As someone interested in US/UK schooling and our similarities and differences, I found this edition to include a good historical overview of sex education and state-mandated curricula that has mirrored each era's social norms. In addition to the historical background, the authors don critical lenses when revising language to be used to discuss young children ("learners" not "pupils") and language to discuss "sex ed," which they deftly argue should be called "relationship and sex ed" for the simple reason that relationships should come before sex. The authors' critical attention to word-level language usage (and to the Dept. of Education and Employment's omissions) at the beginning of the volume is a sample of what's to come, as they challenge heteronormative views of sex and sexuality in schools as well as outdated moralistic teachings that student participants reported. In fact, the authors state explicitly that the book came about as a response to students' dissatisfaction with the quality or lack of Sex and Relationship Education in schools in England.What I most appreciated about the authors' critical stance is that they are able to articulate in quite readable prose the complexities of teaching children in public schools about relationships, sex and sexuality. Not only are a series of value systems in play--individual teachers, students families, schools and communities--but also the cultural shifts that have taken place in regard to sexual norms and behaviors, as well as media influence in shaping attitudes. The complex web that the authors make visible helps us to see, as readers and teachers, that "teaching sex ed" involves deep interpersonal skills, a "pedagogy of being brave," a "pedagogy of listening," and a strong sense of self and of others. If a teacher is to discuss "intimacy, pleasure, and enjoyment" in regard to sex and relationships, she needs to be okay with these concepts herself.The student voices in the book shine through, and the authors make the theoretical practical through case studies and scenarios that bring everything back to the classroom and the learners at hand. Discussion of body image, gender norms, transsexuality, and heteronormativity are especially impressive and enlightening.