Från elevdiskurser till biologibruk : Sexualundervisning på gymnasiet
(2025) In Lund studies in educational sciences- Abstract
- This thesis is about sex education and how sex education is constructed as a social phenomenon. The aim of the thesis is to explore how power and norms construct sex education as a social phenomenon and how power and norms shape discourses and knowledge in the content of the studied sex education, or exclude certain discourses and knowledge from it. A further aim is to make visible how sex education can have consequences for the students who participate in it. This dissertation is written in the field of DisciplineBased education research, more specifically in the field of Curriculum theory. It is also written in relation to research on sex education, mainly the field of classroom-based sex education research, more specifically in a... (More)
- This thesis is about sex education and how sex education is constructed as a social phenomenon. The aim of the thesis is to explore how power and norms construct sex education as a social phenomenon and how power and norms shape discourses and knowledge in the content of the studied sex education, or exclude certain discourses and knowledge from it. A further aim is to make visible how sex education can have consequences for the students who participate in it. This dissertation is written in the field of DisciplineBased education research, more specifically in the field of Curriculum theory. It is also written in relation to research on sex education, mainly the field of classroom-based sex education research, more specifically in a Swedish context. The thesis is furthermore underpinned by research on heteronormativity in sex education, a field to which the dissertation contributes.
The main theory in this thesis is Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, exploring the discourses that the observed sex education consists of. The subject positions that subjects, or persons, can take are explored as part of the answer to the consequences of sex education for the students who participate in it. In addition to Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, the thesis uses Foucault’s understanding of power, as well as concepts of norms and heteronormativity. The methods used in the study are classroom observations of
sex education and interviews with the science teachers who teach it. The approach is inspired by qualitative school ethnography.
The results show that when students articulate a significant portion of the teaching content, there is an increased risk of reinforcement of heteronormativity in teaching. This tendency is particularly evident when student articulations are not guided by teacher instructions and instead reflect social interactions outside of formal education, which in this thesis is referred to as student discourses. In comparison, teaching where the content is positioned within science, biological knowledge is employed to redefine traditional
meanings associated with sex, moving beyond mere reproduction-centric interpretations, conceptualized here as “biologibruk”. The teaching where the content is conducted with norms underscores the pervasive nature of heteronormativity, intertwined with norms surrounding monogamy, age, and gender anatomy. However, teaching about norms also leads to repetition of what the norm entails rather than critical analysis. This is probably due to the fact that both teachers and students are immersed in the norms being
discussed, making it challenging to step outside these norms for a critical perspective. The teaching inadvertently creates normative subject positions for students to identify with, despite the intention to critique and provide a nuanced view of living beyond established norms. The complexity lies in balancing awareness and critique of norms within the educational context, where embedded norms can persist even when being discussed critically. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/7e8bf98c-bf41-42ad-8ff1-1d4c3c7bd745
- author
- Hildebrand, Lee Ä. LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- professor Åse Röthing, Oslo Metropolitan University
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-05-16
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Lund studies in educational sciences
- issue
- 24
- pages
- 338 pages
- publisher
- Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap, Lunds universitet
- defense location
- LUX Aula nedre
- defense date
- 2025-05-16 13:15:00
- ISSN
- 2002-6323
- ISBN
- 978-91-89874-96-1
- 978-91-89874-97-8
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7e8bf98c-bf41-42ad-8ff1-1d4c3c7bd745
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-16 14:51:02
- date last changed
- 2025-05-22 10:11:39
@phdthesis{7e8bf98c-bf41-42ad-8ff1-1d4c3c7bd745,
abstract = {{This thesis is about sex education and how sex education is constructed as a social phenomenon. The aim of the thesis is to explore how power and norms construct sex education as a social phenomenon and how power and norms shape discourses and knowledge in the content of the studied sex education, or exclude certain discourses and knowledge from it. A further aim is to make visible how sex education can have consequences for the students who participate in it. This dissertation is written in the field of DisciplineBased education research, more specifically in the field of Curriculum theory. It is also written in relation to research on sex education, mainly the field of classroom-based sex education research, more specifically in a Swedish context. The thesis is furthermore underpinned by research on heteronormativity in sex education, a field to which the dissertation contributes.<br/>The main theory in this thesis is Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, exploring the discourses that the observed sex education consists of. The subject positions that subjects, or persons, can take are explored as part of the answer to the consequences of sex education for the students who participate in it. In addition to Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, the thesis uses Foucault’s understanding of power, as well as concepts of norms and heteronormativity. The methods used in the study are classroom observations of<br/>sex education and interviews with the science teachers who teach it. The approach is inspired by qualitative school ethnography.<br/>The results show that when students articulate a significant portion of the teaching content, there is an increased risk of reinforcement of heteronormativity in teaching. This tendency is particularly evident when student articulations are not guided by teacher instructions and instead reflect social interactions outside of formal education, which in this thesis is referred to as student discourses. In comparison, teaching where the content is positioned within science, biological knowledge is employed to redefine traditional<br/>meanings associated with sex, moving beyond mere reproduction-centric interpretations, conceptualized here as “biologibruk”. The teaching where the content is conducted with norms underscores the pervasive nature of heteronormativity, intertwined with norms surrounding monogamy, age, and gender anatomy. However, teaching about norms also leads to repetition of what the norm entails rather than critical analysis. This is probably due to the fact that both teachers and students are immersed in the norms being<br/>discussed, making it challenging to step outside these norms for a critical perspective. The teaching inadvertently creates normative subject positions for students to identify with, despite the intention to critique and provide a nuanced view of living beyond established norms. The complexity lies in balancing awareness and critique of norms within the educational context, where embedded norms can persist even when being discussed critically.}},
author = {{Hildebrand, Lee Ä.}},
isbn = {{978-91-89874-96-1}},
issn = {{2002-6323}},
language = {{swe}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{24}},
publisher = {{Institutionen för utbildningsvetenskap, Lunds universitet}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund studies in educational sciences}},
title = {{Från elevdiskurser till biologibruk : Sexualundervisning på gymnasiet}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/217296537/Avhandling_Lee_Hildebrand.pdf}},
year = {{2025}},
}