Education, gender and sexuality: initial training and the challenges to overcome conservatism

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions of beginning teachers, graduates of the Pedagogy course at the Faculty of Education of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, about the influence of their training on how they handle issues of sexuality and gender in their daily teaching practice. The methodological procedures used included bibliographic research, documentary research, and narrative interviews with four novice teachers. The results pointed to the silencing of gender and sexuality issues in the National Common Curricular Base (Base Nacional Comum Curricular – BNCC), under the guise of a supposed neutrality. Regarding the novice teachers interviewed, it was noted that, although they confirmed that they had received quality training, their actions in school are not isolated; they are influenced by the curriculum, parents or guardians of the students, other teachers and academic coordinators, all of whom have their own beliefs and values and seek to legitimize them above the teaching work, without respecting the richness that difference brings.