My Body Belongs to Me
: Interdisciplinary Approaches to ‘Sex Education’ in School Lessons

The #MeToo debate, Orange Day and the numerous reports of child welfare risks and domestic violence highlight the relevance of the topic of sex education. The issue of gender and sexual diversity also affects pupils in their everyday lives and at school. According to a study by IPSOS (2024), around 17% of 16–28-year-olds identify as queer. More than half of all queer children and young people report experiencing discrimination (ibid.). One in ten reports having been physically assaulted (cf. Krell & Oldemeier, 2015). Addressing gender and sexual diversity in the classroom can help to reduce this very discrimination (ibid.).

This demonstrates that sex education is highly relevant for trainee lecturers, as they will be responsible for the sex education of children and young people in their future careers, as the core curricula for biology, values and norms, and general studies also show. This also demonstrates that the topic of sex education cannot be viewed solely from a biological perspective, but is interwoven with pedagogical, social and philosophical issues and challenges. Section 96 of the NSchG therefore stipulates that sex education must take place across several subjects.

Our project aims to offer trainee teachers of all subjects the opportunity to expand their theoretical knowledge of sex education in schools, to put this into practice and to reflect on their experiences. The programme is structured into three parts: It begins with a panel discussion featuring representatives from schools, non-school education, universities and politics. This is followed by a series of talks, each with a discussion afterwards, which examine sex education from a wide variety of perspectives. Finally, a workshop provides an opportunity to put the theoretical knowledge gained into practice.

Lecture series & panel discussion:

The lecture series and panel discussion are aimed at trainee teachers of all subjects and school types, teachers, lecturers and anyone else interested. The lecture series and panel discussion can also be followed via livestream. You will find the link here a few days beforehand, or you can register by emailing: . The programme can be found at the bottom of the website.

Workshop:

The workshop is aimed at teacher training students across all subjects and school types. The knowledge gained on sex education can be directly applied to their own subject. Methods and materials from the Ethics Workshop are available to support this. The lesson plans you develop can then be trialled with pupils in the Ethics Workshop. Please register for the workshop by 3 July 2026 at

Dunne, M. (2024). Ipsos Pride Survey: Gen Zers most likely to identify as LGBT+. 2024. https://www.ipsos.com/de-at/ipsos-pride-umfrage-2024-angehorige-der-generation-z-identifizieren-sich-am-ehesten-als-lgbt

Krell, C., & Oldemeier, K. (with Müller, S.): Coming out—And then…?! A DJI research project on the living conditions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* adolescents and young adults. DJI, German Youth Institute. 2015

Lower Saxony School Act 2025. https://voris.wolterskluwer-online.de/browse/document/62638c18-3a2f-34f3-bbe8-44f5695c9307