AIDS: the dialogue between Science textbooks (PNLD 2017/2020), teachers and students

Abstract

This work aimed to compare the way how the AIDS theme is presented and produced in science textbooks,
approved in two editions of the Brazilian National Textbook Program (2017, 2020). We analyzed 7th and 8th grade textbooks using Laurence Bardin’s content analysis method. The criteria for collection selection were: having been submitted and approved in the edition before and after the implementation of the current Common Brazilian National Curriculum Base; presenting the highest rate of distribution in public schools in Brazil; being intended for science teaching in the final years of elementary school. Inclusions of new
aspects were found, as mentioned in Law nº 12.984/14, which provides for the criminalization of prejudice
against people living with HIV, and information on pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. The location of the
theme is presented in the same classic contents, such as reproduction, contraceptive methods, and Sexually
Transmitted Infections, with individual responsibility for the transmission of HIV/AIDS and the culture of
fear and death remaining. Therefore, the books bring discussions that broaden the reflection on life
with HIV/AIDS, but still very dependent on effective actions by teachers in the classroom. There are
still more steps to be taken for the construction of educations that overcome prejudice about AIDS and the
people who live with it.