ENSINO RELIGIOSO NA ESCOLA PÚBLICA E OS DESAFIOS DA GESTÃO ESCOLAR: UM ESTUDO NO MUNICÍPIO DE VILA VELHA (ES)

Abstract

This study aimed to identify and analyze the challenges faced by educational management to promote Religious Education in public schools in the municipality of Vila Velha (ES). Justifying this study, it is understood that the social moment is one of intense transformations. However, it seems that society is not ready for the acceptance of rights that, for a long time, have been denied. The right to religious manifestations, for example, although legitimized since the Federal Constitution of 1988, there is still resistance and prejudice in one of the most religious countries in the world. The development of this study was based on the importance of addressing a type of prejudice present in Brazil, through complaints of prejudice and religious discrimination being increasingly recorded. The school is a training and transforming agent. It contains all manifestations of social problems. Given this, it is necessary to know them and understand their dimensions to develop strategies to overcome such obstacles. After all, it is at school that religion needs to be understood as a science, a necessity and an agent that promotes respect and conviviality. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the reasons for prejudice, discrimination and religious non-democracy, which are still common in public schools. Regarding the methodology adopted, the necessary steps involved: a) exploratory and descriptive research; b) bibliographic research; c) documentary research; d) field research; e) in-depth interview. With regard to religions, this study adopted an interreligious approach, considering that, for school management that intends to respect the secularity of Education, it is important to promote Religious Education, since it is fundamental to defend religious pluralism. For the collection of information, we chose to do interviews with teachers and managers of municipal schools in Vila Velha (ES), in which Elementary Education I and Elementary Education II are taught. The interviews were conducted with three professionals, being 1 manager and 2 teachers, who preferred not to identify themselves, nor to their respective teaching units – since they reported problems that occurred inside schools, throughout 2019, involving issues related to religious intolerance and/or difficulties to enforce the principle of secularism of the State, as well as to promote religious inclusion.