NSEC Workshop Title: The Mixed Messages of Sex Ed: Finding Harmony between Personal Values and Professional Goals
NSEC Workshop Description: Teaching sexuality often requires educators to navigate mixed messages around abortion, sexual assault, teen pregnancy, and other topics. This interactive workshop will give participants the opportunity to craft their own sex education philosophy within a field where there can be many competing priorities and conflicting goals.
From Kate and Bryce:
What about your workshop are you most excited about?
We are most excited to have conversations with other sexuality educators about the mixed messages in our own field. We rarely get to discuss these challenging topics in an open and honest way, so we are looking forward to that.
Who do you hope will attend your workshop?
Anyone in the sex education field who has ever felt like their personal values or perspective didn’t always mesh with their professional work. We hope this workshop will be a safe space for educators to open up about their experiences with this dilemma.
Tell us something about where you learned what you know, professionally?
We both graduated from the Widener Human Sexuality Masters program and have worked in the Sexuality Education Training Institute of Planned Parenthood of Delaware (PPDE) for over four years. We have both the academic perspective and grant-funded experience to inform our views and knowledge.
From Kate:
When you meet someone new how do you describe what you do?
It depends on who it is and what I know about them. For a total stranger, I might say something simple like “I teach health.” If I have the feeling that this person would be friendly to the cause, I’ll say “I teach sex ed to teens and adults.” The majority of the reactions are very positive and people are usually fascinated by what I do.
From Bryce:
Sex educators and the other professionals who present at the National Sex Ed Conference often do so many different things. Tell us a bit about your work life.
One of my favorite things about being a sexuality educator for Planned Parenthood of Delaware (PPDE) is the variety! Just this week I taught a few modules of an evidence-based program at a middle school, provided a sexual health workshop at a local arts college, and trained new PPDE staff. I enjoy working with different age groups and populations so I am very happy that this job allows me to do that.
