What does this research mean for the field?

Polish preschool teachers negotiate the weakly institutionalized expectations of early childhood sexuality education by utilizing fluid positionings—such as the Moral Guardian, Withdrawn Teacher, Responsibility-Shifting Teacher, and Cautious Professional—to manage uncertainty, parental scrutiny, and institutional ambiguity. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.CONFIRMATORY. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how preschool teachers describe and negotiate professional responsibility when responding to sexuality-related questions and behaviors in early childhood settings characterized by weak institutionalization and public contestation.

September 2, 2026Sex Education

Negotiating professional responsibility in early childhood sexuality education: Polish preschool teachers’ accounts

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Authors

MJMarta JurczykUniversity of Gdańsk KWKornelia WentaUniversity of Gdańsk

Discussion

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals four distinct professional positionings in preschool teachers handling early sexuality education, highlighting the need for institutional guidance and shared responsibility.

Key Points

To examine how preschool teachers describe and negotiate professional responsibility when responding to sexuality-related questions and behaviors in early childhood settings characterized by weak institutionalization and public contestation.
Conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with preschool teachers (N=10) in Poland.
Applied thematic analysis to evaluate how professional tensions, moral considerations, and institutional expectations shape teaching practices.
Identified four recurrent interpretive positionings: the Moral Guardian, the Withdrawn Teacher, the Responsibility-Shifting Teacher, and the Cautious Professional.
Observed that teachers deploy these positionings to navigate uncertainty, anticipated parental scrutiny, and a systemic environment where handling sexuality is expected yet insufficiently legitimised.

Cite This Study

Jurczyk et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a97e318c562ede874ec7aa9 https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2026.2726312

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Implication

Qualitative study reveals four distinct professional positionings in preschool teachers handling early sexuality education, highlighting the need for institutional guidance and shared responsibility.

Negotiating professional responsibility in early childhood sexuality education: Polish preschool teachers’ accounts

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Negotiating professional responsibility in early childhood sexuality education: Polish preschool teachers’ accounts

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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