Relations and Meanings on Students’ Environmental Learnings About the Rio Doce

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that aims to understand the relations that 9th-grade students establish with the Rio Doce in the context of the Fundão dam rupture. The theoretical and methodological basis is the contributions of Bernard Charlot through a dialogue with the field of environmental education. The data was generated through the inventory of knowledge and interviews. The results indicate the preponderance of affective learning over the school and citizen learning. In turn, it is towards the school that students direct their learning demands, giving them meanings in the context of the socio-technical disaster. The importance of the school for collective decision-making and socially responsible action in the context of the disaster is therefore affirmed.