Spaces for Sex Education in Teacher Training

Since its introduction in 1970, the interdisciplinary teaching principle sex education applies to all grades and types of schools in Austria. How are teachers prepared for sex education in class and every day life at school? What role do sex positive approaches, sexual diversity, violence prevention and antidiscrimination play in the process? These questions are emphasized in Marion Thuswalds research on sex education in pre- and in-teacher training. At first the author examines scientific, pedagogical and political debates on sex education in school and explores the fact that sexuality is constructed as an important but delicate pedagogical topic. Furthermore, she studies the historical developments by emphasising which conditions cause sex education in schools to be a challenging task. The main chapters are dedicated to an ethnographic study of approximately twenty events which took place between 2013 and 2017 at teacher education colleges, universities, expert NGOs, and institutions of further education. By the means of contrasting established practices in the observed workshops and seminars, it becomes apparent that all events share a hands-on and sexuality-friendly approach. They all include formerly controversial topics like infantile and youth sexuality, contraception, masturbation, homosexuality and pornography. Nevertheless, significant differences in the (didactical) design of the events are evident; this holds especially true regarding whether the events contain gender reflexivity, gender and sexual diversity as well as a violence-preventative approach. With these results in mind, Marion Thuswald puts forward the challenges regarding the professionalisation of sex education by discussing four key notions: speechlessness, desire, vulnerability, and emancipation. What becomes explicitly evident, is the need for power- reflexive perspectives, specified in recommendations to further develop sex education training.