Percepções de educação ambiental e meio ambiente de estudantes do curso de formação docente em nível médio de Santa Helena/PR

Abstract

According to the laws that rule the Brazilian educational system, the environmental theme is present in the curricula of Basic Education with the intention of providing relevant knowledge for reflections and discernment regarding social and environmental issues, since there are many issues related to the theme. Thus, understanding that the educators play an important role as mediators of knowledge, this study aimed at investigating what the perceptions were about Environment (MA) and Environmental Education (EA) of students taking part of the Teacher Training Course at the Middle Level, and if they are modified and/or expanded with the carrying out of educational activities on the environmental theme at the Biological Refuge of Santa Helena/PR (RBSH), a non-formal education site. In order to do so, this research was based on the qualitative approach, in which the methodology covers four stages, being: A, B and C questionnaires, and a collective interview with the participating students. After the collection of the data, they were submitted to the content analysis methodology. With the analysis of the answers to the questionnaires and the collective interview, an observation on the kinds of perceptions of MA became possible; they were: Totalitarian, Nature, Recursive, Place where one lives, Problem, Anthropocentric and Sensitization. At first, the presence of perceptions of MA such as Nature was expressive, an understanding that later changed as the EA activities were performed at the RBSH, leading towards a Totalitarian MA perception. As for the the students' perceptions of EA, there was an understanding of the conservationist, sustainable development and systemic nuances. The perception of conservationist EA was the most present in the information, in which the concern revolves around preservation and environmental awareness. It is worth emphasizing that there were no critical perceptions about EA, indicating that reflections and discussions about environmental issues should be addressed with students and society, in order to enable citizen education. In this sense, the study indicates that the subjects' perception about different contents and phenomena occurs based on the historical, social and cultural contexts in which each one is immersed. In addition, the use of non-formal education spaces, such as the RBSH, is presented as a teaching strategy for environmental issues, as it allows the socialization of knowlege, integration, reflection and reconstruction of the relationship with MA.