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Despite a substantial body of research on young people's wishes about the content and delivery of sex and relationships education (SRE), studies still indicate dissatisfaction with the way lessons are provided. This discussion takes place in a public health context where young people's sexual activity is viewed negatively as a risk to health, and advice focusses on the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. This focus on risk clashes with cultural representations of sexuality, and particularly male sexuality, which focus on pleasure and risk taking. In this paper, we present insights from workshops provided by a local charity to boys aged 14–15 in a school in one of the most deprived areas in Edinburgh, Scotland. We held four focus groups with a total of 20 boys and interviewed the workshop providers and the school guidance teacher. The boys valued having men from outside school talking to them about sex and relationships in ways that made them feel respected. They were keen to learn more about relationships, highlighting the need to focus on how SRE is delivered to young working class men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Curriculum for Excellence and new National Qualifications offer innovative reform, based on widely supported ideas and aims, for Scottish preschool, primary and secondary education levels. 'Objectives and syllabuses' for science are replaced by 'experiences and outcomes'. Most strikingly, central prescription makes way for teacher autonomy in preparing young people to be responsible citizens as well as successful learners. This leads to diversity of provision and some uncertainties, with schools and parents recognising practical implementation problems. The success of the innovations should be enhanced by collaboration between different education sectors and the introduction of independent evaluation. The Government has, so far, resisted the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this invited piece, Sally Brown provides a personal perspective on where applied educational research in Scotland has come from over the last few decades and the challenges it currently faces. The paper draws on the direct involvement of the author in a number of major research projects, either as a researcher directly involved in data gathering and analysis, or as an adviser on important programmes of research. The paper outlines the expectations of research of policy-makers, practitioners, and of researchers themselves, before charting some attempts at collaboration among Scottish institutions in the production of educational research. The key issue of capacity building in order to produce high quality research is discussed in the context of the merger of the former teacher education colleges with universities. Some of the challenges to capacity building are identified, including institutional policy and practices and the commitment and enthusiasm of the current workforce. A major challenge is sustaining the collaborative practices which AERS has attempted to foster. In a globalised environment, the added value of Scottish higher education institutions working together seems to be self-evident. The paper asks us critically to examine this assumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion of the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA). It mentions that the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) played a major role in establishing the Association. The Council's Director and Deputy Director, Bryan Dockrell and Gerry Pollock put forward the proposal for the Association and subsequently provided the administrative and secretarial backup for SERA in the SCRE office. It questions if the Association is too oriented towards teacher education research, too parochial or too clannish.

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the UK. Recent studies suggest that in addition to the genital tract, C. trachomatis is found in the throat and rectum, suggesting the number of infections is under-reported. There is an urgent need to study the impact of extending diagnosis to include extra-genital samples; however, there is a lack of evidence on the acceptability of asking young women to provide these samples., Method: A mixed methods single group feasibility study explored the acceptability of combined genital and extra-genital testing in young women aged 16-25 years consecutively attending a sexual health centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. Young women were asked to complete a self- administered anonymous questionnaire whether they would be willing to give self-taken throat and ano-rectal samples. Interviews with women (n = 20) willing to self-sample were conducted before and after self-sampling, and these explored the underlying reasons behind their decision, and feelings about the tests., Results: Of 500 women recruited to the study, 422 (84.4%) women provided sufficient data for analysis. From completed questionnaires, 86.3% of respondents reported willingness to self-sample from the throat. Willingness of ano-rectal self-sampling was lower (59.1%), particularly in women under 20 (< 20 years: 44.4%; ≥20 years, 68.2%). Willingness of ano-rectal self-sampling was higher in women who had more sexual partners in the last 6 months (0 partners, 48.3%, n = 14, 3 or more partners, 67.4%, n = 60) and in those who have previous experience of a positive test for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) (positive: 64.5%; negative: 57%). Interviewed women suggested that a lack of knowledge of STIs, embarrassment and lack of confidence in the ability to carry out the sampling were barriers towards acceptability., Conclusions: In this study, self-sampling of throat samples is largely acceptable; however, the acceptability of taking an ano-rectal sample for C. trachomatis testing in young women was lower in younger women. The study suggests further research to investigate the acceptability of extra-genital testing as an addition to routine C. trachomatis testing, and whether this increases detection and prevents infective sequelae for women.