Coeducation and citizenship: A study on initial teacher training in sexual equality and diversity

Abstract

The present study makes an exhaustive review of the conditions and challenges faced by society to transform the school into a truly inclusive, coeducational, and democratic space. It proposes a theoretical model, of a bottom-up nature, to achieve gender equality in the school environment, giving special importance to teacher training. This study evaluates the training in gender equality and coeducation that students with degrees related to teaching are receiving. An analysis is conducted of the presence of attitudes that support the gender/sex system and the identification of relevant female references in a sample of 452 students in the Degree in Primary Education or the University Master’s Degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education, Upper Secondary Education, Vocational Training, and Language Teaching (MUPES). For the collection of information, an ad hoc questionnaire was used that contemplates formative and cultural aspects, together with the Inventory of Ambivalent Sexism (ASI), the Attitudes of Heterosexuals toward Homosexuals (HATH), and the Women in History (WH) scales. Among the main results, the important lack of training in aspects related to gender equality and coeducation, as well as a general lack of knowledge of historical female references, stands out. It can be concluded that, at present, teacher training is still in the early stages of the proposed model.