INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT
From Classroom to Community: A Study of the Multi-Level Impacts of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education School Subject in Madagascar through Collaborative Filmmaking
Through Collaborative Filmmaking, a participatory visual research methodology, CSE teachers in Madagascar's rural public middle schools documented how the subject can positively transform a school community
August 2026
The Starting Point
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programs are often evaluated for their effects on individual students — changes in knowledge, attitudes, or behavior. But what happens at the school level, and beyond? How does a CSE program shape the broader environment in which students learn, and how do those changes actually come about?
In Brief
This report addresses that question in the context of rural Madagascar, where government teachers are delivering CSE in public middle schools for the first time.
To answer it, we used collaborative filmmaking (CFM), a participatory research methodology that positions practitioners as co-researchers rather than research subjects. Ten CSE teachers created short films documenting the impact that they observed in their schools, generating evidence that is rooted in lived experience.
Key Takeaways
→ Change unfolds at multiple, interconnected levels: students gain confidence, communication skills, and motivation; teachers evolve their professional practices; parents become more active in their children's development; and communities benefit from a ripple effect that extends well beyond the classroom.
→ These transformations are driven by a set of reinforcing mechanisms — including trust-based relationships, peer support, stigma reduction, and a diffusion effect that carries learning from school into homes and communities.
BLOG POST
Collaborative Filmmaking: How Short Films Created Major Impact
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by Tahina Ramarolahy
The short films made by CSE teachers in the Haute Matsiatra region, produced through a collaborative filmmaking methodology, held an unexpected surprise.
Originally designed as an innovative research tool, these films ended up making a major contribution to the success of our national scale-up.
Discover Other Resources
“My life would not be the same”: A qualitative, retrospective evaluation of the post-programme outcomes of an in-school comprehensive sexuality education programme in Madagascar
A retrospective study, published in Sex Education, into how PJL's CSE program shaped former learners’ lives a few years after they participated in the program
“Empowerment—Fulfilled, Free, and Strong”: Conceptualizing Youth Empowerment in Madagascar Using an Arts-Based Methodology
This study, published in Health Promotion Practice, shares results from our participatory research on what youth empowerment means in the Malagasy context, using the Visual Voices methodology.
From Classroom to Community: A Study of the Multi-Level Impacts of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education School Subject in Madagascar through Collaborative Filmmaking
Through Collaborative Filmmaking, a participatory visual research methodology, CSE teachers in Madagascar's rural public middle schools documented how the subject can positively transform a school community