Existing Philosophies in Education Essay

Introduction – Sex and the education of the children and youth about it is a point of social concern that always creates ethical, moral and professional criticisms, because of reasons ranging from the consideration of the topic of sex and its position in contemporary beliefs as well as the constant tug-of-war between conservative and liberals in education as to what should be done best in sex and its place in the educational system. The article Talking about Sex provided an insightful point in this particular dilemma that modern day societies face today, noting the persistence of ‘sex and sexuality’ in modern day advertising while people at the same time frown on the idea of teaching sex education inside schools and learning institutions. A Family Education. com article puts the issue in a better perspective, saying that teachers as individuals also carry their own particular ‘issues and concerns’ about sex and that it may affect the manner by which the teacher teaches about sex education. Kakuchi (2004) reports about how Japan considers general sex education as something that is considered ‘harmful to some children’ even when the same report acknowledges the fact that the focus on a more streamlined sex education is very urgent in the country with the knowledge of the educators and academicians of the level of awareness of children about sex and how a large portion of it was not taken from school lessons, classroom discussions and home teaching, simply because the requirements of the effective sex education teaching will go against existing traditional practices and societal beliefs which would not bend and accommodate this particular educational need children continue to face even now that the world is in the 21st century. Many believe that sex should be taught in school, while others believe that it should remain in the confines of private education, in a manner of how-a-person discovers it, so that it retains the sense of privacy that sex should have. For institutions that teaches sex education, there still is a snag every once in a while especially if the manner by which sex education is being taught does not create the proper mindset, attitude and learning experience for the student. As much it is highly necessary that children are provided with the correct information about sex education, most of the time, the process is not as simple as that. What is equally important is that†¦ Some may argue that sex education is something which should be taught by a specific person, but the truth is every teacher is responsible for having sufficient knowledge in sex education because it is something that everyone experiences; it is something that everyone would be wondering and curious about, â€Å"all kids wonder about where babies come from†, says an article about teaching sex education; it is not math that general and complex computations should be memorized and mastered for the teacher to become a competent instructor in this particular topic, since sex is less of a topic and more of an everyday experience and teachers should help the students synthesize the everyday experience with sex curiosity and the information that it provides / generates by the demonstration of the effective use of the inquiry method in teaching. Research statement – One of the reasons for the poor synthesis of children of the solicited facts, beliefs and possible fallacies involved in the overall education and formulation of the set of beliefs as well as the foundation for the attitude and behavior towards sex and the human reproductive system is the absence of the key characteristics expected of teachers as explained in the inquiry method or inquiry education espoused by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, and that as a result of which, many present day sexual deviants and sex-related criminals are, in part, a section of the group (that which contains individuals with adverse sexual inhibitions and bearers of misguided sex-related information) that fail to be good learners because of the ineffective use of the inquiry method / inquiry education by the teacher, particularly about sex. Supporting Arguments –The research statement will be dissected through the more specific discussions of particular key points that make up the series of supporting arguments that the paper will provide the linchpin for the main point of the research statement, which is significant today now that many educators and academicians are in constant search for the perfect formula in teaching sex education, particularly in countries wherein there are no noticeable effect of sex education and that problems previously attributed to the lack of sex education is still prevalent despite the presence of sex education today. In Japan, these problems are very visible in statistics concerning teen age sex, teen age pregnancy and other sex-related social concern, this despite the fact that Japan is teaching sex education to school children as early as the third grade. First, teachers become failures in the effective use of the characterisitcs for good teachers in the inquiry method every time they provide direct and exact answers to sex-related inquiries by children because of the belief that this is what traditional morals dictate. Postman and Weingartner (1969), in the book ‘Teaching as a Subversive Activity’, noted that in the process of the utilizing the characterisitcs of the inquiry method effectively and using it to effectively teach and address student concerns, teachers should avoid providing direct answers, more so, avoid enforcing sex-related information in a what-you-ought-to-know format. The common pitfalls wherein teachers fall into is the yielding to the instinct of providing answers to questions in a as-a-matte-of-fact way, which is not incorrect but is also not the only way to teach sex education. Teachers should know that there is as much emotional and psychological aspects in the teaching and learning of sex education as there is the physical aspect of teaching sex education that students should be allowed the avenue to feel that individual feelings and the differences in personal life background also matter in the discussion and in the overall learning process involved in sex edu cation. But the problem is that there are many cases that this is not followed, and this is generally because of the fact that sex education in some areas in the US and predominantly in other traditional and religious countries are still taboo – classroom teachers and academicians continue to avoid the fact that the exposure of today’s children to more and more forms of mass media and popular media coming from different culture other than theirs are all factors in the increased development of a child’s inquiry towards sex and other topics that may pertain to physical intimacy, the sense of sexual pleasure and sex. Teachers should anticipate the fact that while the inquiry of the children about sex are most probably homogenous and focused on the same area, the teacher should still avoid providing exact, boxed in answers and instead allow students to ventilate their queries and throw questions at each other so that the sense of ‘taboo’ in the topic is diminished, allowing for the collapsing of the walls that it built inside the cognition of the child and allowing the entry of teacher-mediated ideas that do not stop, as sex education is a process of continuous learning. Secondly, some teachers misinterpret the idea that Postman and Weingartner proposed in their collaborative work about how teachers should use questioning and the use of divergent questions as a form of facilitating the influx of ideas between students by instead questioning the sense of right and wrong and personal morals of the students (which puts the morality wall up and closes the avenue for the entry of information and education) and by providing questions that divert the discussion / topic entirely to another different topic so that the teacher removes herself / himself from the position of being morally and ethically responsible for the sex education of the students, generally because of the acknowledgment of the teacher’s own incompetence in both the use of inquiry method as well as the absence of the mastery in the subject. What Postman and Weingartner had in mind when they explained this particular characteristic of the inquiry method is that the teacher should provide some questions himself/herself to students so that they can allow the students to explore more into the topic, thus allowing education and learning traffic to move consistently in and around the classroom and inside the minds of the students. Another proof to the high possibility of the presence of problems in teaching sex education with regards to the misuse and lack of adherence to the inquiry method is that sex education is usually in a uniform structure that hinders spontaneity and limits discussion in a specific area, resulting to some students suppressing questions or having questions which were left unanswered while the teachers themselves are not aware on how to facilitate the discussion once questions start pouring in and may seem to lead farther and farther from the original point of discussion. Again, it should be reiterated that since it is an experience which may carry different emotional and psychological baggage for every individual, teachers should not deliver lessons about sex like it is as simple as addition in a math class or the use of correct subject-verb agreement in an English writing and grammar class. The Family Education website’s article on teaching children sex education points out that adults who teach it cannot ‘plan when and where children choose to ask difficult questions’ about sex and as indicated in the inquiry method in teaching, teachers should allow the flow of questions and mediate through the discussion sufficiently. It does not end there, literally and figuratively, for teachers, since lessons, according to Postman and Weingartner should be allowed to develop on its own through the active participation of the student in the question-making and answer-searching. Family Education. com considers sex education, whether at home or in school, as ‘an ongoing conversation’ and that if the blanket of openness and support that the inquiry method allows to develop take form in the course of the learning of the child, then teachers should expect more questions and continue with the task required in setting and defining the answers to questions as dictated by the inquiry method.