positions in complex interactions of masculinity, femininity, desire, and sexual identity. Finally, the findings of this thesis are assembled in order to consider implications for the study of language and sexuality as well as considering the importance of discursive positionings (by teachers and classroom resources) for future student possibilities in terms of sexual agency development.</p>


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