Challenges of environmental education in state schools of Manaus (AM)

Abstract

The environmental issue reveals itself as one of the most pressing concerns of contemporary society, whose implications have transcended the limits of scientific and academic debate, reaching political and governmental spheres around the world. In the Brazilian context, the 1988 Federal Constitution, in its article 225, proclaims a fundamental principle, emphasizing that "Everyone has the right to an ecologically balanced environment, as well as common use by the people and essential to a healthy quality of life, imposing the Public Power and the community have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations" (Brasil, 1988, p. 114). In this context, environmental education plays a fundamental role in disseminating knowledge and forming citizens aware of their responsibility towards the environment. The effective implementation of environmental education in public schools in Brazil faces significant challenges. This work aims to explore and analyze these challenges in state public schools in Manaus, considering the need to promote effective environmental education that contributes to the construction of a sustainable society, through quantitative research based on a case study. The relevance of this study lies in understanding the obstacles that public schools face when seeking to fulfill the constitutional mandate for environmental education, as well as identifying strategies to overcome these challenges, for the development of educational policies and practices that raise awareness among citizens about protecting the environment, aligned with the fundamental principles established in the 1988 Federal Constitution.

Keywords: education; school; environmental preservation.