Educação ambiental em escolas do município de Juiz de Fora-MG: diagnóstico, indicadores e operacionalização

Abstract

Environmental education is an activity based on the construction of values and skills for the engagement of society in improving the environment. The general objective of this study is to prepare a diagnosis and propose actions regarding the inclusion of environmental education in eight public educational institutions in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The methodology focuses on the application of a digital form to the sample group, consisting of two members of the management (principal and vice-principal), six members of the elementary school teaching staff and two general service assistants, per school, allowing a comparative evaluation of the responses of those involved. The data were statistically analyzed, at 95% confidence, by the MannWhitney U test, comparing the perceptions of the groups of respondents, and KruskalWallis, to evaluate the responses by dimension (management, curriculum and physical space) and their respective indicators of the matrix adapted to the school context. No statistically significant differences were found in such tests. However, when analyzing by indicator, significant differences in perceptions were highlighted in the management and curriculum dimensions, especially regarding the lack of human and financial resources and the low involvement of respondents in the projects and programs in which the institutions participate. The operationalization of the actions highlighted challenges related to the engagement of stakeholders in the school community, led by the management, and the need for teachers to work in more than one institution, a fact that does not contribute to the creation of a bond with the school and, consequently, does not encourage the role of the school as a focal point for the insertion of environmental education. Furthermore, the cycle of four actions in each institution occurred during two academic semesters, directly impacting 351 students, and was completed with the holding of a workshop among the stakeholders involved, aiming to collect reports and make suggestions for improvements and adaptations for the continuity of the socio-environmental transformation. The study provided an assessment of compliance with legal demands related to Political Pedagogical Projects and gaps in the internalization, by schools, of environmental care practices, which could assist public managers and directors of Educational Institutions in implementing and improving environmental education practices in the school context.