Abstract:

In June 2013, a governmental agreement for the education to emotional and sexual life was adopted by the regional parliament of the French-speaking part of Belgium (Communauté française de Belgique, 2013). Its implementation in the secondary schools was however difficult. Teachers had various problems with teenagers presenting a negative attitude towards sexuality and linked knowledge. These facts are in accordance with the results of Andrien et al. (2003) which highlighted that, even if emotional and sexual education is one of the core tasks of the school, sharing information about this specific thematic with some teenagers is still often a disturbing educational action. Furthermore, it can be considered as intrusive by youths, especially when the group is characterized by a large diversity of cultures or religions. According to Desaulniers (1990), school is still often a rigid institution where the emotional and sexual education has no place. In order to create awareness among their pupils, the teachers need to be able to talk about sexuality without searching for words or without feeling guilty (El Feki, 2014). More creative options thus needed to be explored.

The idea of creating a board game as a learning support often emerges in the literature (Berry, 2011). But in this case, besides the passing on of the core concepts for the affective and sexual life, it was also essential that the instrument be elaborated in order to improve the communication with the youths. A game, called “Bingo sexo”, was therefore developed through an action-research project which associated the social team of a secondary school with a university research team. The research was conducted in two phases: the first one consists of the pedagogical elaboration of the game and the evaluation-adaptation of its content by various experts from the reproductive health sector (gynecologist, psychologist, welfare worker, school nurses …). The second step was centered on a more qualitative evaluation of the tool by the pupils themselves during test sessions. The acquisition of knowledge was also evaluated through a questionnaire proposed to the pupils before and after the gaming sessions (pre-test and post-test tools). Our results show that, having taken into account the feedback from professionals and from pupils, the final version of the game is now well-adapted for teenagers which age is between 12 and 14. It allows the teachers to have a positive experience of dialog and socialization with the youths when they have to gain critical knowledge about emotional and sexual life. Furthermore, a greater knowledge and a better understanding of the core concepts are attested by our analysis.

Keywords:

Board game as a learning support, emotional and sexual life knowledge, secondary education.