Study shows teachers lack time and prioritisation of sex education in school

Sex education programmes in New Zealand vary widely from school to school. Photo / Thinkstock

Research data has revealed teachers across the country are facing “significant barriers” to teaching Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in school.

The barriers include a lack of time, the subject not being prioritised and an inconsistent approach across schools.

The Unviersity of Canterbury’s health education expert, Dr Rachel Dixon, worked alongside Family Planning and the New Zealand Health Education Association on a national survey on the topic.

It took on board the perspectives of high school teachers teaching RSE, the results concluded there are gaps in its approach - especially around the amount of time schools take to cover the subject.

According to the report, the main barriers were lack of time on the topic, access to professional development and prioritising the subject in the school curriculum.

Many teachers commented they struggle to provide the recommended 12-15 hours of education.

One teacher commented they get only 10 hours in a year to teach RSE.

“Sometimes what is taught feels rushed as we are trying to cover so much in such little time. Some things are only touched on.”

The Unviersity of Canterbury’s health education expert, Dr Rachel Dixon wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings. Photo / Supplied.

Another said that confidence in teachers handling the subject plays a big part in the quality of teaching.

“We have some excellent teachers of RSE, but some are less experienced or willing,” a teacher’s response said.

“It can be inconsistent even within a school.”

A final aspect troubling teachers responsible for the curriculum was navigating challenging aspects of the subject, along with how much depth to go into them.

“Teaching the impacts of pornography, appropriate material for students to grapple with,” one teacher responded on one challenging aspect of the subject.

Dixon wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings.

“We knew from past research and evaluation that relationships and sexuality education can be inconsistently delivered in schools,” she said.

While the survey shows that almost all teachers report teaching a wide range of topics, including consent, Dixon believes a disconnect has been clearly identified.

“Our research findings have reinforced this by indicating that, despite many teachers wanting to deliver best practice relationships and sexuality education, too many young people do not have access to effective and responsive learning at secondary school in this important part of the curriculum.”

Dixon hopes the report enables teachers to reflect on their practice and consider how relationships and sexuality education in schools can be responsive to student needs.

Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond said the survey supported calls from young people for better RSE in schools.

“It’s unsettling to find through this survey that not much appears to have changed since the last report on RSE, and teachers are telling us they need support.”

Edmond said RSE has an “excellent set of guidelines” on how schools should teach this area of the curriculum.

“But there are too many barriers and challenges to ensuring high quality and meaningful RSE that meets the evolving learning needs of our rangatahi.”