Linguistic Negotiations of Sexual Agency in Sexuality Education

<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 inorder 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>

Linguistic Negotiations of Sexual Agency in Sexuality Education

<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 inorder 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>

Linguistic Negotiations of Sexual Agency in Sexuality Education

<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>

Linguistic Negotiations of Sexual Agency in Sexuality Education

<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>

Environmental Virtues for Climate Future Narratives

References to the information in this section on continental reconstructions, mass extinctions and biodiversity are included in the EarthViewer educational software which can be accessed from <a href="https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/earthviewer">https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/earthviewer</a>.

Environmental Virtues for Climate Future Narratives

References to the information in this section on continental reconstructions, mass extinctions and biodiversity are included in the EarthViewer educational software which can be accessed from <a href="https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/earthviewer">https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/earthviewer</a>.

Young children’s information-seeking practices in center-based childcare

Many children in the USA spend a significant amount of time in center-based childcare. However, research has yet to explore their information practices in this setting. This study investigates young children’s perceptions of the concept of information and their own information-seeking practices within the context of their day care classroom. The participants included 13 children between three and five years of age. Data was collected using participant observation, semi-structured interviews, child-led photo tours, and photo-elicitation interviews. The findings indicate that the children did not perceive the concept of information in a manner consistent with adult understandings of the term, and that they engaged in information-seeking related to finding out new things on their own, through interactions with others, and through classroom resources, activities, and routines. The findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners working with young children.

Striving for equity: Life orientation resources in South African high schools

As a school subject, life orientation (LO) aims to improve learner well-being, but a lack of classroom resources may be a barrier. We investigated whether classroom resources were equally available for LO educators in fully funded (no-fee) and partially funded (fee-paying) high schools in Tshwane South, South Africa. In this analytical cross-sectional study, LO representatives completed questionnaires about the availability of resources in their schools. Sixty-seven LO representatives completed the questionnaire. No-fee and fee-paying schools had the same availability of government resources and textbooks, but no-fee schools had less access to audio-visual equipment and printed materials. Representatives from both categories of schools were least satisfied with the availability of resources for the topic: Health. In contrast, they thought that the resources for non-health related topics such as career and skills-development were adequate. Representatives from no-fee schools were less satisfied with physical education resources (U (56) = -2.29, p = 0.02). The government’s efforts to redress inequity is evident in the availability of basic resources. However, a lack of health resources is a source of concern in a society that has a quadruple burden of disease.