Perfil e posicionamento de professores de escola pública em relação à educação em saúde, com ênfase em sexualidade

Abstract

Objective: To describe the profile and positioning of public-school teachers in relation to health education, emphasizing sexuality, seeking to investigate associations in this context. Methodology: It was an experimental cross-sectional descriptive study. Data collection occurred in a public school and the sample consists of 27 teachers, with an age average of 45.6 years (SD= 8.41). Results: Among teachers, 40.8% have post-graduation courses and 22.2% have master's degree and 78% have been working in this profession for more than ten years. Most of them have never taken an official course on sexual education, however, feel comfortable for discussions about sexuality. The majority of them mention that students have space for discussing the subject. No associations were observed between the discipline taught and the opinion of the participant in relation to the student having space for discussions about sexuality and between the time of professional performance and the feeling of teachers when talking about sexuality. Teachers who have taken and those who didn’t have sexual education courses have the same opinion in relation to the student having space to discuss sexuality and their feelings towards this dialogue. Most teachers reported that they address this theme with students on informal conversations. For teachers, pregnancy in the adolescence and contraceptives methods are the subjects most requested by the students. Conclusion: Sexual education should be encouraged in schools and/ or further deepening in the early professional education and in continuous education of teachers on the subject, in order to promote autonomy, prevent vulnerability and to contribute for the full exercise of student sexuality.