Towards a reconceptualised sex/sexuality education policy

Theory and cultural change

Bibliographic Data

ID11489019
AuthorsMairtin Mac An Ghaill (0000-0002-5713-3109, University of Sheffield, corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume11
Issue3
Pages289-302
Publication date1996-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Education Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-0939 • E-ISSN: 1464-5106
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0268093960110302
OpenAlexW2044379078
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited33

At present state schools can be seen as a key institutional arena of contemporary sexual politics. A new moralism has resulted in an increased self‐policing and contestation about the way students should live their lives. This paper sets out the case for progressive educationalists to engage in recent theoretical developments within sexual politics in order to work towards constructing an alternative policy framework for sex education in schools. The paper begins with the political context of recent policy interventions before examining how current theoretical developments have been explored in recent work in schools. This is followed by a reflection on the mediation of theoretically‐led policy formulation at the local level of the school at a time of contradictory legislative demands. It is suggested that there is a need to think through the necessary conditions for a real institutional shift in the balance of sexual power/ knowledge relations experienced by young people. A key element of such a shift is the need to engage with young people's accounts of school as a critical sexual site in their coming of age. This approach involves a focus upon students’ subject positions and the accompanying power relations existing within current institutional arrangements

Context (archaeology · Human sexuality · Legislature · Morality · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Sociology · State (computer science · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy

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