Religion, teacher training and gender socialization

Abstract

This article discusses the interface between religion, teacher training and gender socialization of a group of students enrolled in a pedagogy course in a federal institution in the south of Brazil. The data were collected through written surveys distributed from 2012 to 2014 to a group of students who started their course in 2012. The survey was intended to identify their socioeconomic profile, the reason for choosing the pedagogy course and their habits concerning their religious practices. The next step was an interview with six of these students, five considered religious and one without such practices. The analysis had as basis Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and Setton’s concept of hybrid habitus and socialization. It revealed three views concerning gender production and sexual orientation and identity: a) the naturalization of gender differences; b) the recognition of social impositions but also the heavy value attributed to biologic determination; c) the understanding of gender as a social construct. Considering a variety of non-complementary socializing agents, the norms of behavior and conduct advocated by different religions are greatly valued and define which views can be assimilated during teacher training and which ones are refused, thus constituting a habitus with hybrid dispositions, sometimes secular, sometimes religious.