Making visible an invisible world - how do adult educators navigate moral dilemmas in HIV health and social literacy education?

Erasmus, Margaretha Jacoba

Making visible an invisible world - how do adult educators navigate moral dilemmas in HIV health and social literacy education?

Master Thesis

2019

Abstract

Billions of rand are spent annually in HIV interventions in South Africa and most of these interventions have a component of training or adult education. The purpose of this research study is to understand better what potential moral dilemmas adult educators might face in the HIV health and social literacy field and what tools they use to navigate these dilemmas. I had a sense that adult educators might face moral dilemmas in this field with topics that include safe sex, prevention, sexually transmitted infections, abortion and relevant lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTI) issues. In order to illuminate these dilemmas, the study asked adult educators from within the related field to identify the types of moral dilemmas they faced; what underpinned these dilemmas; and finally, how they navigated the issues. Data was collected using individual semi-structured interviews. The study also aims to make recommendations for current and future educators in the field on potential navigational tools. The theoretical framework used in the study focused on adult experiential learning, meaning-making and dialogical practices. Empirical research was gathered from the school-based sex education and the nursing field, highlighting the gap in literature on adult educators’ experiences with such phenomena. The study made use of an interpretative and thematic approach, allowing themes to emerge from the data. The analysis showed that adult educators faced moral dilemmas related to the topic and content covered, cultural barriers, funder-driven agendas, insufficient involvement from the church, and sexual advances from community facilitators. These were underpinned by the research participants’ inner histories, including their upbringings and their socialisation around gender roles and marital status. Participants identified personal values that included religious beliefs as a significant cause for discomfort. Navigational tools included one-on-one and group dialogical practices as well as being able to accept or train on a topic without having to agree or promote the content from a personal values perspective. The study highlights the lack of literature available on this phenomenon and makes recommendations to create platforms for discussion and reflection. Even though the study focusses on adult educators in the HIV Health and Social Literacy field, this could have relevance for school-based sexual education teachers as well as in the nursing or counselling field.

Keywords

Education

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