Teachers’ Attitudes and Opinions Toward Sexuality Education in School: Results From a Systematic Review of Secondary and High School Teachers

Objective: The present study aims to deeply understand the attitudes and opinions of secondary and high school teachers toward Sexuality Education through a systematic review. Identifying the perspective of the teaching staff is necessary for designing training that can integrate the needs of both teachers and students. Design and Method: Following PRISMA guidelines, relevant articles were systematically searched in three scientific databases (PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science) and other sources (Google Scholar and references). Two thousand and two hundred-eight records pertaining teachers’ attitudes and opinions toward SE were identified. Six hundred and twenty-two duplicates were removed, with sixtythree articles excluded for other reasons and eighty-eight excluded without an author response. Three hundred seven records were excluded due to a failure to meet all necessary criteria. Accordingly, from the screening phase, one hundred-three articles were included in the review. Results: Four themes emerged from teachers’ attitudes and opinions: (1) Barriers and facilitators to SE (n = 88); (2) programs’ aspects of SE (n = 70); (3) SE curricula (n = 63); (4) individual factors and SE (n = 55). Most research articles focused on internal and external barriers to the implementation of SE, teaching methods and strategies, opinions on educational responsibility regarding SE, the general content of SE curricula and individual factors such as personal beliefs and religious faith. Conclusions: The findings highlight several opinions among teachers on SE and the importance of including all educational figures in the design and training of SE programs. Often, teacher training is identified as necessary to support the educational needs of students. Conversely, teachers themselves perceive this need. This work has relevant policy and sociocultural implications for increasing teacher training, taking into account teachers’ perspectives.