Abstract

Teaching staff plays a central role within comprehensive sex education and often do not have the necessary training. Additionally, teachers must confront their ideas about sexuality and overcome tensions with the families of their students. This research addresses the social representations of Chilean teachers about their role in sex education along with that of school and family. Using qualitative methodology, we carried out interviews with 18 teachers belonging to schools with different sociodemographic characteristics. Through structural discourse analysis, we were able to describe representations on three topics: the role of school and family in sex education; the type of sex education according to family-school relationships; and the role and training of teachers in sex ed. In our final discussion we interpret these results and develop projections on educational research and policy.