Religious teaching scenario in Brazilian basic education

an integrative review

Abstract

Religious Education in Brazilian basic education has been a controversial topic for decades. In order to understand this scenario, we carried out an integrative review between 2010 and 2020 in the SciELO and VHL databases. The descriptors used were “Education” and “Religion”, and the keyword “Religiou education”. A total of 151 articles were identified, of which 120 were in SciELO and 31 in the VHL. Only 12 answered the starting question “What is the overview of Religious Education in Brazil, in the decade of 2010 to 2020?”. The analysis criteria were: year of production; geographic origin; points of convergence and divergence between authors of the area. In this decade, publications began in 2013 and the greatest interest occurred between 2016 and 2018. No publication was identified in 2019 and 2020. Most publications were from the southeast region (11) and one was from the northern Brazilian region. Most authors are against the insertion of religious education in the curricular matrix of basic education due to the laicity of the State, religious favoritism, cultural plurality and religious freedom. The union of popular education and religious education can be a way to foster this discussion, giving autonomy and criticality to the subjects.