Sexiles in the Classroom: Understanding Intersectionalities of Sexuality, Immigration, and Education

This paper presents an overview of literature on adult educators who are both queer and immigrant. Although very little scholarly writing exists, several scholars describe the experiences of queer immigrants as being anchored to systemic heteronormativity. Additionally, the experiences of immigrant adult educators suggest difficult encounters with racism and sexism.

Teaching and learning sexuality in nursing education

Sexuality is recognized as part of holistic nursing care, but its inclusion in clinical practice and nursing training is inconsistent. Based on the question "How students and teachers acknowledge sexuality in teaching and learning?", we developed a study in order to characterize the process of teaching and learning sexuality in a micro perspective of cur- riculum development. We used a mixed methods design with a sequential strategy: QUAN → qual of descriptive and explanatory type. 646 students and teachers participated. The quantitative component used ques- tionnaire surveys. Document analysis was used in the additional component. A curricular dimension of sexuality emerges guided by a behaviourist line and based on a biological vision. The issues considered safe are highlighted and framed in steps of adolescence and adulthood and more attached to female sexuality and the procreative aspect. There is in emergence a hidden curriculum by reference to content from other dimensions of sexuality but less often expressed. Theoretical learning follows a communicational model of reality through ab- straction strategies, which infers a deductive method of learning, with a behaviourist approach to assessment. Clinical teaching ad- dresses sexuality in combination with reproductive health nursing. The influencing factors of teaching and learning of sexuality were also explored. We conclude that the vision of female sexuality taught and learned in relation to women has a projection of care in clinical practice based on the same principles.

Teaching and learning sexuality in nursing education

Sexuality is recognized as part of holistic nursing care, but its inclusion in clinical practice and nursing training is inconsistent. Based on the question "How students and teachers acknowledge sexuality in teaching and learning?", we developed a study in order to characterize the process of teaching and learning sexuality in a micro perspective of curriculum development. We used a mixed methods design with a sequential strategy: QUAN-qual of descriptive and explanatory type. 646 students and teachers participated. The quantitative component used questionnaire surveys. Document analysis was used in the additional component. A curricular dimension of sexuality emerges guided by a behaviourist line and based on a biological vision. The issues considered sage are highlighted and framed in steps of adolescence and adulthood and more attacghed to female sexuality and procreative aspect. There is in emeergence a hidden curriculum by reference to content from other dimensions of sexuality but less often expressed. Theoretical learning follows a communicational model of reality through abstraction strategies, which infers a deductive method of learning, with a behaviourist approach to assessment. Clinical teaching adresses sexuality in combination with reproductive lealth nursing. The influencing factors of teaching and learning of sexuality were also explored. We conclude that the vision of female sexuality taught and learned in relation to women has a projection of care in clinical practice based on the same principles

Of tails and Tempests : Feminine sexuality and Shakespearean children's texts

This paper reads a range of nineteenth-century texts for children that retell either Shakespeare's The Tempest or mermaid narratives, considering the models of feminine subjectivity and sexuality that they construct. It then moves on to two key contemporary texts — Disney's film adaptation of The Little Mermaid (Clements and Musker 1989) and Penni Russon's Undine (2004) — that combine the Shakespearean heroine with the mermaid, and reads them against the nineteenth-century models. Ultimately, the essay determines that, while these texts seem to perform a progressive appropriation of the two traditions, they actually combine the most conservative aspects of both The Tempest and mermaid stories to produce authoritative (and dangerously persuasive) ideals of passive feminine sexuality that confine girls within patriarchally-dictated familial positions. The new figure for adolescent female subjectivity, the mermaid-Miranda, becomes in turn a model of identification and aspiration for the implied juvenile consumer.

Moving from Awareness to Knowing, Understanding, Speaking and Doing: Indigenous Women Academics in Higher Education. National Tertiary Education Women's Conference, 18-19 July 2009, South Melbourne, Victoria.

Bronwyn Fredericks was asked to outline some of the issues faced by Indigenous women academics.

Race and equity in higher education : A harder path for Indigenous academics

Our experiences as Indigenous academics within universities often reflects the experiences we have as Indigenous people in broader society, yet I am still surprised and angered when it is others working in higher education who espouse notions of justice and equity with whom we experience tension and conflict in asserting our rights, values and cultural values. At times it is a constant struggle even when universities have Reconciliation Statements as most of them do now, Indigenous recruitment or employment strategies and university wide anti-racism and anti-discrimination policies and procedures.

Intellectual disability and sexuality : attitudes of disability support staff and leisure industry employees

Background: The attitudes of support staff and others in the community towards the sexuality of individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) have the potential to influence opportunities for normalised life experiences in the area of sexuality. ----- Method: A sample of 169 disability support staff and 50 employees from leisure and services industries completed the Attitudes to Sexuality Questionnaires (Individuals with an Intellectual Disability [ASQ–ID], and Individuals from the General Population [ASQ–GP]). ----- Results: Support staff and leisure workers reported generally positive attitudes towards the sexuality of individuals with an ID, but men were seen as having less self-control than women. Support staff were more cautious in their views about parenting, and both groups considered a lower level of sexual freedom to be desirable for women with an ID compared to women who are developing typically. Conclusions Attitudes of both groups are generally quite positive in relation to ID and sexuality.

Gender, sexuality and the challenge of seeing in Orlando

Orlando (Sally Potter, 1992) is a significant filmic achievement: in only ninety minutes it offers a rich, layered, and challenging account of a life lived across four hundred years, across two sexes and genders, and across multiple countries and cultures. Already established as a feminist artist, Potter aligns herself with a genealogy of feminist art by adapting Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography (1928) to tell the story of Orlando: a British subject who must negotiate their “identity” while living a strangely long time and, also somewhat strangely, changing biological sex from male to female. Both novel and film interrogate norms of gender and culture. They each take up issues of sex, gender, and sexuality as socially-constructed phenomena rather than as “essential truths”, and Orlando’s attempts to tell his/her story and make sense of his/her life mirror readers’ attempts to understand and interpret Orlando’s journey within inherited artistic traditions.

Child sexual abuse prevention education : A review of school policy and curriculum provision in Australia

The past four decades have seen increasing public and professional awareness of child sexual abuse. Congruent with public health approaches to prevention, efforts to eliminate child sexual abuse have inspired the emergence of prevention initiatives which can be provided to all children as part of their standard school curriculum. However, relatively little is known about the scope and nature of child sexual abuse prevention efforts in government school systems internationally. This paper assesses and compares the policies and curriculum initiatives for child sexual abuse prevention education in primary (elementary) schools across state and territory Departments of Education in Australia. Using publicly available electronic data, a deductive qualitative content analysis of policy and curriculum documents was undertaken to examine the characteristics of child sexual abuse prevention education in these school systems. It was found that the system-level provision of child sexual abuse prevention education occurs unevenly across state and territory jurisdictions. This results in the potential for substantial inequity in Australian children’s access to learning opportunities in child abuse prevention education as a part of their standard school curriculum. In this research, we have developed a strategy for generating a set of theoretically-sound empirical criteria that may be more extensively applied in comparative research about prevention initiatives internationally.

Systematic evaluation of GoSoapBox in tertiary education : a student response system for improving learning experiences and outcomes

There is currently a wide range of research into the recent introduction of student response systems in higher education and tertiary settings (Banks 2006; Kay and Le Sange, 2009; Beatty and Gerace 2009; Lantz 2010; Sprague and Dahl 2009). However, most of this pedagogical literature has generated ‘how to’ approaches regarding the use of ‘clickers’, keypads, and similar response technologies. There are currently no systematic reviews on the effectiveness of ‘GoSoapBox’ – a more recent, and increasingly popular student response system – for its capacity to enhance critical thinking, and achieve sustained learning outcomes. With rapid developments in teaching and learning technologies across all undergraduate disciplines, there is a need to obtain comprehensive, evidence-based advice on these types of technologies, their uses, and overall efficacy. This paper addresses this current gap in knowledge. Our teaching team, in an undergraduate Sociology and Public Health unit at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), introduced GoSoapBox as a mechanism for discussing controversial topics, such as sexuality, gender, economics, religion, and politics during lectures, and to take opinion polls on social and cultural issues affecting human health. We also used this new teaching technology to allow students to interact with each other during class – both on both social and academic topics – and to generate discussions and debates during lectures. The paper reports on a data-driven study into how this interactive online tool worked to improve engagement and the quality of academic work produced by students. This paper will firstly, cover the recent literature reviewing student response systems in tertiary settings. Secondly, it will outline the theoretical framework used to generate this pedagogical research. In keeping with the social and collaborative features of Web 2.0 technologies, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) will be applied here to investigate the effectiveness of GoSoapBox as an online tool for improving learning experiences and the quality of academic output by students. Bandura has emphasised the Internet as a tool for ‘self-controlled learning’ (Bandura 2001), as it provides the education sector with an opportunity to reconceptualise the relationship between learning and thinking (Glassman & Kang 2011). Thirdly, we describe the methods used to implement the use of GoSoapBox in our lectures and tutorials, and which aspects of the technology we drew on for learning purposes, as well as the methods for obtaining feedback from the students about the effectiveness or otherwise of this tool. Fourthly, we report cover findings from an examination of all student/staff activity on GoSoapBox as well as reports from students about the benefits and limitations of it as a learning aid. We then display a theoretical model that is produced via an iterative analytical process between SLT and our data analysis for use by academics and teachers across the undergraduate curriculum. The model has implications for all teachers considering the use of student response systems to improve the learning experiences of their students. Finally, we consider some of the negative aspects of GoSoapBox as a learning aid.

Supporting residents’ expression of sexuality : the initial construction of a sexuality assessment tool for residential aged care facilities

Background: Sexuality is a key component of quality of life and well-being and a need to express one’s sexuality continues into old age. Staff and families in residential aged care facilities often find expressions of sexuality by residents, particularly those living with dementia, challenging and facilities often struggle to address individuals’ needs in this area. This paper describes the development of an assessment tool which enables residential aged care facilities to identify how supportive their organisation is of all residents’ expression of their sexuality, and thereby improve where required. Methods: Multi-phase design using qualitative methods and a Delphi technique. Tool items were derived from the literature and verified by qualitative interviews with aged care facility staff, residents and families. The final item pool was confirmed via a reactive Delphi process. Results: A final item pool of sixty-nine items grouped into seven key areas allows facilities to score their compliance with the areas identified as being supportive of older people’s expression of their sexuality in a residential aged care environment. Conclusions: The sexuality assessment tool (SexAT) guides practice to support the normalization of sexuality in aged care homes and assists facilities to identify where enhancements to the environment, policies, procedures and practices, information and education/training are required. The tool also enables facilities to monitor initiatives in these areas over time.

‘Children Ask the Damnedest Questions’: Sex(uality) Education as a Social Problem

Perspectives in Human Sexuality is an overview of key debates, research findings and theories in the area of sex and sexuality. This textbook written especially for undergraduate students offers a detailed and comprehensive introduction to sex and sexuality from an Australian and New Zealand perspective. It examines controversial issues such as sex and age, sex work and gay, lesbian and queer sex in a fair and balanced manner.

Schooling elsewhere: Rurality, inclusion and education

Over its history, the International Journal of Inclusive Education has had a strong record of naming, critiquing and redressing the ways in which particular social locations shape experiences of inclusion and exclusion in education. In this special issue, we continue this tradition taking as our focus those who live outside the metropolitan mainstream. To date, rural schools and the communities of which they are part have often been overlooked by researchers of inclusive education. This is not to suggest that the rural has been ignored entirely in research on inclusivity and schooling. For example, a number of studies have included rural case studies as part of broader research on subjects such as educational disadvantage and experiences of poverty (Horgan 2009), inclusivity and early childhood services (Penn 1997), constraints to inclusive educational practice (Shevlin, Winter, and Flynn 2013) and the efficacy of inclusivity training programmes for teachers (Strieker, Logan, and Kuhel 2012). Such work provides a critical reference point for this special issue as it has demon- strated that the educational landscape may be very differently experienced in the rural compared to the urban. Illustrative is Wikeley et al.’s (2009, 381) assertion that working class Irish youth living outside the urban sphere are ‘doubly disadvantaged’ in terms of accessing out-of-school activities and Milovanovic et al.’s (2014, 47) claim that for young children in the Western Balkans, there is a ‘dearth of pre-school provision in rural areas’. As well as highlighting cleavages of disadvantage as they exist between urban and rural schools, work in this journal has also revealed disadvantage that exists within rural schools. This scholarship has explored how particular social locations, such as disability, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and class intersect with rurality to produce very different educational biographies. For example, it may be class, as Holt (2012) found in her study of young rural women’s transition to a city university, or it may be gender, as Tuwor and Sossou (2008) posited in their work on the schooling of girls in West Africa.