Pushed to the margins – sex and relationships in Greek primary textbooks

Abstract

In 2001, the Greek Government introduced sex and gender relationships education as a thematic unit for interdisciplinary Health Education activities. However, the diffusion of such programmes remains extremely limited. The present paper discusses how sex and relationships issues are presented in contemporary Greek primary school textbooks since textbooks play a central role in teaching and learning processes. It has been found that textbook references on a particular topic encourage teachers to select this topic for developing and implementing Health Education projects. In this paper the recent educational reform is presented, as well as the general guidelines for the development of the National Curriculum and Health Education Subject Curriculum, the contents of which determined the guidelines for the development of the new primary textbooks. Within this framework, the article discusses how sex education issues are being represented in primary ‘Environmental Studies’/‘Science’ and ‘Mother Tongue’/‘Literature’ textbooks. Findings support the claim that such representation is limited and single‐dimensional, placing sex education at the margins of educational interventions in Greece at the moment. The marginalization of sex education, as it is argued, can be regarded as the effect of conflicting societal values.

Notes

1. EU Public Health Programme for 2003–2008. http://ec.europa.eu/health‐eu/my_lifestyle/sex/index_en.htm (accessed 25 February 2008).

2. The Pedagogical Institute is an autonomous public body established by Law 1566/85 (as supplemented by Law 2525/97) operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. Its field of responsibility within primary and secondary education is the formulation of guidelines, the preparation of timetables and curricula, the commission and approval of textbooks, the application of vocational guidance, the introduction of new subjects, the application of new teaching methods, the provision of in‐service training for teachers, and so on.

3. This is a direct translation from the original Greek text and I have preserved the gendered language of the original.

4. Health Education is not mandatory and those primary teachers who are interested in implementing a Health Education project have two to four hours weekly. They can select a topic from seven thematic units the last of which is ‘sex and relationships education’. Programme materials include some publications approved by the Pedagogical Institute. However, much work on Health Education programmes is undertaken by teachers who develop their own authentic material or adapt existing material to meet their specific needs and purposes.

5. See, for example, Ref. No. 104159/G7 (Ministry of Education 2002) and Ref. No. 137994/G7: 06/12/2005 (Ministry of Education 2005).

6. I have included the ‘Literature’ book of Grades Five and Six in this sample. Although it was introduced one year earlier, it was produced following the same guidelines and its content combines with the ‘Mother Tongue’ books for Grades Five and Six.

7. Approximately 96–98% of the Greek population belongs to the Orthodox Church.