Gender and sexuality relations in the education of mathematics teachers: memories of school days and the need to de-invisibilize subjects

Abstract

The aim is to problematize the invisibility caused by cis-heteronormativity in non-conforming bodies in schools. This invisibility can compromise mathematics learning and affect the education of future teachers. Narratives are seen as living texts charged with polysemic feelings, so the data come from the autobiographical narratives of four Pedagogy students at a federal university in Northeastern Brazil. While writing reports during the course "Fundamentals and Methodology of Mathematics Teaching", these students recalled their experiences learning mathematics in school. This research is biographical-narrative, and analysis draws from a Bakhtinian enunciative-discursive perspective. The study navigates the strangeness and subjectivities of sexuality. It discusses educational literature that questions why things are as they are. The goal is to reflect on various types of Mathematics Education to reduce injustices and combat LGBTphobia. The autobiographical narratives reveal that being different is often perceived as negative and that prejudice in the form of jokes and teachers’ comments toward students. Students who are disrespected experience a constant feeling of inadequacy throughout their schooling. There is a pedagogy of sexuality in schools that legitimizes some identities and represses others that do not fit the cis-heteronormative standard. This dynamic fuels a "pedagogy of insult" and a "pedagogy of the closet," making people and issues invisible in the school environment.