Abordagem ciência, tecnologia e sociedade CTS de tema sociocientífico na educação de jovens e adultos privados de liberdade: o caso de Belo Monte

Abstract

I present a socioscientific Science, Technology and Society (STS) approach to the education of youth and adults deprived of liberty: the case of Belo Monte. This research was realized with students enrolled in the first stage of the Youth and Adult Secondary Education program (EJA) at the Pará Center for Recuperation (CRPP II) with the intention to address the following questions: What critical positions may students deprived of liberty express in relation to the Belo Monte project when presented with the speeches of different interest groups and the socioenvironmental issues involved? What factors relative to STS interactions and citizenship are contemplated in these positions? In order to respond to these questions, a theme that would push the student to position themselves in the context of their daily life and Amazonian regionality was chosen. Thus, the socioscientific theme Hydroelectric products and the production of energy: the case of Belo Monte emerged. Through a qualitative approach, participatory research was found to be favorable to the research direction. Data collection occurred during three moments: The first was during physics classes in which specific instructional material employing a socioscientific theme, constructed based on the three pedagogical moments of Delizoicov and Angotti (1992), was utilized. The second moment occurred during a showing of videos about the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant with speeches from three different groups: indigenous peoples, riverine communities, and the urban population of Altamira, in which Minayo’s (2008) “projective interview” captured students’ positions in relation to the construction of the hydroelectric plant. The third moment occurred following the showing of the videos, with debates between students as well as the production of texts in which students declared their positions. The results demonstrated that the STS approach with socioscientific themes fosters, beyond education, the participation, debate, and the formation of citizenship, since it permits the construction of critical positions of popular participation. Within this context, the present study indicates that strengthening science education in the classroom based on the premises of a socioscientific STS approach, in the context of prisons, contributed to the construction of the process of social (re)integration of youth and adults deprived of liberty.