ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article presents an excerpt from a research, developed during pandemic times, in the area of Environmental Education (EE), which brings up the climate crisis, a reflection of our way of life and the current economic and political system. The climate subject has become increasingly urgent. The objective was to develop a training process about this crisis in the light of the students' perception and knowledge. The qualitative approach, with a phenomenological nature, involved 15 students from the 9th grade of an elementary school in southern of Santa Catarina State. The Imaginary Cartography developed by Michèle Sato supported the study, encompassing the four Bachelardean elements (WATER, EARTH, FIRE and AIR). The perception, interpreted from the Merleaupontyana phenomenology, supported the elaboration and execution of the activities of the training process that sought to promote the participation, reflection, dialogue and critical and creative capacity of students about the themes dealt with. The participation of students and researchers revealed the importance of dialogue, creativity, criticality and the need for persistence and affection to work in Elementary School with limited resources and time during the pandemic; as well as the potentiality of activities carried out in and for EE regarding the climate crisis. We believe that it will be necessary for students to work, in the future, together with the school community beyond the school, in order to encourage educational processes that strive for respect, equity, justice, ethics, affection, relationships and sustainable actions between human beings and from these to planet Earth.