Estratégias de ensino de ciências e a promoção do pensamento crítico em contexto brasileiro

Abstract

Internationally, studies about a teaching and learning process based on the promotion of Critical Thinking (CT) for the construction of scientific literacy have been increasingly valued. Many documents focusing on curriculum restructuring were designed to promote the CT. However, even with this growing worldwide discussion and with the construction of these international documents since 1990, in a Brazilian context, the discussion on the promotion of the CT is incipient. Thus, we believe that analyzing teaching strategies used in Brazil to teach science is crucial, with emphasis on creating subsidies to facilitate understanding about the possibilities of promotion of the CT in Sciences, as well as its developments in curricular development and in processes of teacher training. Therefore, we carried out an analysis of the Brazilian references that discuss the promotion of the CT, doing a state-of-the-art research in the following databases: SciELO, in the Bank of Theses of CAPES and in the Bank of Theses and Dissertations of the IBICT. This analysis showed us the precariousness of discussion about the promotion of CT in educational contexts. In order to obtain a more detailed understanding of the science teaching strategies used in the Brazilian context, we analyzed 6 strategies in order to identify if these are elements that could stimulate the promotion of the CT. To do so, we used the analysis criteria defined by Tenreiro-Vieira and Viera (2013), being: 1) Content; 2) Capacities of Thought; 3) Attitudes and Values; 4) Standards and Criteria, which are subdivided into 39 elements of analysis. The teaching strategies analyzed were: Research Experimentation, Research Teaching, Research Education, Problem Solving, Study Situations and Project Pedagogy. In the comparison between the teaching strategies in the Brazilian context, the one that most presented these elements was the "Pedagogy of Projects" presenting 38 elements, soon after "Teaching by Research" presenting 34 elements, followed by "Educating by Research" with 29, Investigative Experimentation "with 26 elements," Problem Solving "presenting 19 elements and" Situations of Study "with 10 constituent elements. With this study, we do not wish to point out an ideal strategy for teaching science; On the contrary, we wish to instigate new studies that favor teachers when choosing / adapting the teaching strategy to their reality, as well as stimulating a more reflective and directed process for the development of critical attitudes. We also believe that studies in this direction can be undertaken to analyze curricular public educational policies, didactic materials and teacher training processes in order to make efforts to advance in the development of this area in the Brazilian context.