Cura ou conservação: um dilema socioambiental na formação continuada de professores da educação

Abstract

Climate change, desertification, deforestation, burning, extinction of species of fauna and flora, are some of the issues that mark the environmental crisis and, from this scenario, some questions arise, such as the rationality of the thinking of the present civilization, man as centrality of the universe, the values of domination of nature, the uncontrollable and unsustainable process of production, the reinforcement of the culture of consumption, the constitution of an economized world. It is in this context that the contemporary socioenvironmental challenges are presented: socio-environmental quality and sustainability of cities, mitigation and confront with climate change, water and solid waste management, forest management, growing demand and energy alternatives, among others. The meaning here attributed to the term challenge refers to the possibilities of overcoming the aggravations that matter in unsustainability. This dissertation deals with what today represents one of the contemporary socio-environmental challenges - the forest. Thus, the research was driven by the following question: how teachers, in a process of continuous formation, base their decision-making in the face of a socioenvironmental dilemma involving the forest theme? The research presented a qualitative approach, and occurred in the context of a process of continuous training of teachers of basic education, which aimed to problematize the recent socio-environmental challenges. The analyzes presented referred to the secondary data produced in one of the formative activities, precisely of a case study (fictitious but verisimilious) entitled "Cure or conservation: the questions of human health and the ecosystem", that involved a socio-environmental dilemma, which involved the extraction of an antitumoral bioactive (paclitaxel - commercial name taxol), found in the Taxus brevifolia (pacific yew - vulgar name), present curiously in indigenous lands, in the Amazon. The positioning of the professors, in general lines, manifested the integration of knowledge of two areas: natural sciences and social sciences, approaching them. The teachers called attention to the need to abolish the existing gap between these two areas, constituting a paradigmbreaking movement and dialogues between disciplines. The teachers considered aspects such as identity, culture and traditional knowledge, avoiding positions that exorcize the otherness and the sovereignty of scientific knowledge in relation to others. Socioenvironmental issues are difficult to approach given their complex nature. Thus, thinking about the forest, especially the Amazon rainforest requires a differentiated approach, considering its multidiverse nature, as did the teachers in their positioning. They evoked aspects beyond their specific training, integrating knowledge, in an authentic interdisciplinary attitude in the consideration of the socio-environmental dilemma proposed in the training. The teachers' discussions were legitimate and their positions relevant and current, when considering the aspects involved in the socio-environmental field.