Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
FrancoAngeli Journals

Articles/Articoli

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2026): Educating for Complexity: Intersectionality, Decolonial Approaches to Teaching, and Practices of Care in Education

Schools as Political Microcosms: Sexuality education and teachers’ experiences amid obstacles and resistance in Italy

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ess1-2026oa22555
Submitted
aprile 15, 2026
Published
2026-07-28

Abstract

While the international scientific community recognizes the importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as an integrated approach to sexuality education, the Italian context is characterized by a complex interplay of cultural and political factors that hinder its widespread and structured implementation. Drawing on a theoretical framework that combines CSE and transfeminist pedagogy, this article explores the perspectives of twelve secondary school teachers actively engaged in promoting access to sexuality education. The study highlights how school contexts are shaped by structural tensions, showing that the implementation of sexuality education is constrained by an institutional climate perceived as hostile. At the same time, strategies of resistance and negotiation emerge, contributing to the preservation of educational spaces oriented toward care, critical reflexivity, and the recognition of differences. The study offers a situated account of teachers’ experiences and contributes to a still limited but increasingly urgent debate on sexuality education within the Italian school system.

References

  1. Barbino F. (2025). From cis-hetero-white normative oppressive spaces to participatory, intersectional, transfeminist Comprehensive Sexuality Education-Preliminary results of a qualitative study with adolescents. In: Caldarera R. e Tuz-za S., a cura di, Quaderni del Laboratorio Interdisciplinare di ricerca su Corpi, Diritti, Conflitti, Vol 5.1. Varazze: PM edizioni.
  2. Barcelos C. A. (2019). Transfeminist Pedagogy and the Women’s Health Classroom. Feminist Formations, 31(3): 1-24. Doi: 10.1353/ff.2019.0028.
  3. Bello Ramírez A. (2018). Hacia una trans-pedagogía: Reflexiones educativas para incomodar, sanar y construir comunidad. Debate Feminista, 55: 104-128. Doi: 10.22201/cieg.01889478p.2018.55.05.
  4. Brady J., Dentith A. (2001). Critical Voyages: Postmodern feminist pedagogies as liberatory practice. Teaching Education, 12(2): 165-176. Doi: 10.1080/104762101 20068057.
  5. Braeken D., Shand T. e de Silva U. (2010). IPPF Framework for Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). London: International Planned Parenthood Federation.
  6. Braun V., Clarke V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3: 77-101. Doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
  7. Bruno V. (2024). Descriptive and critical analysis of the recent Italian draft bills and context regarding Sexuality Education. 17th Congress of the European Federation of Sexology. Sexuality in health and disease: Sexual health, rights and well-being: 190.
  8. Butler J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, New York: Routledge.
  9. Camera dei Deputati (2025). Disegno di Legge C.2423, Disposizioni in materia di consenso informato in ambito scolastico. XIX Legislatura. Testo disponibile al sito: https://www.camera.it/leg19/126?leg=19&idDocumento=2423, 13 Aprile 2026.
  10. Camera dei Deputati (2024). 7-00203 Sasso: Adozione di linee guida volte a favorire il rispetto delle differenze nel sistema scolastico. Risoluzione Approvata. In: VII Commissione Permanente (Cultura, scienza e istruzione). Testo disponibile al sito: https://documenti.camera.it/leg19/resoconti/commissioni/bollettini/pdf/2024/09/ 11/leg.19.bol0365.data20240911.com07.pdf. 12 Aprile 2026.
  11. Chinelli A., Salfa M. C., Cellini A., Ceccarelli L., Farinella M., Rancilio L., Galipò R., Meli P., Camposeragna A., Colaprico L., Oldrini M., Ubbiali M., Caraglia A., Martinelli D., Mortari L., Palamara A. T., Suligoi B., e Tavoschi L. (2023). Educazione sessuale in Italia 2016-2020: un’indagine nazionale su copertura, contenuti e va-lutazione delle attività educative scolastiche. Sex Education, 23(6): 756-768. Doi: 10.1080/14681811.2022.2134104.
  12. Collins C., Alagiri P., Summers T, e Morin S. (2002). Abstinence Only vs. Compre-hensive Sex Education: What Are the Arguments? What Is the Evidence?. San Francisco: AIDS Research Institute University of California.
  13. Demozzi S., Ghigi R. (2024). Insegnare genere e sessualità. Dal pregiudizio sessista alla prevenzione della violenza. Milano: Mondadori Education.
  14. Enrico J., e Castro A. M. (2021). Género, feminismos y pedagogías de frontera: Aportes críticos al espacio educativo. Pedagogía y Saberes, 54: 155-170. Doi: 10.17227/pys.num54-10636.
  15. Freire P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books.
  16. hooks b. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: education as the practiec of freedom. New York: Routledge.
  17. hooks b. (2003). Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Routledge.
  18. Johnson T. P. (2014). Snowball Sampling: Introduction. In: Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online. John Wiley e Sons, Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781118445112.stat 05720.
  19. Ketting E., Brockschmidt L., e Ivanova O. (2021). Investigating the ‘C’ in CSE: Implementation and effectiveness of comprehensive sexuality education in the WHO European region. Sex Education, 21(2): 133-147. DOI: 10.1080/14681811.2020.1766435.
  20. Koyama A. (2001). The Transfeminist Manifesto, in Dicker, R. e Piepmeier, R., Catching A Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the Twenty-First Century. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
  21. Martinez Martin I. (2016). Construcción de una pedagogía feminista para una ciudadanía transformadora y contra-hegemónica. Foro de Educación, 14(20): 129-151. DOI: 10.14516/fde.2016.014.020.008.
  22. Melandri L., e Cattive Maestre (2024). Dietro la cattedra, sotto il banco. Il corpo a scuola. Novate Milanese: Prospero Editore.
  23. Michielsen K., e Ivanova O. (2022). Comprehensive sexuality education: why is it important?. Germany: European Union. DOI: 10.2861/27911.
  24. Nimbi F.M., a cura di (2025). L’educazione affettiva e sessuale in adolescenza: a che punto siamo?. Roma: Save the Children Ricerca.
  25. Prearo M. (2020). L’ipotesi neocattolica. Politologia dei movimenti anti-gender, Milano: Mimesis.
  26. Prearo M. (2025). Nota sui disegni di legge n. 2271 (Amorese), 2278 (Sasso) e 2423 (Valditara) per la VII Commissione della Camera dei Deputati. Testo disponibile al sito: https://documenti.camera.it/leg19/documentiAcquisiti/COM07/Audizioni/leg19.com07.Audizioni.Memoria.PUBBLICO.ideGes.70000.07-08-2025-12-42-44.659.pdf. 12 Aprile 2026.
  27. Rich A. (1980). Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 5: 631-660. DOI: 10.1086/493756.
  28. Shrewsbury C. M. (1987). What is Feminist Pedagogy?. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 15: 6-14.
  29. UNESCO, UN-AIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, WHO (2018). International technical guidance on sexuality education: an evidence-informed approach. New York: UN Women Headquarters Office. Testo disponibile al sito: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2018/1/international-technical-guidance-on-sexuality-education. 12 Aprile 2026.
  30. York S. W., e Vilela F. M. (2025). Transfeminismo: Notas para (trans)formar a educação. Debates em Educação, 17(39): 1-22. DOI: 10.28998/2175-6600.2025v17n39pe20410.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...