By NOEL MURPHY
SEX school is in for teachers under a new Deakin University initiative cited as a world-first.
Aussie teachers, lacking qualifications and confidence about teaching sex education, can now undertake the Deakin program to gain formal training in the subject.
Deakin researchers said the program was aimed squarely at student teachers whose youth could mean many were unprepared.
Victoria’s Health Department drove the program after finding that sex education was limited for new secondary or primary teachers.
Any training available was ad hoc and inconsistent, the department found.
The new program will tackle sex hot spots such as technology, sexualisation and pornography.
Waurn Ponds campus Associate Professor Lyn Harrison, Dr Debbie Ollis and PhD student Claire Maharaj faced various challenges when developing the program.
Teachers, for instance, had to be comfortable with their own sexuality before talking with students, the researchers said.
But a Pandora’s box of sex confronted young people, Prof Harrison said.
Technology and sexualisation across all forms of media meant teachers had to be geared up properly to talk on issues with confidence and know-how.
“Young people can be just searching for things and pornographic screenshots come up without looking for them,’’ Prof Harrison said.
“This aims to help make them aware of issues and have the skills to say, ‘No’, or ‘Go see someone or talk to someone’.
“It also concentrates on respectful relationships, using that kind of framework. It’s a world-first, as far as we know.
“There hasn’t been a comprehensive program available before for pre-service teachers.”
