Laicidade e formação de professores de ensino religioso: uma análise do curso de licenciatura em ciências da religião no Parfor da UEA (2014-2018)

Abstract

This research analyzed the Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies course implemented between 2014 and 2018 at the Amazonas State University (UEA), in Manaus, Amazonas State. At UEA, the course was offered through the National Plan for the Training of Basic Education Teachers (PARFOR) and was aimed at public school Religious Education teachers registered on the Freire Platform who worked without a first degree. The objective was to analyze secularism in the course curriculum based on the following question: was the curriculum of the Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies course at PARFOR/UEA implemented from a secular perspective? The field of study of the research was the History of the Present Time and the methodology involved analysis, interpretation and problematization of documentary and oral sources. The documents were Internal Self-Assessment Reports, External Assessment Reports, the Course Pedagogical Project, and in the field research we conducted semi-structured interviews with 1 (one) teacher and 5 (five) students using the theoretical-methodological procedures of Oral History, after the approval of the research by the Research Ethics Committee of Plataforma Brasil (Opinion 6.316.118). The analysis of the oral and documentary sources pointed to evidence of direct and indirect interference, both in the creation and in the curriculum of the course, by a private religious institution linked to the local Catholic Church and by a confessional institution that brings together individuals and legal entities nationwide, where the majority of its members are linked to Christianity. However, these interferences were not accepted at the university without resistance from the teachers. Therefore, the social and scientific relevance of the research lies in the fact that the training curricula for Religious Education teachers cannot be guided by proselytism and must uphold the principle of the secularity of the State, a principle understood in the study as a historical and normative concept.