Movimentos participativos e interativos na constituição de educadores ambientais pela pesquisa

Abstract

This paper reflects upon being a researcher in the field of Environmental Education. It is based on two texts: "A look at research production in Environmental Education", written by Maria Rita Avanzi, Isabel Cristina de Moura Carvalho and Luiz Antonio Ferraro Jr., members of the Environment, Society, and Education Working Group at ANPPAS, and "Environmental Education as a field of knowledge: the contribution of academic research to its consolidation in Brazil", written by Jorge Megid. This reflection results from the coordination of a round table at the V EPEA - where the texts were presented - and from my experience as a professor in the Postgraduate Program in Environmental Education at FURG. I contend that the researcher in the field of Environmental Education needs to see him/herself as an environmental educator if s/he believes the hegemonic model of society has to be changed; therefore critical thinking on this model is an essential point. The process needs to be mediated through research, which is what is presented here as a contribution to the field of Environmental Education as a way to strengthen the processes to understand what it means to be an environmental researcher and educator.