Non-formal teaching settings in formal education: environmental education as an integrative axis in the teaching of Sciences

Abstract

The school environment is no longer the only source for knowledge seeking. In the last decade, there was a notorious increase of use of non-formal educational spaces besides the continuous use of the formal space: school. The purpose of this research was to identify the potential of using non-formal educational spaces in the municipalities of Guarapari and Anchieta, based on a critical environmental education. The research question, this study aimed to answer was: How can field classes contribute to the development of a critical environmental education? For this purpose the study was divided into eight stages, including research on the use of non-formal education spaces, involving science teachers from the Guarapari state system; field classes, focusing on students from two 9th grade classes, B and C, from EEEFM Angelica Paixão; and, the reconstruction of the teaching guide based on experiences involving the students. The study’s theoretical framework follows the theories of Vigotsky, Dermeval Saviani, Carlos Frederico Loureiro and Edgar Morin. Results suggest that the use of non-formal educational spaces, integrated into the formal one, contributes to promote an integrated view on the environment and an education that is conscientious, critical and inquisitive, even though these characteristics do not occur immediately after the project’s completion. It is also important to emphasize the need to develop a critical environmental education, permanent and
transversal to all levels of education, not only a momentary focus disconnected from social realities.