Artefatos educativos contemporâneos: Sex Education e a educação em tempos de conservadorismo

Abstract

In line with Foucauldian-inspired poststructuralist perspectives, gender studies, and cultural pedagogies, we understand that educational processes extend beyond formal school spaces (Andrade, 2017; Magalhães, 2017; Maknamara 2020). Considering TV series as environments for the circulation of knowledge and the production of subjectivities, this study seeks to analyze Sex Education (2019-2023) as a cultural artifact, exploring its discussions on sexuality and diversity education. The objective is to answer the question: how does the analysis of the series Sex Education, as a cultural artifact, allow us to problematize the relationships between gender, sexuality, and education? In a context of growing conservatism that affects public policies and schools, we understand gender and sexuality as cultural, social, and historical discursive productions (Foucault, 1988; Scott, 1995) that are constantly disputed by the institutions that surround us. Methodologically, we adopted screen ethnography to analyze episodes from the second and third seasons, investigating the discourses mobilized by the production. Through them, we discuss what the series defines as the role of the school in various educational processes. This thesis contributes to discussions on school and non-school curricula, the processes of bodily discipline that take place in schools, and public and institutional violence directed at gender. We also discuss the pedagogical limitations of audiovisual productions, highlighting marketing and distribution issues. The scope of the study took into account the researcher's own subjectivity and her reactions to the series' narratives, in dialogue with the previously selected theoretical concepts and approaches.