Representações estudantis sobre a educação ambiental na Escola Estadual de Tempo Integral Tiradentes, Macapá-AP

Abstract

This study aims to understand the socio-environmental perceptions of third-year high school students regarding Environmental Education at the Tiradentes Full-Time School, located in the urban area of Macapá, AP. Environmental Education, when included in the school context, has transformative potential, as it enables individuals to adopt conscious and responsible environmental practices. However, it must go beyond informative actions and be a critical, emancipatory, and transformative approach. Relating environmental challenges to the individual's reality, the study discusses the impacts of socioeconomic and sociocultural issues, as well as market production methods, and their influence on the environment. Therefore, the following question arises: How do third-year high school students perceive and experience Environmental Education in their daily school life, based on the knowledge and experiences acquired throughout their basic education? The following data collection instruments were used: direct observation; documentation; A semi-structured questionnaire with 17 objective and subjective questions served as the basis for implementing a Culture Circle anchored in Freirean approaches, a horizontal dialogical methodology. These data will be analyzed using Collective Subject Discourse Analysis. The main results: when exposed to the dialogical space, the Culture Circle, the young collaborators emerged with broader perceptions focused on social transformation, collective responsibility, and commitment to the territory. The collaborators demonstrated their perception of EE from a perspective still marked by traditional approaches. However, during the Culture Circle, they critically questioned how this topic has been introduced into the school context and how society has been approaching it. Given the environmental crisis and the socio-environmental challenges facing the Amazon, it is urgent that schools assume the role of developing ethical, critical individuals who are protagonists of their own reality.