ABSTRACT:
Two ethnographic studies carried out between 2013 and 2019 revealed the naturalized presence of religious aspects in the teaching practice of Elementary school teachers. The aim of this essay is to reflect on the external (culture, historical context, and professional deontology) and internal factors (professional socialization and working conditions) to the teaching practice that contribute to the process of naturalizing the use of religious aspects as pedagogical and didactic resources. To do so, we started from a bibliographic analysis of French-Portuguese-Brazilian texts in history and in sociology of education that approach the issue of religion in the educational system. In addition, contributions from the theories of professional socialization and teaching professionalization were used to construct the argument. We concluded that the existing factors act in synergy and reinforce the possibility of using religious resources in public schools. This fact reveals a peculiarity not only of Brazilian education but of the Brazilian social configuration, in which religiousness is strongly present.
Keywords:
Teachers’ professional socialization; teaching practice; religion; religious resources