Breathing Life into Sexuality Education / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

This book seeks to re-envision the purpose and pedagogy of sexuality education, disrupting its conventional instrumental and health related aims. Predominately theoretical in nature, it presses at the traditional limits of sexuality education's thought by drawing together ideas from disparate disciplinary fields including education, geography, sound studies and new materialist theory. The philosophical thought of Sharon Todd provides an anchor throughout, and is employed to reconceptualize sexuality education as sensuous event. The author calls for a reframing of the relationship of education and ethics, and explores what this means for sexuality education classrooms and relationships between and amongst teachers and students. The book explores pedagogies that invite new forms of student sensibility and open possibilities for engagement in sexuality education in currently uncharted ways. It will appeal to students and experienced academics conducting research related to sexuality, education, educational philosophy, queer studies and new materialisms.

Louisa Allen is a Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She specialises in research in the areas of sexualities, young people and schooling and innovative research methodologies which seek to engage hard to reach research populations. She examines these areas through the lenses of queer, feminist post-structural and feminist new materialist theoretical frameworks and has written extensively in these fields.