ERIC Number: EJ993097
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1468-1811
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Elusive Sex Acts: Pleasure and Politics in Norwegian Sex Education
Svendsen, Stine H. Bang
Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v12 n4 p397-410 2012
While there is little political opposition towards sex education as such in Norway, recent attempts at reforming the subject reveal underlying heteronormative presumptions that seem resistant to reform. While a focus on homosexuality is included in the national curriculum at all levels of compulsory education, the sexual practices involved in same-sex relations remain conspicuously absent from the education provided. This paper provides an overview of contemporary Norwegian sex education, and discusses its primary shortcoming: the absence of a focus on sex acts other than coitus. The political challenges to good sex education in Norway emerge when this absence of sex acts is addressed by innovative teaching programmes that focus on sexual pleasure. Norwegian political consensus about a free and equal sexual culture does not seem able to embrace the discussion of specific sexual practices in the classroom. (Contains 1 figure and 6 notes.)
Descriptors: Sex Education, Homosexuality, Foreign Countries, National Curriculum, Compulsory Education, Sexuality, Educational Change, Educational Attitudes, Politics of Education, Instructional Innovation, Program Content
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A