Relationships Education – What Is It?

By Dr Bill Robb

Relationships education (or relationship education) is yet another “education” added to the list of many other educations. Relationships education has come to the fore recently because it has been highlighted as a way of reducing the UK’s number of teenage pregnancies – the highest in Europe. Let’s leave aside for another article the questions of whether or not relationships education is justified, why it is linked with sex education and whether or not it shouldbe taught to children as young as seven. Let’s concentrate on what relationships education is.

A good place to start looking for a definition is the official guidance given by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) Ref: DfEE 0116/2000 issued in July 2000. This guidance states that sex and relationship education is: 

  “ lifelong learning about physical, moral and emotional development. It is about the understanding of the importance of marriage for family life, stable and loving relationships, respect, love and care. It is also about the teaching of sex, sexuality, and sexual health. It is not about the promotion of sexual orientation or sexual activity – this would be inappropriate teaching.” 

Although it is helpful to know that relationships education is not about promoting sexual activity and is not just for children but for middle-aged and old people too, the definition is not all that helpful.  It gives us only a glimpse of the content. Without reading any further one could ask: 

• Why are relationships limited to sexual and loving relationships – what about relationships at work between boss and employee and socially between friends?

• Is the goal to promote marriage – when perhaps a third of all sexual/family relationships are not marriage?

• Why is it about the teaching of sex and sexual health – isn’t that (shouldn’t that) be done in biology in a clinical way?

A major omission from the definition is the purpose of relationships education. The guidance says there are three main elements. Perhaps examining these will help us understand what relationships education is. 

Under the element of attitudes and values the DfFE hopes relationships education will help youngsters:

• learn the importance of values and individual conscience and moral considerations

• learn the value of family life, marriage, and stable and loving relationships for the nurture of children

• learn the value of respect, love and care

• explore, consider and understand moral dilemmas

• develop critical thinking as part of decision-making.

This glimpse of what the content will be again raises many questions.

• If relationships education is about values and morals and moral dilemmas, why is it not called values education or moral education? These two educations have existed for many years so why invent another “education”?

• Can’t critical thinking be taught in many other subjects?

• What is the importance of values and moral considerations?

• What is the value of marriage in nurturing children? Does that mean that a homosexual couple cannot nurture children?

•  Why should youngsters learn, explore and develop all this?

Under the element of personal and social skills we find:

• learning to manage emotions and relationships confidently and sensitively

• developing self-respect and empathy for others

• learning to make choices based on an understanding of difference and with an absence of prejudice

• developing an appreciation of the consequences of choices made

• managing conflict

• learning how to recognise and avoid exploitation and abuse.

Again, the DfFE’s extended definition raises more questions.

• What does it mean to manage emotions, manage conflict and to manage relationships confidently? I can deliberately choose to be angry and I can solve a conflict by beating up a smaller person. Surely, those behaviours would not be encouraged in relationships education?

• What does an understanding of difference mean? If I am black and someone is white – what more understanding do I need to know that the other is a different race and perhaps culture?

The inclusion of an element of  knowledge and understanding in relationships education hopes to achieve:

• understanding of physical development at appropriate stages

• understanding human sexuality, reproduction, sexual health, emotions and relationships;

• learning about contraception and the range of local and national sexual health advice, contraception and support services

• learning the benefits of delaying sexual activity

• the avoidance of unplanned pregnancy.

One could ask:

• Why aren’t the biological topics taught in biology?

• We already have personal and social education and health education – why invent relationships education?

• If a purpose is avoidance of unplanned pregnancy in teenagers, is planned pregnancy okay?

Why do politicians and educationists avoid the issue?

Of course, there is scope for pages of debate and discussion on relationships education but nowhere in the definition is there a direct statement of purpose. Surely the purpose of relationships education is to prevent all teenage pregnancy, prevent sexually transmitted diseases and get youngsters to treat everyone with respect and caring and thereby achieve more happiness in their own lives and in the lives of those around them? 

Read the articles in the Sex Education section on the CAVE website, which go into more details on how sex education could be conducted more effectively as values education. Dr Bill would be delighted to talk at your next conference or event. Contact him on bill.robb@valueseducation.co.uk

Copyright © 2008 Values Education Ltd
Note to editors. Feel free to use this article as long as the following details are retained. “A values education article from CAVE www.valueseducation.co.uk ”
 

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