Environmental Education and Sustainability in the Brazilian High School: To Raise Awareness is to Commit to Life

Abstract

Environmental Education (EE) is an essential theme that must be addressed broadly and effectively in High School. Brazilian High School students are aware of environmental issues that devastate the country they live in. Thus, the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) is a mandatory document whose norms guide and define common learning results of curricula in all public and private schools in Brazil. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing how EE was inserted into the latest version of the High School BNCC. It is an exploratory study which analyzed documents and bibliographic sources. Regarding its methodology, key words connected to EE and to promotion of sustainability in High School were used for the search in the document. After data issued by the BNCC were analyzed, we perceived that EE is briefly inserted in the document; as a result, it is neither taught nor practiced as it should be. Since EE is generically treated and poorly addressed, it does not contribute to a broad, transversal and integrative approach. Teaching EE and sustainability in High School is an important step to achieve legally established goals, go beyond theories and, mainly, put into practice speeches given by the Brazilian public management.