O curso de especialização em Educação Ambiental da Universidade Federal de Sergipe e a profissionalização docente

Abstract

The aim of this research was to understand the contributions and limitations of the Specialization Course in Environmental Education (EE) at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS) for teacher professionalization from the perspective of continuing education. To this end, we outlined the following specific objectives: to analyze the curricular documents of the specialization course in terms of the continuing education strategies offered to the teachers; to identify, based on the practices of the module coordinators, the respective pedagogical intentions and curricular perspectives; and to describe the achievements, needs and gaps in the construction of teaching professionalism in EE and the possible impacts of the course investigated on the teaching practice of the graduates. The research articulates three central dimensions - teacher professionalization, continuing education and critical EE -, understanding that the constitution of a teacher's professional identity demands not only technical-pedagogical knowledge, but also reflective, ethical-political and socially committed practices. The methodological approach adopted was qualitative, descriptive and exploratory, with data produced and analyzed using Textual Discourse Analysis (TDA). The course's curricular documents (PPC and teaching plans) were analyzed, in addition to semi-structured interviews with the module coordinators (teachers) of the specialization and the teachers (students) of the class of 2023. The results show that the course has relevant training potential in fostering environmentalized pedagogical practices and critical repositioning in relation to socioenvironmental issues, even promoting changes in the conceptions and practices of the participating teachers. However, limitations were also identified, such as the poorly integrated curricular organization, the overloaded workload of the teachers and the weakness in monitoring the impact of the training. The research shows that advances in teacher professionalization in EE require not only coherent training proposals, but also public policies that guarantee structural conditions and continuity in training processes. Thus, this work contributes to the debate on the training of environmental educators and offers subsidies for the improvement of continuing education programs aligned with socio-environmental justice and the transformation of educational practices.