Background: Sweden has had sex education in various forms in primary school for almost 70 years. Despite the long time and experience, shortcomings emerge that are noted by both students and teachers. In the summer of 2022, a new curriculum was introduced in Sweden that entailed major changes in the area of knowledge, Sexuality, Consent and Relationships.
Purpose: The purpose of the study is to gain increased knowledge about the secondary school teachers' experience, perceived competence and interest in the curriculum area Sexuality, Consent and Relationships.
Method: The study is a quantitative survey study conducted during the spring semester of 2023 with 57 responding secondary school teachers in Sörmland. The survey was sent out in the first stage at the start of the spring term and in order to increase the number of participants, a further mailing to more schools at the end of the spring term. A total of 425 teachers were reached by the survey.
Results: The results show that there is a clear difference between different subject teachers if they have carried out teaching in the knowledge area. There is also a correlation between the experience of conducting education and perceived competence, as well as professional interest and perceived competence. There is no correlation between perceived competence and having been offered training in the area of knowledge.
Conclusion It appears that there is still a large part of the teachers who do not feel that their competence in the field of knowledge is sufficient. Experience of teaching creates an increased sense of competence. However, it would be of great benefit to the students if the teachers were given the opportunity to increase their knowledge so that the security of keeping the education increases.