Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ecoliteracy'

There is ample evidence that human actions are continuously and progressively straining planetary processes and systems vital for the wellbeing of the planet, as well as people themselves (WWF, 2012, 2014). Education has a key role to play in addressing these challenges. The role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in addressing these challenges has also been recognized. However, little is understood about the preparedness of TVET educators, specialists in their vocational areas, to address environmental and sustainability issues. This action research study examines the relationship between educator ecoliteracy and educator ability to develop and deliver vocationally specific sustainability education, in a single TVET college in Canada. The research study was undertaken over a 3-year period and involved 43 participants in total. Findings indicate that educators’ ecological knowledge, their collegial relationships and institutional processes are all significant in supporting attempts to revise vocational curriculum. Professional learning to improve vocational educators’ ecoliteracy requires more than deepening ecological knowledge, however. Also required is an understanding of the science of contemporary ecological issues and the relationship of those issues to broader socio-cultural and economic activities. In order to consider curriculum revision, educators thus need to personally value and prioritize such education as essential to the development of vocational competency amongst their students. Improving the ecoliteracy of the educator community, therefore, requires more than simply developing knowledge and skill in the scientific language of ecology; it also requires opportunities for educators to participate in institutional sustainability policies and practices
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith School of Environment
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Full Text

The importance and contribution of healthy ecosystems to human well-being and poverty reduction have gained increasing awareness and attention in recent years. Despite this wide-scale acknowledgement, the majority of the benefits yielded by ecosystem services are currently exogenous to the economic system, so their value is not equally weighted in decisions that directly impact their functioning and welfare. Public understanding of the importance of these contributions and the necessity of healthy ecosystems and sound management is vital for their conservation. However, thorough understanding of what ecosystems are, how they function, and how to manage them on a systems-based level for sustainability, known as ecological literacy (ecoliteracy), is lacking in various publics. In fact, at the nexus of the complex environmental problems facing the world today is the lack of understanding of the impact of individual and aggregate actions, particularly on ecosystems. The emerging field of ecological economics seeks to reconcile the roots for this disconnect. By developing new methods of ecosystem management that simultaneously address complex economic, social and environmental needs, ecological economics seeks to develop a comprehensive, systems-based approach to engender global sustainability. Ecolitercy is a critical component to developing new methods in development and management. This dissertation research examines and applies several ecological economic tools – rapid assessment valuation, payments for ecosystem services and service-learning education – to determine how to best promote ecoliteracy and ecosystem management on individual and collective levels. There are several findings that highlight the importance of and areas of improvement for integrating such tools in a comprehensive sustainable development approach. (1) Ecosystem services valuation, which assigns economic values to the benefits humans derive from natural environments, is a framework that can provide vital insight into the ecological costs of large-scale development projects. It can also be used as a way to incorporate local/traditional knowledge into decision-making. (2) Payments for ecosystem services programs, while effective in conserving and regenerating forests in developing countries, still have significant areas of improvement to be considered for similar future projects. Particularly, it has not been demonstrated that they are effective mechanisms for poverty alleviation, as it has been suggested in the literature. In fact, if not meaningfully supported, poor participants may face serious trade-offs and their involvement in such programs may negatively affect social capital in the community. (3) Service-learning, or working with communities to address real world-problems through a rigorous academic framework, is more effective at developing critical, ecological and civic literacy in students and develop more knowledgeable agents to solve the world‘s complex problems. Overall, these new and other tools must be developed to specifically address the ecological illiteracy that so often guides development decisions and be integrated into a comprehensive, inclusive framework for sustainable development.

Undergraduate students lack the opportunity and environment to contemplate and develop ecoliteracy skills that serve to integrate subject matter into their everyday experiences. Ecoliteracy is grounded in Capra's web of life theoretical framework and represents students' capacities to read world systems objectively with their head, heart, hands, and spirit. Contemplative pedagogy provides educators with exercises that give students time to reflect on the integration of learning. Ecoliteracy and contemplative pedagogy research has shown little quantitative data pertaining to how contemplative pedagogy affects undergraduate student ecoliteracy. To address that gap, this causal-comparative study measured the use of contemplative pedagogy exercises relative to undergraduate student ecoliteracy. A convenience sample of 150 undergraduate students who did and did not experience contemplative pedagogy exercises completed the New Ecological Paradigm Scale and Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form. Independent-samples t tests measured the differences between the 2 groups. Findings indicated that students who did not experience contemplative pedagogy exercises in the classroom were more likely to self-report higher ecoliteracy. A possible interpretation of these findings is that current contemplative pedagogy exercises may focus students' attention internally and not adequately promote the world-centered view that would more readily advance student ecoliteracy skills. Results of this study provide further insight that may inform professional development and contemplative pedagogy exercises that empowers students' ecoliteracy skills by encouraging critical thinking, action, and compassion towards positive social change.

Rapid development of U.S. cities and towns along with changes in society and technology are dramatically affecting childhood experience. Wild places and vacant lots for kids to play in are disappearing. Parents have limited time to spend with their children and fear letting them play outside alone. Traffic is a growing safety hazard and there is an increasing desire for entertainment in the form of TV and video games over outdoor exploration. As a result, children are becoming alienated from nature. They are growing up without developing a personal attachment to their natural surroundings or an understanding of their impact on the environment. The design of outdoor play areas can help reconnect children to their surroundings and lead to a more environmentally minded generation. Ecoliteracy suggests an understanding of ecological principles as well as appreciation for the environment and an attitude of stewardship. In addition to helping kids acquire factual knowledge, outdoor play spaces should cultivate a sense of wonder and delight and an emotional appreciation of the living world. Through research, observation and application, this thesis project identifies design criteria for promoting ecoliteracy in outdoor play environments.
Master of Landscape Architecture

This thesis is about the ecoliteracy of young children. The study is aimed at determining young children’s understanding of ecology as they begin their journey through the school system. More specifically, the thesis addresses a perceived gap in the current literature regarding young children’s knowledge and understanding of ecological concepts and its implications for the teaching of science in the New South Wales curriculum. Young children’s learning of scientific concepts is widely underestimated; this includes complex concepts of ecoliteracy. The research investigated levels of ecoliteracy in kindergarten children, how a teaching intervention can affect their ecoliteracy, and what factors promote enhanced ecoliteracy. A total of 25 kindergarten students from two schools participated in the study. Data were collected by means of analysing children’s drawings and interviews. A constructivist theoretical framework formed the groundwork for presenting the focus of the study and for interpreting the results of the data. Practitioner-researcher involvement included development of materials, implementing the teaching intervention, and conducting the study. The results revealed that kindergarten children had a moderate level of ecoliteracy prior to the intervention, that their ecoliteracy was significantly improved after the intervention, and that they were able to retain and maintain this newly acquired knowledge. This shows that targeted teaching activities can promote enhanced ecoliteracy in young children. Whilst their development was considerably varied, a general pattern emerged that young children’s conceptual understanding increased following the teaching intervention. This suggests that certain aspects of the intervention contributed to children’s enhanced ecoliteracy and holds clear implications for educators in teaching young children science.

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Ecological sustainable environmental formation is in the basis of public education policy on country Education so that socioenvironmental questions become part of the curriculum, therefore, of the syllabus. In this theoretical documental investigation we inquire about the ways this proposal of environmental formation occurs in a country school in São Paulo state. We have adopted the perspective of ecoliteracy to understand this formation. The following documents were object of study: the School Pedagogical Project, the Teacher s Plan and the Class Diary of the 5thgrade of an elementary school. After the pre-analysis, a preliminary analysis was carried out indicating: (1) the context of production of the document; (2) the author/authors; (3) authenticity reliability of documents; (4) the nature of the text; (5) key concepts and internal logic of the text. The next step was an interpretive analysis with the objective to identify and to configure how environmental formation is processed in a country school. The results indicated the presence of the environmental formation discourse that reveals itself by means of key elements (words and sentences) that dialogue with the bases of ecoliteracy. These elements pervade the discourse of the Pedagogical Project but in the Teacher s Plan and in the Class Diary that are perspectives to guide the pedagogic actions directly we observed a more specific presence of Science and Geography. We can infer that as the Pedagogical Project has a more comprehensive and ideological discourse according to the directions of environmental formation, such as recommended in public policy on country education, the environmental discourse elements are more explicit and orderly . In the other two documents, even if one of them focuses technical and organic aspects of curriculum (Teacher Plan) and the other is the mirror of daily classroom routine (Class Diary) the discourse of environmental formation becomes less dense and more fragmented. The research question is answered at the same time that it places the ecoliteracy not only as a perspective for environmental formation in country Education but as a possible, theoretical and methodological construct for the curriculum.
Formação ambiental ecológico sustentável - está na base da política pública da educação do campo de modo que as questões de natureza socioambientais passem a fazer parte do currículo, portanto, do conteúdo programático. Nesta investigação de cunho teórico documental, indaga-se sobre as maneiras em que essa proposta de formação ambiental acontece numa escola do campo do interior do Estado de São Paulo. Opta-se pelo ecoletramento como um visor para a leitura desta formação. Os documentos, objeto de estudo: Projeto Pedagógico da escola, o Plano de Ensino e o Diário de Classe de um 5° Ano do Ensino Fundamental. Após a pré- análise procedeuse à análise preliminar indicando: (1) o contexto de produção do documento; (2) autor/autores; (3) autenticidade e confiabilidade dos documentos; (4) natureza do texto; (5) conceitos chave e lógica interna do texto. Na etapa seguinte, efetuou-se a análise interpretativa com o objetivo de identificar e configurar como se processa a formação ambiental nessa escola do campo. Os resultados indicaram a presença do discurso da formação ambiental que se revela por meio de elementos chave (palavras e sentenças) que dialogam com as bases do ecoletramento. Esses elementos perpassam todo o discurso do Projeto Pedagógico, porém no Plano de Ensino e Diário de Classe, que são perspectivas para orientar diretamente as ações pedagógicas, observou-se uma entrada mais pontual e específica em Ciências e Geografia. Pode-se inferir que, como o Projeto Pedagógico tem um discurso mais abrangente e ideológico de acordo com os apontamentos da formação ambiental, tal como se preconiza na política pública para a educação do campo, os elementos do discurso ambiental são mais explícitos, ordenados . Já para os outros dois documentos, mesmo que um seja focalizado no aspecto técnico e orgânico do currículo (Plano de Ensino) e outro seja o espelho da rotina diária da sala de aula (Diário de Classe) o discurso da formação ambiental tornase menos denso e mais fragmentado. A questão da pesquisa é respondida, ao mesmo tempo, em que coloca o ecoletramento não apenas como um visor para a formação ambiental na educação do campo, mas como um possível construto prático, teórico e metodológico para o currículo.

Children experience limited time outdoors and have few opportunities for outdoor learning in schools, putting them at risk for being unprepared to engage in solving environmental and societal problems. Researchers have examined outdoor learning at the preschool and high school levels; elementary school experiences have been explored less frequently. Guided by a conceptual framework informed by social emotional learning (SEL), ecological literacy, and teacher self-efficacy, this study investigated public school elementary teachers' experiences with outdoor classrooms including barriers and supports to creating and using outdoor classrooms. A qualitative design using in-depth interviews with interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques was conducted with 9 elementary teachers who had at least 2 years of recent experience working with outdoor classrooms in the U. S. Pacific Northwest. Thematic analysis of interview data, using a combination of a priori and open coding, identified primary themes related to academic rigor, district policies and budgets, and motivations for teaching ecoliteracy. Barriers including a lack of time and money needed to teach effectively using outdoor classrooms and the need for a stronger integrated curriculum that connects SEL, environmental education, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emerged as areas of concern. Recommendations based on these findings include ecoliteracy professional development for teachers which may contribute to positive social change by increasing teacher understanding of and involvement with outdoor learning and the integration of ecoliteracy in the pedagogy of K-6 programs.

The purpose of this study is to better understand how the natural environment influences who we have become as adults. Recognizing the importance of childhood experiences, with and within nature, the intent of this study is to interpret the essential meanings associated with these experiences and how these, in turn, are situated in our beliefs and relationship with nature. The targeted respondents for the study were all K-12 educators teaching in schools in Central California. The driving research question is stated as In what ways do childhood experiences with and within the natural environment impact who we are as adults? Three sub-questions were also explored: What personal meanings are associated with childhood memories and experiences of being with and within the natural environment? In what ways do individuals assimilate childhood experiences of the natural environment into their adult beliefs about their relationship with nature? In what ways does the exploration of early childhood nature experiences affect the decision to become environmental advocates? Moustakas' (1990) six-stage heuristic inquiry process was adhered to. The initial data collection began within myself, the researcher. Aspects of the experience, which became the collected data by means of conversations with co-researchers, journal writing, and other personal documents, were filtered by way of my own self-inquiry, sense of eco-literacy and experience with my childhood experiences with and within the natural environment. From the organization and analysis I have derived the essential elements of the experience. Nature as the common denominator, Nature awakens inner passions, Nature as lived through a relational awareness, Nature experiences support and guide our every day lives, and Nature stimulates a child's potential were the key thematic elements that embraced my own experience and that of my co-researchers.

There is little research on the young child's experience of the natural environment. Due to the increase in urbanisation, indoor recreation and indoor schooling many young children have become isolated from the natural environment. A love for nature and a sense of wonder in nature is being lost in the hurried childhood. This loss of access to nature impacts on the child's health and wellbeing, sense of connection and environmental literacy. This research study explores how Melbourne preschool children experience and use nature through the environments provided to them in the preschool program. The main environment is naturally the preschool play yard; however, as excursions also form part of the curriculum, the child's visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Ian Potter Foundation Children's Garden forms part of this experience. Six case studies of Melburnian preschool children have been developed as a means to capture and communicate the interactions of individual children. Each of the six case studies present a child or pair of children 'in the moment,' as a snap shot of ecological learning and play behaviour and are presented as six stories, which allow the child's individual character and unique experience of nature to be expressed. Issues and behaviours evident in the children's interactions are then discussed through a framework of the seven ways of interacting in nature, which emerges from the demonstrations of these children. This information was collected using research techniques in observation; structured observations using time sampling and behaviour mapping; participating in conversations with children and collecting anecdotal observations and children's artwork. The case studies provide insight into childhood interactions with the natural environment and the levels of engagement experienced by children, with nature. The six stories, alongside topical literature, form the basis for deep discussion on the observed ways of interacting with nature.

Working with an organization outside the public school system that was creating schoolyard gardens, I began to think about culture and cultivation inside and outside of schooling practices. The liveliness of the schoolyard gardens presented possibilities for enlivening educational discourses. With two participants I planted a container box schoolyard garden outside Lamoureux Hall, which houses the Faculty of Education. Utilizing aspects of place-based pedagogy, ecoliteracy, ecopedagogy and a metissage of a/r/tography, eco-art and writing as a method of inquiry, we tended the garden and dwelled upon ideas of nature, culture, and their intersection in a particular place. Our garden experiences left cyber footprints in virtual space as blog spots on a thesis blog site. The garden and the inquiry it generated outside,is brought back inside the education building as a Master's thesis. The garden grew in different and unpredictable ways due to intense construction on site, entwining the planter boxes with unseen variables.

Despite repeated calls internationally, nationally and provincially to place the development of ecoliteracy as a curricular priority, there continues to be a lack of attention provided towards this goal, in particular opportunities for direct contact with the natural world in terms of fostering ecoliteracy in student teachers (Tuncer, 2009; Davis, 2009, Gough, 2009, Beckford, 2008; Blanchet-Cohen & Elliot, 2011). Teachers play key roles in advancing environmental education efforts and the environmental literacy of future generations. Insufficient teacher preparation has been identified as one factor in the weakness of environmental education efforts and environmental education curriculum (Beckford, 2008; Lin, 2002; Knapp, 2000). Furthermore, adequate environmental education preparation of students in teacher-training programs is essential for helping future teachers design and implement effective environmental education curriculum (Cutter-Mackenzie and Smith, 2003; Mc Keown-Ice, 2000; Spork, 1992)..Future generations of students need to begin to perceive themselves, once again, in terms of being connected to a larger story which includes the more-than-human world. I argue that education needs to play an important role in that re-connection, and that teacher education, as a fertile place of in-betweenness, can represent an important step toward that goal. Using a combination narrative and phenomenological inquiry, I explore the storied insights of ten student teachers as they struggle to navigate the tensions, disruptions and opportunities that form the waters between their nature-self and their teacher-self. Along with a questioning of current conventional approaches to teaching ecoliteracy in schools, the Aboriginal concept of “heart knowledge” (Aluli-Meyer, 2008) is provided as a way of knowing which is congruent with the aims of an holistic ecoliteracy within teacher education.
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Dissertação de mestrado em Ensino do 1º e 2º Ciclo do Ensino Básico
O presente relatório apresenta o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada, cujo objetivo era promover o desenvolvimento da consciência ecológica dos alunos através das narrativas, procurando também desenvolver a escrita e a leitura. O desenvolvimento do domínio da língua foi o ponto fulcral deste projeto, com a respetiva progressão na leitura e na escrita de textos, que permitiram aos alunos a consequente evolução dos seus conhecimentos, das suas aptidões e das suas atitudes perante o uso da língua portuguesa. Para esse efeito promovemos o contato dos alunos com diferentes tipologias textuais, através da sua leitura e escrita. Neste quadro, e tendo em conta que o ambiente em que vivemos é cada vez mais uma preocupação da nossa sociedade, procurámos, através deste projeto, compreender qual a influência do Homem no meio ambiente, mais especificamente na extinção das espécies animais. Para que isso fosse possível, promoveram-se diversas leituras e escritas, com o intuito de contribuir para a formação de cidadãos mais conscientes, reflexivos e críticos acerca da influência que o Homem tem no nosso meio ambiente. Através de diversas atividades propostas a alunos de uma turma de 2º ano, constituída por vinte e cinco alunos, e de uma turma de 6º ano, constituída por dezassete alunos, procurámos alcançar os seguintes objetivos gerais: fomentar o gosto pela leitura, desenvolver a capacidade de pesquisa, seleção e registo de informação, promover o trabalho de grupo e a entreajuda, desenvolver o pensamento crítico e reflexivo e promover a interdisciplinaridade. A metodologia selecionada para este projeto foi a construtivista e os dados foram obtidos através dos trabalhos realizados pelos alunos, das fotografias e das observações e reflexões das aulas. Após a realização deste projeto considerámos que fomos capazes de atingir os objetivos propostos e contribuímos para que os alunos ficassem mais informados e desenvolvessem competências e ferramentas que lhes permitam ter uma opinião e intervir no meio ambiente que os rodeia.
The present report presents the work developed in Supervised Teaching Practise, which goal was to promote the development of ecological consciousness of students trough narratives, also looking to develop their reading and writing. The development of language proficiency was the focal point of this project, with the respective progress in reading and writing texts, which allowed students the consequent evolution of their knowledge, their skills and their attitudes towards the use of the Portuguese language. To this end we promote the contact of students with different text types, through its reading and writing. In this context, taking into account that the environment that we lived in is more and more a concern of our society, we look, through this project, to understand the influence of man on the environment, specifically in the extinction of animal species. To make this possible, different readings and readings were promoted, in order to contribute to the formation of more conscious citizens, reflective and critical about the influence that man has on our environment. Through various activities proposed to students in a class of 2nd year, constituted by twenty five students, and a 6th grade class, constituted by seventeen students, we looked to achieve the following general objectives: foment a love of reading, develop research capacity, selection and registration information, promote group work and mutual aid, develop critical and reflective thinking and promote interdisciplinarity. The methodology selected to this project was the constructivist and the data were obtained through the work done by students, the photographs and the observations and reflections of classes. After the completion of this project we considered that we were able to achieve the proposed goals and we contribute to the students stay more informed and develop skills and tools that enable them to have an opinion and intervene in the environment around them.

O presente relatório apresenta a descrição e reflexão do trabalho de investigação-ação implementado no âmbito da Prática e Intervenção Supervisionada do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar do Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre. O projeto decorreu, numa primeira fase, em contexto de Creche, no ano letivo de 2018-2019 e, num segundo momento, em 2019-2020, em contexto de Educação Pré-Escolar, num Jardim de Infância da rede pública em Portalegre. Nestes contextos desenvolveu-se um estudo centrado na articulação entre a Literatura Infantil e o Conhecimento do Mundo, procurando-se despertar nas crianças a consciência ecológica e ambiental, recorrendo, entre outros suportes, ao livro infantil, funcionando este como desencadeador de diferentes temáticas relativas ao ambiente natural, mas sem perder o seu valor próprio e intrínseco. Em contexto de Creche, as crianças realizaram diversas atividades significativas, numa perspetiva integradora e holística, explorando sensorialmente os elementos da natureza, realizando diversas tarefas de experimentação em articulação com histórias lidas ou contadas, tendo o ambiente como topos preponderante. Em contexto de Educação Pré-Escolar, as atividades e tarefas desenvolvidas contribuíram para a consciencialização ecológica por parte das crianças e para a sua sensibilização à leitura com valor estético, à semelhança do que sucedeu em contexto de Creche.
This report presents the description and reflection of the research work, implemented within Supervised Practice and Intervention, of master´s degree in Preschool Education of Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre. The first phase of the project, in Daycare center, during the school year 2018/19, and in 2019/20, was developed in the context of Preschool Education, in a public school kindergarten of Portalegre. In this context, a focused study regarding the articulation between Children´s Literature and the Knowledge of the World, was developed, in an attempt to encourage children´s interest in ecological and environmental consciousness, making use of, among other media, the chidren´s book, which becomes a trigger for different thematics regarding the natural environment, but without losing it´s own intrinsic worth. In Daycare center, children underwent several significant activities, in an integrative and holistic perspective, sensorially exploring the elements of nature, doing multiple experimental tasks in articulation with stories read or told, having environment as preponderant topos. In the context of Preschool Education, during the present school year, the developed tasks and activities have contributed to the ecological consciousness by chidren and to their awareness of reading with aesthetic value similarly to what happened in nursery context.

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1. Ciclo do Ensino Básico
Este documento reflete o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. O seu tema central foi a promoção da consciência ecológica dos alunos, através da exploração de textos de literatura infantojuvenil, mas também recorrendo ao desenvolvimento de textos escritos pelas próprias crianças. O desenvolvimento do pensamento ecológico foi o ponto essencial deste projeto, através da leitura e da escrita de textos, permitindo aos alunos a progressão dos seus conhecimentos, de aptidões e das suas atitudes no dia a dia. Para tal, a promoção destas competências passou pela leitura de obras de literatura Infantojuvenil, a reflexão acerca de diferentes tipologias textuais e a escrita de textos de diversos tipos. Vivemos numa sociedade cada vez mais preocupada com as questões ambientais, não só devido às alterações climáticas, mas também devido à preservação do meio ambiente. Neste sentido, procurámos, no decorrer deste projeto, compreender com os alunos a influência que o ser humano tem no meio ambiente, quer em termos de comportamentos benéficos, quer de comportamentos prejudiciais a todo o ecossistema. Para que tal busca por este raciocínio ecológico fosse possível, teve de haver uma intervenção, em contexto pré-escolar e no 1.º ciclo do Ensino Básico, onde se procedeu à leitura de duas obras destinadas ao público infantojuvenil e a partir daí desenvolver o raciocínio mencionado. Para além disso, a intervenção previa a criação de textos da autoria das crianças onde desenvolveriam as suas ideias sobre a relação com o meio ambiente. No decorrer do projeto, os objetivos centrais passavam por: identificar aspetos do comportamento/discurso que as crianças utilizam na leitura do mundo; identificar no pensamento das crianças marcas do raciocínio ecológico; analisar a capacidade de as crianças se relacionarem com o mundo recriado por narrativas literárias; refletir sobre as atitudes das crianças ao longo do processo. A metodologia utilizada neste projeto teve por base a Metodologia de Trabalho-Projeto e foram ainda seguidas as linhas da Investigação-ação. Para além disso, durante a intervenção foi adotada a interdisciplinaridade, de modo a ampliar as competências dos alunos por meio de diversas linguagens e as novas tecnologias. Para obtenção de dados foram recolhidas fotografias, testes de conceções iniciais e finais, gravações áudio, notas de campo e materiais produzidos pelas crianças. No final do projeto, e após toda a reflexão sobre o mesmo, consideramos que os objetivos propostos foram alcançados e construímos, juntamente com as crianças, novas aprendizagens fundamentais, bem como um respeito cada vez maior pelo nosso ambiente e um olhar mais atento para os problemas que nos rodeiam, de modo a produzir novas conceções do relacionamento homem-ecossistema e atitudes mais críticas e sustentáveis.
This document reflects the work developed in the framework of supervised teaching practice of the Master’s Degree in Preschool Education and Teaching of the 1st cycle of Primary Education. Its Central theme it was the promotion of ecological awareness of the students, through children’s literature, but also using the development of texts written by the children themselves. The development of ecological thinking was the essential point of this project, through reading and writing texts, allowing students to progress their knowledge, skills and attitudes in everyday life. For this, the promotion of these competencies was the reading of works of children’s literature, the reflection on different textual typologies and the writing of texts of various types. We live in a society increasingly concerned about environmental issues, not only because of climate change, but also because of the preservation of the environment. In this sense, we tried, throughout this project, to understand with students the influence that the human being has on the environment, both in terms of beneficial behaviors and in terms of behaviors harmful to the entire ecosystem. In order for this search for this ecological reasoning to be possible, there had to be an intervention, in the preschool context and in the 1st cycle of Basic Education, where two works aimed at the children's public were read and from there to develop the reasoning mentioned. In addition, the intervention provided for the creation of texts by children where they would develop their ideas about the relationship with the environment. During the project, the central objectives were to: identify aspects of the behavior/discourse that children use in the reading of the world; identify in the thinking of children marks of ecological reasoning; analyze the ability of children to relate to the world recreated by literary narratives; reflect on children's attitudes throughout the process. The methodology used in this project was based on the Project Work Methodology and the lines of action investigation were also followed. In addition, interdisciplinarity was adopted during the intervention, in order to expand students' competencies through various languages and new technologies. For data, photographs were collected, initial and final design tests, audio recordings, field notes and materials produced by children. At the end of the project, and after all the reflection on it, we consider that the proposed objectives were achieved and built together with the children new fundamental learnings, as well as an increasing respect for our environment and a more attentive to the problems that surround us, in order to produce new conceptions of the man-ecosystem relationship and more critical and sustainable attitudes.

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e do 2.º ciclo do Ensino Básico
O presente relatório de estágio apresenta o trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito da Unidade Curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada integrada no Mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Selecionou como tópico específico de desenvolvimento a promoção da ecoliteracia em alunos do 1.º e do 2.º ciclo do Ensino Básico, desenvolvendo um pensamento ecológico e refletindo, dominantemente, sobre a estrutura e o funcionamento da língua nesse processo. De modo a resolver os problemas atuais e a promover a melhoria da qualidade de vida das populações, acautelando sempre a importância de pensar no futuro, é necessária a criação de uma consciência ambiental/ecológica nas crianças e nos jovens, uma vez que serão estes os primeiros atores. Neste sentido, achámos pertinente a estruturação de algumas atividades para os alunos de uma turma do 3.º ano e de outra do 5.º ano, com vista a atingir os seguintes objetivos: promover a ecoliteracia através da estrutura e do funcionamento da língua e de textos de literatura infantil e juvenil, despertar a consciência ambiental e sensibilizar para a necessidade de uma mudança de comportamentos, mentalidades e valores, desenvolvendo a capacidade de interrogação sobre as práticas, desenvolver competências linguísticas, promover o trabalho cooperativo estimulando a participação de todas as crianças e verificar se as estratégias de intervenção implementadas promovem, de igual forma, a ecoliteracia nos diferentes níveis de escolaridade Os resultados obtidos levam-nos a concluir que existiu o desenvolvimento de conhecimentos e competências dos participantes, acerca do seu meio, do seu ambiente, através da estrutura e do funcionamento da língua.
The present internship report showcases the work developed during the Supervised Teaching Course that is part of the Master's in 1st and 2nd Cicle of Basic Teaching curriculum. The specific topic selected relates to the development and promotion of ecoliteracy in first and second cycle students of elementary school, developing an ecological mindset and reflecting, predominantly, over the structure and functioning of language in the process. As to solve current problems and to promote better quality of living of populations, and considering the importance of thinking about the future, it is necessary to create an environmental and ecological awareness in children and teens, since these will be the ones to act. To this point, we found pertinent to structure some of the activities of students from a class in both the 3rd and 5th grades, aiming at achieving the following goals: promoting ecoliteracy through the structure and functioning of language and juvenile literaturary texts, raising environmental awareness and making students aware of the need of change behavior, mindset and values, developing the ability to question common practices, developing linguistic skills, promoting cooperative work stimulating participation of all children and check if the intervention strategies applied promote, in equal manner, ecoliteracy across different levels of scholarship. The results obtained led to conclude that there was development of knowledge and skills of the participants, about their surroundings, through structure and function of language.

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico
O presente estudo, intitulado O papel do Ecocurrículo na construção de competências transversais na Educação Pré-Escolar e no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, foi desenvolvido no âmbito da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada no Jardim de Infância, num grupo formado por 25 crianças e, no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, numa turma do 3.º ano constituída por 27 alunos, no concelho de Celorico de Basto. Trata-se de um relatório de investigação, no qual analisamos os conceitos e as ideias-chave referentes à integração curricular, definindo-se os objetivos de ação e de investigação em concomitância com as especificidades do contexto. Deste modo, após a fase diagnóstica delimitamos o campo de investigação, delineando as opções metodológicas que permitiram o desenvolvimento de competências transversais por parte dos dois grupos de crianças. Atente-se que as estratégias implementadas apresentam a confluência de abordagens metodológicas como o trabalho de projeto, a aprendizagem cooperativa e o projeto curricular integrado por permitirem uma abordagem plural, isto é, promovem um conhecimento em rede no qual as crianças têm um papel ativo, estabelecendo-se nexos de significatividade e funcionalidade entre as aprendizagens, integrando-as e transferindo-as para os diferentes sistemas que frequentam/habitam. Pretende-se, assim, que estas aprendizagens contribuam para a formação de cidadãos conscientes, informados e pró-ativos, construindo conhecimentos em espiral, ou seja, os conteúdos e competências possuem uma dimensão concetual, procedimental e atitudinal que se complementam. A metodologia de investigação-ação orientou ciclos sistemáticos de observação, planificação, ação e reflexão, com o intuito de melhorar a qualidade no processo de ensinoaprendizagem e, simultaneamente, garantiu a construção metacognitiva do perfil profissional do educador, professor e investigador.
The present study entitled The Role of the Ecocurriculum in the construction of transversal competences both in Preschool and 1st Cycle of Basic Education, was developed within the scope of a Supervised Pedagogical Practice in a Kindergarten, to a group of 25 children, and in the 1st. Cycle of Basic Education, to a 3rd grade class of 27 students, in the municipality of Celorico de Basto. This is a research report, in which are analysed concepts and key ideas associated to curriculum integration, defining action and research objectives related with the specificities of the context. Hence, following the diagnosis phase, the research scope was circumscribed to outline methodological options that would allow the development of transversal competences by both groups of children. The strategies implemented pointed towards merging methodological approaches such as the project work, cooperative learning and integrated curriculum design, as they allow a plural approach, that is to say, they promote network knowledge in which children play an active role establishing meaningful and functional links between learning methods, integrating and transferring them to the different systems they attend/inhabit. Therefore, this learning process aims to help develop conscious, informed and proactive citizens by building a spiral knowledge, namely contents and skills that share complementary conceptual, procedural and attitudinal dimensions. The research/action methodology was guided by systematic cycles of observation, planning, action and reflection, in order to improve the quality of the teaching-learning process, simultaneously granting the metacognitive construction of the professional profile of the educator, teacher and researcher.

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico
O presente relatório relata a intervenção implementada no 1º e no 2º ciclo do Ensino Básico, no âmbito da disciplina de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (PES), do 2.º ano de Mestrado em Ensino do 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, tendo o eixo de ação sido a análise de uma obra literária adequada às faixas etárias envolvidas e aos conteúdos programáticos então lecionados. Incidente sobre a temática da educação para a cidadania através do conceito de Ecoliteracia, esta abordagem centrou-se na interdisciplinaridade, atualmente em voga no contexto pedagógico. Procurando então explorar questões relacionadas com a ecologia e com a sustentabilidade ambiental, e partindo da Língua Portuguesa, procurámos articular conhecimentos, não apenas encarando a literatura como um excelente veículo para ver cumprido um dos maiores desafios que se encontram na escola na atualidade - a diversidade -, mas também versando sobre outras áreas do saber como a Matemática, o Estudo do Meio e até as Artes. Cremos, assim, que, através da interdisciplinaridade, poderíamos apelar de forma mais efetiva e comprometida à reflexão e à construção social do indivíduo, de forma a torná-lo ativo face ao seu futuro e ao dos demais. A amostra de participantes era constituída por 11 alunos do 3.º ano e 14 do 4.º ano, e ainda de 22 alunos de uma turma do 5.º ano, o que perfaz um total de 47 alunos. Baseado numa metodologia do tipo qualitativo, este estudo procurou valorizar o público-alvo, pelo que as estratégias foram delineadas de acordo com o seu contexto educativo. Desta forma, a experiência permitiu concluir que, encarando as crianças de hoje como adultos de amanhã, cabe ao professor observar, planificar, refletir e avaliar as práticas dos seus alunos, de forma a melhorar, por um lado, as próprias práticas de ensino, e por outro a formar cidadãos.
This report describes the intervention carried out in the 1st and 2nd cycle of Basic Education, under the subject Supervised Teaching Practice, which is included in the second year of Master's Degree in Teaching of the 1st and 2nd Cycle. The study focuses on the analysis of a literary work appropriate to the participants' age and to the taught contents. The research concerns on the theme of citizenship education through the concept of Ecoliteracy, so the approach focused on interdisciplinarity, currently in vogue in the pedagogical context. In order to explore issues related to ecology and environmental sustainability, and starting from the Portuguese language, we wanted to articulate students' knowledge, not only looking at literature as an excellent vehicle to fill one of the greatest challenges at school - diversity -, but also dealing with other areas of knowledge such as Mathematics, Science and even Arts. We believe that, through interdisciplinarity, we could appeal to a more effective and committed way of reflection and social construction, in order to make everyone active in relation to our future and the others' too. The sample of participants consisted of 11 students of the 3rd year and 14 of the 4th year, and also of 22 students of a 5th year class, which makes a total of 47 students. Based on a qualitative methodology, this study tried to value the target audience, so the strategies were delineated according to their educational context. Thus the experience allowed us to conclude that considering today's children as tomorrow's adults, it is up to the teacher to observe, plan, reflect and evaluate his students' practices in order to improve his or her own teaching practices and to raise citizens.

This study identifies and articulates the interrelationships between six key components essential for authentic learning to maximise the student-centred learning opportunities in kitchen and garden-based learning projects. Interpretative case study methodology using multiple qualitative methods for data analysis were used to direct three layers of inquiry around kitchen and garden-based learning: the context, content and characteristics of kitchen and the garden-based learning, the student learning, and the teachers’ work. Review of the literature indicated significant gaps in understanding how teachers can foster children’s interest in nature, and plan for effective authentic learning experiences in the garden. Through analysis of the literature, together with the perspectives of the Grades 4, 5 and 6 children, and their teachers, key components for authentic, contextualised learning were identified. These included: a real-world context, the opportunity for working as professionals, within a collaborative learning community, work requiring higher-order thinking, ownership of learning and authentic integrated assessment. Teachers’ pedagogy and practices are often hidden but were nevertheless significant factors affecting student outcomes. Teachers made the learning experiences more meaningful by ensuring student reflection was embedded in learning tasks. Planning and providing arenas or “safe platforms” for discursive reflection was an essential step in transforming tacit understandings to explicit knowledge enabling children to connect their personal experiences with the experiences of others. From this discourse deeper understanding of ecoliteracy emerged with one cohort, and understandings about the intricacies of collaborative teamwork with another. The focus group discussions about common experiential learning experiences had wider implications for teaching; they were a key step in making the children’s tacit understandings explicit. Examination of the staff and students’ immersive experiences within a kitchen garden learning environment, led to the development of a model of learning that provides educators with a comprehensive approach to scaffold authentic learning opportunities.

A presente investigação teve o apoio financeiro da FCT, através de uma Bolsa de Doutoramento.
A presente investigação visou contribuir para o estudo da permeabilidade entre Ciência e Arte, explorando, nomeadamente, o diálogo frutífero entre a área científica interdisciplinar da Ecologia Humana e a Literatura Portuguesa. Neste sentido, configura o que pode entender-se como um ensaio de dupla interdisciplinaridade. Recorreu-se a uma metodologia híbrida que integra métodos e fontes das ciências do ambiente e sociais e da análise literária, cujos graus de objetividade variam entre si, e que pode filiar-se na recente área dos “mixed methods”, cuja exploração se acentuou nas últimas duas décadas na Europa e nos Estados Unidos. Em concreto, pretendeu-se analisar a representação literária da Natureza e do vínculo de interdependência que o ser humano estabelece com ela na obra de Ferreira de Castro (1898-1974) ‒ um dos mais aclamados e traduzidos escritores portugueses do século XX, fundador do “romance social” português ‒ e perceber em que medida essa representação irradia da experiência de vida em variados ambientes geográficos, da personalidade e da ideologia do escritor. A tese consta de duas partes principais, traçando a primeira uma “Ecobiografia” do escritor, que averigua a sua relação e a sua conceção pessoal sobre a Natureza; e dedicando-se a segunda à ecocrítica de quatro textos de ficção com cenários em áreas rurais de Portugal continental, escritos entre 1928 e 1947: Emigrantes (1928), “O Natal em Ossela” (1933), Terra Fria (1934) e A Lã e a Neve (1947). Defende-se que, num tempo anterior ao movimento ecológico português, esses textos continham já um significativo teor eco-humano. Apresentam, por isso, um grande potencial de difusão do ambiente biofísico e das modalidades relacionais que o ser humano instituiu com a terra numa época, revelando-se um valioso contributo para a História Ambiental do território português. Esta função extra-artística projeta-se nas gerações leitoras do presente e do futuro e pode atuar em benefício da consciência ambiental e de cidadania neste século XXI. Razão por que é devido à obra castriana este novo lugar na Cultura portuguesa, mais além e mais amplo que a sua aplaudida dimensão literária.
This research aimed to be a contribution to the studying of the permeability between Science and Art. The fruitful dialogue between the interdisciplinary science of Human Ecology and the Portuguese Literature is here explored. In this sense, this may be a double interdisciplinary essay. A hybrid methodology was used, integratig methods and references from environmental as well as social sciences and the literary analysis. Their degrees of objectivity are variable and are included in the ‘mixed methods’ well used in Europe and the United States of America in the last two decades. The purpose is to analyze the literary representation of Nature and the interdependency link between the human being and Nature in Ferreira de Castro’ s work (1898-1974). Ferreira de Castro is one of the most praised and translated Portuguese writers of the XX century, creator of the Portuguese ‘social novel’. That representation spreads out from the author’s experience of life in several geographical environments and from his personality and ideology. The thesis has two main parts: the writer´s Ecobiography that conveys his own relationship and personal conception about Nature; and the second part is an ecocriticism of four fictional writings of rural areas in continental Portugal, written between 1928 and 1947: Emigrantes (1928), “O Natal em Ossela” (1933), Terra Fria (1934) e A Lã e a Neve (1947). It is argued that, in a time before the ecological Portuguese movement, those Castro’s fictional works have already had an important eco-human meaning. Ferreira de Castro’s work disseminates the biophysics environment and the different relationship of human being facing the land and the landscape – which is a valuable resource and contribution to Portuguese Environmental History. This extra-artistic role outlines in the reading generations of the present and of the future and it may be a benefit to the XXI century environmental consciousness and citizenship. This is why Ferreira de Castro’s writing deserves a new place in the Portuguese Culture, far beyond his well applauded literary dimension.