Ontario's Sex Education Time Warp: Implications for Gender-Based Violence Prevention Education

• In Event: 66.026 - How Progressive Is "Progressive"? The Twists and Turns of Sexuality Education in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

1. Objectives
The objective of this presentation is to discuss the alleged progressiveness of initiatives to combat gender-based violence through comprehensive sexuality education, such as the curriculum introduced in Ontario in 2015. Although the introduction of consent education was heralded by many researchers and experts, there are diverse views among progressives about what should be on a progressive sexuality curriculum, and how to respond in the face of backlash.
2. Framework
In 2015, a revised Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum included, in a historic first for the province, instruction on consent (both sexual and non-sexual) for Grades 1-12. However, the recently elected Conservative government in Ontario has scrapped the curriculum to return to one that was instituted in 1998. The old curriculum was in use before sexting, the legalization of gay marriage, and the everyday use of social media by youth. Now, a groundswell of support for the 2015 curriculum is emphasizing that “modern” education requires inclusive and realistic discussions about consent. But what is considered “modern” or “progressive” is far from settled. In particular, consent education has been advocated by feminists and progressive educational researchers (Beres, 2014; Carmody, 2005), but in its implementation, it may recapitulate postfeminist discourses about sexual subjects who are responsible for protecting themselves from assault.
3. Methods
The Touchy Subject project interviewed a number of experts in sexuality education curriculum who are leading voices, in the province and beyond, in research about evidence-based approaches to giving youth the tools they need to participate in healthy sexual relationships or interactions.
4. Data Sources
This presentation will discuss the findings from the qualitative interview data that were collected with the participants who identified as liberal and/or progressive. The analysis of their responses will be framed in light of extant research on sexuality education to prevent gender-based violence (i.e. Schneider and Hirsch, 2018) and the politics of curriculum development in Ontario and comparable jurisdictions (Rayside and Wilcox, 2014; McKay, 2001).
5. Findings
After analyzing the interview data of those participants who were very supportive of the 2015 version of the curriculum, it was clear that, even amongst progressive experts, there are important differences in perspectives. For example, some participants were very content with the 2015 curriculum’s instruction on consent and considered it representative of the most cutting-edge material. Others thought that the curriculum needed to be expanded upon to offer more anti-oppressive, feminist topics, like critical pornography literacy, which may have implications for conceptions of consent. There were also differences among progressive participants in terms of their perspectives on how to respond to push-back from conservative parents and a divergence of values.
6. Scholarly Significance
This kind of discussion is important because Ontarians are in a crucial political moment: we must sort out how we can best advance and build consensus regarding progressive curriculum, even as the new administration rescinds the progress that has already been made. This task is not just politically urgent but is a matter of life and death for some students.

Author

• Jessica Wright, University of Toronto - OISE