Ambientalização curricular na educação superior : um estudo na Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)

Abstract

The aim of this research is to discuss the process of curriculum environmentalization in college education, defined as the entrance of environmental concerns in undergraduate curriculum, at the university Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). In the environmetalization processes we highlight the environmentally oriented disciplines, which state social and environmental dimensions in their teaching plans. The research sought to verify the role of these disciplines in the academic and professional students' training, from the perspectives of professors and students. In order to understand that, I've participated in a survey of environmental indicators, promoted by the Environmental Management Committee (CGA) which indicated the disciplines that were environmentally oriented in the twenty two academic units of PUCRS. I also attended three of these subjects in the Colleges of Education, Economics and Engineering. The methodology used in the research was participant observation, focal group, semi-structured interviews and I also held sets of talks about sustainability. In addition, I did a literature review, documents analysis such as education plans and the students' institutional assessments. The results show that the presence of environmentally oriented disciplines correspond to one concrete experience of the process of environmentalization curriculum at PUCRS. However, there is still a need to make progress in a more qualitative approach in the survey of the CGA, in order to define more precisely which disciplines the social-environmental issues are explicit. The data in the survey allow us to see that there is still a polysemic understanding of the terms of the disciplines environmentally oriented and environment sustainability. This polysemic understanding of the terms made the analysis difficult. Through the observation of the disciplines it was possible to perceive that its implementation encourages the student's interest for social-environment subject. I also identified that those disciplines helped students from different academic units to interact more, which has contributed to the expansion of their interest on sustainability. It is important to highlight that there is still a great deal of things that shall be done for the progress of the discussion about environmentalization of the curriculum at the universities. This can happen trough a more systemic and integrated approach of the disciplines contents, trough an increase of the students engagement in order to built together the curriculum and trough the progress of the incorporation of the ecological thematic area in the undergraduate course.