The process of overcoming conflicts among teachers in the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education at ordinary public senior high schools in Mataram City, Indonesia: a qualitative study

• Published in: Tropical Medicine and Health
• Main Authors: Fumiko Shibuya, Dian Puspita Sari, Cut Warnaini, Arina Windri Rivarti, Rie Takeuchi, Tracey Elizabeth Claire Jones-Konneh, Calvin de los Reyes, Hamsu Kadriyan, Jun Kobayashi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2023
• Subjects: Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE); Conflicts; Qualitative study; Indonesia; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41182-023-00495-y; https://doaj.org/article/799666df3a854d7490c48c83e83128bf

Abstract Background Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), which aims to help young people make responsible choices and acquire scientific knowledge and skills, has been promoted by UNESCO. Teachers experience conflicts in implementing CSE when teaching sexual topics in the local context, especially as the delivery of sexual knowledge and contraceptive methods is often prohibited by religious and traditional cultural norms. It was reported that there were multiple challenges in the implementation of sex education due to the religious and cultural background of societies and communities in Islamic countries. This study aimed to clarify the process of overcoming the conflicts, explore teachers’ recognition and perception related to the implementation of CSE, and to suggest recommendations for promoting CSE in Islamic areas. Methods This qualitative study combined the methods of focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) to explore the conflict among teachers. Ten ordinary public senior high schools in Mataram City, Indonesia, agreed to participate, and in total, 59 participants were involved in this study. FGDs were conducted with teachers (n = 49), and IDIs were focused on school principals (n = 10) in each school. The collected interview data were analyzed using a deductive thematic analysis and the findings triangulated for both the FGDs and IDIs. Results Overall, the teachers experienced conflicts in relation to religion, cultural background, and gender inequality in implementing CSE. The present study revealed the mutual recognition among teachers and acceptance of diverse backgrounds in the implementation of CSE at ordinary public senior high schools in Mataram City. Despite teachers reporting multiple conflicts, they made efforts to overcome these conflicts through mutual recognition and provided comprehensive guidance. The present findings indicated that teachers adapted CSE to follow multiple religions and cultural backgrounds. Conclusions The teachers accepted diverse backgrounds and ...