Critical environmental education with an investigative approach: emancipatory experience in teaching environmental issues

Abstract

SAMPAIO, Jayro Silva Tavares  and  SILVEIRA, Andréa Pereira. Critical environmental education with an investigative approach: emancipatory experience in teaching environmental issues. Rev. Diálogo Educ. [online]. 2025, vol.25, n.86, pp.1276-1293.  Epub Oct 24, 2025. ISSN 1981-416X.  https://doi.org/10.7213/1981-416x.25.086.ds10.

The study aimed to investigate how an Inquiry-Based Learning Sequence (IBLS), grounded in Critical Environmental Education (CEE), can promote learning about environmental issues in Brazilian biomes, integrating concepts such as ecological imbalances, environmental racism, and One Health.Data collected from reflective journals and questionnaires, and analyzed through a combination of simple frequency and content analysis, revealed three key areas of progress: (1) High school students expanded their understanding of the multicausality of environmental problems, moving beyond generic explanations and recognizing structural factors such as agribusiness; (2) the concepts of environmental racism and One Health emerged in their conclusions, with emphasis on the unequal impacts on vulnerable populations; (3) the solutions evolved from punitive measures to educational actions and public policies. Students reported high levels of interest (classified as “very interesting” and “interesting”) in the stages of contextualization (85%), problematization (80%), hypothesis (75%), data collection (80%), dialogical exposition (75%), conclusion (60%), and communication (65%). The experience demonstrated that the articulation between IBLS and CEE developed in students the ability to analyze environmental problems across ecological, political, and social dimensions, constituting an emancipatory pedagogical practice aligned with contemporary demands for sustainability and environmental justice.

Keywords : Brazilian Biomes; Inquiry-Based Teaching; Environmental Justice.

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