Potencialidades do trabalho de campo no ensino de geografia : reflexões para uma experiência em escola pública

Abstract

We consider the first contribution of an execution of a field work in a school is that students leave their classrooms to study geographical contents, this fact brings an approach between theory and practice. Thus, this teaching methodology allows us to analyze, to question and to problematize the world in spite of the school walls, understanding it like a result of socioeconomic dynamics, conflicts of interests and contradictions wich are part of our reality and influence our experiences and interpretation of what is real. Thus, the use of the field work’s methodology requires not only a teachers planning, but also work conditions that allow teachers remove their students of classrooms and offer them a singular activity that stimulate a meaningful learning. An obstacle to be confronted is the way how Education has been considered by the consumer society guided by neoliberal ideas that have influenced teachers preparing, curriculum materials and educational processes at schools, wich are focused on form technically competent people with specific skills. Although mentioned in Geography National Curricular Parameters like a possibility to build a critical reading about landscapes, the field work is not a priority yet to geography teaching in public schools of São Paulo state, supressing the curriculum. Thus, the general objective of this research was put into operation the execution of field works with students of a public school, thinking about its importance, possibilities, potentialities and limitations, order to establish an interconnected analysis between official documents that concerns the geography teaching in São Paulo state and teachers preparing and conditions. For this pourpose, this study was organized in three steps, as follows: 1) Bibliographic survey, wich in a first moment we could see the importance of a field work to research and geography teaching and, in a second moment we reflect upon the influence of neoliberalism in teachers preparing and in educational processes nowadays, intervening on the performance of field work’s activities at school. 2) Documental research, focused on analysis of PCNs and Oficial Curriculum of São Paulo state, allowing certify the mininal importance given to field investigations activities in geography teaching; and 3) Empirical research, with the establishment of three field work with students from a public school located in Tatuí/SP, making it possible to determine some difficulties for its execution, but a great students feedback as in relation to learning motivation as the way how they built new significances to contents, extending beyond memorization. For analysing the contribution of field work on students learning we consider the precepts of Theory of Meaningful Learning, proposed by David Paul Ausubel, with interpretation of Professor Marco Antônio Moreira.