A consciência muito grande da educação ambiental : a experiência escolar no município de Garopaba/Santa Catarina (2013)

Abstract

From the dimension the ecological issues endeavoured in recent decades, environmental education has served as a code for moral conduct which indicates certain attitudes that are appropriate behaviours to rethink the relationship between society and environment, reflecting certain modes of how one can position himself in the world. In this context, this study analyzes the tension between the normativity of pedagogical discourse of environmental education and the formative aspects of the same education, the production of new ecologically-oriented subjects and the ways in which the educational institution - itself coated with a prescriptive character - has been developing projects for environmental education. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study, based on an ethnographic sight, which seeks to characterize how the environmental practices in three municipal schools Garopaba (Santa Catarina) are configured, in order to identify elements of school culture which intend to contribute to the formation of environmental sensitivities. The everyday pedagogic was accompanied during 2013, focusing on groups of 4º and 5º series in the early years of elementary school. The results indicate that the conception of environment and environmental education of teachers are influenced by a discourse that patternize the understanding and the need to promote behavioral changes, an idea that assumes specific settings in the context of Garopaba due to tourism, the imaginary around the town as an "ecological paradise" and the differentiation between native and non-native students. In pedagogical terms, it is observed that environmental education is predominantly associated to practical activities performed in places outside the classroom, and that its interdisciplinary approach is still a daily challenge for educators.