Sexuality education and early childhood educators in Ontario, Canada: A Foucauldian exploration of constraints and possibilities

Abstract

Open conversations regarding sexuality education and gender and sexual diversity with young children in early childhood education settings are still highly constrained. Educators report lacking professional training and fearing parental and community pushback when explicitly addressing these topics in their professional practices. As such, gender and sexual diversity and conversations of bodily development are left silenced and, when addressed, filtered through heteronormative and cisnormative frameworks. Through a Foucauldian post-structural lens, this article analyses data from open-ended qualitative questions in a previous research study regarding early childhood educators’ perceptions on discussing the development of sexuality in early learning settings in an Ontario, Canada context. Through this Foucauldian post-structural analysis, the authors discuss forms of surveillance and regulation that early childhood educators experience in early learning settings regarding the open discussion of gender and sexuality. The authors explore how both the lack of explicit curricula addressing gender and sexuality in the early years in Ontario and taken-for-granted notions of developmentally appropriate practice, childhood innocence, and the gender binary – employed in discourses of sexuality education in the early years – regulate early childhood educators’ professional practices. The authors provide recommendations which critique the developmentalist logics – specifically, normative development – that are used to silence non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identities in the early years, while articulating the need for explicit curricula for educators in the early years regarding gender and sexuality in young children.

Aproximaciones a la sexualidad en la niñez desde terapia ocupacional

“…Las personas encargadas de la educación en la primera infancia se sienten limitadas, en parte por la vigilancia de algunos padres y madres, cuando se plantean hablar y educar sobre sexualidad o diversidad de género, ya que estos temas se consideran inapropiados para estos entornos y fuera del ámbito del desarrollo infantil (Davies et al, 2021). En relación a esto, en diversos estudios se ha comentado acerca de la conciencia que hay que tener sobre las etapas de desarrollo de la niñez en la etapa preescolar con respecto a su propia sexualidad, ya que estar abierto a las preguntas es un factor importante para brindar educación sexual; hay una diferencia entre proporcionar hechos e imponer creencias, las personas encargadas de la educación de la infancia buscan entregar una respuesta honesta, educar, y no socavar el sistema de creencias de una familia (Davies et al, 2021). Por lo tanto, el rol de las instituciones educativas se basa en la educación en ámbitos de sexualidad infantil, tanto de parte de cada colegio a sus funcionarios, como de estos últimos a la niñez, entender el impacto que tiene el hablar de estos temas en el desarrollo sexual en las niñeces.…”

Level Agreement Persepsi Guru dan Orang Tua Terhadap Pendidikan Seks Anak Usia Dini

“…Seperti pertumbuhan, masa pubertas, mencegah tindakan kekerasan seksual, mengurangi kasus infeksi melalui seks, memberikan pemahaman tentang peran laki-laki dan perempuan. Tujuan pendidikan seks adalah memberikan pengetahuan yang memadai kepada anak didik tentang kematangan fisik, mental dan emosional sehubungan dengan seks, mengurangi ketakutan dan kegelisahan yang berkaitan dengan terjadinya perkembangan serta penyesuaian seks pada anak, menanamkan nilai moral sebagai dasar dalam mengambil keputusan atau menentukan sikap, menghindarkan dari tindak kekerasan atau kejahatan seksual (Davies et al, 2021). Pendidikan seksual bertujuan untuk membantu anak memahami perkembangan seksualitasnya dengan benar sehingga dapat membangun gambaran yang baik akan tubuh anak (Cheung et al, 2021).…”

The Impact of Children’s Literature and Family Environment on Early Childhood Education

“…The majority of migrant workers, approximately 80%, originate from remote mountainous regions. Oftentimes, the expenses associated with their children's education pose significant challenges for many families, apart from the costs of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and medical care [6]. From a macro perspective, the phenomenon of left-behind children is an inevitable outcome of China's social and economic transformation, closely intertwined with the longstanding process of urbanization.…”