Gender awareness in teacher education

Abstract

In order to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable education, this paper reflects on the need to include gender awareness in Science Teacher Education. This research outlines an embodied and inclusive approach to Elementary Science Education in Teacher Education, based on the literature review, namely in what concerns Gender issues in Elementary Science Education Curricula and Sex Education Curricula, as well as on situated case studies that evidence gender inequalities in elementary schools and the challenges faced by pre-service and in-service Elementary School Teachers regarding these inequalities. The approach here proposed queers binary categorizations: i) emphasizing the integration of cognition and emotion, in an embodied approach; ii) questioning the “natural” heteronormativity and the sex/gender binaries, in a more inclusive attitude. In this work, it is argued that such science (and sex) education approaches should support the development of sexual identity, including the development of gender identity, this way also supporting the development of inclusion and equity in schools and in society.