no taboos in the classroom. for teachers.
How do you teach sex education? A comprehensive manual with four lesson plans for teachers to use in the classroom, covering key topics around sexuality – relationships to our own bodies, boundaries, communication, dating, as well as pornography. The main goal of the project is to provide teachers with the methodology to teach sex education, focusing on the social aspects of sexual life and eliminating gender stereotypes. Sex ed should prevent sexual violence and cyber violence, which impede victims from leading full work, public and private lives. We are also leading an awareness-raising campaign and demanding a reform of sex ed in the czech republic.
social sex education. what is it?
Unlike “traditional” sex education, which focuses on the biological aspects of sex and our bodies, social sex education (or sexuality education) discusses the social and cultural aspects of our sexual lives such as relationships, sexual attitudes and behaviours and healthy communication, both in the cyberspace and in real life.
Sex education needs to focus on more than just contraception and STD prevention. Understanding the social & cultural aspects of sexual relationships is a crucial step in preventing sexual violence. We strongly believe that teaching young people how to set their own boundaries and communicate their needs will support them in forming healthy intimate relationships in later life.
sex education lessons for teaching about respecting relationships.
lessons & manual.
We’ve created 4 comprehensive lesson plans for teachers of primary & secondary school students aged 13-17. Each lesson is 90 minutes but also offers a shorter 45 min version (see below for downloads). All lessons are interactive, with a focus on student engagement and lively topic discussion.
All manuals include activity instructions as well as lesson specific theoretical background and key topic information.
To download the materials, please fill out the brief pop-up form to help us understand how you’ll be using the lesson plans.
Your feedback is priceless – please help us show the impact of your hard work by filling out a very brief feedback form here and telling us how many students took part in your sex education class.
Please note, all the downloads are in Czech.
lesson on consent.
The lesson focuses on the importance of consent when engaging in sexual activity, what consent looks & sounds like and what situations do not imply consent. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the meaning and definition of the word ‘consent’ and practice recognising consent or its absence using some scenario-based videos. They will learn that they can withdraw their consent and that they have to respect other people’s boundaries and consent withdrawal.
“I am ending a lesson, saying: “I´d just like to remind you that…” and the class, in unison, completes my sentence: “We can withdraw our consent to sex any time!”. I wanted to say something else, but well done kids, that makes sense!” – Petra Mazancová, teacher and chairwoman of the Teachers´ Platform organisation
lesson on myths & stereotypes around genitals and sex.
This lesson discusses the different shapes and sizes of our bodies and genitals. It will teach and engage students on the topic of intersexuality. It touches upon the need to recognise and challenge stereotypes linked with sex. As part of the lesson students will learn what hymen and clitoris look like, they will get artsy with creative depictions of genitalia, and take part in a survey and a follow-up discussion around consent.
“I was surprised by how well the students engaged. Once they processed their initial shock and acclimatised to the teacher, with a straight face, using terms like “orgasm”, “masturbation”, “ejaculation”…, they started to engage in the same spirit, without mocking, in a very mature manner.” Dagmar Heráková, teacher and tester of the lessons
lesson on sexual harassment.
Students will learn what sexual harassment looks like, how to prevent it and why it’s important to set strict boundaries. They will also learn what to do when they see someone being harassed and what to do if a person who’s been harassed confides in them. The focus is on respectful relationships.
lesson on pornography.
This lesson sheds light on the effect of porn on relationships and self-image. Students are encouraged to independently evaluate the impact of watching porn on intimate relationships and the expectations we place on those, ourselves and our bodies. The lesson focuses on developing mutual respect in relationships, through the use of illustrative case-scenarios.
workshop for teachers.
When: 26 March 2022, 09:00 – 18:00
Where: Prague
The workshop is aimed at teachers of students aged 13-17, looking for inspiration and practical support in delivering high-quality sexuality education, using a modern and engaging approach. You’ll get first-hand experience of different activities from our lessons. Our workshop leaders have years of experience in facilitating sex education workshops for primary & secondary school teachers as well as students. They will provide you with comprehensive notes & guidance to ensure you’re confident in leading these lessons at your school.
Thanks to the Active Citizens Fund, the workshop is free and we will provide lunch and cover travel expenses. In return, you should be willing to lead the sex education lessons with at least 2 classes/groups of students. Ahead of the workshop, you’ll be expected to spend approximately 3 hours going through materials we’ll send you in advance. Each school can send 1 representative only.
Please note the workshop will be led in Czech.
If you’re interested, please fill out this form.
why is it needed?
According to the Czech Secondary School Union survey (2020)*, almost half of all students didn’t receive any relevant sex or sexuality information at school. Half of the students learned about biological aspects of sex life via their biology lessons, lectures given by external staff, or – surprisingly – in arts & crafts classes. Their main source of information are, however, their peers and mutual sharing about sex.
If the school does teach sex education, most often it focuses on AIDS and other STDs, contraception and cyber-violence prevention.
At the same time, 80% of the surveyed students consider sex education to be important and would like it to be part of the school curriculum.
*Data from the survey of the Czech Secondary School Union. Zpráva z průzkumu na školách. 2020. Available online.
what are we doing about it?
In 2020, we trained 15 teachers in using our manuals. They took them back to their schools, tested them and based on their feedback, we finalised our sex education lesson plans. In March 2022, we’ll train 15 more teachers (see above).
Are you a teacher? Do you want to take part in our workshop? (And do you speak Czech?) Email: karolina@valrok.balci.sk!
As part of the project, we’re also running 2 round tables on issues surrounding sex education. The output of these discussions will be a sex education standards document, which will contribute towards the development of a new framework for teaching sex education. The first round table took place in March 2021, the second one is planned for May 2022.
To understand what teachers think of the current sex education curriculum, we conducted a survey. For the survey findings, please see below. The survey was conducted in collaboration with Behavio.
The whole project will run for 2.5 years and is made possible by the Active Citizens Fund’s support.
no taboos in the classroom.
Thanks to our supporters, we have raised the necessary funds on HitHit – thank you! You can continue to support us in our activities at darujme.cz.
survey. how prepared are teachers to deliver sex education?
In collaboration with Behavio, we asked secondary school teachers about how confident they were when delivering sex education. You can download the results here:
downloads (in Czech):
round tables.
An important part of this project is a series of round tables that will drive the development of a new framework for teaching sex education.
The first round table took place in March 2021 and was attended by representatives of secondary schools, the Czech Secondary School Union and NGOs. The key aim was to understand teachers’ needs and to present the results of our survey. The second round table will take place in May 2022, where together with leading policy-makers and stakeholders, we will work on developing specific standards that sex education should meet.
why did we run the HitHit campaign?
The funds raised via this campaign are used to co-finance the No taboo in the classroom project. The project is funded by the Active Citizens Fund (Open Society Fund Prague). We want to extend our thanks. To secure this grant, we were required to contribute towards the final amount – that’s why we asked our supporters to help us out through the HitHit campaign. Thanks to you, we raised an extra 112,000 CZK, which allowed us to develop an additional lesson plan. Thank you. <3
kontakt.
project manager: Karolína Křížová, karolina@valrok.balci.sk
The project is being supported by the Open Society Fund Prague from the Active Citizens Fund. The programme promotes citizens’ active participation in the public life and decision making and builds capacities of civil society organizations. The Active Citizens Fund is financed from the EEA and Norway Grants.
Active Citizens Fund: https://www.activecitizensfund.cz/
EEA and Norway Grants: https://eeagrants.org/
Open Society Fund Prague: https://osf.cz/
