ERIC Number: EJ1467639
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1468-1811
EISSN: EISSN-1472-0825
Available Date: 0000-00-00
'Too Many Assumptions': Cultural Diversity and the Politics of Inclusion in Sexuality Education
Monique A. Mulholland1; Fida Sanjakdar2; Tessa Opie3
Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v25 n3 p309-323 2025
For more than a decade, the international and national literature has established that sexuality education does not adequately speak to the broad range of cultural and religious diversities present in classrooms. These persistent obfuscations speak to long-standing questions around normativity, Othering and 'inclusion'. In this paper, we turn to a recent project that asked young people from a broad range of cultural and religious backgrounds to reflect on their experience of sexuality education. Across a fascinating set of observations, the participants argued that sexuality education rests on 'too many assumptions', a range of assumptions that continue to mark them as Other in the classroom. More importantly, they identified a tricky problematic -- on the one hand, they want more diversity represented, along with opportunities to explore their views and perspectives. One the other hand, they felt unsure about how this could occur in a safe way, without making them feel 'on display', misunderstood, or judged. In the face of this tricky problem, we present a series of insights not only for Australian educators, but for countries across the globe who face similar problems resulting from the obfuscations of largely normative sexuality education frameworks.
Descriptors: Sex Education, Cultural Differences, Student Diversity, Religion, Student Experience, Culturally Relevant Education, Foreign Countries, Barriers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1College of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; 2Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, Australia; 3inyourskin consulting PTYLTD, Adelaide, Australia