Manifestations of Sexism in Science Classes as a Result of Humor as a Pedagogical Strategy

Abstract

This article aims to understand how relations are constituted in the emergence of sexism in Elementary School Science classes through humor as a pedagogical strategy. The methodology consisted of a bricolage engendered by educational ethnography and discourse analysis elements. The ethnographic tools used were immersive observation, dense description and semi-structured interviews. An eighth-grade class was followed for ten months, and, in eighteen classes, the teacher used humor as a pedagogical strategy, reverberating in events marked by sexism. The dense description of these classes underwent a reading highlighted by principles of discourse analysis inspired by Foucault. It was observed that, once established in classes, sexism promotes a series of effects on subjects and power relations marked by sexual dimorphism, the rivalry between the feminine and masculine and the superiority of the masculine over the feminine. The conditions inherent to manifestations of sexism are linked to teaching action, and the effects produced on subjects are beyond the teacher’s control and can cause, for example, embarrassment. In this way, the article contributes to the debate on the denaturalization of gender issues in the presence of humor as a pedagogical strategy in Science classes.

Keywords

• humor
• sexism
• gender
• teacher training