Representation in Sex Education
ETR is thrilled to announce the publication of Representation in Sex Education: Cultivating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging by Tanya M. Bass, PhD, CHES®, CSE, and edited by Bill Taverner, MA, CSE, ABS.
Every student and community deserve to thrive. This can only be achieved when everyone can learn in a welcoming, safe environment with materials and perspectives that reflect their identities. Yet for decades, sex education curricula have often lacked a lens that represents the experiences of people of diverse backgrounds.
Many outdated sex education lesson plans tend to:
- Exclude nonbinary and transgender students
- Not factor in America’s racist history in sexual and reproductive healthcare, which may make students of color ambivalent or untrusting.
- Have few authors, contributing authors, or editors who identify as people of color, meaning that diverse lived experience is absent from lesson plans and teaching manuals. .
- Provide lessons with little consideration given to ensuring that students with disabilities feel included.
These are just a few examples; many students with other diverse identities have been marginalized in sex education.
However, while we acknowledge historical patterns within sex education, change through expanded representation is possible. Representation in Sex Education: Cultivating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging seeks to address these existing gaps in sex education curricula and materials.
Fueled by the urgent need for truly inclusive sex education, Dr. Tanya M. Bass and Bill Taverner used their wealth of experience within sex education and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) to develop Representation in Sex Education. This resource compiles feedback and DEIB recommendations from more than 100 sex educators nationwide, raising awareness among educators about the crucial need to represent the experiences of diverse backgrounds in sex education.
As Tara Norman beautifully stated in the book’s foreword, “Empathy is a necessary component of progress, as it fuels the motivation to effect change within individuals, their communities, and broader societal systems. Without empathy, people are often unlikely to act on behalf of others.” We aspire for this guidebook to serve as a valuable resource to all professionals who deliver sex education. This guidebook offers practical tips to professionals on cultivating a learning environment that respects and values diversity while promoting equity and a true sense of belonging in sex education. We hope this resource will empower professionals to deliver sex education that is truly representative, inclusive, and supportive for all learners.
