CHALLENGES OF SEX EDUCATION

A Case Study with Public School Teachers in Cruzeiro do Sul – Acre

Authors

Keywords:

Sex education. Challenges. Teachers. Primary Education Fundamental I.

Abstract

Sex education has historically been permeated by structural, political, and cultural barriers that contribute to its silencing within the educational context. This study aims to analyze the challenges of sex education in the school context from the perspective of two fifth-grade teachers in elementary education (Elementary School I) from the city of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, located in the extreme western region of Brazil. The research is qualitative with a descriptive-exploratory approach. It is a case study of empirical investigation conducted within the social context of two schools in Cruzeiro do Sul (Yin, 2005). The corpus was constructed through the application of semi-structured interviews in line with the study’s objectives. The results reveal the existence of religious, family, and cultural challenges, as well as the lack of continuing teacher education, which constitutes a persistent barrier to discussions on sex education in school experiences. It is concluded that sex education is urgently needed in schools as a fundamental tool for deconstructing prejudice and promoting teacher training relevant to the theme.

Author Biographies

Bárbara Martins, Universidade Federal do Acre

Pedagoga pela Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC) – Brasil; Mestranda em Educação pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação – PPGE/UFAC; Orcid iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2215-708X. E-mail: barbara.ifac@gmail.com

Adriana Santos, Universidade Federal do Acre

Doutora em Educação pela Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) - Brasil. Docente da Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Rio Branco, CELA/ Professora da Pós-graduação PPGE/UFAC; Orcid iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7402-2670. E-mail: adriana.santos@ufac.br

Maria Irinilda Bezerra, Universidade Federal do Acre

Doutora em Educação pela Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). Docente da Universidade Federal do Acre, Campus Floresta, CEL/ Professora permanente do Programa de Pós-graduação em Ensino de Humanidades e Linguagens/PPEHL, Cruzeiro do Sul – Acre; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2572-414X. E-mail: maria.irinil@ufac.br

Published

2026-04-23

How to Cite

Martins, B., Santos, A., & Bezerra, M. I. (2026). CHALLENGES OF SEX EDUCATION: A Case Study with Public School Teachers in Cruzeiro do Sul – Acre. Ensaios Pedagógicos, 10(1), p.213–232. Retrieved from https://www.ensaiospedagogicos.ufscar.br/index.php/ENP/article/view/482

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.