Ecopedagogia: promovendo aprendizagens para cuidar da vida na terra

Abstract

Starting from the history of Brazilian education and its context, it appears that the issues involving teacher training are present at different times, just as Environmental Education and Ecopedagogy are influenced by the historical, social and political situation, marked by advances and setbacks. Considering this, this research was constructed based on the problem: How is Ecopedagogy present and contributes to the educational practices of teachers who work in the Pedagogy course, at a Higher Education Institution that prioritizes Environmental Education? To answer this question, the general objective was to build an understanding of how Ecopedagogy is present and contributes to the educational practices of teachers, who work in teacher training. The research is characterized as exploratory, with a qualitative approach and, in terms of procedures, it is action research. The empirical part of the research was developed with teachers who work in the Pedagogy course, at the Municipal Faculty of Education and Environment – FAMA, based on a meeting based on Freirian culture circles, called Ecopedagogical Circle. Content Analysis was used as a technique for data analysis. Based on the etymological meaning, redefining it and associating it with the concept of Care, Ecopedagogy refers to the care of life, of existence and contemplates the understanding of planet Earth as everyone's home, therefore, everyone / are responsible for taking care of her in everyday situations. In this way, Ecopedagogical actions are not linear, nor mechanical, they are complex, challenging and require rethinking, reflecting, giving new meaning, assigning meaning. The theoretical constructions of this research were able to demonstrate that Ecopedagogy incorporates elements of Environmental Education in its proposal. Thus, Environmental Education was used at various times, especially when carrying out the Ecopedagogical Circle, since the questions that led the dialogue began by addressing Environmental Education and then conceptualizing Ecopedagogy and seeking examples of ecopedagogical practices. The data obtained becomes relevant to instigate the continuity of this research or relate it to other research with the purpose of understanding, disseminating and highlighting the contributions of Ecopedagogy, in the most diverse areas. In the process of analyzing the teachers' speeches, the research can highlight the dialectical-dialogical perspective, considering that the categories Environmental Education, Ecopedagogy and teacher training are permeated in the speeches, and it is not an easy task to dismember and speak only about one topic, as one provides an opportunity to relate to the other. With the conclusion of this research, as forward, it is intended that more ecopedagogical circles will be carried out with teachers, in the sense of continued training and dialogue of knowledge, as well as with academics in initial teacher training to promote ecopedagogical practices, with the utopian, but possible, project of spreading Ecopedagogy and its practices at all levels of education and to society in general, given that Ecopedagogy is concerned with the integral formation of human beings and promotes learning to take care of life in the land