ABSTRACT
This study aimed to understand aspects that hinder the engagement of teachers in proposals for Environmental Education (EE) from the perspective of these participants. Seventeen public school teachers from the Federal District (11 women), with mean age of 34.6 years, and mean time of 15.2 years of experience in elementary education in the public school system participated as volunteers. Among the participants, three held management positions, three were proponents of EE projects and eleven were not directly involved in environmental-themed projects. Individual and collective interviews (focus groups and conversation circles) were conducted with each of the categories of participants. Qualitative analysis based on sensitive listening indicated the following aspects unfavorable to engagement: the cross-cutting curricular prerogative given to EE, power and conflict relationships in schools, difficulties faced in the school routine, values, and teacher training. Personal values and specific training in EE, with a critical and human perspective, emerged as possibilities for overcoming the problem. These results are congruent with studies on the theme and point out important contributions for fostering teacher engagement in EE projects in schools.
Keywords:
Environmental education; Public school; Engagement; Teacher training; Values