What literary studies can offer sexuality education: Pre-service teachers’ responses to an animated film

Transformation in Higher Education

 
 
Field Value
 
Title What literary studies can offer sexuality education: Pre-service teachers’ responses to an animated film
 
Creator Carolin, Andy
 
Subject literary studies; close reading; sex education foundation phase; intermediate phase; teacher education; middle school; elementary school; ‘In a Heartbeat’; literary studies; close reading; sex education; South Africa; LGBT; film studies; human rights education
Description Background: Given the high levels of homophobia that exist in South Africa, including in its schools and universities, it is imperative that university lecturers develop integrated and transdisciplinary curriculums to educate pre-service teachers about sexuality and to empower them to incorporate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)-inclusive resources into their own classrooms.Aim: This study aimed to contribute to the scholarship of teaching and learning by reflecting on how English literary studies can contribute to sexuality education.Setting: The context for this study is a specific undergraduate English module that forms part of the foundation phase and intermediate phase teacher education curriculums at the University of Johannesburg.Methods: This study is a self-reflective analysis of how the methodology of close reading, which is central to English literary studies, can be used to support sexuality education.Results: Despite the prevalence of homophobia in South African society, when undergraduate students in this English module (n = 356) were asked to write an essay about the representation of same-sex sexuality in a short animated film, none of them made homophobic comments.Conclusion: Paying particular attention to the analytical methodology of close reading, the author argues that a narrow focus on the storytelling techniques used within a narrative text – in a way that deliberately excludes students’ personal opinions about same-sex sexualities – offers a powerful way of facilitating a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of homophobia and heteronormativity.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor
Date 2022-03-17
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/the.v7i0.162
 
Source Transformation in Higher Education; Vol 7 (2022); 9 pages 2519-5638 2415-0991
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/162/440 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/162/441 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/162/442 https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/162/443
 
Coverage South Africa — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Andy Carolin https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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