Development and effectiveness assessment of a sex education learning unit for Thai primary students

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>This study explored the effectiveness of sex education lessons developed for six graders by the local community and experts.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Three lesson plans were developed based on a focus group discussion with students, parents, and teachers and then revised based on experts' feedback. The finalized three lessons were taught to 102 sixth graders in three different primary schools. Pre-test and post-test the students' sex education understanding was measured, and a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to measure overall sexual attitude and awareness. The participants engaged in a semi-structured interview after each lesson, supplemented with researchers' notes. Descriptive statistics and <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>-tests, and the comparative method were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, respectively.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The sex education knowledge of participants at the three schools improved significantly (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &lt; 0.01) after completing the learning units. Students also expressed satisfaction with the media, activities, and discussions during these sex education classes. The created learning units improved students' sexual attitude and awareness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>Further long-term follow-up studies are needed to determine if there is retention of knowledge, attitudes, and awareness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>There should be more sex education programs at the earlier primary school level, especially in risky regions. Compulsory sex education curriculum in primary schools needs to be adjusted for each school by using a constructivist approach.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>This study is unique because it was designed to better fit a specific school’s context and the contents were adapted to be taught by a teacher with minimal training required.</jats:p></jats:sec>

School-based sexual and reproductive health education among adolescents in developing countries

“…There are also foreign volunteers as educators for students, positive support the community, acceptance of parents, exciting media and teaching strategies, enthusiasm for students towards learning, and awareness that sexual and reproductive education brings benefits [22]. Education provided from early life is also essential and supports the success of preventing risky sexual behavior in adolescents [26]. Children who receive sexual education early will be familiarized and have a foundation related to sexual health.…”