Gênero e sexualidades: abordagem crítica na formação de docentes de ciências biológicas

Abstract

The themes of sexualities and gender relations have had great notoriety today through the media, academic research, the demands of social movements, political disputes and school curricula. Between biologicist tendencies and other broader ones, education for sexualities and gender issues has been a challenge for all levels of education, from early childhood education to higher education. In this context, it is important that Science and Biology teachers understand the importance of socializing the knowledge related to bodies, genders, and sexualities in their richest and most developed forms, in the artistic, philosophical, and scientific fields for the realization of their pedagogical practice. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the conceptions of students and graduates of a Biological Sciences course about the Gender and Sexualities theme. In order to do só, this qualitative research relied on the application of a questionnaire and on interviews with the participants, students from a public university in Paraná. As an educational product, a “Glossary of Inclusive Terms” was elaborated with the intention of contributing to the initial formation of Biology and Natural Sciences teachers. The results of the research indicate that, despite some difficulties, most of the participants remained engaged in the attempt to work on Gender and Sexuality issues in their classes. It was noticed that the participants presented some weaknesses when dealing with the issues of Gender and Sexuality in the school environment, for not understanding the reality of the theme linked to hegemonic issues as a product of labor relations and of the way in which we produce life, presenting difficulties in associating the issues of gender and sexuality to the constitutive spheres of social being. The importance of disciplines that address Gender Relations and Sexualities and their potential contributions to an initial formation where teachers would rethink their visions, discourses and practices associated with sexuality, questioning common sense and social constructions based on biological differences, is highlighted. It is believed, therefore, in a critical teacher training, based on the possibility of changes, understanding that these are elaborated, evidenced, produced, appropriated and overcome by teachers committed to education and its role in social transformation.