Overview

"This book engages contemporary debates about the notion of secularism outside of the field of education in order to consider how secularism shapes the formation of progressive sexuality education. Focusing on the US, Canada, Ireland, Aotearoa-New Zealand and Australia, this text considers the affinities, prejudices, and attachments of scholars who advocate secular worldviews in the context of sexuality education, and some of the consequences that ensue from these ways of seeing. This study identifies and interrogates how secularism infuses progressive sexuality education. It asks readers to consider their own investments in particular ways of thinking and researching in the field of sexuality education, and to think about how these investments have developed and how they shape existing discourses within the field of sexuality education. It hones in on how progressive sexuality education has come to develop in the way that it has, and how this relates to conceits of secularism. This book prompts a consideration of how ""progressive"" scholarship and practice might get in the way of meaningful conversations with students, teachers, and peers who think differently about the field of sexuality education."

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9780415842723

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In the US comprehensive sexuality education has been a lightning rod for vigorous debates about the intersections of politics, religion, and public schooling. Rasmussen (education, Monash University, Australia) investigates the roles and functions of secularism in progressive sexuality education in the US, Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland. She contends that progressive sexuality education should not eschew religious beliefs and values. Such an omission fosters the binary perspectives of modern and scientific versus traditional and backward, and a consequence of secularism is the neglect of the contexts of culture, kinship, and belief systems that influence the meanings of sexuality among youth. Rasmussen examines the influence of secularism on elements of the sexuality education curriculum, including homophobia, pleasure/desire, and pregnancy decision-making, and she identifies problems of secular freedom. Rasmussen's advocacy for open inquiry, which thinks about sexuality in relation to religion, may be informative to sexuality educators and scholars. --P. Lefler, Bluegrass Community & Technical College, CHOICE, November 2016 Vol. 54 No. 3

"""In the US comprehensive sexuality education has been a lightning rod for vigorous debates about the intersections of politics, religion, and public schooling. Rasmussen (education, Monash University, Australia) investigates the roles and functions of secularism in progressive sexuality education in the US, Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland. She contends that progressive sexuality education should not eschew religious beliefs and values. Such an omission fosters the binary perspectives of modern and scientific versus traditional and backward, and a consequence of secularism is the neglect of the contexts of culture, kinship, and belief systems that influence the meanings of sexuality among youth. Rasmussen examines the influence of secularism on elements of the sexuality education curriculum, including homophobia, pleasure/desire, and pregnancy decision-making, and she identifies problems of secular freedom. Rasmussen’s advocacy for open inquiry, which thinks about sexuality in relation to religion, may be informative to sexuality educators and scholars."" --P. Lefler, Bluegrass Community & Technical College, CHOICE, November 2016 Vol. 54 No. 3"

Author Information

Mary Lou Rasmussen is Associate Professor of Education at Monash University, Australia.

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