Introduction

“In this country, children were being eroticized through public policy.” This statement was made in 2022 by Damares Alves, Brazil’s Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights at the time. It summarizes a discourse that has gained strength in Brazilian society over the last decade: the idea that topics related to gender and sexuality in schools present a “threat” to children and their families.

The advancement of this conservative agenda has led to the polarization of issues related to gender and sexuality and strengthened political pressures that increase insecurity among education professionals. Teachers have begun to be questioned, threatened, and targeted in their workplaces.

Motivated by this context, I started a master’s research project with the following research question: How has political polarization affected the behavior of sex education teachers in São Paulo’s municipal school system?^[1] To understand how this political climate reaches the teachers, I interviewed 20 Science teachers from elementary schools in the São Paulo municipal system. The interviews were semi-structured and conducted in nine schools located in areas with different electoral outcomes in the 2022 presidential election.

Context

“Because when you say that girls wear pink and boys wear blue, you are creating space for exclusion, misogyny, and prejudice. So, regarding our practices here, we kept talking about it, but with greater caution.” – Science teacher from a school in the North Zone of São Paulo.

The gender backlash is fueled by a global anti-gender movement that challenges what it calls “gender ideology.” In Brazil, two movements, Escola Sem Partido (School Without Party) and the Evangelical Parliamentary Front (both created in the early 2000s) are part of this campaign. Both groups still have significant representation in Congress. Through dissemination of fake news and documents warning against the “early sexualization” of children, they have created a moral panic around sex education in schools. Their lobbying has been so effective that in 2017 the terms “gender” and “sexual orientation” were removed from the country’s main educational guidelines.

Despite what such conservative movements seek to restrict or censor, the topic of sexuality in schools is part of sexual rights, and therefore human rights. The main objective of sex education, according to UNESCO^[2], is to provide the necessary tools for young people to be able to make responsible and ethical choices regarding their bodies and relationships. Furthermore, according to “Sexual rights, reproductive rights and contraceptive methods”, published in 2006 by the Ministry of Health, sexual rights include the right to fully experience one’s sexuality without fear, shame, guilt, or false beliefs. Despite these national and international guidelines, conservative rhetoric has caused a widespread sense of fear and insecurity among teachers when addressing sex education in the classroom.

During Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign, he frequently used the rhetoric about “gender ideology” in schools. Damares Alves stated that she would create a channel for dissatisfied parents to report teachers who were allegedly threatening the “values of the traditional family.” A “culture war” was launched in which teachers and universities could be portrayed as the “enemies.” In this sense, the global context of gender backlash and the rhetoric about gender ideology contributed to political polarization in Brazilian society, dividing people between those aligned with the president’s ideological agenda and those who were not.

Preliminary Results

“Because we’re not just facing fathers and mothers; we’re facing religion and the political state as well. That’s where the confrontation lies. The more we rely on the curriculum to support what we do in class, the better.” – Science teacher from a school in the South Zone of São Paulo.

The interviews revealed different coping strategies and adaptations to the political pressures present in Brazil. The preliminary results show that out of the 20 interviewees, 15 (75%) perceived a climate of political polarization in the school environment. The teachers were divided into three categories: “no change,” “restriction of discretionary practices,” and “continuity under pressure.”

(Photo created by author)

• No change: 5 teachers (25%) did not notice political polarization in their school environment and therefore did not change their practices.
• Restriction of discretionary practices: 6 teachers (30%) reported limiting their practices and avoiding certain topics to prevent heated debates or emotionally stressful situations.
• Continuity under pressure: 9 teachers (45%) mentioned that they did not directly change their practices, despite noticing a “tension in the air.”

Teachers who reported the “restriction of discretionary practices” used expressions such as “self-censoring,” “being careful,” and “fear” when referring to addressing topics related to gender and sexuality in the classroom. Sex education depends largely on the teachers’ discretion and their ability to address the variety of questions and expressions of sexuality among children and adolescents. Therefore, limiting these discussions directly affects the quality of sex education.

Regarding “continuity under pressure,” the reports indicate that maintaining current practices were facilitated by support from the curriculum and/or the school administration. This shows that the official curriculum of the municipality of São Paulo has played a central role in teachers’ work, functioning as a form of institutional protection. In contexts of pressure, such as when they were questioned by students or their families about the content of the classes, many teachers relied on the argument that the curriculum made these topics mandatory to legitimize their practices.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that perception of political polarization can affect teachers’ behavior. When discretionary practices are restricted, sex education classes are further fragmented and undermined. Conversely, some teachers continuing their practices suggests that there are support structures, like the national curriculum and local school administration, which teachers can rely on when under pressure. These results highlight the importance of institutional structures in contexts of high political polarization^[3].

Although the current Lula III administration has resumed collaboration between federal entities and reaffirmed respect for national and international guidelines regarding gender and sex education, there is still a widespread sense of caution about addressing these topics in the classroom. Strengthening coordination across levels of government and expanding public policies related to sex education – both inside and outside schools – are among the main paths toward rebuilding educational policy.

At the same time, it is essential to recognize and support teachers who, even under threats, continue to work toward a critical, ethical form of sex education committed to human rights. Teachers are fundamental to protecting the rights of children and adolescents, and they stand on the front line in times of political polarization.

^[1] This research is part of my dual degree program: I completed the first year of my master’s at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil, and my second year is being carried out at IDS.

^[2] https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000183281

^[3] The research is still ongoing, and the profiles of the schools according to the electoral results will still be correlated with the results obtained in the interviews, further expanding the understanding of the effect of political polarization on the behavior of education professionals in the country. Furthermore, it should be noted that São Paulo is a city with a more progressive curriculum; in addition, the study was limited to a sample of only nine schools. Therefore, it is not possible to generalize the results.

Cover photo by Palácio do Planalto (Carolina Antunes), via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/51178866@N04/49051596106/. Cropped.

Disclaimer 

The views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of IDS.