A Scoping Review of Learners' Perceptions on What Influences Teachers' Approaches to Teaching Comprehensive Sexuality Education in South African Schools

Abstract

Recent arguments regarding the South African comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) curriculum indicate that the existing programme neglects to incorporate factors that influence the behaviour of school learners in South Africa such as learners' and teachers' perceptions of cultural, social, and gender norms. Based on a literature search, it is evident that there is a paucity of research that reflects the voices of learners regarding their experience of how the CSE subject is taught as compared to what they want to learn. Therefore, this article aimed to conduct a scoping review to map learners' perceptions of what influences their teachers' approach to teaching CSE subject matter in South Africa. The Cochrane, EBSCOhost, Scopus, ProQuest, JSTOR, and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies (a) published from January 2010 till May 2021, (b) with an explicit focus on learner feedback on their perceptions of influences to teachers teaching CSE, (c) that were qualitative studies, and (d) were published in English in peer-reviewed journals. Four studies were identified that reported on data collected from learners aged 14-18 years using in-depth interviews (N = 1), focus group discussions (N = 2), and an ethnographic study (N = 1). A qualitative analysis of the findings identified three major themes: (1) an inherent bias towards heterosexuality as normal and natural, (2) the belief that learners need to be taught to uphold culturally dictated normative gender roles, and (3) an avoidance of subject matter relating to the LGBTQI+ community, influenced by beliefs that limited interactions would lead to limited gender and sexual fluidity. Findings conclude that transformative communication needs to take place to update the curriculum to create a space for all learners to learn about healthy life choices.