O trabalho docente na perspectiva de gênero e a especificidade da precarização: um estudo sobre a docência na educação infantil e ensino fundamental I na rede municipal de Uberlândia/MG (2021-2025)

Abstract

This doctoral thesis, developed within the Graduate Program in Education (PPGED) at the Federal University of Uberlândia, and linked to the research line Work, Society, and Education, focuses on the analysis of the work of female teachers in public Basic Education, specifically in Early Childhood Education and the early years of Elementary Education, from a gender perspective and considering the specificities of labor precarization. By selecting the precarization of teaching work as its object of investigation, the study raises the following questions: Is teaching work surrounded by professional devaluation due to social elements related to gender domination? Is this devaluation justified by the fact that teaching is a predominantly female occupation? The general objective is to reflect on the precarization of teaching work in public Basic Education from a gender perspective and to identify the interwoven relationships in this process that negatively affect the quality and improvement of education. The specific objectives are: to examine the nature and specificity of teaching work in the context of capitalism; to analyze the history of women’s participation in labor and the constitution of gender; to identify gender representations in teaching throughout history; and to investigate female teachers’ perceptions of gender representations within the teaching profession in the municipal public school system of Uberlândia from 2024 onwards. The research adopts the historical-dialectical materialist method, aiming to develop a critical and contextualized analysis capable of revealing the dynamics and power relations that underpin the precarization of teaching work in Basic Education from a gender perspective. Methodologically, this is a qualitative, exploratory study, grounded in a literature review on teaching from a gender perspective and in documentary analysis, using Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough) as its theoretical reference. The research technique consisted of administering a questionnaire with open-ended questions to three female teachers from the municipal school system of Uberlândia, working in Early Childhood Education and the early years of Elementary Education, during the period from 2024 to 2025.