Schooling for Sustainable Development: Experience with Students of Early Childhood Education in the State School Paulo Tapajós, São Paulo/Brazil

Abstract

With regard to education for sustainable development, there are two fundamental questions: What is sustainability? What is the role of schools in preparing young people for sustainable development? To answer these questions, it is necessary to consider some important principles. First, people as a subject are historically constructed. The historical context affects how people relate to their surroundings just as the society in which people live is also influential. This means that our daily practices consist essentially of a knowledge formation process. Similarly, these same practices will be responsible for forming the knowledge of future generations. Secondly, this knowledge is transmitted through the teaching and learning processes. As a result, we can only avail ourselves of the knowledge we have inherited from past generations through this process, education. Education is responsible for the construction of knowledge and the development of future learning. This implies that education is an activity with essentially human and humanising values. These considerations indicate that education has a decisive role in human life. It is responsible not only for the development of practical actions but also for Praxis development. Practice, as a technical activity, aims to develop the skills and competencies of people in preparation for entering the job market. Praxis refers to the exercise of thinking about one’s own practice (practice thought out) relating to knowledge and reasons for action.