How to incorporate Comprehensive Sexuality Education in your classes

Education is for everyone

How to incorporate Comprehensive Sexuality Education in your classes

Gabriela Brun Paola Cossu

Comprehensive Sexuality Education: international landscape

Nowadays, many countries around the world are acknowledging the importance of developing and carrying out educational programmes that address human rights issues such as gender equality and the eradication of gender-based violence. These programmes also aim at equipping children and adolescents with knowledge and skills to make responsible choices in relation to their physical and emotional well-being and their relationship with others. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programmes are clear examples of this aim as they integrate sexuality, gender and citizenship, and incorporate them across the school curriculum.

CSE is an explicit empowerment and rights-based approach to sexuality education. It is key to understand that sexuality involves not only biological aspects but also psychological, social, affective and ethical ones. This type of education involves the analysis of family life, relationships, culture and gender roles. It also addresses human rights, gender equality, bodily autonomy and threats such as discrimination, abuse and sexual violence. (UNFPA, 2021)

According to UNESCO (2018), CSE is based on gender equality and it aims at building awareness of the centrality and diversity of gender in people’s lives. More specifically, CSE is:

scientifically accurate: it is based on facts and evidence related to sexual health and relationships (SHR), sexuality and behaviours.

incremental: it is a continuing educational process in which new information builds upon previous learning.

age and developmentally appropriate: its content is responsive to the changing needs and capabilities of students as they grow.

based on gender equality: it contributes to gender equality by building awareness of the centrality and diversity of gender in people’s lives.

culturally relevant and context appropriate: it fosters respect and responsibility within relationships, helping students to examine and challenge norms and socially and culturally constructed behaviours. This means that even though CSE is integral, each region or country will place the focus on their needs, which are socially and culturally constructed. Thus, CSE in Argentina is seen from a gender and rights perspective and starts as early as kindergarten, while in other countries in Latin America, such as Ecuador, the focus is on health and sexuality and is dealt with mostly in secondary schools. In other regions, like sub-Saharan countries, CSE is mostly related to violence against children, child marriage and STI (sexually transmitted infections). In Ghana, CSE is taught under Management in Living, a popular course for girls but not for boys, limiting boys’ access to CSE.

transformative: it contributes to the formation of a fair society by empowering people, promoting critical thinking and strengthening young people’s citizenship. It builds the skills and attitudes that enable students to treat others with respect and empathy, regardless of their race, social or economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics.

key for the development of life skills needed to support healthy choices: this includes the ability to reflect and make informed decisions, communicate and negotiate effectively and demonstrate assertiveness.

In Argentina, the National Law Nº 26,150 or Comprehensive Sexuality Education Law was passed in 2006 (Congreso de la Nación Argentina 2006). The law establishes the right of all students to receive CSE in all educational institutions, both private and state-run, and incorporates UNESCO’s definition of sexuality which, as we mentioned before, involves biological, psychological, social, affective and ethical aspects. Following this, sexuality is a complex social construct as well as a subjective experience and it cannot be understood without reference to gender and diversity.

Before Law Nº 26,150, Sexuality Education was included in the curriculum but was limited to topics such as anatomy, reproduction and sexually transmitted infections. After this law was passed, the focus shifted to equipping students with tools to develop critical thinking skills and make informed decisions not only about their sexual health but also about other aspects of their lives. Since the CSE law came into being in 2006, the Argentine legal landscape has been enriched with a series of laws that advance human rights, such as Law Nº 26,485 (Protection of women against violence), Law Nº 26,618 (Equal marriage), Law Nº 26,743 (Gender identity) and Law Nº 27,610 (Voluntary termination of pregnancy), among others. This legislation broadens the scope of CSE and opens up the door to new topics to be dealt with in the classroom.

In 2008, the Federal Council of Education introduced the National Curricular Guidelines, which suggest CSE topics for different school subjects or areas and strategies for each educational level. Additionally, the CSE programme in Argentina features five intertwined axes which ensure an integral approach to all human dimensions:

Acknowledge gender perspective:

The gender perspective looks at the impact of gender on people’s opportunities and social role, and it problematizes what is considered exclusively masculine or feminine.

Take care of the body:

This goes beyond biology and involves the psychological, social and cultural aspects of health. The WHO (World Health Organization) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Respect diversity:

This involves embracing differences through an intersectional lens (see ‘Intersectionality’). This means that the different social categories that shape our view of the world, such as race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic positions, among others, converge and this leads to some people simultaneously suffering different types of discrimination. Approaching diversity also means rejecting violence as there cannot be pedagogical silence when faced with discrimination.

(Marina et.al. 2014)

Value affectivity: Exercise our rights:

This refers to feelings, emotions and values with special emphasis on avoiding coercion and consequently infringing upon someone’s rights.

This can be thought of from two dimensions. On the one hand, it means to acknowledge that children and adolescents are fully fledged subjects of rights with the capacity to participate, be heard and not be discriminated against. Schools must ensure the conditions for the effective implementation of these rights. On the other hand, it means that students have the right to receive age-appropriate, updated and scientifically validated information. This ax cuts across the others.

This is just a summary. It is very important that you read carefully and understand what each axis involves so that you can decide from which one(s) we will be approaching the CSE topics that we have selected. You can find the CSE axes in Argentina here:

https://direcciongeneraldeeducacionprimaria.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/1c-los-ejes-de-la-esi.pdf

Now that you have read about CSE at an international level and about Law Nº 26,150 in Argentina, let’s look at some frequently asked questions about the implementation of CSE in our classrooms:

Q: Do I only have to teach content related to sexual relationships when I deal with CSE?

A: Even though sexual relationships is indeed a crucial topic within CSE, it is not the only one. Remember that sexuality is not only about biology and reproduction but it also involves affectivity, relationships, values, equality, rights, among others, and that is why the word comprehensive is key.

The National Curricular Guidelines in the Argentine CSE programme provide teachers with strategies and possible content to address at each educational level. It is important to mention that there are no suggested topics for foreign languages. However, since all CSE topics are related to our everyday life and, therefore, are relevant to our students’ needs and interests, we can easily bring them into our classrooms.

The following table shows some topics for each educational level as suggested by the Argentine National Curricular Guidelines:

Level

Kinder

Topics and abilities suggested in the National Curricular Guidelines

• Diverse family configurations and respect for different ways of living.

• Knowledge about and care of the body, acknowledging and valuing differences that make human beings unique, helping children understand the importance of diversity (parts of the body, healthy habits, hygiene, bodily integrity, etc).

• Self-protection (learning to say ‘no’ in case of inappropriate physical interaction, knowing the difference between good and bad secrets, valuing our own intimacy and that of others).

Primary school

• Respecting people regardless of their appearance, identity and sexual orientation (bullying).

• Understanding and playing different games of cooperation and opposition, emphasizing their collaborative and inclusive aspects.

• Learning about:

• different ways of growing up, spending free time and celebrating traditions and festivals.

• diverse diets, clothing, and people’s roles throughout history and in different cultures.

• Critical analysis of body image and gender stereotypes in mainstream media and literature.

Secondary school

• Critical analysis of the different ways in which masculinity and femininity have been performed in history.

• Learning about national and international laws that guarantee human rights.

Certain topics are common to all levels but their treatment and complexity vary according to the different ages, eg: family configurations, body parts and autonomy.

You will find the full National Curricular Guidelines here: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/el008015.pdf

The five axes guarantee that the topic we choose is addressed in a comprehensive way. Let’s take a topic from the Argentine Curricular Guidelines, for example: beauty standards is a topic presented both at primary and secondary school levels. How can we approach it considering the five axes?

Respect diversity: Why are some people regarded as more beautiful than others? Is it because of their weight, eye and hair colour?

Take care of the body: How does trying to fit into the thin / young / ‘beautiful’ standard affect our health?

Value affectivity: How is our self-esteem affected when we feel we do not meet those beauty standards?

Acknowledge gender perspective: Why are generally women the target of campaigns to look younger / thinner / ‘more beautiful’?

Exercise our rights: Why is it important that the Size Law (Law Nº 27,521) is implemented effectively in Argentina?

Incorporating CSE into our classrooms and practices favours a learner-centred approach because we are working with activities and topics which are relevant to the needs and interests of students. The ultimate goal of CSE is to help our students become respectful and critical citizens who are also agents of change.

Q: Is CSE only curricular content?

A: Definitely, CSE is content, which we have the opportunity to teach together with or through language. However, CSE also involves attitudes, school organization and the development and use of critical thinking skills, among others.

We all carry prejudice and biases. Our own values, ideas and personal stories are present in every pedagogic act. The personal biases we hold significantly influence what we teach (and do not teach). This calls on teachers to take on the challenge of constantly reflecting upon and addressing our personal biases:

• How do we address families when we send a note home? Do we write Señores padres or do we write Queridas familias?

• Do we openly address situations of discrimination and bullying or do we keep silent because we think that this is something that kids generally do? Can there be pedagogic silence in the face of these situations?

• How do we organize the attendance list? Are boys placed first? Are the names of all students arranged alphabetically?

• When we play a game, do we split groups into boys and girls?

• Are the images we bring into the classroom diverse? Do they show diversity of: gender, body, ethnicity, ability, skin colour, family configurations, among others?

Incorporating CSE into our classrooms and practices favours a learner-centred approach because we are working with activities and topics which are relevant to the needs and interests of students. In doing so, we are equipping students with tools to problematize, question and reflect. In other words, we are helping them to develop and put into use critical thinking skills.

Q: Is it enough to prepare one CSE project during the year?

A: As we said before, CSE is everywhere so we should not think of it in terms of projects only. This means that CSE is present at the moment of planning and delivering our lessons, addressing discriminatory or hurtful remarks (or not), organizing a game or interacting with our students and families. As the National Curricular Guidelines state:

‘(...) we understand that CSE is a systematic teaching and learning process that aims at developing knowledge and skills to make informed and sensible decisions (...).’ (p10)

When it comes to CSE as content, we should try to incorporate it on a regular basis. Even when we have already planned our lessons, we can always find a way to bring an aspect of CSE into our plans. In other words, ‘the comprehensive aspect of CSE refers to the breadth, depth and consistency of topics, as opposed to one-off lessons or interventions.’ (UNESCO, 2017)

Q: How should I choose the topics?

A: It is important that any CSE project is context sensitive, in other words, that it responds to the needs of the institution where we work. One way of achieving this is to take a close look at the institution (the way it is organized, the conflicts and tensions that emerge, etc.) and spot the potential CSE issues that could be addressed both institutionally and in the different subjects. For any CSE intervention to have real impact, these issues need to be discussed and analyzed by all stakeholders: heads of the institution, counselors, teachers, among others.

Also, students’ active participation in the elaboration of the CSE projects is central, as their interests, queries, doubts and wishes should be at the core of our proposals. Involving students will mean moving away from an adult-centred perspective (See ‘Adultcentrism’).

Ground rules for teachers and students when dealing with CSE topics

To create a safe environment in which everyone feels comfortable and cared for, it is a good idea to establish ground rules and we can work with these rules until they become a routine.

Do’s Don’ts

• respect each other

• it is OK to pass

• questions are welcome

• use correct terms for parts of the body

• use inclusive language¹

• listen when others are speaking

• respect personal boundaries

• be sensitive about diversity

• remember everyone is important

• ask personal questions

• speak for others

• belittle others

• make rights a subject of debate²

1 The use of language that is gender non-specific (for example, the word ‘partner’ is used instead of ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’, the word ‘firefighter’ is used instead of ‘fireman’, the word ‘they’ is used instead of ‘he/she’) to show consideration to people of sexual and gender minorities. For more examples, see https://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language/guidelines.shtml

2 Debates are a powerful tool because students learn about the topics they are debating and they develop the strategies needed to participate in one. However, we must be careful about the topic we are going to discuss because a debate assumes that there are two or more sides to an issue. Debates also assume that both sides have valid arguments. If students are allowed to debate rights, they learn that this is an appropriate debate topic. For example, debating on gay marriage validates both sides: in favour and against it. This should not be available as a debate topic because by Law N° 26, 618 equal marriage is a right in Argentina and rights are not open to debate.

This is a list of key terms and ideas that are important when dealing with CSE. These terms also invite us to reflect upon our own preconceptions as well as our practices.

Ableism: it refers to discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities. For example, in films, we see disabled people pigeon-holed into stereotypical roles, such as the angry, bitter wheel chair user who has a miserable life because of their disability or portrayed as inspirational people. Characters with disabilities are shown as extraordinary or heroic individuals because of their disability, which reduces them down to motivators. We seldom see people with disabilities performing everyday tasks.

In the following TED Talk, Stella Young breaks down society’s habit of turning disabled people into ‘inspiration porn’: https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_ inspiration_thank_you_very_much

This video shows a world where everybody has cerebral palsy except the protagonist. Even though it is in Spanish, it is good material to reflect on abilities, disabilities and what we consider to be the norm:

https://www.facebook.com/EhUniverso/videos/745391612996147

Adultcentrism/Adultism: it is the tendency of adults to view children and their problems from a biased, adult perspective. Adultcentrism is exercised by underestimating the behaviour, thoughts and ideas of children and adolescents.

Ageism: the World Health Organization defines ageism as the stereotyping and discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. It can take many forms, including prejudicial attitudes, discriminatory practices or institutional policies and practices that perpetuate stereotypical beliefs.

To learn more about ageism in the ELT classroom, you can read the article ‘Teaching our future selves’ by Heloisa Duarte here: http://bit.ly/35DSHGR

Diversity: this term is used in social studies to describe the composition of a group by paying attention to differences among the group members. Such differences may be observable, such as linguistic repertoire, age, gender, accent, ethnicity or nonobservable, such as beliefs or cultural systems. From a social justice perspective, the notion of diversity is reoriented to recognize inequality, mitigate the consequences of exclusion and dismantle injustice. (Banegas et al 2021)

Gender: it refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of people. It influences how people perceive themselves and each other, how they act and interact, and the distribution of power and resources in society. Gender identity is not confined to a binary (girl/ woman, boy/man) and can change over time.

The way individuals and groups understand, experience and express gender is diverse and they do not ‘fit’ established gender norms; they often face stigma and discrimination. It is important to note that gender and sex are not interchangeable terms. See ‘Sex’ for more information.

Here you can find a very clear infographic showing the difference between gender and sex:

https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/documents/igh_s17_infographic_ gender_sex-en.pdf

In this link, you will find more information about gender diversity:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zhvbt39/articles/ z6smbdm

Gender identity: it refers to a person’s innermost concept of self as male, female or something else – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their assigned sex.

For more information on this and other terms, you can visit this website:

https://www.npr.org/2021/06/02/996319297/gender-identitypronouns-expression-guide-lgbtq

Hegemony: Merriam-Webster defines hegemony as ‘the social, cultural, ideological or economic influence exerted by a dominant group’. When something is said to be hegemonic, it means that it is a cultural belief or practice that is so embedded in a society that it is not questioned.

For example, when we speak about female ‘hegemonic bodies’ in our culture, we refer to the idea of picture-perfect bodies, that is, women who are white, young, tall, skinny and, usually, blonde. The notion of hegemonic bodies can very much affect people’s self-esteem and health if they do not conform to the imposed beauty standards.

Here you can watch a video that shows how bodies are photoshopped to fit certain beauty standards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7PSMSNLcDg

This video shows a campaign against hegemonic (toxic) masculinity, that is, imposed standards that many men try to achieve:

https://youtu.be/koPmuEyP3a0

Heteronormativity: it refers to the belief that heterosexuality is the normal or default expression of sexuality. For example, when we ask a female student if she has a boyfriend, assuming the student is heterosexual. To learn more about heteronormativity and queer pedagogy, among other things, you can watch this interview with

Dr John Gray, professor in Applied Linguistics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQCLczbmyPE

Intersectionality: this term was coined by lawyer and professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to describe the double bind of simultaneous gender and racial prejudice. Nowadays, intersectionality is a lens that allows us to visibilize the diverse forms of discrimination many people suffer when different factors, such as race, gender, social class, among others, intersect. This lens is key to understanding that people who are subject to all these types of discrimination go through a different experience and not just the sum of its parts.

To learn more about intersectionality, you can read this interview with professor Crenshaw and watch a short video: https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/kimberlecrenshaw-intersectionality-more-two-decades-later https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBaIhlmM3ow&t=1s

LGBTQ+: acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and queer or questioning. The + sign represents all the other gender identities and sexual orientations, which you can find in this link: https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms

Other/Othering: the perception or representation of a person or group of people as fundamentally alien from another, frequently more powerful, group.

To learn more about othering in ELT you can watch this interview with Sergio Durán, EFL lecturer at Universidad Veracruzana (México): https://bit.ly/35EC1PH

You can also read this article by Sergio Durán in Creating Global Change (pages 65–68): https://bit.ly/3sFv3n9

Queer: term that includes gender non-binary individuals, gender non-conforming individuals and transgender individuals. However, as Paiz claims, (2019) some queer theorists argue against establishing a single, stable definition for the term ‘queer’, so this definition is not a definite one.

In this link, you will find more information about non-binary genders and gender identity: https://www.genderbread.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ Breaking-through-the-Binary-by-Sam-Killermann.pdf

Restive problematizing: Pennycook (2001) puts forward the notion of restive problematizing as a key component of critical enquiry pedagogies. Being a restive problematizer involves continually questioning underlying assumptions and beliefs about the world and language from a critical perspective. This is closely linked with what Paiz (2019) refers to as queering our practices, which means equipping students with tools to be critical about all normative discourses, not just ones centred on sexual identity, so

that they can better advocate for themselves and others. In other words, it means encouraging our students to ask questions about why our world is the way it is, who benefits from this presentation of the world, who is marginalized or silenced and what can be done to create a more equitable and inclusive world.

To learn more about queering our practices, you can watch this interview with Dr Joshua Paiz: https://bit.ly/3oKq1U4

Visit https://bit.ly/3smoxSl to read more about restive problematizing and queering our practices.

Sex: it refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive / sexual anatomy. Sex is usually categorized as female, male or intersex. It is assigned at birth.

Stereotypes: Merriam-Webster defines stereotype as ‘a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude or uncritical judgment’. Stereotypes can be harmful because they negatively impact people’s lifestyles and opportunities. Some commonly held stereotypes are ‘Women are nurturing.’, ‘Asians are good at maths.’, ‘Arabs and Muslims are terrorists.’, ‘Boys don’t cry.’, among others.

Here there are two resources to reflect upon stereotypes: A class that turned around kids’ assumptions of gender roles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Aweo-74kY Cultural diversity and stereotypes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7cTtZt0BjE https://issuu.com/iatefl/docs/teylt_worldwide_ issue_1__2020_special_appendix/40

Tokenism: the Cambridge Dictionary defines tokenism as ‘the fact of doing something only to show that you are following rules or doing what is expected or seen to be fair, and not because you really believe it is the right thing to do’. For example, when teachers only work with CSE for CSE week in Argentina, instead of dealing with it throughout the year and in a cross-curricular way.

Unconscious bias: it refers to social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness.

To learn more about unconscious bias, visit these websites: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/ authority.20110803110609736 https://bit.ly/3JDLUQd (tests)

Bibliography consulted

https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/48642.html

https://www.merriam-webster.com/ https://bit.ly/3MmCwUz

https://www.unfpa.org/es/educacion-sexual-integral#readmore-expand

https://csetoolkit.unesco.org/toolkit/getting-started/what-comprehensive-sexuality-education

Banegas, D; Beacon, G; Pérez Berbain (2021) Introduction: Diversity in ELT in International Perspectives on Diversity in ELT. Palgrave Macmillan.

Ideas to incorporate CSE in the English class

In this section you will find ideas and resources to bring CSE into your lessons. The activities proposed integrate English and CSE content, and are aimed at young learners and teens with varied proficiency levels. You will notice that it is not always necessary to start a CSE project from scratch. Most of the ideas suggested here can be used to enrich coursebooks or lesson plans that you have already prepared.

Consent

Why is consent education important?

Consent is an important concept for children to become familiarized with from an early age. It can help to build better relationships with others, including family, friends and eventually romantic partners, and it helps to prevent sexual abuse. Consent includes knowing and respecting our own boundaries as well as the boundaries of others and learning to manage rejection.

In terms of the five intertwined axes mentioned before, this topic can be framed mainly within the following axes:

value affectivity, because it aims at avoiding coercion.

exercise our rights, since children and adolescents are subjects of law.

Consent with young learners Beginner level

A very common topic when teaching young learners is parts of the body, which makes an ideal opportunity to bring the topic of consent into the English class.

Grammar: Yes/No questions with verb be, imperatives, can for permission, Yes/No questions

Vocabulary: parts of the body, trusted adults

After having worked with parts of the body, you can introduce the idea of private body parts. You can do so by telling children that our private body parts are the ones covered by our bathing suits/underwear and are off limits to others, because we can’t touch or show our private body parts in public places and neither can others.

You can use a simple picture like this one. Find the photocopiable version on page 24 of this booklet.

You can also teach the names of the private body parts. When doing so, it is of the utmost importance that you use the correct anatomical terms. If you don’t, children might get confused as each household has a different nickname for the private parts. By changing the names, you are reinforcing the culture of secrets and shutting down communication. Abusers rely on this culture of secrets and silence for cover.

You can work with Yes/No questions and have students ask and answer questions such as:

Is the hair a private part?

Is the mouth a private part?

No, it isn’t.

Yes! Our mouth is a private part!

Besides teaching the private parts of the body, you can help young learners understand the difference between ‘Yes’ touches (‘OK’ / ‘thumbs up’ touches) and ‘No’ touches (‘not OK’ / ‘thumbs down’ touches). In this case, you can teach action verbs that can be considered ‘Yes’ touches or ‘No’ touches, for example:

shake hands kick hold hands hit give hugs push give high fives touch private parts give pats

Yes! touches No! touches

Students classify the actions by drawing arrows. They may also draw a chart. As we cannot assume that the other person likes the same touches that I do, even when they are ‘Yes!’ touches, you can also teach permission, using can/can’t, for example:

Can I give you a hug?

Yes, sure!

Can I give you a kiss?

Yes, I like that!

Mmm… not now.

Children must know that some secrets should not be kept. If they have experienced a ‘No!’ touch or something they considered a ‘No!’ touch, they must tell a trusted adult. A trusted adult is a person who the child has chosen as a safe figure that listens to them without judgment and whose words and actions make the child feel safe. An example could be a teacher, a neighbour, parents, grandparents, among others.

Ask children to draw the outline of their hands and invite them to write the name of a trusted adult on each finger. Make sure that they understand the concept of trusted adults and make it clear that one of those five trusted adults must not be a member of the family, for example, a teacher, a neighbour, a family friend, etc.3

Students can also prepare posters with information about what to do if they experience a ‘No!’ touch or any other situation that may make them feel unsafe.

This may become part of a safety campaign if the posters are displayed around the school.

You can also work with children’s books to deal with these topics from a different perspective. For example, author Jayneen Sanders has published two very interesting books: Some secrets should never be kept and My body: What I say goes!

Grandma Miss Green Grandpa

3 Statistics show that a high percentage of abusers are members of the child’s family.

Consent with teens Elementary level

Primary prevention is about reducing the underlying causes of violence and building protective factors that help encourage healthy behaviours. That is why it needs to be addressed at all ages. One way of doing so is through the topic of consent. It is important that talking openly and respectfully about consent with friends and partners becomes second nature to young people.

Expressing permission: Can I …?

Invitations: Do you want to…?

Lexical chunks to accept or refuse invitations: Cool, see you soon! / No, not really.

The following video focuses on the importance of understanding what consent means and looks like in everyday life. This is a good resource to listen to conversational English: https://youtu.be/n6X5I7xoxEY

What is consent?

• Consent is a clear and enthusiastic ‘Yes’.

• Consent is an active, voluntary and verbal agreement.

• Consent is a process and a conversation.

• Consent can always be withdrawn.

Consent with teens Intermediate or Upper intermediate level

In the case of students with a higher level of proficiency in the language, the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty is a great way to naturally introduce the topic of consent. You may show students an image of the famous kiss and have them discuss if that is OK or not. In terms of language, you can:

Practise the second conditional: What would you do if you were the prince?

Discuss different ways in which Aurora can be woken up, for example: If I were the prince, I’d throw a glass of water.

Practise a more complex structure like should have/could have to express criticism and possibility in the past, for example: The prince should have thrown a glass of water to wake Aurora up.

Gender perspective

The achievement of gender equality is one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in the Sustainable Development Agenda for the year 2030. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. (UN, Sustainable Development Goals)

Gender perspective allows us to analyze how social representation, prejudice and stereotypes operate in the different social contexts, which makes the systematic mainstreaming of the gender perspective crucial in education and central to our teaching practices.

To read more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, you can visit the following websites: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

Gender perspective with teens Elementary level

The topic of ‘Jobs and professions’ is very common in the English classroom. This opens up a welcome opportunity to include gender perspective whether you are planning to adapt a ready-made lesson plan or to supplement a coursebook.

In the materials we use, it is common to find units on occupations which tend to be heavily gendered. Also, some occupations are generally associated with a certain gender (nurses are women, mechanics are men) and children unwittingly assimilate these gender stereotypes. Exposure to a limited range of models influences young people’s opinions about the areas in which they see themselves working and this eventually influences their study and career choices. Education plays a crucial role in creating opportunities to counter stereotypical jobs and professions. The following are ideas to incorporate gender perspective into our lesson plans or to supplement coursebooks.

You can use the poem ‘Who’s who’ by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah to introduce the topic and to have students reflect on gender stereotypes and jobs. You can find the poem here: https://benjaminzephaniah.com/rhymin/talking-turkeys-5/ In terms of language, you can use this poem to work with used to or past simple.

Alternatively, you can introduce the topic by watching this scene from the film Meet the parents (2000), in which the main male character is a nurse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP1yFNc4alw

After watching the video, ask students why the family is laughing at the main character’s job.

Once you have pre-taught vocabulary on jobs and professions, you can have students do the following technology-mediated task: Tell the class that they are going to use their phones (or tablets/computers if they can access one). Divide the class into two groups. Ask one group to do a search on the ‘Images’ tab, type ‘babysitter’ and count how many boys/men there are among the first 15–20 images that appear. Ask the other group to type ‘footballer’ and count how many girls/women there are among the first 15–20 images that appear.

Ask students why they think almost all the images of babysitters are girls/women and almost all the images of footballers are men/boys. The idea here is to reflect upon the influence of social media in creating and perpetuating stereotypes. If you want to do a cross-curricular activity, have students search for images for heavily gendered jobs such as mechanic, secretary, plumber, construction worker, etc. and count the number of women and men in each. In tandem with maths, students can create pie charts and bar graphs to illustrate and visually organize the results. The graphs can be displayed in posters around the school.

Another low prep task to bring into the class is the ‘gender light-bulb moment’ activity. A gender light-bulb moment is a time you become aware of being treated differently because of your gender. After having dealt with vocabulary and grammar, you can take some time to explain what a ‘gender light-bulb moment’ is and share some experiences that students (and you) may have had. These are possible questions you can ask students:

Do you know any female scientists?

Do you know any male babysitters?

Do any of the girls in your class play football?

Do any of the boys in your class do gymnastics?

Then you can ask them if they have ever experienced a ‘gender light-bulb moment’ and reflect upon this with the whole group. All the previous activities aim at problematizing gender stereotypes. When dealing with any CSE topic, reflection is key. Sometimes our students’ level of competence in English does not allow them to engage in discussions, so it is important that we do not dismiss these opportunities for reflection but give students the chance to share their views and opinions using their L1. The nature of CSE content demands systematic reflection which cannot be circumscribed to sporadic occasions. These spaces for reflection are essential to help students develop and use critical thinking skills, which go beyond the use of the foreign language.

You can learn more about the strategic use of L1 in our classrooms by watching this interview with Analia Duarte, specialist in Second Language Acquisition: https://youtu.be/HMSvrJuJ_X0

After reflecting with students on how we tend to link certain professions and genders, a possible wrap-up activity is the production of a poster, either digital or on paper. You can ask students to imagine that a university or technical college is designing new posters to promote their courses. Their task is to challenge assumptions on gender expectations and jobs. Below you will find an example of a poster inspired by a real one created by a secondary student in Argentina.

CAROLA BUILDING COURSES AND TUTORIALS

Monday to Friday 5 pm to 8 pm

ADDRESS: WALTER 34

We accept women and men from 17 to 65 years old.

Women in STEM

Gender perspective in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) area is another issue to problematize. The representation of women varies widely across STEM occupations. Women make up a large majority of all workers in health-related jobs but remain underrepresented in other job clusters, such as the physical sciences, computing and engineering. Therefore, there are fewer role models for girls to inspire their interest in these fields. There are even fewer black and indigenous women role models in maths and science.

Being exposed to relatable role models is essential for children and adolescents, since this has the power to maintain their interest and makes it more likely for them to innovate in the future.

Along the lines of supplementing ready-made material (lesson plans or coursebooks), the following ideas aim at addressing the lack of gender perspective in STEM.

Women in STEM with young learners Beginner or Elementary level

A low-prep activity to challenge gender stereotypes is to ask students to draw a scientist and give them a name so we don’t assume a gender when we see the drawing. This is actually a test carried out in the 80s to investigate children’s perceptions of scientists. The results showed that most children drew male scientists and when the test was replicated twenty years later, the results did not change much.

Once students have drawn their scientists, count how many men and women there are and discuss with them the elements that surround them: Where is their scientist working? Is it a lab? Are they outside? Are they wearing a white lab coat and glasses? Why are there more men than women in science? This is a wonderful opportunity to also reflect upon the fact that scientists do not only work in a lab or wear a lab coat. You can take advantage of this discussion to introduce more vocabulary in context. Next, you can ask students to make a list of inventors/scientists and their inventions and/or discoveries.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Radium and polonium

Marion Donovan Disposable diapers

Alexander Fleming Penicilin

Tim Berners-Lee World Wide Web

Inventors/Scientists and their inventions/discoveries

Women in STEM with teens Elementary or Pre-intermediate level

To introduce the topic, you can have the whole class brainstorming on science and its different areas of studies. Brainstorming is a good starting point because it involves everybody who wants to participate, nobody feels forced to be part of the activity and it is a good way to check and share prior knowledge. Then, make a list with all the areas of study, which can be used to work with word building/transformation (see table below).

In terms of language, students with an elementary level can make sentences about each of the people mentioned using the past simple, for example: Marion Donovan invented disposable diapers. Students with a pre-intermediate level can make sentences using the passive, such as The World Wide Web was invented by Tim Berners-Lee. It is highly probable that students will mention male inventors or scientists. This can, again, trigger a discussion about gender stereotypes and allow you to present women inventors or scientists who have been historically overlooked and neglected in science, for example: Did you know that the first computer program was written by Ada Lovelace in the 19th century?

Below there is a list of websites where you can find more information about gender stereotypes in STEM: https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12223

https://ideas.ted.com/history-overlooked-these-women-scientists-but-not-anymore/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130519-women-scientists-overlooked-dna-history-science

This opens up the possibility of working with biographies. Usually, coursebooks include one biography but this is frequently about a male scientist or inventor. In this case, you can always either change it or bring another one about a woman inventor or scientist. In terms of language, biographies allow us to work with past simple, linkers and adverbs of time, among others.

Women in history

Along the lines of what we have been discussing in terms of gender perspective, the study of history is another field in which women have traditionally been invisibilized. Jane Austen once said in Northanger Abbey that history is boring because it is all about ‘the quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any woman at all.’

It is always a good idea to take every opportunity to make women visible in our lessons. Below there are some ideas that serve as starting points:

Outstanding women: women on TV and cinema, women leaders, women in business, women in politics, women in literature, women in arts, women in sports, among others. Some names are: Angela Merkel, Eva Perón, Virginia Woolf, Oprah Winfrey, Katherine Bigelow, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Rosa Parks, Rosalind Franklin, Queen Boudicca, Mary Anning, Artemisia Gentileschi, among others.

First woman to do: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean; Marie Skłodowska-Curie, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize – twice; Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space; Junko Tabei, who was the first woman to climb Mount Everest. Also, you can always include the first woman to do something in your own country or area.

Women and their fights/struggle: Marsha P. Johnson, who fought for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community; the Mirabal sisters, who were assassinated for opposing the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic; the suffragists in the suffrage movements in the different countries; ecofeminists like Berta Cáceres and Bertha Zúñiga in Honduras; women who participated in revolutions and independence wars, like María Remedios del Valle, among others.

The following video shows how few women are in powerful positions around the world. Photos of political gatherings were photoshopped to remove all men. It shows there are too many instances where women are represented by a single female –in business, music, art and media, women rarely outnumber men: https://youtu.be/GEKo22ryWxM This short video can be used in different ways:

as a trigger to introduce the lack of representation of women in powerful positions.

as a resource to work with a specific genre, for example, biographies. In this case, you can ask students who of these women they know and what they do, and then do some research and write a biography.

as a round-off activity in a project about gender perspective in which students watch the video and reflect upon its meaning.

Students’ productions can include: biographies, timelines, digital or paper posters, infographics, etc.

Songs and CSE

Most of us have a favourite song and a favourite/best-loved singer or band. Many of us listen to music every day to relax, express ourselves, come to terms with our emotions and generally improve our well-being. Considering that music is an agent of socialization, which means that it arises out of our values as a society and in turn contributes to them, it is important to start paying attention to what the lyrics of songs say as some of them contain considerable violence.

Bringing songs into our classrooms and going beyond fill-in-the-gap activities is a nice opportunity to develop critical thinking skills. Teenagers need to be provided with tools to detect and confront this violence. Encouraging a critical understanding of the lyrics empowers students to negotiate, resist and counteract the messages loaded with different types of violence that some songs contain.

Gender-based violence refers to harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender. It is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms. It can include sexual, physical, mental and economic harm inflicted in public or in private. It also includes threats of violence, coercion and manipulation. (Source: https://www.unhcr.org/gender-based-violence.html)

Below there is a list of songs that you can use to address the issue of gender-based violence:

• ‘Every Breath You Take’ (The Police): This song is about jealousy and possession. It is an example of psychological violence, where a person becomes obsessed with their former lover and stalks them.

• ‘I Usewd to Love Her’ (Guns N’ Roses): Even though it was said that Axl Rose wrote this song about his dog, still the song’s lyrics can be used to reflect on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and femicide too.

• ‘Blurred Lines’ (Robin Thicke): This song is about sex and non-consent, which can be used as trigger to discuss what consent is, and what is not; and what ‘blurred lines’ means. In this link, you will find important information about consent that can be shared with students:

• https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/11/feature-consent-no-blurred-lines

• ‘Gold Digger’ (Kanye West): In this song, the singer perpetuates the misogynistic ‘gold digger’ stereotype which has been especially linked with black women. Using this song with your more advanced students opens up the opportunity to work with the term intersectionality, as the stereotype usually involves – though not only – black women in poverty.

• ‘Kim’ (Eminem): This song is a clear example of gender-based violence and femicide. Kim was Marshall Mathers’s (Eminem) wife at the time the song was released. The lyrics explicitly depict a fight the couple have in the car and his intention to kill her, which he finally does at the end of the song. You can use this song with adolescents and adults in order to discuss IPV and femicide.

You can find more information about IPV and femicide in these websites: bit.ly/43TRJTA

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/77432/1/WHO_RHR_12.36_eng.pdf

This list is very short but there are many more songs with misogynistic and violent messages. Some songs in our own language are also a powerful resource to address violence. For example, the music genre reggaeton in Latin America, now famous worldwide as well, is known for the sexist lyrics and video clips that many songs have.

Music video clips that are used to promote these songs can also be used to critically analyze the symbolic violence that they usually contain.

Symbolic violence is a concept coined by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu in the 1970s to refer to a type of nonphysical violence that is exercised upon a social group with their complicity. For example, gender relations in which both men and women agree that women are weaker, less intelligent, more unreliable, etc.

Many music videos contain symbolic violence, for example, those which sexualize and objectify women, while men are shown as hyper-masculine and sexually dominant.

On the other hand, there are also songs that send a strong message against sexism and violence which are also powerful resources to bring into our classrooms. Some examples include:

• ‘I’m OK’ (Christina Aguilera)

• ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ (Dua Lipa)

• ‘Can’t Hold Us Down’ (Christina Aguilera)

• ‘Hands Clean’ (Alanis Morissette)

The links below contain lists of songs about feminism and empowerment: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/art-books-music/a18832473/best-feminist-women-empowerment-songs/ https://www.equality-empowerment.com/post/songs-about-sexism

Once you have listened to the songs and analyzed their lyrics, you can use them as conversation starters. If you are working with songs about violence, you can have students rate the songs according to how dangerous the messages in the lyrics are.

Considering that sometimes songs give us the perspective of the singer or the main character in the song, you can suggest students write a response from the point of view of the person the song is about or another character in the story. It is not necessary that they write it in the form of lyrics as students might practise other genres such as letters, diary entries, dialogues, among others.

Another option is to write another verse of the lyrics, keeping the style and mood of the original songs but changing the message. Here is a great example of the song ‘Blurred Lines’, where the lyrics have been changed to make it about seeking consent in sexual encounters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2u9HWlQQuA

A great idea for group work is to have students plan a music video for the song. They can decide on the characters, the setting and what happens. They may write a script which will be shared later with the other groups and, together as a class, they can vote on the best one. They can even shoot the video!

If you want students to practise written skills, you can propose that they write a diary entry for a character in the song. Have them examine the feelings and thoughts of the character in the lyrics.

Children’s literature and CSE

The relationship between Literature and English Language Teaching has been extensively researched (Carter 1988, 1989; Lazar 1993, Carter and Long 1991, among others). There are many reasons to include literature in the English class among which we can mention the fact that it offers a meaningful and motivating context to learn the foreign language and contributes to the emotional development of the child, fostering positive interpersonal and intercultural attitudes.

In terms of language itself, it can stimulate oral and written skills as well as foster the development of vocabulary in context. Also, literature can promote academic literacy and thinking skills such as predicting and guessing meaning, hypothesizing, drawing inferences, explaining cause-and-effect relationships, etc.

Finally, literature can function as a change agent. As Ghosn (1998) states, good literature has the power ‘to transform, to change attitudes and to help eradicate prejudice while fostering empathy, tolerance and an awareness of global problems.’ This is closely related to CSE aims.

Below there is a list of diverse picture books that address a variety of CSE-related themes. In some cases, the titles are accompanied by a link to a YouTube video, where you will find Griselda Beacon4 reading the story.

• A song of frutas – Margarita Engle (Diversity, interculturality)

• And Tango makes three – Justin Richardson (Diverse families, LGBTQ+)

• I am Jazz – Jazz Jennings (Diversity, trans childhood)

• It’s OK to be different – Todd Parr

• Julián is a mermaid – Jessica Love

https://youtu.be/-SrgEBbFTMc (Diversity)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyLYsxPnxa8 (Diversity, LGBTQ+)

• Just ask – Sonia Sotomayor (Diversity, Disabilities)

• Kind – Alison Green (Kindness)

• My body: What I say goes! – Jayneen Sanders (Consent)

• My princess boy – Cheryl Kilodavis

https://youtu.be/Av-8j97_b-c (Diverse families, (LGBTQ+)

• Perfectly Norman – Tom Percival (Inclusion)

• Pink is for boys – Robb Pearlman (Gender and colours)

• Some secrets should never be kept – Jayneen Sanders (Consent, secrets)

• The day the crayons quit – Drew Daywalt (Empathy, respect)

• The family book – Todd Parr https://youtu.be/3is_na1_IpA (Diverse families)

• The Suitcase – Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (refugees, starting a new life, identity)

• Tough Guys – Keith Negley (Gender and social expectations)

• We are all wonders – J.R. Palacio https://youtu.be/czCYHV4X1Hc (Diversity, bullying)

• What happened to you? – James Catchpole (Diversity, Disabilities)

• Yo! Yes? – Chris Raschka https://youtu.be/QFWuRI2RInc (Diversity, interculturality)

4 Griselda Beacon is a teacher educator and specializes in literature & art in ELT. Her interests include literature, young learners, CLIL, creativity and critical interculturality. Passionate about art in education, she follows a creative, artistic and play-based approach to English language teaching. Griselda holds an MA in Literature and Foreign Language Teaching from Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, and has been working in the field of teacher education and Primary curriculum development for over 20 years. She has been sharing her experience as an in-service teacher trainer and curriculum developer in Latin America, Europe, Africa & Asia. She is a co-editor of the book International Perspectives on Diversity in ELT (Palgrave, 2021), and she has taught Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Creativity & Drama at Teacher Training Colleges in Buenos Aires. At present, Griselda lives between Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and works as a consultant for educational institutions, visits schools to share literature with a creative twist with all learners, lectures in American Literature at Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and is a consultant trainer at NILE (Norwich Institute for Language Education) in the UK. In her spare time, Griselda loves dancing, getting lost in bookstores and taking drama classes.

Congreso de la Nación Argentina. (2006). Ley Nº 26150: Programa Nacional de Educación Sexual Integral. Buenos Aires. Retrieved from: bit.ly/3e30qiY

Consejo Federal de Educación. (2009). Lineamientos Curriculares para la Educación Sexual Integral. Buenos Aires: Ministerio de Educación. Retrieved from: bit.ly/2NWKYdP

Marina, M., et.al. (2014) Clase 2: “Los ejes de la ESI”, Educación Sexual Integral, Especialización docente de nivel superior en educación y TIC, Buenos Aires, Ministerio de Educación de la Nación

Paiz, J. (2020). Queering the English Language Classroom: A Practical Guide for Teachers. UK: Equinox Publishing.

Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical Applied Linguistics: A (critical) introduction. New York: Routledge.

UNESCO (2018). Why comprehensive sexuality education is important. Retrieved from bit.ly/3mODzNR.

UNFPA (2021). Educación Sexual Integral. Retreived from bit.ly/3Z0sOuP.

WHO, World Health Organization (2023). https://bit.ly/3WR5zld

Gabriela Brun graduated as Profesora de Inglés from ISFD N° 129 (Junín, province of Buenos Aires).

Gabriela is currently teaching Intercultural Studies in English Language I, II and IV, Introduction to Academic English and PDCE II in the Teacher Training Course at ISFD N° 129. She also teaches at primary and secondary schools in the public and private sectors. She has participated in teacher training sessions, presenting research within the framework of teacher training at Kinder level.

She has a degree in Gender and Feminist Movements from Universidad de Buenos Aires and in CSE from Universidad de San Martín. She is currently studying the last module of the postgraduate degree in CSE at INFoD.

graduated as Profesora de Inglés from ISFD N° 129, Specialist in Education and ICT at Higher Level from INFoD and Specialist in CSE in Territories from Universidad de Santiago del Estero. She also has a degree in CSE from

She is currently teaching Teaching of English I and III at the Teacher Training Course at ISFD N° 129. She is also in charge of the Basic Training Course (CUFBA) at the same institution.

She is educator of the Regional Technical Team of the Dirección de Formación Docente Permanente of the province of Buenos Aires. She is also director of the Centro de Información e Investigación Educativa at General Viamonte, in charge of teacher training and guidance for schools in that district.

Both Paola and Gabriela have published in national and international scientific journals and given presentations in Argentina and abroad, as well as workshops on CSE around the country.

Copyright © 2023 Editorial Estrada S.A., All rights reserved.

Photo credits: 123 RF

All the links to websites and videos were last accessed in April 2023.

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