Alternation pedagogy and social representations of the environment on teachers and students of rural family houses

Abstract

This article is one of the results of a wider research with aimed understanding the relationship between the field education, from the perspective of the alternation pedagogy and sustainable development of family farming. Given the relevance of environmental issues in agriculture, one of the research focus was the investigation of the environment social representations of the teachers and students of rural family houses in the Southwest region of Paraná. The data were collected through the use of a free recall instrument, based on the central core theory of the social representations. For quantitative analysis we used the usual procedures of the theory in question, while the qualitative data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. In this research were identified significant similarities in the representations of the two groups, suggesting the appropriation of speeches and practices conveyed in rural family houses by the students. Highlights the centrality of elements related to the water, the preservation and the degradation, suggesting that teachers and students are aware of the importance of preserving the natural resources for agriculture. On the other hand, the human element seems distant from its environment representations, or at least is not regarded with the same importance given to natural elements.