Browsing by Subject "sexualitet"

All schools in Finland are required by law to ensure equality of treatment on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and other individual characteristics. Previous studies have shown that young people who do not conform to heteronormative expectations are more likely to have mental health problems compared to their peers and are more likely to feel that school is an unsafe environment. Teachers, for their part, often feel that they do not have enough knowledge about how different sexualities and gender identities should be taken into account in their practical dealings with students. Previous studies have primarily focused on the school experiences of teenagers and young adults rather than on the experiences of younger students. The purpose of this study is to examine the views of seventh-grade students regarding the sex education they have received from first grade onwards, and how teachers accommodate gender diversity in their teaching. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with four native Swedish-speaking seventh-grade students from southern Finland. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that all the students who participated in the study felt that sexuality and gender identity were not properly discussed in grades 1 through 6. By contrast, they felt that the information they were given about puberty and reproduction in grades 5 through 6 was sufficient. The analysis also suggests that although the students felt that some of the teachers were clearly concerned with advancing gender equality, the atmosphere in the school in general was still quite heteronormative. All the students who participated in the study felt that more sex education was needed, and that there should be greater discussion of gender diversity, preferably even before fifth grade. In their view, this would help foster a more respectful and inclusive atmosphere at school. In future studies, it would be of interest to find out more about what kind of support teachers would benefit from to develop sex education, and what would help them to accommondate gender diversity in their teaching.

The goal of the study is to examine how pedagogical personnel in Fenno-swedish elementary schools in Finland's capital region perceive the appearance of social norms among the students, as well as how the personnel themselves handle these social norms and whether or not they feel that materials and tools for education regarding social norms are made readily available. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with participants based on a fenomenological approach, and uses a thematic content analysis to clarify the answers given to the interview-questions. The study aims to answer following questions: How do pedagogical personnel handle the reigning hetero- and cis-normativity? How do pedagogical personnel experience the social norms regarding gender and sexuality that are established in the school? How do pedagogical personnel experience the availability of material for education regarding norms and the LGBTQ+-dimension? The pedagogical personnel experiences that the schools where they work has an open discussion-climate regarding social norms touching on gender and sexuality, and that the municipalities in general do good work with further education and creation of possibilities to education regarding social norms. They experience some discomfort or reluctance among a minority of pedagogical personnel regarding the subject, but mean that the majority is open and willing to learn more. Among the students, the personnel experience a high level of awareness regarding social norms on gender and sexuality, but older thought-patterns and also name-calling touching on gender and sexuality remain and are often used even when students do not know what the words mean. An active work is done with the students to increase their understanding for what the words they use mean. The pedagogical personnel also experiences that although material and tools exist and are available, they need further support from the student healthcare, which is made difficult when positions in that sector are being cut down.