Educar para a sustentabilidade na escola: repensando práticas de ensino para a formação cidadã nos anos iniciais

Abstract

This study aims to reflect on the role of schools in promoting Education for Sustainability in the early years of Elementary School, highlighting the importance of citizenship education from childhood. The research was developed based on the reality of the Cerrado Biome, especially in the southern region of Maranhão, located in MATOPIBA, a territory heavily impacted by the expansion of agribusiness. Based on a qualitative, bibliographical and interventional approach, an educational activity was carried out with 5th grade students from a public school in Balsas (MA). The proposal sought to investigate children's social representations of the environment, sustainability and environmental impacts in the Cerrado. The culmination of the intervention was the construction of the “Tree of Dreams”, a symbolic moment in which students expressed their desires for a more just, balanced and sustainable future. The results show that, even in contexts of vulnerability, children demonstrate sensitivity, critical sense and a desire for transformation when involved in meaningful pedagogical practices. The study concludes that schools, by adopting a critical stance and being committed to local reality, can contribute to the development of conscious individuals, capable of thinking of solutions to socio-environmental challenges. Educating for sustainability, therefore, also means educating for citizenship, for caring for life and for building a more just collective future.