Health & Physical Education, Interpersonal Development and Personal Learning Resources

Teachers at schools with significant Muslim student populations have found that Health and Personal Development topics such as Alcohol, Sex Education and Drugs must be adapted to include these students and to take into account their cultural sensitivities. Some teacher suggestions for accomplishing this follow:

Alcohol: This could be discussed from a cultural perspective, for instance a teacher with an Italian background introduced her own experiences of being socialised as a child into the Italian cultural practices of drinking wine with food, by being given wine mixed with water. This is also a chance to investigate and refute stereotypes, for instance the pervasive media image of the “Aussie” drinker. (Click here for more resources.) Exploring the linguistic origins of the English word “alcohol” could be educational for students as many would be surprised to find that its etymology lies in Arabic. See http://dictionary.reference.com

Teachers need to be aware too that when organising work experience placements for Muslim students interested in employment in the hospitality sector, these students may have preferences for environments where no alcohol is served.

Drug Education: Visit the Victorian Department of Education & Training website for upcoming information on engaging parents of culturally diverse students in processes of drug education: http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/druged/schools/projects.htm.   The Australian Drug Foundation Drug Info Clearning House offers multicultural resources that school staff can download for use: http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/multicultural/

Sex Education: A question box could be used, thus ensuring student anonymity. Before playing films and videos in class teachers should consider whether what is being portrayed on screen is at odds with the students’ own sense of morality. For instance in one class in Melbourne a teacher found that her Year 10 female students from an Arabic-speaking background were uncomfortable watching sex scenes in Muriel’s Wedding in a mixed sex class.

The Royal Women’s Hospital, Melbourne hosts WellWomen’s Website, a site with information about upcoming events, health fact sheets, newsletters, contacts, library resources and a separate section for young mothers. Information on this site is available in many languages including Arabic:
http://www.rwh.org.au/wellwomens/index.cfm?doc_id=2278

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