Early childhood sexuality education: Future educators’ attitudes and considerations

Abstract

Sexuality education is one of the most disputable health education programs as far as its inclusion in Early Childhood Education is concerned. This study was conducted in order to investigate early childhood future educators' attitudes and considerations about introducing sexuality education to their future pupils. We used a qualitative research method: semi-structured interviews for two groups of students in the Department of Educational Studies in Early Childhood, University of Northern Greece. The results revealed that the students who had chosen and successfully completed a course about early childhood sexuality education were the ones who indicated the subject as one of the basic ones to be taught in the kindergarten. Furthermore, they expressed their considerations about Greek bibliography's lag in this field. Finally, they exhibited more readiness to introduce sexuality education to their future pupils than the rest of the students did. Students who had not attended a relative course referred to developmentally inappropriate subject areas, showing their inability or even riskiness to introduce sexuality to their pupils. The results suggested the students' need for relevant theoretical as well as practical education.

A Comparative Research on the Implementation of Sex Education in Kindergartens Between Fujian and Taiwan

“…Children's curiosity about sex is simple and without any sexual physical needs. Educators should get rid of the constraints of traditional mode of thinking, establish correct concepts of sex education, accept the sexual curiosity of children, and treat children's "questions about sex" easily and naturally [5]. Teachers should answer children's questions about sex in a simple and easy-to-understand language rather than treat children with these questions with avoidance, cheating, sneering, rebuke, suppression, or teach sexual knowledge that is too deep and difficult for young children to understand.…”

Okul öncesi öğretmen adaylarının cinsel eğitim hakkındaki görüşlerinin incelenmesi

“…Cinsel eğitim, sorumlu ve bilgili, cinsel olarak sağlıklı bireyler olmaları için çocuklara yardımcı olacak duygular, tutumlar, iletişim, karar verme, diğer kişisel becerileri ve bilgilerin kazandırılmasını kapsamaktadır (SIECUS, 2003). Geniş kapsamlı bir tanımlamayla cinsel eğitim, uygun genital terminoloji, vücut temizliği ve vücut farklılıklarını tanımayı içermektedir (Brouskeli, & Sapountzis, 2017).…”

“…Ancak öğretmenler, kendilerini güvenmedikleri için cinsel eğitimi uygulamaktan rahatsız olduklarını göstermiştir. Bunun en önemli nedeni, öğretmenlerin yaşa uygun cinsel eğitim verme konusunda yetkin hissetmemeleri, cinsel eğitim konusunda kendilerini yeterince eğitim almamaları ve bu alanda daha fazla eğitim almak istemeleridir (Balter, vanRhijn, & Davies, 2016;Counterman & Kirkwood, 2013;Brouskeli & Sapountzis, 2017).…”

Roles of Family in Introducing Early Sexual Education to Children

“…Children should have a chance to discuss sexuality with their parents in order to not make them confused about their sexual experience which can be experienced in the neighborhood (Brouskeli & Sapountzis, 2017) [17]. But, the understanding of sexual education often misunderstood as something bad by society in Indonesia that makes children hesitate to tell their parents about sexuality.…”