Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for AdultsBy Richard S. Kimball
- Theme and Description
- Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Adults is the final component of a lifespan sexuality education curriculum series. The curriculum underscores the notion that sexuality education is not merely for children entering puberty, but is rather a process of learning that continues throughout life. Using thought-provoking articles, stories, music, and other tools for discussion, it invites adults to reconsider what they already know (or think they know) about sexuality. Participants are able to deepen and broaden their existing knowledge in a comfortable setting with adults of many life stages.
- Goals for Participants
- To explore personal and societal attitudes and values concerning sexuality;
To become comfortable communicating about sexual matters;
To examine connections between sexuality and spirituality;
To understand stages in the development of sexual relationships, including committed relationships;
To develop comfort and knowledge concerning sexual orientation, gender identity, and other sexuality-related diversity;
To increase awareness of sexuality throughout the lifespan, including sexuality’s relation to the aging process.
- Age Range
- Adult
- Size of Group
- Unspecified, however the activities' design works best with groups of 8-16
- Space Requirements
- Comfortable meeting space in which group can sit in a circle and can also break into small groups.
- Number and Length of Sessions
- 14 sessions, workshops
Length: 2 hours - Leader Training
- Training is strongly recommended. For information about facilitator training workshops, consult the Our Whole Lives Training Webpage or contact the UUA Adult Programs Office at 617-948-6454 or rbrown@uua.org.
- Leader Preparation
- The curriculum contains detailed instructions for preparation for each workshop. In addition to the advanced preparation required to start the course, preparation can take 1-4 hours per workshop depending on the material, the supplies required, and the number of co-leaders responsible for the preparation.
- Strengths
- Promotes personal wholeness with an integrated view of sexuality and the self;
Gets adults talking about sexuality with a variety of creative discussion-starters;
Has the potential to deepen respect, friendship, and mutual support between the congregation’s adults;
Fills a gap: it is rare to find classroom-based sexuality education for adults that is neither erotic nor focused on sexual techniques;
Is easily adapted based on interests of group. - Limitations
- The adult age range is broad. 29-year-olds and 67-year-olds would come to a congregation’s sexuality education course with different concerns. The curriculum does not offer many options for adults in various age groups to explore their particular health and relationship concerns.
The musical and poetic selections suggested for each workshop are better-suited to the “baby boom” generation and older generations than they are for younger generations.
The creative games and activities may not suit certain adults’ preferred learning styles.
Sexual and reproductive health information, such as birth control and sexually transmitted disease prevention, is de-emphasized in this program compared with the other levels of Our Whole Lives. - Adaptability
- Each workshop contains main activities with extra activities suggested that can supplement or replace the main ones. The pacing of the sessions is flexible; they can be offered once per month, several may be grouped together for a weekend retreat, etc. Can be made more specific to Unitarian Universalism when used in conjunction with Sexuality and Our Faith for Adults.
- Unitarian Universalist Values
- When coupled with Sexuality and Our Faith: A Companion to Our Whole Lives for Adults, this curriculum helps Unitarian Universalist identify and live according to their sexual values within the context of Unitarian Universalist beliefs regarding sexuality. It readily draws upon the values of the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; acceptance of one another; and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
|
Curricula
