ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PRACTICE

Primeiros Passos Early Childhood Education Center, located in the city of Vitória da Conquista-Ba, is part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), a global network that brings together more than 11,000 schools in more than 180 countries, with more than 361 institutions in Brazil.

The educational institution Primeiros Passos completed 15 years of operation in November 2019 and provides the most diverse pedagogical actions to its students, including an Environmental Module, which has a green area that offers students and teachers numerous options of activities, making them understand that Environmental Education goes far beyond than “embracing trees”, characterizing it with the role of continuous formation of the ecological being.

Concerned with the formation of the ecological awareness of its students, the school implanted in the Environmental Module a Didactic Meliponary, which consists in the creation of stingless and native bees. Bees, being great pollinators, are responsible for about 75% of the food produced and, knowing their importance for the balance of the ecosystem, the school promotes actions so that students can learn in a didactic way the relevance that these beings play in the environment. Aware of how teaching and pedagogical actions positively affects the lives of students at Primeiros Passos school, Inq.Ifba interviewed the institution’s director, Mrs. Conceição Barros. Let’s check it.

Inq.Ifba: How did the idea of ​​implementing Environmental Education at school come up?

Mrs. Conceição Barros: We understand that, since early childhood, children need to learn how to have a more ecological and sustainable view of the world. Respecting the environment, taking care of it, having healthy eating habits, avoiding waste, preserving natural resources such as water and energy, for example, are actions that need to be learned at school. These children, who are now in early childhood education, will be full adults in 2040. Hence our concern.

Inq.Ifba: It is possible to notice that the school gives prominence and importance to Environmental Education in its activities. What difference does the school believe that this work will make in the students’ education?

Mrs. Conceição Barros: At Primeiros Passos we seek to develop meaningful learning. Sustainability is in our daily routine and it begins in the Environmental Module. There, the child is encouraged to sow, plant, harvest and take home to enjoy with family. The difference is especially in the change of eating habits. Children who did not eat vegetables, start to like it. The same applies to the consuming of fruit.

Inq.Ifba: What are the main activities involving Environmental Education that the school develops?

Mrs. Conceição Barros: The first and greatest activity is dealing and learning to enjoy working with the land. In the 500 m2 green area, which we call the Environmental Module, the children have systematic and weekly group activities and they participate with great joy. There we have:

– Space for animal exhibition;

– Many fruit trees with regular fruit harvest by children;

– Harvest of vegetables that are taken home by the children;

– A Didactic Meliponary, that is, the creation of native stingless bees, plus the observation of the comings and goings of bees collecting pollen from flowers on tasting honey day. It is so much fun.

Inq.Ifba: How do students interact regarding activities related to the environment? Do they like it?

Mrs. Conceição Barros:  We can notice in all the students a sense of belonging when they enter the Environmental Module. They run and roll through the extensive green area, behaving very intimately with the environment as if they were in their own home. The other day was exciting: we were surprised by two children holding hands, thanking God for that green space they love so much.

Thus, it is clear the importance and the difference that a school, which includes Environmental Education activities in their routine, makes in the life and in the learning of their children, who will become adults aware of their role in society and in the environment.

We emphasize that the photos included in this article were provided by the school, and are also exposed in the following Instagram pages: @escolaprimeirospassosvdc and @mariadiasfotografia.