As concepções de educação ambiental subjacentes aos discursos docentes e discentes : do arcabouço jurídico ao cotidiano

Abstract

The problem of environmental education (EE) is complex and plural. It also has a worrying importance when faced to the socio-environmental crisis spread in the globe. Investigating such theme demands an understanding about the EE academic process, as well as the teachers‟ conceptions about it − built in their jobs on the camp − especially in Ceará State. Having in mind that all kind of education must be environmental, we got quite interested to investigate the conceptions about that issue in the speech of teachers and students, confronting with the current legal framework, law 9.795/99, constitutional text, besides specific international documents of the camp. This study was developed based on a critical, systematic and axiological way of analyzing the already mentioned documents, with special emphasis on the National Policy of Environmental Education (PNEA) − where definition, principles, objectives and execution of environmental education were taken from. The first chapter points out the normative dimension of the legal and philosophical conceptions found in EE. The second chapter analyses the factors that make the execution of EE difficult, considered − on this research − as a challenge on the training of environmental educators. The discussion aimed establishing the limits and possibilities on the execution of EE and teacher training. The third chapter presented the results of a collecting data research where questionnaires to academics and students were the instruments analyzed. 176 academics from different courses of the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) − including the ones who don‟t teach in training for teaching undergraduate courses whereas EE must be transversal in formal education answered the questionnaire. The objective of analyzing the answers of 49 professors from the same state (Fortaleza, Iguatu, Limoeiro do Norte, Maracanaú, Sobral e Crateús) was evaluating: the amplitude of their conceptions about the environment, EE, knowledge about important documents, and their practices in the area. The answers of those questionnaires revealed the context of teachers and students in EE conceptions. They also helped us to better understand the different kinds of activities used in EE in formal education. The last chapter presented the web site: “Environmental Educators” (www.educadoresambientais.com.br) whose objective is spreading EE to support environmental educators‟ formation.