Homens na Educação Infantil: o que pensam as diretoras sobre isso?

Abstract

This research aimed to know the representations of Child Education school principals concerning male teachers/assistants, in order to identify what the principals think about the male presence in the school environment as well as check whether the inclusion of such men is either facilitated or hampered at this professional space. The referential background is based on studies on gender and maleness. In this work gender is understood as the social, cultural and linguistic constructions which identify what would be more appropriate for each sex, with such constructions being marked in the bodies implicating a process of differentiation between men and women. The maleness is understood, according to Connell (1995), as configurations of practices towards positions which the men occupy in gender relationships. The research was carried out with principals from five Child Education schools located in the city of Pelotas – RS, which have in their staff male teachers or assistants. As an instrument for data production, a semi-structured interview was used. The data analysis was grouped in some main themes: the school organization and the inclusion of male teachers in this space; the existing relationships between male and female teachers and the division of tasks; the relationships between the parents, the children and the teachers; as well as some notes on what makes male teachers to be away from Child Education. The results indicate that there is a division of tasks between teachers and assistants and this is intensified when the professionals are men, as they hardly perform tasks involving body contact with the children. Besides this, data point out that there is a good relationship between the children and male teachers, quite opposite to what happens in the relationship with the fathers, in which the professionals are most often regarded with mistrust. Concerning the distance of male teachers from Child Education, the principals refer to three possible reasons: low salaries, the relationship of the teachers with “maternagem”, and finally the suspicion concerning the teachers’ sexuality. Thus, based on this research, it is possible to understand, according to what has been said by the principals, the relationships permeating the work of men at Child Education schools and how this reflects in daily practices, mainly in the division of tasks from one to another gender. The present work also enabled being aware of how themes such as gender, sexuality and maleness are present in the interactions between parents, children, female and male teachers in the school environment. Finally, the research raised new questions, such as: what do children think of male teachers? How are the relationships between the children and teachers carried out? Such questions shall be investigated in future researches.