Primary School Teachers’ Perspective of Sexual Education in Spain. A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Sexual education is a part of the teaching-learning process that addresses cognitive, psychological, physical and social aspects of sexuality. The purpose of sexual education is to provide people with knowledge, abilities, attitudes and values that will help them to have good sexual health, well-being and dignity. The objective of this study was to explore the perspective of primary school teachers regarding Sexual Education in school. A descriptive qualitative study was designed based on content thematic analysis. Fifteen open-ended interviews with primary school teachers were carried out, followed by inductive data analysis using ATLAS.ti software. Two key themes emerged from the analysis: “In search of a comprehensive approach to Sexual Education” and “Barriers to Sexual Education in schools: From the lack of training to fear of the families”. We conclude that despite the efforts to implement a comprehensive approach to Sexual Education that recognises sexuality as a right, primary school teachers face difficulties in delivering Sexual Education in schools due to a lack of training and the fear that parents will reject their children being spoken to about sexuality.