Waikato Home
PCSS307-17B (HAM)
Education and Sexuality
20 Points
Staff
Convenor(s)
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Maggie Lyall
5644
TL.2.10
To be advised
maggie.lyall@waikato.ac.nz
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Lecturer(s)
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Maggie Lyall
5644
TL.2.10
To be advised
maggie.lyall@waikato.ac.nz
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Administrator(s)
Librarian(s)
You can contact staff by:
- Calling +64 7 838 4466 select option 1, then enter the extension.
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Extensions starting with 4, 5 or 9 can also be direct dialled:
- For extensions starting with 4: dial +64 7 838 extension.
- For extensions starting with 5: dial +64 7 858 extension.
- For extensions starting with 9: dial +64 7 837 extension.
Paper Description
This paper aims to expose students to a wider variety of ideas, issues, materials, and experiences associated with education and sexuality/ies, more than many people will come across in the course of their everyday lives. We provide resources - research data, theories, concepts, and artifacts - with which to think about these. We ask you to be part of creating a 'safe space' in our discussions - to simultaneously challenge and question, while, at the same time, listening to and being courteous and considerate to your classmates. The course covers issues (such as sexual abuse) that may be painful personally for some students. We hope you will feel comfortable enough with course staff to let us know when/ if that is the case.
Many of the issues covered in this course could be considered controversial. Occasionally some students may find some of the ideas and experiences covered in the course unsettling or disturbing. For example, some students have strong commitments to political, religious or other beliefs. A university is a place for informed debate - a safe space in which to express, and deliberate over, a wide range of conflicting viewpoints. Furthermore, because of the topics covered, 'four letter words', 'language that may offend', and images with sexual content may occur in some of the readings (for example, those that report on children's or teenager's descriptions of sexual activities and body parts), lecture materials or other resources. For example, lecture slides may contain pictures of 'semi-nude' bodies (from sex education materials, artworks etc.). However, the censor would rate none of these as offensive. Remember that this is not a compulsory course and you may prefer to change courses before we have got too far underway.
SEE also the warning about unguided Internet searching in section below
Paper Structure
Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:
Assessment
Assessment Components
The internal assessment/exam ratio (as stated in the University Calendar) is 1:0. There is no final exam.
Required and Recommended Readings
Required Readings
Finding the readings for each week
There are links to the required readings for this course on moodle and the library readings list page. Readings are mainly downloaded through the University Library Catalogue from several academic journals with particular relevance to this course and which publish electronically but some may be attached as pdf's on the moodle page. In class we will discuss how you might share readings.
It is essential to cover the required readings and lectures for each week. For the assignments, you will need additional materials. Most relevant journals are available online if you access them while logged into the University Library using your student username and password. These electronic journal sites will be blocked if you attempt access while not logged into the university library as they are subscriber-only sites. Your student ID identifies you as a Waikato student and, as such, you are party to the institution’s subscription.
The required amount of reading for a level 300 course is between one and three articles each week. You can use the library website and your text to access most articles in the recommended readings. For more specialised issues and topics you might develop for research assignments, the library database searches will be helpful.
Recommended Readings
There will be extra readings and links on moodle and the library reading list page for each topic. This is to give students the option to follow up topics that interest them and to provide a starting point for the assignments. More recommended links will be added so check back on moodle regularly.
Other Resources
Online Support
STUDENTS ARE WARNED THAT UNGUIDED SEARCHING OF THE INTERNET FOR SEXUAL SUBJECT MATTER CAN RESULT IN UNWANTED LINKS TO PORNOGRAPHIC AND OTHER OFFENSIVE WEB SITES, FOR WHICH THE UNIVERSITY ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY. NOTE THAT DOWNLOADING OFFENSIVE MATERIAL CAN RESULT IN PROSECUTION.
Please also be aware that downloading substantial material from the internet without adhering to the conventions of academic referencing can amount to plagiarism and may be subject to the University Disciplinary Procedures. Websites must be treated as academic texts and referenced.
Workload
The minimum workload for a Level 300 paper (15 points) is 200 total hours.
The workload for a full-time university semester programme is 40 hours per week minimum. The workload for a regular semester course is 10 hours per week minimum during term-time. Expect to spend at least six hours a week covering required readings and assignments. The mid-semester break in September is a study break, not a holiday. This does not mean a “break from study” but a break from lectures in order to study. The university does not recognize school holidays. However, if you want to free yourself up to spend time with your children during school holidays, feel free to submit assignments early. In addition to your set readings, you will need to do some supplementary reading, especially for the final project.
You are required to read in advance of lectures. Check the weekly planner for which readings are appropriate for each week.
Linkages to Other Papers
RELEVANCE TO WIDER DEGREE PROGRAMS:
Bachelor of Teaching and other teacher education qualifications:The priorities of teacher education students are often understandably “will I be able to cope in the classroom?” and, accordingly, subjects that directly inform practice may seem the most urgent and important. But the life and work of a teacher involve a lot more than actually teaching children. Within schools, and their contributing communities, teachers often have to negotiate difficult political conflicts over, for example, religious, cultural or other divisions and conflicts over values. Staffrooms, Boards of Trustees and classrooms are sometimes conflicted at times of political tension or proposed reforms. Questions of sexuality and the body have, at various times and places, been central in community, staffroom and wider political struggles. Examples include: sexuality education in the curriculum; the visibility, needs and rights of gay or lesbian students, parents or teachers; the nature of physical or health education; the age of consent; access to pornography or other explicit material in the media or the internet; sexual harassment in educational settings; questions of child sexuality; teachers and touching children, etc. Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand requires that teaching degree qualifications in New Zealand include components on ‘social issues’ in relation to education. This requirement is informed by the belief that, in addition to a knowledge and understanding of curriculum policies, issues and processes, effective teachers need knowledge and understanding of the wider contexts in which they work. The issues listed above help fill this component. Good teachers are not passive recipients of others’ ideas or policy requirements. They are 'creative strategists' who select from the theoretical and other resources available to them to create their own, unique perspectives and styles. This course is designed to help you to develop a personal educational philosophy. You will not be told what to think, but hopefully will develop critical capacities in how to think about, or critique, the institutions and policies in which you will be working.
BA/ B.Soc Sci:This course earns 15 points at level 300 towards a BA or a B. Soc Sci. degree in the subjects of Education Studies, Education, Human Development and women's & Gender Studies. This paper involves critical inquiry into the social, political, cultural, economic and personal theories and practices of lifelong education. Although its origins are in humanities and social science disciplines such as History, Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology, Education Studies today has close affinities with contemporary interdisciplinary fields exploring issues of social policy, culture, gender, work, and leisure. Students with backgrounds in these or allied fields in the humanities will be able to make connections between these subjects and their studies in Education. Issues studied include: sexuality education in the curriculum; the visibility, needs and rights of gay or lesbian students, parents or teachers; the nature of physical or health education; the age of consent; access to pornography or other explicit material in the media or the internet; sexual harassment in educational settings; questions of child sexuality; teachers and touching children, etc.
Prerequisite(s)
15 points at 100 Level in Education and Society and 40 points at 200 Level in Education and Society, Professional Education, or Women's Studies, or at least 60 points in any cognate subject at 200 Level or above.