What about pedagogy!!

February 14, 2023

The first step to effective instruction is choosing the right teachers. An ideal configuration is to have male and female co-teachers modelling comfortable rapport on all topics, but that’s not always possible. More important is that teachers are mature, comfortable talking about sex, and supportive of the goals of the course. Teachers should also have good classroom management skills; avoid overreacting when students giggle in early lessons; teach students to use correct vocabulary and wean them from profanity; have a sense of humour but not allow inappropriate humour and quickly shut down teasing and ridicule; prepare thoroughly for each class but nimbly respond to unexpected questions; be confident and authoritative, while admitting gaps in knowledge; be authentic but not share personal sexual experiences; encourage student participation but not let students overshare, and avoid using unapproved materials and guest speakers. Answering question is a major part of sex education.
Two rules covers the ground. First, always gives a truthful answers to a question ; Secondly, regard sex knowledge is exactly like any other knowledge.

What ground rules are appropriate?

 No teasing, put-downs, or harassment : Students need to be very clear that such behaviour, inside or outside the class, will be dealt with very strictly.
 No personal questions : Students might practice saying, “That’s a personal question and I’m not going to answer it.”
 No such thing as a stupid question : Students shouldn’t be afraid to ask anything, perhaps anonymously on index cards.
 Respect diverse opinions : Students need to listen to and not condemn views with which they strongly disagree.
 Discuss sex only at appropriate times and places : This is probably not a topic for Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma at the table.
 Stick to the topic : A well-organized sex education lesson is crammed with information, and it’s impossible to do justice to the topic of the day while answering questions on other subjects.
 No cold-calling : Students can be completely silent throughout the course if they wish.
1. Should boys and girls be taught together?
  Over the years, many schools have taught sex education in single-gender classes, often with different content — for example, girls learning about menstruation and boys about wet dreams. Even if boys and girls have the same curriculum, some educators believe that students (especially girls) are more likely to open up and ask questions in single-gender classes. Just before a sex education course,
some apprehensive students may request single-gender classes, but once they see that teachers are comfortable with the subject matter and won’t tolerate teasing and harassment, they usually change their minds. Most kids are fascinated with all the stuff they don’t know about the opposite sex and want to learn about it together.
My recommendation is to hold firm on co-ed classes, ensure that teachers have the right skills, and tell students that after the first couple of classes, those who still feel they can’t learn with the opposite sex can opt out. If educators or parents won’t accept this approach, a compromise is to offer gender-separate classes on the most sensitive topics. If even that won’t fly and the battle isn’t worth fighting, boys and girls might be taught separately, but all classes should get the full curriculum.