Challenges and possibilities for the implementation of sensory gardens in elementary schools: early years

• Grant number: 20/00089-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: February 28, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Carolina Buso Dornfeld
• Grantee: Beatriz Schenaide Vitoria
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Environmental Education (EA) is of great importance especially in the construction of citizenship, and it is interesting that it occurs in a holistic and critical manner so that the expected results are achieved. The existence of green spaces in the school environment helps the implementation of environmental education, as Sauvé (1997) puts it. One of the green spaces is the Sensory Garden, which is characterized as a social inclusion tool for people with different special needs or learning and / or emotional difficulties, and can also be used as a didactic resource for all students. This project has the general objective of analyzing the implementation of Sensory Gardens in the school environment of the Municipal Elementary Schools - Early Years (EMEFs), located in a city of Northwest Paulista, in the view of teachers, pedagogical coordinators and first year students. Semi-structured interviews will be used with the teachers of EE, Pedagogical Coordinators and teacher of Art Therapy, and later the Content Analysis. In addition, through activities proposed in a didactic sequence with first year students, characterized as theoretical and practical field activities, which will be held in the school's Sensory Garden, data will be collected through drawings and conversation wheels, duly recorded in audio and video for later interpretation. The analysis of the drawings will be performed through their categorization and interpretation, with the help of the oral report of each student. In the end, it is intended to better understand and generate knowledge about the challenges and possibilities for the use of Sensory Gardens in EMEFs.