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How Prepared Are Teachers to Provide Comprehensive Sexual Health Education?

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Title: How Prepared Are Teachers to Provide Comprehensive Sexual Health Education?
Authors: Byers, E. Sandra1 (AUTHOR) byers@unb.ca, O'Sullivan, Lucia F.1 (AUTHOR), Burkholder, Casey2 (AUTHOR)
Source: American Journal of Sexuality Education. Apr-Jun2025, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p113-136. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Sex education, *Autodidacticism, *High school teachers, *Teacher attitudes, Health attitudes
Abstract: Quality sexual health education requires that the curriculum is taught by knowledgeable, skilled, and comfortable educators. However, we know little about teachers' preparedness to provide comprehensive sexual health education. We surveyed 412 current elementary, middle, and high school teachers in one Canadian province to examine their attitudes toward, training for, and experience with providing comprehensive sexual health education. Teachers reported very positive attitudes toward sexual health education and most were in favor of introducing age-appropriate sexual health education in elementary school. Teachers reported little to no formal training at either the pre-service or in-service level but had engaged in self-directed learning. A multiple regression analysis found that teachers who were younger, with more experience providing sexual health education, positive attitudes toward sexual health education, and in-service training reported engaging in significantly more self-directed learning. Teachers with more experience providing sexual health education, positive attitudes toward sexual health education, pre-service training, and self-directed learning reported greater comfort in providing sexual health education. Although these results support the many calls for better teacher training, they also suggest that efforts to improve the quality of sexual health education instruction might be better focused on enhancing access to quality materials for self-directed learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of American Journal of Sexuality Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: How Prepared Are Teachers to Provide Comprehensive Sexual Health Education?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22American+Journal+of+Sexuality+Education%22">American Journal of Sexuality Education</searchLink>. Apr-Jun2025, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p113-136. 24p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sex+education%22">Sex education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Autodidacticism%22">Autodidacticism</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+school+teachers%22">High school teachers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+attitudes%22">Teacher attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Health+attitudes%22">Health attitudes</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Quality sexual health education requires that the curriculum is taught by knowledgeable, skilled, and comfortable educators. However, we know little about teachers' preparedness to provide comprehensive sexual health education. We surveyed 412 current elementary, middle, and high school teachers in one Canadian province to examine their attitudes toward, training for, and experience with providing comprehensive sexual health education. Teachers reported very positive attitudes toward sexual health education and most were in favor of introducing age-appropriate sexual health education in elementary school. Teachers reported little to no formal training at either the pre-service or in-service level but had engaged in self-directed learning. A multiple regression analysis found that teachers who were younger, with more experience providing sexual health education, positive attitudes toward sexual health education, and in-service training reported engaging in significantly more self-directed learning. Teachers with more experience providing sexual health education, positive attitudes toward sexual health education, pre-service training, and self-directed learning reported greater comfort in providing sexual health education. Although these results support the many calls for better teacher training, they also suggest that efforts to improve the quality of sexual health education instruction might be better focused on enhancing access to quality materials for self-directed learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of American Journal of Sexuality Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/15546128.2024.2344518
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 24
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      – SubjectFull: Sex education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Autodidacticism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High school teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teacher attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: Health attitudes
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              M: 04
              Text: Apr-Jun2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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