Gender relations and sexual diversity at school: teaching in the minimization of preconceptions in times of “gender ideology”

Abstract

The current debate on gender and sexual diversity very much beckons for society’s reading of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transsexual (LGBT) people. In a time of conservatism and “gender ideology” as a category of moral panic, we focus on a case study, whose data were obtained through a semi-structured interview, to discuss the teaching challenge in the face of these disputes and controversies, for the realization of education practices focused on gender and sexual diversity in school. As main results, it was possible to perceive the prejudice caused by the conservative thought to the teaching work that intends to discuss gender and sexuality. Through the resistance offered by fathers and mothers, by their work colleagues, the school does not fulfill its function of welcoming all, since teachers are thought as instructors and not as teachers, damaging the criticality that must permeate the teaching-learning processes pertinent to the school environment. In this bias, training courses (initial and/or continuous) can function as tools for teachers to rethink their practices, developing critical thinking and creating a school that is also more critical and based on citizenship and human rights, making teachers become agents of social transformation as a means of combating the conservative ideal.