Respectful Relationships Education Needs Support
Teachers can play a central role in educating students about respectful relationships but often find themselves behind the eight ball because of a lack of resources and support.
If it is to achieve its goals, there needs to be greater top-down coordination, more teacher training and better evaluation systems to improve respectful relationships education (RRE) in Australian schools.
A Monash University study analysed respectful relationships programs delivered nationwide aimed at ending violence against women and children and found great inconsistencies in the way RRE was delivered and supported in schools, and in student learning outcomes.
The researchers performed a national stocktake and gap analysis of existing RRE programs and resources, in conjunction with consulting more than 100 stakeholders across the areas of education, women’s health, and domestic, family and sexual violence.
Their report recommends a quality assessment tool to help schools deliver effective RRE be developed alongside a Workforce Development Action Plan to ensure teachers have the requisite knowledge and skills to teach RRE.
An online RRE professional learning resource hub for schools and educators needs to be put in place with a monitoring and evaluation framework to drive continuous improvement of RRE in schools all underpinned by a national, coordinated approach to facilitating RRE.
Stakeholders consulted in the research said that while there was an increased focus on RRE in the new national curriculum, better pre-service training and ongoing professional development were needed to support teachers to deliver effective RRE.
Project lead Dr Naomi Pfitzner from the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre said RRE professional learning and pre-service training, in particular, were underdeveloped in many Australian jurisdictions.
“We need to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to deliver respectful relationships education. Our stocktake reveals that only two universities in Australia currently offer sexuality and relationships education as part of health and physical education pre-service teacher training,” Dr Pfitzer said.
“We can’t assume that teachers have the skills to deliver respectful relationships education and have sometimes confronting and challenging discussions about issues such as violence and gender equality.”
Report co-author Honorary Associate Professor Debbie Oliis said a quality assessment tool was vital to the program’s success.
“Teachers and schools want to provide quality, evidence-based respectful relationships education that is suitable for their school context,” she said. “A quality assessment tool would enable schools to make informed decisions about the resources and programs they use in classrooms.”
Co-author Dr Rebecca Stewart said the research also revealed parents and carers want to play a greater role in RRE.
“Parents and carers are a critical part of the school community and most want to continue to have these conversations at home,” Dr Stewart said.
The researchers also found many other groups in the school community felt unrepresented in the RRE conversation.
“We heard repeated calls from stakeholders for respectful relationships education to move beyond the traditional focus on heterosexual, cisgender interactions between men and women,” Dr Pfitzner said.
“Respectful relationships education resources and programs need to cater for and include the whole range of students in Australian schools.”
Researchers also included Dr Kelly-Ann Allen, Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Associate Professor Asher Flynn.
Image by Dan Cristian Pădureț