O processo de feminização do magistério no Brasil

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the process of feminization of teaching in Brazil, which intensified after the proclamation of the Republic in 1889. The change in the political regime fostered debates and the development of projects for the education of the masses, with the aim of preparing citizens for the challenges of urban life, for work, for the defense of the nation and for the exercise of the right to vote. In this sense, the creation of new schools – primary and secondary –, teacher training, teaching materials, curriculum and teaching methods were rethought by intellectuals and educators of the period with a view to achieving the aforementioned objective. Women, then, were called upon to take on the “mission” of preparing new generations of republican citizens, under the pretext of being naturally apt to exercise this role. The construction of femininity in society, therefore, generated implications for the work of female teachers in primary schools, which is what we seek to investigate. The article’s problematization was based on a reflection on the economic, social and political context of the period, which allowed those subjects to act in an attempt to face the dilemmas of their time. As a methodological approach, bibliographic research was used in books and articles on the object of study already described: the feminization of teaching. The research is justified by enabling a greater understanding of the historical construction of the Normal courses and the Pedagogy course in Brazil, which to this day are predominantly attended by women. As results achieved, it is possible to highlight the struggle of primary school teachers in Brazil for the social recognition of their profession, as well as the need for policies to value teaching that contribute to the affirmation of teachers as legitimate professionals in education.