The traditional relationship that has been constructed between gender and biological sex has been characterized by a mimetic perception between the two concepts, in which gender seems to reflect sex, or at least to be limited by it. This issue has given rise to reflections, questions, and criticisms that try to identify how it is expressed in different social contexts, such as schools. In this sense, this research explores the views of secondary school biology teachers on the concepts of sex and gender. To this end, an exploratory qualitative study was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Colombian and Mexican teachers and interpreted using discourse analysis. It is concluded that there is a weak differentiation between the concepts of sex and gender, a perception of neutrality of school biology with regard to identity construction, and a deterministic perspective of biology with regard to gender.Arévalo, Daniel & Peñaloza, Gonzalo. (2024). Exploring Gender Constructs: Colombian and Mexican Biology Teachers’ Perspectives. Science & Education. 1-23. 10.1007/s11191-024-00516-0.
Exploring Gender Constructs: Colombian and Mexican Biology Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. D. F. G. Arvalo, G. Pealoza
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1 3Well, I think that the Catholic faith in our country, and in Latin America in general, has created a very strong barrier to the development of ideas about what is correct and within the norm, and therefore they are the ones who have constructed most of the taboos about what cannot be talked about outside the norm. (Sonia, interview 2)The main challenge identified by some teachers in this scenario is the emergence of a dichotomy in which anything that deviates from the norm is branded as socially inappropri-ate and negatively stigmatised.In society there is a very strong definition or limitation of what is in a drawer, because there are drawers, mental drawers about what is a woman and what is a man. I think that, at least in Mexican society today, we cannot break them or see beyond them. (Anglica, interview 2)According to the teachers, their contexts have propagated the notion that the norm goes beyond a mere set of communal living rules, but rather includes religious constructs or
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I think that we, or at least I, have had the idea that there are certain colours for men and women, and certain toys, and that everything that is for girls is not for boys and vice versa. That is exactly what we were taught, I mean it is not something innate, it is something learned. (Elizabeth, interview 2)Finally, teachers claim that acts of monitoring and reinforcing gender roles are not alien to the school environment; conversely, they claim that these ideas are sometimes reinforced in the classroom.First, we associate that boys are the experimental ones, they are the ones who have the possibility to take risks, they are the ones who have the right to make mistakes and to start again, they are the ones who dare. Whereas the girl is the one who writes it down in her notebook, the one who does the formatting, the one we make do the grid, the one who takes the report of the experiment, the one who does the less risky task. (Anglica, i
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However, they express a sense of being overwhelmed by the pre-vailing situation and often adopt a passive stance as recipients of these entrenched ideas.4.3 The Conflict of Dealing with Issues of Sex and Gender in the ClassroomThe majority of participating educators acknowledged their constraints in addressing issues related to gender diversity in the classroom. As a result, they actively seek alternatives to circumvent potential questions from school authorities or parents. As an illustrative exam-ple, Alberto adopts a strategy of allowing students to initiate discussions and propose top-ics related to gender, but within the limits of what he considers relevant.It depends on the interest of the students, if I have time to go back to the subject I try to deal with it, but if the questions are complicated it is better not to go too much in depth because then the stu
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