Geografia das sexualidades: desafios e estranhamentos no contexto escolar

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the sayings about gender and sexuality of Geography teachers from Mato Grosso do Sul teaching network seeking a methodological theoretical dialogue with feminist epistemologies, Sexualities and Queer Studies. For this, a bibliographic survey was carried out on the constitution of Geography as a science in modernity and the emergence of genders and sexualities in the contemporary debates of this science, as well as analyzes of public educational policies since the emergence of the transversal theme Sexual orientation in the National Curriculum Parameters (PCN – in Portuguese) up to the current version of the National Curricular Common Base (BNCC – in Portuguese). Semi-structured questionnaires were also applied with 15 teachers from the public network of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and Indirect conversations were held with 4 of these education professionals. As a result, it is noticeable that there is an erasure of genders and sexualities in the production of Geography of modernity and that still appears nowadays. Public educational policies, recently, have been muted in terms of gender and sexuality, as a consequence, mainly, of the idea of an asexual school, where these themes become invisible and thorny, and also the advance of the conservatism in Brazil, driven by the “School without a party” and groups more conservative in the Legislature Power. The teachers participating in the research point to a lack in their training with regard to discussions about gender and sexuality, fundamentally, in the Geography course at the Federal University of Grande Dourados, as it is the training institution for most respondents. However, there is a predisposition of these teachers when dealing with gender and sexuality at school, especially the fight against homo/transphobias present in the school context, and in civil society in general. Finally, the teachers name that there is a possibility for the teaching of Geography to become an ally to the teaching-learning and combating prejudice, based on daily life and experiences of all students, including LGBTQIA+ people.