THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON THE PROCESSES OF MEANING OF TEACHERS' GENDER CONCEPTIONS

This article discusses part of the results of a master's research on the gender conceptions of early childhood education teachers carried out at a Brazilian federal university. The objective of this qualitative study was to analyze the influence of religion in the production of meanings of gender conceptions of early childhood education teachers. Cultural Psychology was adopted as a theoretical perspective with assumptions of Dialogical Self and Positioning Theories. Data were produced through narrative interviews of life stories and analyzed using the Dialogic Thematic Analysis Method, through which recurrent themes and subthemes were identified in the narratives. The results indicated the strong presence of religion as a constitutive element of the teachers' gender conceptions and pointed to the significant influence of these conceptions on their pedagogical practices. Such findings point to the need for the school to have occasions that allow for debate and reflection on the impacts that pedagogical practices based on religious values can generate in the general education of students and the necessary reformulation of teacher training courses on this subject.