Resistance and opposition to sexual education content in free textbooks in Mexico: 1974 and 2006

Abstract

SANDOVAL, Salvador Camacho  and  RANGEL, Yolanda Padilla. Resistance and opposition to sexual education content in free textbooks in Mexico: 1974 and 2006. Rev. Bras. Hist. Educ [online]. 2021, vol.21, e171.  Epub Feb 07, 2021. ISSN 2238-0094.  https://doi.org/10.4025/10.4025/rbhe.v21.2021.e171.

The purpose of this article is to present and to analyze the thoughts and actions of conservative groups against government decisions regarding sexual education in free textbooks. Thence we describe two important events in Mexican contemporary history. First, the Luis Echeverría Álvarez presidency (1970-1976) changed the primary school syllabus and included sexual education content in Natural Sciences books. Second, the Vicente Fox Quezada presidency (2000-2006) reformed secondary education and published free textbooks financed and approved by the Public Educational Secretary (SEP for its acronyms in Spanish). We describe the educational content and analyze the uncomforted expressions and resistance from the opposite groups, as well as the obtained results. Due to the public nature and ideologic content, in addition to their uniqueness and compulsoriness, textbooks have been immersed in several debates among intellectuals and academics along with social and political conflicts in which diverse actors pursue different socio-political goals. Sometimes this historical opposition transforms into a social movement. For each event, we present some examples of this resistance in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Keywords : educational policy; sexual education; textbooks; ideological debate.

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