Concepções de professores de química do ensino médio sobre educação ambiental

Abstract

In the last decades, environmental issues has been considered important to be developed at school. The Chemistry subject has several contents that can approach these issues. In this context, Environmental Education increases and takes over its interdisciplinary role, contributing to a teaching whose main purpose is to form critical and responsible citizens in respect to their own decisions. Social themes such as the environment, considering its political, economic, social and ethical respects, integrate and characterize this kind of education. In order to investigate how this theme is developed in Chemistry classes, taking into account the principles of a critical, transformative or emancipatory environmental education, this research had as main aim to verify how the High School Chemistry teacher develops the environment theme in his/her classes. Therefore, thirteen High School Chemistry teachers of a Paraná state's city took part in this research. They answered to semi-structured interviews. From these interviews, the priorities of teacher's work, the profession's difficulties and the teaching methods still present were emphasized. Moreover, the interviews put in evidence that the graduation course left gaps unfilled by continuing education and mainly by Environmental Education still developed. Concerning to environment theme, the teachers presented conservationist/preservationist, resolutive, socio-environmental or anthropocentric representations about environment. Excepting the socio-environmental representation, the others are characterized as important factors in the approach of the theme to illustrate chemical concepts. It features a propaedeutic teaching, also revealed by teachers, identifying the need for changes, since that these ones are not imposed. Thus, it is the teacher who must start changing habits and attitudes that result in changes in the way of teaching Chemistry, so that social themes like the environment are effectively worked.