ERIC Number: EJ1425358
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1468-1811
EISSN: EISSN-1472-0825
"The Professional Side of It": Exploring Discomfort in Delivering RSE in an Independent Boarding School in England
Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v24 n4 p515-530 2024
Teachers in Lady Agatha's Boarding School (Lady Agatha's) find teaching Sex and Relationships Education (RSE) uncomfortable. This paper investigates one aspect of the discomfort that they feel, namely the impact RSE has on their professional status as teachers. I use focus group data to reflect on the professional and personal location of teachers at Lady Agatha's and to explore their understanding of RSE through the recurring themes of professionalism and professional reputation as symbolic capital; deprofessionalisation and risk as symbolic violence; and the connects and disconnects between the "doxa" and "illusio" of the school. Findings suggest that by interrogating the sites of symbolic violence which generate RSE discomfort, we can start to unpick the fabric which creates discomfort about RSE, allowing both for a deeper understanding of RSE discomfort in teachers and an opportunity to address this discomfort as a barrier to RSE delivery at Lady Agatha's.
Descriptors: Boarding Schools, Sex Education, Professionalism, Reputation, Psychological Patterns, Barriers, Foreign Countries, Teacher Attitudes, Professional Identity, Risk, Coeducation, Secondary School Teachers, Interpersonal Relationship, Social Capital, Private Schools
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A