Conference Agenda

Sexuality education can have a range of positive impacts when delivered by competent and trained teachers in ways that are responsive to the contextual factors shaping young people’s needs (Pound et. al., 2017). However, a common problem across European contexts and beyond is lack of adequate pre-service preparation and continuing professional development for teaching sexuality education in the classroom (O’Brien 2021). In their study of the WHO European region, Ketting et. al. (2021) found that it is only in Estonia, Finland and Sweden that most or all pre-service teachers receive sexuality teacher education. Studies based in the USA (Costello et. al., 2022), Canada (Almanssori, 2022) and Australia have examined in greater detail the consequences of lack of teacher preparation, including low knowledge and self-efficacy. In several European studies, including Austria (2018), Spain (Martinez, 2012) and Ireland (Lodge et. al, 2022), similar shortcomings in sexuality teacher education were found. However, international evidence also highlights the positive impact that high-quality teacher education and CPD can have on student’s experiences of sexuality education (Ezer et. al., 2022; Brodeur et. al, 2023).

Many patterns observable across the European teacher education landscape are present in the English context, such as the pressure to impose a more uniform, standardised and centralised control in the name of accountability, measurement and standards (Livingston & Flores, 2017). Echoing other European studies, the 2 most relevant English studies of sexuality teacher education (Dewhurst, Pickett & Speller et. al. 2014; Byrne, Shepherd & Dewhirst et. al. 2015) found that teacher educators ascribed high levels of importance to preparation for pre-service teachers, but also significant limitations in the range of topics covered, and that sex and relationships-related areas were deprioritised amidst other health and wellbeing topics.

There are several factors that make England a distinctive case within the European context of sexuality teacher education. In 2019, ‘Relationships, Sex and Health Education’ (RSHE) became statutory in English primary and secondary schools, in theory creating a higher status and priority for sexuality education within teacher education. However, in 2021, a ‘Market Review’ of teacher education called for a transition from ‘initial teacher education’ to ‘initial teacher training’ (ITT) and established a standardised ‘Core Content Framework’ for ITT, leaving little room for subject areas that typically sit on the margins of the curriculum like sexuality education (Hordern & Brooks, 2023).

The ‘’Mapping RSHE ITT” study responds to these changes, capitalising on a period of transition to highlight current barriers and places where ITT-delivering institutions are adapting and innovating. The primary aim of the study is to map how ITT-providing institutions in England are preparing pre-service primary and secondary school teachers to deliver RSHE, using a national survey, follow-up interviews and observations of teaching on RSHE delivered to trainee teachers on the programmes (further methodological details below). The study also aims to utilise England as a national ‘case’ within the wider European context to identify convergences and divergences with wider patterns of change in teacher education/sexuality education policy and practice across Europe. The study explores and makes visible effective practice while illuminating the numerous barriers faced by teacher education leaders. The Research Questions for the project are:

1. What is the extent of pre-service teacher education for RSHE in England?
2. How is RSHE addressed in English pre-service teacher education?
3. What topics are covered in pre-service teacher education for RSHE in England, and to what extent?
4. What are teachers’ experiences of delivering pre-service teacher education in RSHE?

This paper will report on findings of the study, with data currently undergoing analysis at time of writing (for methodological details see below).

The post-pandemic scenario has led the world of education and instruction, including early childhood services, to adopt strong preventive measures to limit the spread of the SARS-cov-2 virus, including, first of all, interpersonal distancing (Porcarelli, Sardella, 2021).

A possible response to the challenges of education in the complexity of the presented scenario has been recognized in the outdoor educational model, capable of combining education and attention to physical, psychological and relational well-being. Although this model has spread to the countries of Northern Europe in the first decades after the Second World War, it has only recently established itself in Italy.

Taking up the scientific literature, it has emerged that outdoor education offers benefits compared to physical, emotional and cognitive development (Pezzano, 2016); improves the quality of life (Zelenski & Nisbet, 2014); stimulates ecological awareness and identity (Bardulla, 2006); reduces stress and promotes concentration (Bowler, Buyung-Ali, Knight & Pullin, 2010); and helps developing a sense of belonging to the world (Kaplan, 1995). The outdoor model, in the view of the beneficial effects presented, has become more and more innovative, making the most of the opportunities offered by being outdoors and identifying the external environment as a place of training (Farnè, 2015). This educational approach also requires the active participation of the subjects through the body and its movement, has brought back to the center of the development and learning processes the dimension of corporeality, adhering to recent ministerial documents (MIUR 2018; MIUR 2021) that have recognized in the body a vehicle of communication and knowledge. According to the same documents, the territory has taken a particular importance in the learning processes, being recognized as a place to exercise skills and expand educational experiences. Therefore, the outdoor educational model seems to respond both to what is required by ministerial documents and to the new needs dictated by the epidemiological emergency.

Living in the society of complexity and uncertainty (Bauman, 2008; Morin, 2012) requires the early childhood professionals not to stop at their basic training, but to keep on training in the light of constant changes in order to be able to learn about new educational and training strategies and to implement their social and technical skills. The article examines the results of a research-training conducted in the kindergartens of the territory of Bari on the theme of outdoor education, in order to observe and improve the applicability/feasibility of this model to early post-pandemic education. The project, entitled "The Indispensable Proximity: Reorganize the Kindergartens in Safety" (RIoNI) was carried out with the aim of enhancing the outdoor educational model, especially following the healthcare emergency, that brought the need to enhance infection preventive measures in kindergartens through interpersonal distancing and the use of "bubbles", ie sections of a few children without the possibility of intergroup exchange.

According to the findings, the RIoNI project aims to train educators and inform parents about the outdoor educational model, explaining the benefits of outdoor activities on emotional regulation, cognitive, physical and relational development of children. The project, moreover, in the light of the importance of the physical internal and external environment of the school on the learning processes and on the psychophysical and relational well-being (Plotka, 2016), aimed to rethink the organization of the available spaces (indoor and outdoor), for a better applicability of the proposed educational strategy.

Finance is a vital part of everybody’s life and dealing effectively with a wide range of financial challenges requires a level of financial literacy that many people lack. The OECD defines financial literacy to be a combination of financial ‘knowledge, awareness, skills, attitudes, and behaviour in order to make effective decisions across a range of financial contexts, to improve the financial well-being of individuals and society, and to enable participation in economic life’ (OECD 2014, 33). A high level of financial literacy contributes to a person’s financial stability, independence and well-being. People with a higher level of financial literacy know comparatively more financial products, use more sources of information for their financial decisions and have a nest egg set aside for a rainy day. They are less inclined to take out loans for short-lived purposes such as current bills, spontaneous purchases, gifts or a holiday (Silgoner et al. 2015, Stolper and Walter 2017, Lusardi 2019).

Consequently, improving financial education at schools is at the heart of most national strategies all around the world. However, considering the high diversity of students, there is little empirical evidence on the didactic adequacy and effectiveness of financial education initiatives. In order to provide a tailored financial education program that really meets the needs of the respective audiences, an innovative initiative of training students of business education to become financial education coaches at schools has been developed at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). As coaches, they offer to teach financial education workshops at schools, customised to the needs of the students while taking the teaching conditions at the respective school into account. Teachers at secondary schools may request workshops within the framework of the initiative on the website of the Institute for Business Education. In addition to their contact details, school and class, the teachers provide information on the desired topic, the desired length and the desired time period of the workshop. Accordingly, coaches develop an individual workshop for each request from a school or teacher.

The program has proven to be attractive not only for WU students who wish to enhance their financial knowledge and skills as well as their teaching abilities, but also for schools and teachers alike that aim to foster the level of financial education of their students. In creating a tangible impact in schools and society at large, the initiative contributes to a well-blended mix of third mission initiatives of a university. Yet, the program not only provides effective financial education for schools under consideration of the prevailing teaching conditions, but has also been evaluated from the very beginning of its implementation in order to closely examine the acceptance and effectiveness of the initiative. The actual effectiveness of the program has been assessed by means of an evaluation study that analyses the impact of the initiative on financial education coaches, teachers and students at schools while also analysing its recognition by society.

Subsequently, this contribution presents the initiative, its theoretical framework and the evaluation results on the didactic adequacy and the effectiveness of the program, in particular its impact on research and teaching.