Educação ambiental crítica e agroecologia, para que e para quem? Interação entre a Escola Municipal Vale do Amanhecer e comunidade distrital no município de Goiás-GO

Abstract

Critical Environmental Education constitutes itself, within school spaces, as a pedagogical practice that transcends the mere transmission of ecological information. It becomes essential for deciphering the complex power relations and conflicts inherent to socio-environmental issues, fostering reflection and conscious action. In this way, it enables the school to become a locus of resistance and transformation. It is within this context that the present investigation is situated, whose objective is to understand the dynamics that permeate the projects and actions of Environmental Education developed in the final years of elementary school at the Municipal School Vale do Amanhecer, in partnership with the community. The study analyzes the development and implementation of formal and non-formal initiatives in the school environment. From this perspective, Critical Environmental Education is conceived as a practice that stimulates reflection on socio-environmental problems, promoting critical thinking, awareness, and the emancipation of learners. The work also highlights the contested territory, marked by the contrast between agroecological practices and the expansion of agribusiness, emphasizing the role of the school and the community in preserving traditional knowledge and promoting sustainable and socially just practices. Furthermore, it analyzes the sharing relationships among these actors, showing how the exchange of knowledge and actions strengthens educational projects and the collective construction of knowledge. For data collection, the participatory research methodology was adopted, which involved semistructured interviews with school professionals and community residents, combined with an analysis of the pedagogical practices developed between 2023 and 2025 and a literature review on Environmental Education and Agroecology. This approach allowed for an understanding of the epistemological tendencies underlying the observed practices. For the analysis of the interviews, we used Discourse Analysis, which enabled us not only to interpret the manifest content of the statements but primarily to identify underlying meanings, silences, and discursive strategies that reveal ideological and pedagogical positions. In general terms, the study identifies the potentialities and limitations of the analyzed educational initiatives, contributing to the debate on the implementation of a critical and emancipatory Environmental Education in school and community contexts.