THE POTENTIAL OF ARTICULATING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The general objective of this research was to investigate the potential of proposing a educational course for eight teachers in service or in initial formation, to articulate environmental education and health education, from a walking ethnography methodological perspective. The data was produced using various methods: 1) participant observation; 2) walking ethnography; 3) discussion groups and 4) analysis of materials produced by the participants during the course. The analysis of the results and discussions are supported by a methodological approach aligned with phenomenology. The process began with reading and transcribing the data, followed by descriptions and the development ofeconarratives. The excerpts were then  henomenologically reduced, following the sequence: units of meaning; units of significance; emerging aspects: Inseparability between environmental education and health education in school practices and Corporal practices as foundations of the fields; interpretation of the phenomenon. The formative potential of the course “Caminhos Formativos para o Bem Viver: Aprendizagens sobre Educação Ambiental e Educação em Saúde” was manifested in the effective articulation between environmental education and health education, supported by the practice of walking ethnography and reflections on the concept of Living Well. There was a gap between the theory and the actual practice of linking environmental education and health education. Even though the participants recognized the intentionality of the relationship between the fields, they rarely demonstrated the integration of these areas in their educational proposals in the final activity of the course.