Curriculum Planning and Division of Responsabilities
Elementary 4 class
When? | October | November | April | May |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Theme? | Identity, Gender Stereotypes and Roles, and Social Norms | Emotional and Romantic Life | Sexual Growth and Body Image | Sexual Growth and Body Image |
How much time? | two periods of 90 minutes each | 120 minutes | 60 minutes | 60 minutes |
Who? | Angela, a homeroom teacher, collaborates with David, the other Elementary 4 homeroom teacher | Annie, a spiritual life and community involvement animator | Michelle, a psychologist, in collaboration with Luke, a school nurse | Catherine, a homeroom teacher |
What content? | Make connections between gender inequalities and the establishment of harmonious relationships.
Understand the norms that guide how you express your identity as a girl or a boy. | Discuss your representations of love and friendship.
Understand how certain attitudes and behaviours can influence interpersonal relationships. | Understand that the main changes associated with puberty are part of the process of growing up.
| Share your feelings about growing up. |
Why this person? | Angela knows her students well. Every day, she sees how they interact and talk with each other. She intervenes to resolve conflicts or point out when students show a lack of respect. She knows how to approach the subject with them to help them understand the importance of egalitarian and harmonious relationships. | The students like Annie. On a number of occasions, they have talked to her about love, friendship and interpersonal relationships, such as during a Valentine’s Day activity. Annie knows how to address such questions. | Michelle understands the feelings that students may have about puberty. She can help them accept these changes. Luke understands the physical changes brought about during puberty. He knows the right words to use to explain these changes. His goal is to prepare students for what they will experience, reassure them, and calm their fears. | Catherine wants to use this discussion with students to review the content covered in sexuality education over the course of the year. She taught these students during previous years and knows the kind of questions they ask about the changes they are experiencing. |
Secondary II class
When? | December | February | April | May |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Theme? | Emotional and Romantic Life | Sexual Behaviour | Sexual Violence | STBBIs and Pregnancy |
How much time? | two periods of 75 minutes each | two periods of 75 minutes each | 90 minutes | 75 minutes |
Who? | John Paul, a spiritual life and community involvement animator | Julie, an ethics and religious culture teacher | Sebastian, an English teacher, in collaboration with a community organization | Josef, a science teacher, and Nicole, a school nurse |
What content? | Engage in a critical reflection on adolescent romantic relationships.
Become aware of the challenges involved in first dating relationships. | Discuss the characteristics of sexual behaviour in adolescence and the motivations behind it.
Recognize what can inform your choices concerning sexual behaviour in adolescence. | Reflect on the impact of myths and prejudices about sexual assault.
Understand your own position on the notion of consent and its application in order to recognize a situation of sexual assault. | Become aware of the importance of taking responsibility for your sexual and reproductive health.
Adopt a positive attitude toward the use of condoms and contraception. |
Why this person? | Students have already had discussions with John Paul about romantic relationships. He is available to students in the school outside of class time, and engages them in discussion. | Julie is used to having her students reflect on a variety of subjects. She has an open-minded attitude that the students appreciate. | Sebastian wants his students to think and write about the subject. The community organization has expertise in this area and has a resource person who can easily and tactfully talk about the subject. | Nicole and Josef meet with students in different contexts. Nicole meets with them individually in her office. Josef has a good understanding of the students in his class and knows the type of atmosphere that makes it easier for them participate. By working together, Nicole and Josef pool their expertise and knowledge. |
The content takes the students’ age and level of development into account. Overall, each student will receive, depending on his or her age, 5 to 15 hours of sexuality education per year.
The school administration is responsible for the curriculum planning. The governing board approves the planning in each school on a yearly basis.
Research on sexuality education has taught us that:
- it is more effective to integrate sexuality education into the school’s planning than to confine it to one subject
- this method makes it possible to better respond to the students’ needs while making better use of the expertise available in the school
- countries that have used this approach for years are among those with the lowest rates of STBBIs and unplanned pregnancies
Division of responsabilities
The school principal is responsible, in collaboration with school staff, for determining who will be providing sexuality education content.
- School staff: teachers, education professionals (psychoeducator, spiritual care and guidance and community involvement animator, social worker, person with a degree in sexology), etc.
- School partners: professionals from the health and social services system, community organization, etc.
In any event, the division of responsibilities is based on staff expertise and interest.
The fact that the content is offered by more than one person allows:
- teachers and non-teaching professionals to provide each other with mutual support
- the school to maintain expertise (because a number of teachers and complementary educational services personnel are involved)
- young people to find someone with whom they feel comfortable enough to talk to from among the school staff, health professionals and facilitators from community organizations, if necessary
- everyone at the school to be more knowledgeable about the approach to sexuality education