Science and the environment: dialogues with the school and with the university community

|PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY 455

Science and the environment: dialogues with the school and with the university communityalessandra aparecida viveiro; Maria Cristina de Senzi zancul; flávia regina Maria; andréa Midori Machida ferraz Mendes; juliana Margato rodrigues; fábio gabriel nascibem

UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA, BRAZIL

Contact: [email protected]

Abstract

The Study and Research Group in Teacher Training and Pedagogical Practices in Science Teach-ing and Environmental Education - ECiEA, has developed, since the beginning of 2013, two extension projects, one in the College of Sciences and Letters of Araraquara (FCL/Ar) – UNESP, and another one in Escola Estadual Bento de Abreu - EEBA Araraquara (SP), aiming to develop actions related to environmental and scientific contents, with the communities from both insti-tutions. The extension projects have been guided by the Problematization Methodology, which is structured from the Arc scheme proposed by Maguerez. Diagnoses were performed, enabling the survey of demands regarding environmental issues, both in FCL/Ar and in EEBA. From analyses of the observations, supported by the theory which founds the work, some activities were carried out in both places, in order to contribute to the improvement and overcoming of the highlighted problems.

Keywords: Science teaching, environmental education, extension projects.

1. Introduction

The Group of Studies and Research on Teacher Training and Pedagogical Practices in Science Education and Environmental Education - ECiEA has developed, since the beginning of 2013, two articulated extension projects, one in the campus of the Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Araraquara, UNESP Universidade Estadual Paulista and another in State School Bento de Abreu - EEBA of Araraquara, which aim to develop actions related to environmental and scientific aspects with the communities of both institutions.

UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho – was founded in 1976, when the Isolated Institutes of Higher Education that existed in different parts of the State of São Paulo were merged into a University. Thus, it is a multi-campus institution, comprised of 34 colleges and institutes, complementary units and technical colleges, distributed in 24 cities in the State of São Paulo, Brazil (Figure 1).

456 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY |

figure 1 - Map of brazil, with emphasis on the State of São Paulo and indication

Source: UneSP - University Portal. 22

The Faculdade de Ciências e Letras de Araraquara (FCL/Ar) was founded in 1957, in the city of Araraquara, as an Isolated Institute. Currently, there are five undergraduate courses (Public Ad-ministration, Economics, Social Sciences, Letters and Pedagogy), with approximately 2700 stu-dents and seven strictu sensu graduate programs. The faculty is comprised of 175 teachers, most of them in full dedication to teaching and research. The ECiEA is a group whose members are undergraduates, post-graduate students at the level of master’s and doctoral degrees, basic ed-ucation teachers and teachers of FCL/Ar from different areas who are inserted in this scenario.

The State School Bento de Abreu de Araraquara – EEBA, a traditional educational institution, is located in the central area of the city and has approximately 2000 students attending elementary and high school. This school has been a constant partner in research and extension projects developed by teachers of FCL/Ar.

The ECiEA has its proposals for research, teaching and extension focused on Environmental Ed-ucation (EE) and Science Teaching. The discussions and investigations carried out in the context of the Group, as well as the research and teaching activities of each member, provide subsidies for the extension projects. In this work, we focus on the environmental dimension, explored in two projects, developed with the proposal of implementing actions for the improvement of environmental conditions in FCL/Ar and EEBA, including stimulation of the perception and integration of community in these environments. In addition, the projects are designed to pro-mote interest in topics related to Science, Technology, Society and the Environment (STSE), favoring reflections on issues related to these topics, allowing for actions for the transformation and improvement of spaces at the university and at school.

22. available at: <http://www.unesp.br/portal#!/unidades/>. access date: 20. apr. 2014 .


As theoretical foundation, we use authors who identify themselves with a critical Environmental Education, as Guimarães (2004) and Loureiro (2004), among others, as well as the support of Paulo Freire (2005, 2011).

2. Methodology

The extension projects have been guided by the Problematization Methodology, structured from the arc scheme, proposed by Maguerez. We started with the observation of reality, linking it to the themes to be explored. The proposal is one that, with the help of records and intake of pre-vious experiences, it is possible to identify aspects that are important and need to be extended, overcome, rebuilt or processed. Once that happens, there can arise a problematization as a social and political exercise that enables the construction of knowledge necessary to reality. It is possi-ble that several problems may arise, so it is necessary to choose among them the ones with most priority, urgency, which have closer relationship with activities developed by the group. The second step is to identify what the key points of the problem(s) are, which involve reflecting and raising the factors associated with them and their contextual determinants, giving rise to aspects that require answers and need to be investigated, and constitute the basis for theorizing. At this stage, there is the search for systematic application of scientific and technical knowledge, analyz-ing the problem(s) at different angles and seeking justifications for the referrals of the next step, which derive from the drafting of hypotheses of solution. The hypotheses selected are those that can be achieved in a more direct way and that lead to problem solutions. The proposal is that, from the Arch movement are identified problems in reality, and from the studies, there will be a return to this same reality with possibilities of transformation (BORDENAVE; PEREIRA, 1982).

Thus, as a first step in the work, aiming to understand the reality and identify problems, there were performed diagnostics in two spaces: FCL/Ar and EEBA.

At FCL/Ar, we have developed a diagnosis of environmental perception from the following in-struments: identification of existing projects in the area of Environmental Education; consulting e-mails sent to the university community regarding projects developed or in development in the environmental area focused on the FCL/Ar in the last five years; e-mails to the secretariats of the ten departments and semi-structured interviews with six officials of the unit responsible for the main sectors of the college (Administrative Technical Division, Academic Technical Division, IT Section, Section of Auxiliary Activities, Library and University Restaurant) exploring the management of waste in these spaces; online quiz for students, inquiring about aspects such as their perception about the environment of the FCL/Ar, the form of interaction with the space, the means of transportation used to get to the campus and their satisfaction in relation to it, in addition to investigating its actions in favor of the environment; observation of the daily life of the school in different spaces.

For the elaboration of a diagnosis on the reality observed, seeking action proposals, question-naires were applied to students from the sixth and ninth years of elementary school, random-ly chosen, the teachers and the school staff. With regard to students, we tried to understand their perceptions about the environment and about the environment in school. In addition, we


sought to identify what they considered important that had been studied and what they had learned in school about this theme. For the professors from different areas of elementary and high school level education, we asked: how they saw the environment at school; if they included environmental issues in their classes and, if so, in what way; what could be done to improve the environment in the school. In the case of managers, we sought to know how the team saw the environmental issue in school; how it dealt with the environment; what could be done to im-prove the environment of the school. As a last question, we asked all segments, what they usually do in favor of the environment.

The diagnosis in the school also involved the observation of the disposal of solid waste, with photographic record of patios before and after break times and classrooms during the interval, in the absence of students. It was also verified the disposal of food after the meals had been served.

All responses were analyzed and classified to the forwarding of actions and activities to be de-veloped in subsequent stages, being that the questionnaires applied to students of FCL/Ar and the managers of EEBA are still under analysis.

In this work, we present a summary of the diagnosis, highlighting some aspects that made the lifting of demands in relation to environmental issues in both FCL/Ar and EEBA. As a result, we describe briefly some of the activities carried out in the two places, which emerged from the process of theorizing as hypotheses of solution, aiming to contribute to the improvement and solution of the problems highlighted.

3. Diagnosis: summary of results

3.1 Results for the FCL/Ar

From a report organized by the Pró-Reitoria de Extensão – UNESP [Dean´s Office for Exten-sion]), in 2011, we identified that there were seventeen extension projects at UNESP, involving the subject of the environment, focused on the university community, with a focus on students, teachers and employees of units, some of which going far beyond the walls of the Institution. In general, the proposals were intended to integrate the university environment in the lives of individuals, in addition to raising awareness and empowering the new trainers and professionals who leave the University. At that moment, there was no extension project registered involving the community of FCL/Ar in environmental issues. 23

23. out of the seventeen projects registered on occasion, two were inserted in the area of education and 15 in the area of envi-ronment, according to the register done with the ProeX (Pró-reitoria de extensão) by coordinators.

24. the first edition of this project occurred in 2009, having as objective spreading the idea sustainability through lectures, workshops and discussion groups, theatrical performances and concerts. the project, which is open to the public in general, is very widespread in the units of UneSP, araraquara, including fCL/ar. in recent years, there has been participation of students of the unit as volunteers.


The query that was made to the community of the unit (teachers, students, and staff) on the existence of projects on the Environment, by means of electronic mail, was to only return a response, with reference to the Festival of Arts Integrated GAIA, produced by the collective Cultural Hive that had in their numbers former students of the University24. Through this survey of projects, we realized the EE had been little explored within the spaces of FCL/Ar.

Out of the ten departments consulted on their initiatives in relation to the sustainability and sep-aration of waste, six responded to the questions. From the reports, we identified, in all of them, a major concern with the use of paper, material widely used in the departments, and eventually, with the disposal of cardboard from boxes. The initiatives are for the use of paper for draft (in the production of blocks) or reuse in prints of lesser importance (not documents). All printing papers and correspondence to be discarded, as well as magazines and cardboard, are put up in a place of their own, until they are collected by employees of a private company that has a contract with the unit through the “Paulista Júnior”, a University-sponsored company of entrepreneurship that seeks the inclusion of students in the job market. It is worth pointing out that there is no indication of actions for reduction of waste production, as for example, avoiding using too much paper.

The interviews with the staff provided an overview of the work routine not only of these employ-ees as well as those under their responsibility, revealing some actions related to environmental management that occurred in the sectors over time.

Among them, there is the decrease in the number of prints in the last three years in the Academ-ic and Administrative Technical Divisions. In the Academic Technical Division there was the separation of garbage into recyclable and non-recyclable bins, but with a great use of disposable cups. Meanwhile, in the Administrative Technical Division, there was a concern with the reduc-tion in the use of these cups, but there was no separation of waste produced, under the claim that the cleaning employees mixed all the garbage, even if it had been initially separated.

In the IT Section, the employee interviewed reported that, as the work is almost all done by computer, they use a small amount of paper. The disposable cups are hardly used because, ac-cording to him, all employees use ceramic mugs and are concerned to save batteries and then take them to a collection bin. There is also a separation of recyclable material and, with respect to obsolete machinery, it is up to this Section to issue a report stating that the equipment is no longer useful and for the material to be forwarded to appropriate destination.

The Section of Auxiliary Activities is responsible for a large amount of employees, covering Car-pentry, Maintenance, Gardening, Cleaning and the cleaning crews and surveillance. The employ-ee, who has worked at the School for a long time, knows the whole history of the unit and has a great concern for environmental issues. He has already carried out a survey of fauna and flora species that determined several species’ disappearance with the passing of the years in the unit, in addition to proposing some sustainable projects for the campus, such as the construction of a well for the reuse of rainwater (not implemented), as every type of service is performed with clean water from two wells, as well as the deployment of a system of solar illumination. With regard to the latter, on their own initiative, the maintenance staff are doing some tests to replace flood lights that are unnecessary and consume a lot of energy. The employee also reported that the wa-ter supply of the unit is provided by two wells and that clean water is used for all types of service.


The staff at the Library separates the compostable waste from recyclable material and use glass cups or bottles to reduce the amount of disposable cups. The magazines that the unit receives and that are not consistent with the research areas of FCL/Ar and all the material (books and magazines) that can still be used are sent to Community libraries or to barter in Programs of Tutorial Education from the university.

Finally, in the university restaurant, among the officials the concern is with the separation of paper and cardboard. The disposable cups are little used by them and, in the restaurant, only vis-itors receive them, but this number is negligible, so much so that disposable cups are no longer part of the list of equipment of the restaurants. The initiative to replace the disposable cups with hard plastic mugs was a project of the Paulista Junior in 2008 and, according to the proposal, all students and employees who join the unit receive a plastic mug.

The amount of people who attend the university restaurant and even the food that is wasted vary greatly according to the menu. The clerk interviewed stressed that the loaves are records in a matter of waste. Usually two cans of 100 liters are filled with food scraps after every meal.

In all sectors, the officials stated they reuse the paper when printing drafts and preparing note blocks (which is done at the university press). The paper that is finally discarded is separated, along with the cardboard boxes, and forwarded for collection by the company mentioned above.

It was unanimous, among the employees, the perception of the need for the creation of a project for the correct disposal of waste and separation of recyclable materials, as well as the frequent withdrawal of this material so that there is no buildup. However, there was no indication about the need to reduce the production of waste, and that seems to have been resolved, the perception of the employees, by actions reported. In the case of the Restaurant, for example, despite the indication of large waste of food depending to the menu, there seems to be no activities in sight to minimize the problem. The observation of the daily life of FCL/Ar showed, among other things, significant production of disposable cups on the part of teachers and staff and the improper disposal, mixed with the leftover food, for example, which can hinder the storage and disposal for recycling.

From this point of view, considering the ideas of Freire (2005) to work with the perception of the people about their reality, we identified that “solid waste” could be a generator theme useful for projects of EE with this audience.

Regarding students, 72 questionnaires were completed, material that is still under review. A brief look at the issues that involve the understanding of what environment is and the relationship of the student with the space of FCL/Ar shows the difficulty of students to understand college as “environment”, indicating lack of a sense of belonging to the place.

3.2 Results of EEBA

With respect to EEBA, the results refer to the analysis of the responses of the students and teach-ers to questionnaires and observations throughout the work.


The elementary school students, in their majority, define Environment as nature, mentioning their natural elements, as illustrates a response from a student of the 6th year and another from the 9th year:

The trees, water and the earth, the air etc. (6th )

The things that are part of the environment are the trees, the rivers, animals, plants of various origins (9th )

Some students establish an association between environment, pollution and garbage and only a response, a student of the 9th year, shown below, includes what is built by human beings as part of the environment:

Everything, including what was made by us, humans, because obviously natural resources were needed. (9th )

When answering about the environment at the school, a large number of students also men-tioned the natural elements such as trees, water. The small garden, next to the patio, but that is a place in which they do not circulate, is also indicated by many students. In several answers the dumps are included as part of the environment and there are students that do not recognize any element of the environment in that area. Below, we have examples of some of the answers:

Water, trees, flowers, fruit, vegetables, greens, air. (6th)

Some trees and a garden. (9th )

There are the trees, plants, water, garbage to throw trash in the trash. (6th )

Many things such as: recyclable garbage bin. (9th)

Nothing. (9th)

On their actions for the environment, the greater part of them said that they save water and en-ergy, another part said that they take care of the plants, separate the trash, don’t throw garbage on the floor, and there are still a few who said they do nothing. Some answers are reproduced:

I save water, take care of plants and other things. (6th)

Do not waste water and throw paper in the garbage. (6th)

I try to not take long baths, put things in the trash. (9th)

I do my share by not throwing garbage on the floor. (9th)

From the analysis of the responses of the students, it was possible to conclude that few recognize man as part of the environment and that the human presence is usually related to destructive actions, such as pollution. In the responses of the actions of the students it is possible to observe and indication of a very narrow view of the environment, which justifies the need for proposals that work these issues in the school, as the National Curricular Parameters indicate (1998).


Regarding the vision of teachers, from the analysis of the responses of 12 teachers from different disciplines, who teach varied classes, we noted that they recognize that the environmental issue is important, but it is difficult to be worked in practice. The response below is from a teacher who has been working for two years at the school:

It is of the utmost importance to address the issue, but the theory has a large distance from the practice. (Professor T)

According to most of them, the actions performed are sporadic and ineffective. The response from a professor with more than 20 years of work in the school, reproduced below, is quite enlightening:

There is no practice discussing the subject. Every time you start a project, it ends up going no-where. (Professor X)

When asked about the inclusion of environmental issues in their disciplines, the majority af-firms exploring aspects related to specific content, discussions, reading and interpretation of texts. The following are the responses of two teachers:

Working with texts involving the theme and also with the daily reminder of the attitude of “taking care” of the environment. (Professor T)

Offering readings and activities to the students. (Professor J)

Two of the teachers say they don’t work with environmental issues, but show their willingness to do so, as it appears in the response transcribed below:

I have not yet had the opportunity to discuss it, but I would like to, yes, as soon as possible..., trying to educate students about issues of pollution, recycling, etc. (Professor V)

On their actions for the Environment, the responses of the majority of teachers show a high level of awareness at the individual level. They save water and energy, separate trash, practice recycling. The following are some of the answers:

Practical actions, such as turning off lights during the day, using mugs instead of disposable cups. (Professor Z)

I recycle, repair objects instead of disposing them, reuse things... (Professor J)

I try to respect the environment, conserve water, separate trash, not pollute (replacing the filter of the car, for example); I use nothing in spray-form. (Professor H).

In my house, for example, I separate the waste. In everything we do, we try to have and use the awareness of preserving the environment (Professor Q).


Only two teachers make reference to their educational actions, among those regarding the envi-ronment, as we read in the responses transcribed below.

As a teacher, I work emphasizing the need for preservation. Daily, I separate the recyclable mate-rials, as well as not throwing trash in inappropriate places, I try to save (to use rationally) water and energy, etc.. (Professor W)

Awareness of students through projects that are already being performed (Professor T).

In our analysis, we believe that it is possible to conclude that most teachers recognizes Man as an integral part of the Environment and seem to be aware of their role as educators in relation to environmental issues.

However, the responses indicate that there is a difficulty in implementing the practices related to environmental issues that actually occur in the classroom, thus justifying the need for formative processes that provide subsidies through which the teachers include the environmental dimen-sion more effectively in their practice (GUIMARÃES, 2004).

From the managing staff, a professional responsible for Vice-Direction, a pedagogical coordina-tor and an inspector replied to the questionnaire, and the responses are being analyzed.

Regarding the observation of rooms and courtyards, we identified a large production and im-proper disposal of waste, as illustrated in the following figures. In the case of the classroom (Fig-ure 3), we see that the disposal of material, especially candy wrappers and sheets of notebooks, on the floor is frequent. In each room, there is only a container for trash, there is no place for the separation of sheets of paper for reuse or recycling.

figure 2 - classroom during the break

Source: files eCiea.


The observation of the patios showed that the students find the place clean when they arrive from classes for the break period and leave them completely modified when they go back to the classrooms (Figures 4 and 5). It was possible to notice a large accumulation of waste, which included candy wrappers, sheets of notebooks and food scraps, left in different locations, includ-ing the small garden, the single green space available, and even inside the sinks and drinking fountain on the patio.

figure 3 - Patio before the break.


figure 4 - detail of the patio after the break



Thus, also in the case of EEBA, we believe that “solid waste” could be good a generator theme for EE projects with the students.

4. Some triggered actions

From the time of diagnosis, the group initiated a process of critical reflection on the issues raised and theoretical study to subsidize proposals for solutions to the problems identified. The first actions were aimed at raising awareness and dissemination of information, through the viewing of films and prop-osition of discussions on the topics covered, lectures and workshops and assembly of intervention.

As a result, we describe briefly some of these activities:

4.1 In FCL/Ar

Watching the movie “Mouth of Garbage” (Directed by Eduardo Coutinho, 48min, 1992, Brazil) and discussing the theme of solid waste with the community of FCL/Ar, having as a guest an environmental engineer, project manager of the Cooperative of pickers, collection, sorting and processing of recyclable materials from Araraquara - ACACIA.

figure 5 - discussion of solid waste after viewing film.

Source: files eCiea


Counting of disposable cups dispensed during four days by staff and teachers in FCL/Ar (1597 cups) and assembly of an installation with the material that was exposed during a week. Posters were also produced with a campaign to raise awareness about the need for a reduction in the use of cups, showing an estimate of use in a month and over a year, the costs for recycling and the use of the mug as an alternative.

figure 6 – art installation with disposable cups in fCL/ar.


figure 7 - installation and campaign on the use of disposable cups.



4.2 EEBA

Workshop on environmental perception with students of the ninth year of EEBA at FCL/Ar. The students left their school, experienced another environment, taking notes on the fauna and flora, collecting and analyzing soil, identifying the relative humidity of the air, among other things. At the end, they were “provoked” to continue with the work at the school, seeing the environment in which they are routinely inserted.

figure 8 - Students of eeba participate in workshop of environmental perception.


Lecture on urban deforestation and discussion on the quality of the environment of the school, including the stimulation of the perception on the deforestation of space involving students of the seventh year of EEBA. At the end of the activity, the students planted native seedlings in an area of the school. For this activity, the Manager of Reforestation of the Municipal Department of Araraquara was invited, who also provided the seedlings.


figure 9 - Planting native seedlings in eeba.


Workshop of herbs and spices with students of the eighth year of EEBA, with the planting of plants that should be maintained by students for the preparation of the meals served at school.

5. Continuity

The continuity of the project anticipates actions to encourage a greater participation of the com-munity of FCL/Ar and EEBA in improving the environmental conditions of their spaces. In addition, it is intended to foster the interest in issues related to Science, Technology, Society and the Environment, by encouraging reflections, the search for information and learning of concepts, procedures and attitudes on these issues.

ReferencesBRASIL. Ministério da Educação e do Desporto. Secretaria de Educação Fundamental. Parâmetros curricu-lares nacionais: meio ambiente: saúde. Brasília: MEC/SEF, 1998.


BORDENAVE, Juan Dias; PEREIRA, Adair Martins. Estratégias de ensino aprendizagem. 4. ed. Petrópolis: Vozes, 1982.

FREIRE, Paulo. Pedagogia do oprimido. 42. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 2005.

______. Pedagogia da autonomia: saberes necessários à prática educativa. 39. ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2009.

GUIMARÃES, Mauro. A formação de educadores ambientais. Campinas: Papirus, 2004. (Coleção Papirus Educação).

LOUREIRO, Carlos Frederico Bernardo. Trajetória e fundamentos da educação ambiental. São Paulo: Cortez, 2004.

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Students’ perceptions about the collective construction of an action plan for sustainability at schoolPedro neves da rocha; alessandra aparecido viveiro

UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA, BRAZIL

Contact: [email protected]

Abstract

The present paper presents an outline of a research that analyses an action plan for sustainabil-ity, developed in a private school in São Carlos - SP-Brazil. The action plan was developed by Elementary School students, guided by the teacher, in order to participate in the IV Conferência Nacional Infanto-juvenil pelo Meio Ambiente [Childrens’ National Conference for the Environ-ment]. In this article, we analyze the students’ perceptions, gathered through a questionnaire. Therefore, it was possible to characterize the students’ profile, understand their motivations and opinions, and seek for evidences of awareness regarding sustainability. After the analysis, it was noticed that the students were motivated by: pre-existing interest in the subject; need for im-proving the school environment; need for participating in the different activities; possibility of sharing their own ideas; incentive from their classmates. From the students’ statements, it was no-ticed that they believed they learned more about the need to reduce waste production and recycling.

Keywords: Students’ perceptions, awareness, action plan for sustainability at school.

1. Introduction

In recent decades, environmental problems are the focus of discussions in different areas of so-ciety. In this context, they develop, increasingly, the practices of environmental education (EE).

Layrargues (2004) examines that the proposals and policies on EE have taken different paths in recent years. According to the author, the current educational proposals in this area follow three different ways: “the cultural change associated with social stability, social change associated with

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Science and the environment: dialogues with the school and with the university community

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