THE DISPUTE OVER PUBLIC GENDER POLICIES IN THE CITY OF VIANA: BETWEEN PERCEPTIONS AND TEACHING ACTIONS

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the perceptions and actions of teachers who work in municipal and state schools in the municipality of Viana/ES on gender policies for education and identify the tensions provoked in the teaching activity and in public policies by the conservative movement called “gender ideology”. It is characterized as a qualitative, exploratory study, which used documentary sources, interviews with representatives of the Municipal Council of Education and a survey instrument with 45 teachers from the municipality of Viana. The data reveal that in this municipality the conservative project so-called “gender ideology” had repercussions in the Legislative Chamber as a bill, but it was not successful. The term gender does not appear in the Municipal Education Plan, however the plan seeks to protect respect for diversity and non-violence and non-discrimination in the development strategies of its goals. In the schools surveyed, the teachers who say they carry out gender actions mostly do so through the contents of their disciplines. Furthermore, the precarious teacher training in the researched area, the difficulties related to religiosity and the secular nature of the school, as well as the teachers' lack of time are elements that limit the pedagogical and political treatment of these themes in school routines. All these difficulties may indicate reasons for the difficulty in understanding the concepts of gender and “gender ideology”.