TEACHING EMPOWERMENT? POWER AND AGENCY IN SEXUALITY EDUCATION DISCOURSES IN THE CONTEXT OF HIV PREVENTION PROGRAMMES IN SOUTH AFRICA

Sexuality education is widely considered a pivotal component for HIV prevention responses for young people and a vehicle for youth empowerment in relation to their sexual identities and behaviours. However, there has been a lack of meaningful engagement between public health discourses and educational theories, and this gap has allowed the educational claims of empowerment discourses to go unquestioned. This conceptual paper, grounded in the South African context, provides a close reading of public health formulations of empowerment discourse through three broad theoretical framings of power and agency and their educational claims: liberal, neo-Marxist and post-structural. This theoretical thinking is applied to educational practice in the South African context in order to encourage discussion about how the promise of education requires making explicit underlying notions of power and agency. It is argued that this educational reading is critical for better responding to the diverse needs of young people as they negotiate their sexual identities and behaviours in the context of a life-threatening disease. The paper offers three potential research directions that could deepen our understanding of the possibilities and limitations of sexuality education as an HIV prevention initiative.