PARTICIPATORY MAPPING OF INTERSECTIONAL GENDER RELATIONS IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXT:

THE EXPERIENCE OF THREE SCHOOLS IN THE CITY OF LISBON

Abstract

Analyzing the school space from an intersectional gender perspective implies going beyond its approach as a context of interaction between children and young people, recognizing that space and social identities are mutually constituted. In other words, space reflects hegemonic power relations and, simultaneously, its conception and experience perpetuate various forms of inequality. This article approaches school, from an intersectional perspective, placing the spatial dimension at the center of analyzes of the plurality of ways in which students occupy and experience different places. The experiences of students and their experiences in the school space are captured and understood using participatory mapping as an analysis methodology, applied, to three school groups located in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. The results reveal the advantages of the methodology in analyzing the plurality of masculinities and femininities at school, revealing how gender and national origin are relevant to understanding the way in which groups of students create a distinct identity and are identified. Participatory mapping also proves to be an appropriate methodology for analyzing interaction processes between students of different nationalities and the role of these processes in the formation of socio-spatial dynamics at school, through three mechanisms: cultural laterization, the ghettoization of the school space and the peripheral occupation of the sports court by the feminine students.