Educação ambiental e extensão universitária com crianças em vulnerabilidade social

Abstract

The integration between university-generated knowledge and civil society is essential to address the pedagogical and social limitations faced by vulnerable communities. Grounded in Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Lev Vygotsky’s historical-cultural development theory, childhood is understood as a crucial stage for building ethical values and fostering critical awareness. In this context, the present study aimed to analyze the contribution of the Educambiental extension project in environmental education for socially vulnerable children in Maceió and Rio Largo, Alagoas, Brazil. This qualitative and interdisciplinary experience report used Laurence Bardin’s Content Analysis to examine actions carried out between 2018 and 2019. The study population included students from early childhood to high school from both public and private schools such as Escola de Ensino Fundamental José Costa, Escola Estadual Professora Claudizete Lima Eleutério, Colégio Anjo Gabriel, and Colégio Agnus Dei as well as children supported by the Lar Batista institution. Pedagogical interventions employed playful and integrative practices, including ecobag workshops, tactile pollinator dynamics using modeling clay, dialogical lectures, school garden implementation, vertical gardens, and guided visits to the Center for Agricultural Sciences at UFAL. Initial diagnostics revealed severe scarcity of resources and emotional vulnerability. Following the interventions, significant impacts were observed in three main areas: the awakening of ethical and moral autonomy through cooperativism; the internalization of ecological concepts accompanied by enhanced critical perception; and the holistic, humanized development of participating extension students, who transcended purely technical learning by cultivating empathy and civic responsibility. The study concludes that university extension plays a transformative and inseparable role alongside teaching and research, recommending the expansion of such practices and the establishment of public policies to ensure ongoing funding for community projects of this nature.