Gender and sexuality in the official high school curriculum: Initial considerations on Brazil and the U.S.A.

Abstract

The youths increasingly constitute multiple ways of existing and present diversified demands to schools. However, many scientific pieces of research have pointed out some impasses between students and High Schools. Thus, there are many challenges to the curricula and educational policies. In this scenario in Brazil, the denominated High School Reform, which through Law 13.415/17 imposes a series of regulations on education at that stage of teaching, is taking place. The coup government tries to convince that this measure will modernize the curriculum by praising it in several advertisements. By doing so, the government restricts the analysis and discloses that a centralized compulsory standardized unique: Common National Curriculum Base – BNCC. In the BNCC version approved in 2018, gender diversity and sexuality are mentioned only once among the 154 pages planned for high schools. Such exclusion, which is already severely denounced in researches, represents an unprecedented setback. A risk of building a fairer society without prejudice, discrimination, violence, violations, and inequalities. In the United States, Common Core State Standards (CCCS) is no mention of the discussion of gender and sexuality. Therefore, it is important to consider how specifically the state of Illinois deliberates on its curriculum issues. Given this situation, it is interesting to note two important findings. The first is that the state of Illinois confirms its adherence to CCSS, which is presented in full, composing the curriculum documentation available on the Illinois State Board of Education website. The second finding is that although the CCSS excludes the discussion of gender and sexuality, of all the numerous extensions systematized by the state of Illinois, two of them directly concern what is analyzed in this paper; the obligation of the Study of the History of Women and the inclusion of the discussion on sexuality and sexuality education in the Physical Education/Health Learning field.This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.Ope