Date of Award

9-26-2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

First Advisor

Kathleen Gershman

Abstract

This study focused on perceptions of twelve fifth-grade boys and girls during a sexuality education unit in two elementary schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate, through open-ended questions of students and individuals involved with the puberty program planning and implementation, how students and adults accomplished a sexuality education class at the fifth-grade level. The research questions were: (1) How did classroom teachers and students perceive each other over the course of a puberty education unit? (2) What kind of learning environment was created for the puberty education classes? (3) How did the students experience the learning environment? The study included direct observations of puberty education classes at two sites, as well as a series of three individual interviews with each student, and single interviews with classroom teachers, school principals, the public health nurse, and supervisor of student nurses. The student nurses were interviewed by phone. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed with the exception of phone interviews. Observations of students in the puberty education classes were recorded in a narrative format. The data generated from field notes and interviews were coded and common patterns were identified. Four categories emerged during the data analysis process. From patterns identified between the categories, six assertions were developed. Quotations from the data were used to support the assertions generated from the research. The results of this study were: Students who indicated they learned something about puberty from the classes had support at home and expressed feeling ready for the information. Girls described feelings of discomfort or embarrassment more often than boys. A majority of students interviewed expressed that familiarity with the person presenting the information was important. A minority of students interviewed preferred not knowing the person or persons presenting the puberty information or believed the student nurses had more knowledge about puberty than their classroom teachers. All the boys and girls favored being separated by sex for the classes and believed that the puberty information was not to be discussed outside the formal classes.

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