When I joined this project, a year and a half ago, I had my doubts about how such a delicate issue as sexual education at schools could be worked out in an etwinnning project. Jorge’s leadership in this trip proved that when teachers want, they can!
The project was extended in two school years, during which I had different positions at school and thus I worked in different ways. The first year I worked with a specific group of students, meeting in the school library and talking (the photo shows our group during a meeting). We collaborated very well in the activities and writing the chain story, where students revealed aspects of sexual behavior in our area. That story was a starting point of a lot of discussions. I won’t refer to the importance of such discussions, as my partners here have already mentioned them and I fully agree with them.
During the second year I worked in collaboration with another teacher in my school. We had the chance then to reach a wider audience and collect finally questionnaires from them. Students tend to be shy to participate in such projects although they admit the importance of them. The use of English language during the second year was a problem but we decided not to give up but be flexible. We focused on the core aim of this project, that was discussing, thinking, and opening our mind in issues of sexual education. I gave students the chance to talk, even though their points of view were not recorded. Every question of our questionnaire was the starting point of discussions that made them all reflect on sexual behavior. It was also interesting to see the similarities and differences in thinking with students from other countries. Our school year ended early, so we didn’t have the time to discuss the results with my students. We will do it next school year, as the trip into human sexual behavior seems it’s never ending.
Sexual education in schools is a very delicate issue and a taboo for many teachers. With this project I was feeling not alone. I had Jorge and the other partners sharing with me worries and ideas. I’m grateful for that.
Thank you Jorge!
Maria
from the Greek team
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1 comment:
Dear Maria,
I am the one who must be grateful because I found you as a partner. It was wonderful to be working with you. Your sense of responsability, your wise words are always giving me motivation to do my work better and better. Yes, it was a privilege to work with you. We should not forget that when we started this project I didn't know anybody. So it was a complete challenge. Thank you to all Greek partners because you've accepted to face the challenge with me.
I liked the photo of the post very much: in it we can see that discussions on the project were good moments in school life. As I have already told in this blog, the most important in sexual education at school is the debate of points of view. Using that method, we can understand moral values and sensitivities of the ones around us and that is a good starting point to get understanding fields with them.
I honestly hope we can keep on working together in the future.
Greetings from Portugal to our Greek friends.
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