ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN GAROPABA: THE VIEW OF TEACHERS AND STUDENTS IN LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL

This paper aimed at verifying if a critical Environmental Education (EE) is being built in the schools of Garopaba (SC). With this purpose, the social representations of students and teachers of public primary schools, in which environmental education is outstanding, were investigated. Questionnaires have been applied to the teachers and to the students. Some schoolwork in EE done in the schools was also analyzed. The results indicate that the teachers seem to have a critical vision of the environment, the state of preservation of the coastal ecosystems and the city of Garopaba. Moreover, they have been developing very interesting projects in EE. However, it was observed that the teachers have not succeeded in transmitting a critical vision to the students. Additionally, a lot of teachers have a naturalistic vision of the EE. It can be concluded that the EE taught in schools must incorporate the local socio-economic and environmental issues in order to establish a community with citizens with the ability to think critically.