Since the inception and formalization of sexual health education into the Ontario curriculum during the 1960s, sexual health education has continuously evolved into the current state, which is taught in Ontario classrooms today. The teaching materials and curriculum expectations have developed to coincide with an increasingly progressive society that consistently faces new issues. Conversely, many of the same items of contentions such as religious beliefs continue to dominate the development of the sexual health education program. The earlier inceptions of the program would be considered archaic when evaluated against the societal standards of twenty-first century Canada, especially when one examines the newest version of sexual health education that will enter Ontario schools in the fall of 2013.
What follows here is an analysis of the evolution of sexual health education over the last five decades. The research question that frames this discussion is: how has the curriculum and teaching of sexual health education in Ontario evolved within the public school boards from the 1960s to the present day? The historical thinking concepts will be used to organize our discussion and findings. Accordingly, this research paper will examine the development, formalization and subsequent evolution of sexual health education in Ontario public school boards from 1960s until present-day. We will establish the historical significance of sexual health education through our discussion of the context of education in Ontario in order to identify causes for changes and its associated consequences. We will take multiple perspectives by comparing the Ontario approach to its American counterpart. We will use primary source evidence, particularly the curriculum documents in order to identify change and continuity. Lastly, we will examine the ethical dimensions of our findings on the evolution of sexual health education in Ontario.
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