Religious education in municipal public schools in the city of Santarém (PA): daily practices of social agents in the School Religious Education Sector - Sere (2003-2015)
Education. Religious Education. Secularity. SERE.
The present research aims to analyze Religious Education in the municipal public education network of the city of Santarém-Pará between (2003-2015), from the performance of the social agents of the School Religious Education Sector - SERE. The academic and social relevance of the object of study of this dissertation is evident in the current political scenario of intense discussions and frontal attack on the principle of secularism in the country. This type of attack, which is historically persistent, has been rampant since the election of a far- right president in 2018, who shows no commitment to the secularity of our state. The subject in question has generated strong attacks from religious groups in recent years and has mobilized several researchers, hence the interest in understanding it from the educational reality of the municipality of Santarém. Based on bibliographic and documentary research, it became possible to establish the historical construction around secularism, Religious Education and SERE. For the analysis of oral sources, the theoretical-methodological framework of oral history was adopted, whose epistemological dimension allows researchers to work with the reminiscences of common people who are important protagonists of history. The field research took place in person during the months of November and December 2021 and had the participation of 05 professors-advisors and the professor-coordinator of SERE. In this sense, the research data reveal that the issue of Religious Education in local public schools was linked to the history of the local Catholic Church in the course of the last decades. It was also found that the principle of secularism was completely disregarded, since a religious institution had a preference in the pedagogical treatment of themes related to Religious Education, to the detriment of other forms of religious expressions.