A Química numa visão de Ciência integrada e sua contribuição para a formação cidadã: um estudo a partir de escolas com pedagogias diferenciadas

Abstract

A school that seeks to establish a differentiated pedagogy, whose trajectory breaks with the massive annual curricula and respects the individuality of the students in their learning course, deserves and demands all of the attention from the educators of the 21st century. Thus, the present study investigates schools that present differentiated teaching pedagogy and that, therefore, are based on a teaching proposal for everyone. Under the scope of the Teaching of Chemistry, the objective of this study is to investigate how the knowledge of Chemistry is worked in Elementary School in three schools: one whose teaching methods are based on Waldorf Education, one based on the Montessori method, and the ‘Escola da Ponte’; and how the students of these three institutions understand chemistry in their interdisciplinary relationships and application in society. The school where the research took place were the Paineira Waldorf School, located in the city of Juiz de Fora, MG, the Montessori Meimei School, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, and the ‘Escola da Ponte’, located in São Tomé de Negrelos, Portugal. The subjects were primary school students from the three institutions investigated and their Chemistry teachers. The research tools used to gather data were observation and the semistructured interview. The three school spaces were studied as a whole, as well as the materials produced by the subjects, and the chemistry in the schools that had classes as a teaching method. All observations were compiled in a field diary, the materials were recorded by means of photography and, at the Paineira Waldorf School, classes were also recorded in audio. The interview was conducted with students and teachers, all recorded in audio and later transcribed. Content Analysis was used to handle the data. The results point out that the three institutions have an education method which contributes to the formation of citizens, with more autonomous and critical students. The ‘Escola da Ponte’ and the Montessori schools stood out for their differentiated organization, besides the assembly and the process of self-evaluation carried out at the former. Specifically on the teaching of Chemistry, the Waldorf School excelled in bringing a more differentiated teaching, with their curriculum being structured in thematic axes, valuing contextualization and interdisciplinarity, besides focused on experimentation and observation, with an emphasis on the senses. However, at the ‘Escola da Ponte’ and at the Montessori schools, the teaching of Chemistry is still attached to the traditional curriculum, with an emphasis on content and poor contextualization. As a result, the Waldorf School students demonstrated a greater relationship between the contents taught with society and other subjects, which was not so prevalent in the students at the ‘Escola da Ponte’ and Montessori school. This study is significant in the extent that it has brought about discussions about themes which are still unfamiliar to the context of educational research and the daily life of teachers in general. In addition, it was possible to emphasize remarkable aspects of the three teaching methods that can be considered in Brazilian schools, providing rich discussions for the scope of Basic Education.