The nature-man-society unit is methodologically based on the approach of numerous problems related to the
environment; Among the most significant characteristics that distinguish it stands out that which postulates that "nature is for man a link
that relates him to himself."
environmental-education-youth-challenge-developmentSince the emergence of man, the natural environment has represented for him a fundamental source in obtaining resources associated with the satisfaction of his vital needs, but this relationship has not had the same meaning or interpretation when analyzing the anthropic and development effect social in ecosystems is about. As far as is known, two essential features can be identified in this:
"The appearance and reproduction of a humanized nature of an artificial nature, and the increase of man's dependence on the environment in the process of differentiation and independence of nature" ii.
This means that in the development of the nature-man-society relationship; At least three major periods can be identified, which are differentiated by social development and the type of technological culture achieved on one side; and the type and gra d or impact of the civilization process on the environment.
The first marked the beginnings of the Primitive Community and was distinguished by the dependence of man on the environment with little significant impacts. With the agricultural and livestock exploitation of soil and water resources, the second period begins in which man becomes a modifying agent of the environment, but with impacts that did not exceed the resilient limits of ecosystems, new forms of social relations such as the trade and ownership of natural resources.
This second period spanned from the Neolithic and lasted until the 18th century when the first Industrial Revolution occurred, the third period that brought with it economic and social transformations with ecological traces that began to become civilizing debts with Nature. With the appearance of the steam engine, humanity began to have carbon-based energy sources, which made possible the accelerated growth of the population and the large-scale transformation of the environment. For its part, the second Industrial Revolution intensified accelerated economic development, as a result of which the environmental problem reaches global magnitudes.
The problem of the nature-man-society relationship is not only a concern of current generations, despite the warning calls, man, supported by scientific-technical advances in the XXl century, forgets his dependence on the rest of the environment as a living being that it is and of how dangerous it can be for life on the planet, its irrational and excessive actions. It is not about stopping development but about assuming sustainable patterns that do not compromise the legacy of future generations.
For this reason, since the middle of the last century, sustainable development has become an increasingly complex process, due to the conditions imposed by the application of scientific-technical advances in economic and social processes without due anticipation of the consequences for the balance medioambie n such. This is one of the causes from which derives the urgency in the search for new ways and means that, through Education, raise the general culture of the peoples, based on the interpretations that man makes of the different objects, facts, phenomena and natural processes that exist and their link with development and quality of life.
As a conditioning and conditioned by social practice, Education “… allows the conservation, transmission and enrichment of the knowledge accumulated by man in his social evolution; expressed in procedures and ways of acting in the production of material goods, based on the resources that nature offers ” iii. Therefore, the formation and qualification of the new generations, for the care of the environment, constitutes at present one of the basic formative objectives of the educational systems in much of the world. It is a complex task that must be contextualized in the general problems of environmental education, hence this is an aspect to be taken into account as a dimension of the pedagogical process at the different levels of education.
Its purpose is basically to achieve the change or adaptation of the role of children and young people to new environmental realities from the interaction between theory and practice in relation to environmental education. "A harmonious and integral personality requires a balance between the full spiritual development of the individual and his technical scientific preparation" iv, which must be manifested in an integral formation that allows the active insertion of the subject in society.
Achieving the full incorporation of young people in this process helps them learn to regulate their way of thinking, feeling and acting responsibly and in accordance with the reality in which they live; they are trained in the formation of predictions, explanations and in the contribution of solutions to natural and social processes and phenomena; from the knowledge of science, the development of skills, feelings and ways of acting, aimed at interacting creatively and positively in nature and society.
In Cuba, promoting comprehensive training constitutes an indispensable part of socioeconomic development. For this purpose, since the end of the last century, elements related to the study of the environment have been introduced in the programs of the different subjects, at each level of education, mainly in those whose object of study is linked to natural systems, and with greater emphasis on primary education.
With the beginning of the 20th century and the definition of goals for Education for Sustainable Development, the conception of teaching at the secondary level changes radically. The Cuban basic secondary school resized its traditional approach, towards the formation of an integral general culture in adolescents, in which environmental education occupies a preponderant role that allows them a systemic understanding of the world and participate in the care and sustainable transformation of reality, Responsibly.
Similarly, when considering the number of adolescents who, upon completing the ninth grade, opt for continuing high school studies and, given that it is at this stage that the particular and professional interests of each young person are defined; The teaching contents are structured in such a way that they express the direct link between the system of knowledge and skills, the system of norms for the value and emotional relationship of the individual with the world and the experiences of creative activity.
The relationship between the previous elements makes it possible to highlight that in the conception of each subject it is not enough to attend only to the system of knowledge, skills and habits, but it is also necessary to conceive and work to develop the creative activity of the students on the basis of the link between theory, practice and the environmental conditions in which they interact.
For the successful performance of this task, the student's knowledge of reality is taken as a starting point, as well as his behavior in the development of the activity itself, which produces an emotional and evaluative attitude towards the content system of teaching, especially, moral norms and social behavior.
The difficulty in the subject is given by the very transversal nature of environmental education, which must involve all the subjects and disciplines that are studied in high school. In interviews and surveys with teachers, teaching guides and other specialists; as well as in observations made at different moments of the pedagogical process, the contradiction between the educational proposals and the real practices related to environmental education at school was verified.
Certainly, based on the analysis of the data obtained in empirical investigation, it is summarized that the study and interpretation of environmental problems constitutes one of the least worked objectives in the curricular activities of the baccalaureate level. The causes that originate this phenomenon could be varied, but three of them are fundamentally taken into account:
The first is related to the teaching contents included in the curriculum, after the study carried out on the programs of the subjects that make up the training plan of a bachelor's degree, it is evident that in all of them there is a certain relationship between the objectives of the same with environmental content, but this is not yet precise and only becomes more evident in the area of Natural Sciences.
It is also verified that the design of the subjects escapes from the constant analysis of social practices, according to the contexts where they occur as one of the essential goals to advance towards the achievement of sustainable experiences; the learning contents in each one of them continue to be individualized and related to the development of specific professional exercises; in few cases they constitute an unconditional part in the mode of action of teachers and students, so the development of attitudes and values towards the environment, as well as the interaction between theory and practice in relation to environmental education, from all sides in pre-university education, continues to be an important point of attention in educational improvement.
The second is related to the level of preparation of teachers for the integration of the contents of environmental education from an integrative and interdisciplinary perspective to those of the subject they teach. An important role in this must be played by the tutor teacher, since her educational influence in the group constitutes a determining element.
When inquiring between teachers and educational cadres at different levels, it was found that a part of the faculty that currently works in pre-university institutes was formed at a time when environmental issues were not yet a serious social concern, nor an educational priority, while another high percent comes from qualification courses and today constitute teachers in training; It becomes evident then that the preparation of these to integrate the environmental issue into the integral formation of the student from their subject, is not required, which influences the lack of systematicity in the work, as well as, their displacement towards the subjects of the Natural Sciences area.
Last, and not least, it is noted that at this level the realization of environmental educational activity is based on work almost exclusively at the level of informational approaches, without convincing argumentation, in the classroom or outside of it, of the problem object In this way, a pedagogical process is observed in which environmental education is restricted to the frontal exposure of certain subjects with short duration, which do not effectively address the problems of the school, the community, or the the professional interests of the future bachelor.
The elements raised up to here and scientifically based lead to the establishment of a pedagogical conception that in addition to harmoniously interrelate the cognitive, the affective and the behavioral to generate changes related to the knowledge, values and actions of the students, based on the analysis of facts and phenomena that occur in the environment, materialize in the integration of approaches and the creation of procedures, since environmental education in pre-university education requires its integration as a dimension of the pedagogical process that contributes to the preparation of the bachelor's degree for its incorporation into the economic and social development of the country.
On the basis of the above, it is possible to argue that the environmental reality of the world today requires transformations in the scale of knowledge, values and social responsibility of people, especially in the young generation, an issue on which the School has the greatest responsibility, due to its wide possibilities of influencing all spheres of the personality.
How then to contribute to the integration of environmental education in the pedagogical process of pre-university? Derived from the described problems and, from the analysis of the educational reality and its necessary approach to sustainable development, it is intended to base a theoretical basis and practical proposal for environmental education seen as a dimension of training i n TEGRAL youth from the pedagogical process in high school, in which scientific relationships are identified that start from considering the psychological characteristics of the student and their rules of interaction with the world and creative activity.
The practical output of the research is materialized in a strategy with flexible, dynamic and integrating methodological procedures; Its novelty and importance lies in the conception of an interdisciplinary and systemic approach that enhances the comprehensive training of young people and their preparation for life and profession.
STARTING POINT IN THEORETICAL DEBATE ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AS A DIMENSION OF TRAINING.
The changes in the conception of the world that man represents as a result of accumulated experience, as well as the impact of the discovery of new facts and phenomena in activity, has allowed the transformation of the historical-social experience into culture, which it is enriched by the development of humanity itself. In this sense, education plays an essential role given its own dialectic, understanding this as "the process of socialization, teaching-learning, training and development of the personality depending on the level of generalization with which it is analyzed." v
In the definition, special emphasis is placed on the relationship established between the categories education, instruction, teaching, learning and development, which, taken to the plane of a school pedagogy, is materialized in the pedagogical process in charge of fulfilling the first objective of Education in any of the systems that are analyzed and that is directed towards the integral formation of individuals and their preparation for life.
In the pedagogical process, teaching and learning must be planned according to individual and social needs, promoting dynamic interaction between instruction, development and student training under the guidance of the teacher, which reveals the bilateral nature of the process, whose essence lies in the dialectical unity that is established between the one who teaches and the one who learns.
From the previous analysis, the nexus between teaching, learning and development as bases and content of education is deduced, a dynamic that is materialized in the pedagogical process, figure 1.
Teaching is then interpreted as a process of organization of cognitive activity that manifests itself bilaterally, in which the student assimilates the study material.
(learn) with the role of the teacher (teach), which leads to the appropriation of knowledge and
development of habits, skills and values that later become the necessary competences for responsible social and professional performance.
For its part, learning comprises the process of appropriation and individualization of the experience gathered during the activity of the student who assimilates and appropriates the content under study, under the guidance of the teacher. The quality and depth of learning will depend on the type of activity and the context in which it takes place, so the planned task must be very well conceived according to the proposed objectives.
Whenever something new is learned, qualitative and quantitative changes are generated that provoke the progressive and ascending development of the personality from different points of view: psychological, political, social, physical and intellectual; what is called individual development and when these changes begin to influence and transform the social environment, then we speak of social development.
It could then be concluded that during the development of the individual and society, education must materialize in a process aimed at guaranteeing a teaching that stimulates the conscious direction of practical activity, that fosters cognitive independence and reflective and creative thinking, which draw metacognitive strategies that fulfill instructive, educational and development functions, perfectly structured and that respond to the needs and characteristics of the learner, as well as those of the environment in which it is carried out.
Taking the established premise as a starting point, the aforementioned process is identified as a pedagogical process defined as “the educational process where the relationship between education, instruction, teaching and learning is revealed, aimed at the development of personality of the learner in his preparation for life ” I saw. It must be distinguished by its integral, renovating and contextualized character, in which the learning content resulting from technical scientific development and local history is articulated to the teaching contents. A new content then emerges that encourages, as the student assimilates it, the integral formation of his personality.
The knowledge related to the environment and its influence on individual and social development constitute part of this new content to which reference is made and its treatment has more and more emphasis on pedagogy. In this sense, the e d environmental ucación, has become one of the basic elements that contribute to the formation and transmission from one generation to another of knowledge and environmentally responsible attitudes based on sustainable development and highlighting the need for consider the social, economic, political and ethnic dimensions to interpret and mitigate the environmental problems of the world today.
Environmental education must be integrated into the pedagogical process as a dimension of this, which allows it to be part of a complex phenomenon of change where the student comes to understand the relationships of interdependence with their environment, based on the reflective and critical knowledge of the biophysical reality, social, political, economic and cultural; and that derived from this analysis, attitudes of appreciation and respect for the environment are generated in it, which must be marked in criteria for the improvement of the quality of life and in a concept of sustainability; This then requires an enriched and contextualized practice according to the specific situation in which it is carried out.
Understand it as “a continuous and permanent process, which constitutes a dimension of the integral education of all citizens, oriented so that in the process of acquisition of knowledge, development of habits, skills and attitudes and formation of values, the relationships between men, and among them with the rest of society and nature, in order to promote the reorientation of economic, social and cultural processes towards sustainable development ” vii. It allows to interpret its role in the pedagogical process, as a perspective of training, with a sociocultural and systemic origin that makes evident the relationship between process, dimension, projection and purpose; core elements in the interpretation of environmental education as a dimension of it.
When raised in the Cuban environmental strategy, the premise that environmental education constitutes a dimension of the integral education of every citizen, its role in the pedagogical process begins to be interpreted, from the analysis a new concept arises in the scientific community, the environmental dimension with different definitions that are analyzed below.
According to Rosales, C. (1990) “… it is a perspective of the training process in general, with a socio-cultural origin that projects it intensely in the field of education” viii. The positive here are the relationships that are revealed between training-education-society-culture, but like any process, it must be conditioned and conditioning development; therefore, and without underestimating the educational influences of various social agents, the role of school pedagogy should be highlighted due to its standardized and wide-ranging nature.
In the National Environmental Education Strategy of Cuba (1997), it is conceived as “… an approach that in an educational process (…) is expressed by the systemic nature of elements that have a determined environmental orientation (…) where the functions and behavior of some, they act and can modify that of others ” ix. In this point of view, the environmental orientation of the educational process, its systemic nature and the interactions and influences between the participating subjects stand out; But core points such as the sociocultural perspective remain out of the analysis.
Research professors at the Center for Environmental Education Studies at the Pedagogical University of Havana (2003), define it as the “system of elements integrated into an educational program, not only of knowledge, but rather as sense, meaning or direction that is develops in a system of pedagogical actions ” x. Important here, the educational and pedagogical influence, the non-restriction to the instructional component of the training, although the absence of the metacognitive and developer is noted.
Finally, Covas, O. (2006), presents it as “an essential aspect that helps the orientation and integration, in the teaching-learning process, of environmental elements necessary (…) to understand the environmental facts and phenomena that occur in nature and society ” xi. The vision reduced to the teaching-learning process, exposed by this author, can lead to the wrong interpretation of educational contexts and agents, as well as their determining influences on pedagogical activity.
A more integrative analysis can then begin by considering what for Álvarez, C. (1999), from the pedagogical point of view, means dimension by defining it as “… the projection of an object or attribute in a certain direction” xii. determines as regularity in the previous definitions the treatment of the environmental dimension as perspective, orientation, focus, sense or direction of a certain process that requires the integration of environmental content for educational purposes.
When the pedagogical process is constituted, as the space where the dialectical relationship between instruction and education, teaching and learning is materialized, whose direction is determined by general, essential and systemic principles that reveal the integration between the components of the process and the logic of this; the principles that regulate it allow its orientation towards the study of the environment and the consideration then of its environmental dimension.
In this regard, the general characteristics of learning in environmental education are given by the nature of the object it deals with and its general objectives, according to which the working methods are selected, which should ensure a reflective, critical and developmental activity, promoting, in addition:
- Active participation: It must transform contemplative teaching into an option committed to sustainable development. It is about achieving a comprehensive and permanent education, where explanation, application and decision-making are the fundamental elements that guide action towards a more adequate and balanced human organization of the environment. The purpose is that the student is the protagonist of the learning process and the teacher a fundamental mediator in it. Problem solving: Referring to specific situations in the educational environment that affect the quality of the environment. This implies that students participate in decision-making, they are involved in the exercise of their autonomy, of their moral principles and in the affective bond with the natural and human heritage.The identification and resolution of problems allow the elaboration and debate of proposals for action and intervention that modify behaviors and attitudes.The formation of values: Environmental education has a high educational component, it is based on a deep ethics, which commits how many participate in their programs. It is about that each group that teaches and each group that learns have the opportunity to value themselves, submit to criticism, and clarify new values that allow them to advance in the direction of social equity and ecological balance.that commits all who participate in its programs. It is about that each group that teaches and each group that learns have the opportunity to value themselves, submit to criticism, and clarify new values that allow them to advance in the direction of social equity and ecological balance.that commits all who participate in its programs. It is about that each group that teaches and each group that learns have the opportunity to value themselves, submit to criticism, and clarify new values that allow them to advance in the direction of social equity and ecological balance.
Environmental education allows projecting the pedagogical process towards the systemic interpretation of the contents of any study plan, with an environmental orientation at the same time, it places students in a position to reflect and discover their own and adequate system of actions and assessments that contribute to the prevention, solution and / or mitigation of the environmental problems detected by them in the community where it is studied.
Thus, a problem that directly involves the contents and methodologies of general education is revealed, since this cannot be done with a traditional system that only attends to the path of directed and dogmatic understanding, without resorting to the experiential, significant experience and creative for both the teacher and the learner.
This requires a change in the conception, execution and control of the process based on the contents of the study plan, and to devise new strategies that lead, rather than knowledge of said contents, to the mastery of study methods that they develop the intellect and cognitive independence of the student and allow him to orient himself and self-evaluate in the activity; at the same time that a global and materialistic vision of the world is formed, where the fundamental stage of human development occurs in the nature-man-society relationship.
What has been raised may lead to establishing the following premise: any activity that is developed on the basis of knowledge of reality, produces an emotional and evaluative attitude towards one's own knowledge, moral norms and the consolidation of ideals, both social, political, as environmental.
Educational policies are growing in the region that establish as one of their challenges, familiarizing students with environmental problems and making them participate in the place and social responsibility that corresponds to them; The difficulty of this task is given by the transversal nature of environmental education that involves all subjects and areas of knowledge, hence the application of new concepts, methods and techniques; It allows insistence on the social work of the school and on the creation of new relationships between the participants in the pedagogical process.
Given that the end of Education is associated with the formation of new generations on the basis of a scientific and renewing conception of the world, and with the full development of human capacities with a high level of individual and collective responsibility, education is considered Environmental, seen as a dimension of the pedagogical process, enhances the achievement of this purpose, since it contributes to the scientific interpretation, by the student, of the environment in which it is developed, acquires awareness of their civic responsibility and can participate in making decisions decisions in the community in which you live or study.
It is, then, to find from all the edges of the process, those common elements that allow working with these new generations in order to teach them the basic tools that they can count on when analyzing a specific environmental situation, both for the search of solutions and for the maintenance of existing conditions. For this, it is necessary to delve into the trends and theoretical and methodological conceptions that sustain environmental education, illustrated in this work from the experience and educational development in Cuba.
TRENDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN THE CUBAN PEDAGOGICAL PROCESS.
Even though the environment has always existed, its definition is a relatively recent cultural result. Man, by becoming aware of its existence, through thought supposes its meaning, its conception, its interpretation, its study and its domain. For this reason, this concept and human culture is to n estr and chamente linked, evolving and with different meanings.
In the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education held in Tbilisi (1977), it is established that the study of the environment includes, in addition to the physical environment, the social and cultural environment in which the subjects develop, so that the analyzes carried out They must take into account the interrelationships that are established in it and consider it as the complex environment in which organisms develop, including the necessary elements that sustain their lives.
Considering as a premise that studies related to the environment should be done with a system approach, in correspondence with its structural and functional complexity, its integral and totality; These must encompass nature, society, historical cultural heritage, that created by humanity, humanity itself, and as an element of great importance, social relations and culture.
Environmental education thus becomes a basic element for the achievement of a cultured and developed society in which, regardless of the material levels of consumption, respect and harmony with the environment prevail in its citizens, however, to achieve For this purpose, it is necessary to establish theoretical-methodological bases capable of transmitting complex information in simple, clear and rigorous terms in each discipline, as well as the adequate evolution of human actions with different educational and population groups, it also requires to be enriched and conceptualized in practice, based on the concrete situation in the world today.
As it is itself a newly emerging science, it is difficult to frame it in a single definition, basically due to its polysemic character; is based on the basic principles of the construction of a new ethic towards the environment that endorses values and behaviors towards sustainability and social equity, as well as the understanding of the conception of the world as a complex and integrated system, so that imply, the reconstruction of knowledge, awareness and citizen participation.
Always maintaining his naturalistic approach, he has come a long way since Juan Luis Vive (1492-1542) with his ideas about the union of man with nature, Voltaire (1694-1718) and his naturalistic pedagogical thought, which promoted the theory of the natural goodness of man and the perversity of the social environment, he stated, the need to educate in nature, since we learn from it and through it we must transform our mode of action, to educate present and future generations based on their environment.
Thus, environmental education is being constituted as an educational process, a trend that was not consolidated until the end of the 19th century. Within the naturalistic pedagogical thought, JL Pestalozzi (1746-1827) stood out in his thesis that the development of children depends on the observation of nature and the practices in it, which have remained until today.
In Latin America, the pedagogical thinking with a naturalistic tendency of Cuban thinkers such as Father Félix Varela (1788-1853) and José Martí (1853-1895), among others, stands out, considering that the study of nature should be done with the application of methods scientists and thus achieve the awareness of society for their care.
The second period begins in the mid-70s and extends to end 80, it is characterized by persistent remnants of the Conservació n ism and anthropocentric conceptions that conceive natural resources as well to be exploited by man.
However, important milestones are marked in the work for the protection of the environment and the role of Ecology is highlighted, a cause for which it is known as the period of environmentalism. As positive elements are evidenced: a greater awareness of the need to systematically approach environmental education in the educational context and the beginning of reflection processes that define objectives, principles and goals of environmental education. Among the most significant events were:
- International Seminar on Environmental Education. Belgrade, Yugoslavia. (1975), which defines the International Environmental Education Program (PIEA), known as the Belgrade Charter where it is established that environmental education must lead to the achievement of:
- Awareness regarding the environment in general and awareness of its related problems Knowledge of the environment, problems and the presence and function of humanity in it, which entails critical responsibility Responsible attitude and a deep interest in the environment, a starting from the formation of values that encourage them to actively participate in their protection and improvement. Development of good habits in relation to the environment and to acquire the necessary skills to solve environmental problems. Capacity for the evaluation of educational measures and programs environmental based on ecological, political, economic, social, aesthetic and pedagogical factors.Development of a sense of responsibility in a way that leads to awareness of the urgent need to pay attention to environmental problems, to ensure that adequate measures are adopteddays about it.
- Development of the First Intergovernmental Conference in Tbilisi. Georgia. (1977), among the most important of his contributions was the establishment of the principles of environmental education focused on:
- Consider the environment in its entirety, taking into account the systemic nature of the processes that occur in it Establish a continuous and permanent process with an interdisciplinary approach Examine environmental issues from local, national, regional and global points of view Consider environmental aspects in development and growth plans Establish relationships between awareness of the environment, the acquisition of knowledge, the aptitude and attitude to solve problems and clarification of values Use various educational environments and methods that stimulate creative activity and communication.
Together, with the objectives and principles, the purposes of environmental education are taken into account, among which are:
- Encourage environmental ethics and critical thinking Provide accurate and up-to-date information about the environment and its related problems for correct decision-making Understand the relationship between society's needs and its interaction with the environment Short, medium and long term.
In relation c or n e n foque of environmental education at different levels, emphasizing local, the contradiction between the national character of the syllabi and the contextual framework of the pedagogic process is facing or. From this it follows that environmental education should be structured in a decentralized manner, taking the local approach as a starting point.
The end of the decade of the 70s gave way to a more inclusive reflection and commitment towards the environment that requires an ethical assessment, and lays the foundations of a more environmentalist than ecological movement, which seeks the protection of the environment over the development base.
In the Cuban educational sphere, the results of the aforementioned international events have a significant impact on the country's political platform, guidelines are drawn for the study and care of the environment, there it is stated, “… an increasing role in the Protecting the health of the people is the struggle to preserve the environment and natural resources from contamination. To this end, the essential regulations are established to achieve this objective and adopt the provisions that ensure its strict compliance, as well as increase educational efforts aimed at the masses participating actively in their care and protection… ” xvii
The foregoing is further endorsed in the Constitution of the Republic, in its article 27, which states that “… the State protects the environment and the country's natural resources. It recognizes its close link with sustainable economic and social development to make human life more rational and ensure the survival, well-being and security of current and future generations. It is the responsibility of the competent bodies to apply this policy. It is the duty of citizens to contribute to the protection of water, atmosphere, soil conservation, flora, fauna and all the rich potential of nature ” xviii
The ecological trend of environmental education begins to be echoed in the study plans and despite the fact that in Tbilisi, the transversal nature of this is established, its application continues to be reloaded towards the disciplines of Natural Sciences, especially Geography. In 1979, the First National Seminar on Environmental Education was held in Cuba, where educators from all over the country recognized its interdisciplinary nature and highlighted the determining role of pedagogy in it. * Xix
In January 1981, Law 33 was promulgated, known as Law 33/81 on “Protection of the Environment and Rational Use of Natural Resources”, which in its article 14, specifies the introduction of the fundamental questions on protection of the environment within the National Education System. Other important national and international events were:
- In 1983, the Ministry of Education promulgated Circular 42/83, referring to the celebration of June 5 as International Environment Day, in which teaching, extra-teaching and extra-curricular activities are indicated in greeting to date. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development was established, better known as the Brundtland Commission, whose main contribution is the proposal for sustainable development.
At the end of the period, one of the Improvement of Study Plans and Programs was carried out, in this process, what related to environmental education had a greater degree of attention, from the materialization of the principle of linking study with work, undertaking different tasks to strengthen the environmental educational work in the study plans, including contents related to agriculture, flora, fauna and human health.
Orientations m eToDo l ógicas of some subjects indicate to the teacher that environmental education should be an ongoing process that conforms to the changes occurring at global, national and local levels, to be prep to rar students for resolution problems, through a global approach and with an interdisciplinary nature, directed towards the integrated development of the community. Among the main features that characterize the pedagogical process in this period are:
- Environmental issues are beginning to be integrated from the theoretical-conceptual point of view, with a marked ecological tendency. The most used ways to treat them are mainly extra-educational. The significant role of the community and local studies is beginning to be understood as a way for the teacher can implement their research, and students, better understand the reality of environmental problems with which they have to engage. However, the school-community link was weak. It was understood that environmental problems are not only the task of governments and specialists, since the school can play an important role in this work.
The third period extends from the late 1980s to 2000, constitutes a new stage in the development of environmental education in which the ways of assessing environmental problems move from an environmental approach to sustainability, period is characterized by:
- The ecological crisis is becoming global, it is urgent to adopt measures to not exceed the limits of sustainability of the planet. Development alternatives require a reformulation of the use of environmental benefits and costs in all social spheres with criteria of equity. a progression of environmental awareness with a milestone at the Earth Summit in which important declarations are issued and Agenda 21 is approved.The strategy for the future of life arises as a result of a study derived from the International Congress of UNESCO- UNEP on Environmental Education and Training (Moscow 1987), in which the needs and priorities for the development of environmental education and training outlined in Tbilisi, 1977 are retaken. Between 1990 and 1999, as a result of the Moscow Congress,strategic objectives are established that are put into practice in several countries, among them are:
- Define environmental problems and the objectives of an international strategy in the field of environmental education and training Determine the main and essential characteristics of environmental education-training Establish orientations, objectives and actions of an international strategy in the 1990s.
The most significant event of the period at the international level was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio, 1992), which stands out for its great pedagogical significance by declaring in Agenda 21 that “… education in the field environment and development d e be dealing with the dynamics of the physical and biological environment, and the average socio - economic and human development; integrate into all disciplines and use academic methods and effective means of communication… ” xx
In educational systems, including the Cuban, environmental education begins to be treated as a component of moral, political and social training to face the complexity of the ecological crisis, its objectives include training citizens aware of their individual and collective responsibilities to promote participation in the search for alternatives at the local and global level. Sustainable development, together with any educational strategy, fosters a comprehensive and systemic vision of the environment, putting aside the ecological conceptions that until then had been dealing with, in the same way it offers options to achieve an equitable and habitable world.
At the beginning of the period in Cuba it was agreed that: “… the school is the basic institution to treat environmental education through the classroom, and the character and interdisciplinary approach of environmental education should be fostered, the link between the contents of the subjects, with aspects of environmental education, mainly in the localities where the students live… ” xxi. The leading role that the school acquires as a cultural center of greater relevance in the community is evidenced here.
From that moment, the concept of environmental education is perfected among Cuban teachers, which will finally be recognized for its interdisciplinary nature and not as an optional subject, that is, the first steps of its integrative approach are beginning to be taken, but the work is not yet homogeneous in all the subjects of the Study Plans.
The main outputs that the implementation of Agenda 21 had in the national context were focused on the fact that in the training of teachers, what is related to the structure, organization and operation of the environmental protection system is recognized and studied. environment and the use of natural resources. Also:
- The class is valued as the fundamental element to introduce the environmental dimension, taking into account the knowledge system of each subject, as well as the potential it can offer to develop extra-teaching activities. Awareness is raised about the need to systematize the training of personnel teacher in the scientific, technical, pedagogical and methodological aspects of environmental protection and environmental education for the development of the teaching-learning process in all schools and its progressive linkage with the community. Environmental education is declared as an axis transversal in the curricula, and from there the incorporation of this begins, in the extra-educational and the extra-curricular, more environmental contents are inserted in the subject programs,although Biology, Geography and Chemistry are fundamentally at the forefront. Multidisciplinary work, directed towards the interdisciplinary, is assumed as an integration strategy.
In 1993, the National Environment and Development Program was approved, known as the Cuban adaptation of Agenda 21, in its Chapter 36, the priority nature of school and education is revealed, since it is conceived that
The teacher in his methodological preparation has to achieve the environmental orientation of the content to be taught from the articulation of environmental education as a transversal theme, the knowledge of the locality and the diagnosis of the students, thus achieving the determination of a new learning content (fig.
4), which has to be carried out as teaching problems whose solution requires individual research and study, based on the understanding of facts and phenomena of reality.
Teaching problems must be formulated and worked on in three ways: interdisciplinary, because they show the relationships that occur between the content of the subjects from the assessment of environmental problems, which encourages quantitative and qualitative analyzes that help students understand the environment as a complex system and provides them with awareness of the political, economic and ecological responsibility of man in it; systemic, because they enhance the comprehensive analysis of the reality under study, taking into account the dynamic and evolutionary aspects that govern the relationships that operate in the environment; and contextualized, because they achieve the integration of the teaching-learning process that takes place in the school, with the educational influence exerted by the community in which it is located.
The integration of these three ways from the design, orientation and execution of teaching problems, will allow evaluating the results of the work from the point of view not only cognitive, but also, in the evaluative and affective-volitional of the student's personality, becoming these in a way that enhances their comprehensive training.
The first step is the construction of the new content to be taught as a result of the integration between the knowledge system of the subject that is explained, the environmental content that allows explaining the reality of the context and the concepts of other subjects, necessary in the interpretation of said reality.
This constitutes one of the most dynamic and flexible elements of the methodological procedure since, when the characteristics of the context are taken into account, the teaching problems planned by the teacher may be similar, but not the same, to this are added the psychological characteristics of the students, their professional orientation and the level of academic performance in which they are.
Integrating the study of the environmental reality and the community context as a true cross-cutting theme in the curriculum so that the pedagogical process is dimensioned from this perspective, makes it possible for the construction of the new content to be joined by the elements provided by the subjects, and the degree of integration between them.
This element contributes to solving the contradiction between the integrative and complex nature of environmental contents and the fragmented and unsystematic way in which they are treated in the pedagogical process, while promoting integral training and orientation towards the profession. (fig. 5).
It is also the environmental reality, which determines in this relationship, the method, the teaching aids, the form of organization and the type of activity (teaching, extra-teaching or extra-curricular) most suitable for its study; Thus, it fulfills a dynamic function within the work planning system because:
- It has an essential character, since they determine the development of the other elements of the system in this stage. It constitutes the cross-cutting theme, which generates a new teaching content. It presupposes unity, among the other elements, and allows the design of teaching problems.
environmental conditions that promote a comprehensive understanding of reality.
The existing interrelationships between the elements that make up this new content, make it possible to orient the pedagogical process in such a way that teaching dynamizes learning, contextualizes it and makes it a developer, conditions that contribute to the integral formation of the student.
Problems doc and efore p ueden planned from a subject or from the educational objectives of the degree, to the present each topic the teacher should facilitate the analysis of the environmental situation at global, national, regional and local levels, Haci level and I ndo emphasis on its way to manifest itself in the community where the school is located and in the possible actions to be taken by the students in their transformation, for which the following aspects will be taken into account:
- Identification of the teaching content related to the environmental reality being studied Definition of basic environmental education terms and contextualizing them to the teaching content Identification of the main environmental problems with which students interact, causes, consequences and relationships between them. and identification of risk and disaster factors in the school and community. Participation in the mitigation of environmental problems. Assessment of the impact of human settlements and economic development on the components of the environment. Identification of citizen responsibility in the conservation of resources and local historical cultural heritage, with a professional approach.
For the integration of these elements in the design of teaching problems, strategic lines are proposed to take into account in the planning of the work.
- Diagnosis and characterization of the communities highlighting the main potentialities and environmental problems to stimulate the learning of students based on their professional orientation Planning of teaching problems that allow the integration of environmental education in the pedagogical process based on the relationship between their componentes.Ejecución of research and development of transformative actions with the participation of different actors interactú to n in comunidades.Divulgación and introduction of the results of the actions undertaken.
Derived from the organization of work according to the diagnosis and the determination of the strategic lines to be followed, the planning of the teaching problem itself is then proceeded, each one of them must be aimed at the solution of three minimum essentials, they are:
- On the knowledge of reality. It includes all those contents that the student receives related to the environmental issue they are investigating On the characterization of the environmental problem according to the historical moment in which it is studied, and its contextualization to the current living conditions On the assessment of the real state of the environmental problems with a professional approach.
The actions planned in each teaching problem according to the scope of its objective, can be grouped into three groups, the amount of each one of them will depend on the nature of the object being studied and the characteristics of the context in which the study is developed. process. It does require the existence of all of them in the planning of the activity since one is derived from another and gradually raise the level of demand, creativity and cognitive independence of the students. They are: actions for reflection and analysis, practical actions and socialization.
The dynamics of solving teaching problems determines a gradual ascent in the process of assimilation of environmental reality by students. Therefore, the degree of complexity of the content must be ascending as well as the level of independence and responsibility during individual and collective work. Following the logic of gradual ascent in terms of the methods to be used, the teacher starts from the problem exposition and ends with investigative methods where the student can achieve high levels of independence and creativity.
As the center of this process is precisely the subject-object interaction, where the student-subject is specified, with their needs, strengths and weaknesses, contributing to environmental education from the conceptual, methodological, practical, quantitative and qualitative understanding of environmental facts and phenomena; It is therefore essential in this design stage to dedicate a separate function related to the preparation of students for the implementation of the pedagogical strategy.
Task 3. Preparation of professional teams for environmental debate, in the fulfillment of this function the figure of the student emerges in his leading role in the pedagogical process, as a subject in the search for new knowledge from the detection of environmental problems that are manifested in the context where they develop, in their daily activity and in that directed by the teacher, at the same time that they acquire the integrated content between the different subjects, from the objects of reality.
The novelty of this process is that, as a result of the relationship between these elements, the comprehensive understanding of the environmental reality is reinforced from the solution given to a succession of teaching problems. If, at this level of integration, the student's own particularities are also taken into account, fundamentally related to their professional and academic motivations, this enriches the quality of the learning result obtained and contributes to the preparation in environmental issues to face their citizen responsibility before the profession you choose as a modality in your continuation of studies.
For the fulfillment of this task, the creation of professional teams for environmental debate is proposed with the main objective of revealing points of view that, in the collective exchange, reflect the different magnitudes of the same environmental problem and contribute to enriching knowledge, vocation and individual and collective comprehensive training.
The essence of the work is that the teacher knows how to convert the content that he teaches from his subject; in integrating teaching problems whose solution exceeds the limits of the classroom and the class shift, requiring for this a level of depth and scientific inquiry by the students, which motivates them to solve them and then debate the results in the group.
The teacher can stimulate students to accept the challenges of learning and learn to identify and solve problems in the environment that surrounds them, to select and implement their own solution paths and provide the timely and necessary help, individualizing them according to individual and group particularities.
It is pertinent to point out that the structure of said teams, once formed, should not be rigid, the hierarchy among its members and the distribution of tasks will depend on the teaching problem under investigation. In the same way, a student, not belonging to the team, may help in the solution of a certain task and in this case their participation as a collaborator must be accepted.
Task 4. Determination of the forms of control, it is suggested to evaluate the results of the activity of the students, the development of self-control by them; who have to exercise direct control during their activity and the teacher control the process externally, so that, without losing control of the group, guarantees that cognitive independence is developed.
The third stage of the strategy is the APPLICATION, its objective is to execute the sactions planned during the pedagogical process, comprises two tasks that complement each other: stimulation of the performance of professional environmental debate teams, in which students solve the teaching problems presented by the teacher, grouped into professional environmental debate teams; and the transmission of values, modes of action and communication, the fulfillment of this task is promoted from the solution of the teaching problems itself, since each activity includes moments of reflection in which the student becomes aware of the environmental reality in the one that lives and understands its civic responsibility. The use of participatory techniques that promote debate and self-assessment is also recommended.working in teams encourages cooperation and communication.
The fourth and last stage of the strategy is called CONTROL, its purpose is to control the degree of feasibility of the different elements that make up the methodological procedure, and the integration of these in the fulfillment of the general objective, through application in the practice of the actions proposed to work on environmental education as a dimension of the pedagogical process and its contribution to the comprehensive training of students. The task to be carried out at this stage consists of the procedural and terminal evaluation of the implementation through the following actions:
- Assessment of the preparation of teachers Assessment of the integration of environmental education in methodological preparation Control of the performance of professional teams for environmental debate Assessment of the integration of environmental education as a dimension of the pedagogical process
RESULTS TO CONSIDER AFTER IMPLEMENTATION.
For impl and practical mentation of the methodological approach described have been organizing phase with well - defined objectives and actions. Similar to those explained below.
Phase 1: agreement and planning, in it, the procedure, its pedagogical conception and the main actions for its integration into the school educational project are presented to the directors of the schools involved; Then their approval and the teachers' commitment to take on the task is agreed. This moment of exchange also serves as feedback since it adjusts certain details that, from an organizational point of view, impede implementation.
Phase 2: training, due to the problems detected in the exploratory study and given that the knowledge of the environmental issue is not enough, in the teaching groups, the development of seminars for improvement in environmental education for pre-university teachers is proposed. To be used is participatory action research, since all the content they receive must be immediately incorporated into the pedagogical process they lead with their students. With these methods of preparation from the job, teachers are satisfied and protagonists in the comprehensive training of young people.
Phase 3: intervention, begins from the individual or group methodological preparation of the teachers and is followed by the implementation of actions in the pedagogical process. For the evaluation of the results they propose instruments with evaluative scales (analytical-synthetic), which allow assessing procedural and terminal performance.
Variable: Environmental Education.
Dimension Indica d or Parameterization
Curricular Integration of I. Teaching thematic activities are worked on.
environmental in II. Work is done on teaching, extra-teaching and extracurricular activities without distinction.
III. All forms of work of the curriculum are integrated from the analysis of a specific environmental problem.
- Concepción I. It works in a spontaneous and pedagogical way parceled out from the determination that it is supported by teaching activity.
- It works in an integrated way and covers the entire pedagogical process.
Teacher Mastery of the Reproductive I. Mastery of the content content methodological.
education II. Applicative: Integrates the environmental contents of environmental education to those of the subject it explains.
- Creative: Develops and executes pedagogical and interdisciplinary activities that enhance the environmental education of students
- Interpretation I. The analysis of the problem of the environmental relationship has a man-naturalistic approach.
nature II. The analysis of the problematic environmental society has an ecological approach.
III. The analysis of environmental problems is comprehensive and focused on sustainable development.
- I. Planning. They are planned from certain subject actions to be carried out educational in the same way by all environmental students.
- They are planned to be developed from extra-educational or extra-curricular activities without taking into consideration the characteristics of the community.
- They are planned taking into account the characteristics of the group, the interests of the students and the logic of the pedagogical process.
- Systematization I. The actions are carried out in isolation without taking into account the results of the previous actions.
planned II. Actions are systematized
evidencing the systemic relationship between them.
The application of this scale implied the parameterization of the indicators in order to characterize them according to domain levels, from the lowest to the highest. The advantage of its application is that it allows a differentiated diagnosis of each one, the analysis of how one advances through the domain levels and a more rigorous evaluation of the actions carried out.
The differentiated analysis by indicator allows us to delve into the dynamics of the behavior of each one and thus be able to control to a greater extent the influence of other variables of the pedagogical process that could affect the results in one case or another. In this sense, the final evaluation of the work carried out is general and particularized, which constitutes an advantage for the determination and incorporation of new actions in the pedagogical strategy if necessary.
As a summary of the overall results obtained in Implement totion of the procedure, the cognitive development of the students was evidenced, in the categorical system of environmental education. The work with teaching problems of environmental orientation, allowed approximately 77.4% to acquire the third level of knowledge (creative), they show knowledge that is not limited to the descriptive, but that they are able to exemplify creating new situations, establishing relationships In other areas of the environment, that is, they do not see it only as the natural environment, but reflect the relationship of man with economic, political and cultural processes, are identified with the problem and recognize the responsibility that corresponds to them from the optics of the profession they wish to study.
This last element attests to positive transformations, moreover, in the volitional-affective sphere of the personality. In addition to the aforementioned achievements, it was possible to verify by the participating teachers the development of other characteristics in the students, they were:
- Motivation for the study of science increased. The degree of development of intellectual skills such as explaining, arguing, evaluating, among others, was increased. Students were more responsible and identified with the environmental reality of today's world. They developed investigative skills that allowed them to design and carry out planned and systematic actions that contributed to improving the quality of life of the group. The papers presented at conferences of scientific societies were no longer mere bibliographic compilations to reveal the results achieved by the students as a result of the inquiry and integration of knowledge, as well as the maturity that from the point of view of professional orientation they were reaching.
FINAL THOUGHTS.
Given the conditions of the current world, environmental education is an indispensable element in the integral formation of the new generations and the pedagogical process in the education of young people, offers inexhaustible possibilities for their development from an integrating perspective of the curriculum, based on this idea it can be concluded that:
Environmental education, seen as a dimension of the pedagogical process, integrating the knowledge of all the sciences that each subject of the study plan contributes, manifests the systemic nature of said process, it starts from the conception of the relationship between the environment and sustainable development in the nature-man-society triad, through which the student prepares to become a conscious subject of their civic responsibility.
Environmental education must be taken as an integrating and mediating axis between the teaching content and the reality of the environmental problems that affect the school context, which requires the orientation of the pedagogical process in that sense, taking interdisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity as a starting point. student's professional and academic interests.
The methodological procedure that is proposed makes possible the articulation between the knowledge and the way of acting of the students, stimulating their integral formation from a pedagogical process that integrates the instructive and educational aspects from four stages with tasks and actions. The theoretical and methodological foundations that support it, start from the analysis of trends related to environmental education and its insertion in the pedagogical process, and the educational needs in the comprehensive training of young people.
The organization of students in professional teams of environmental debate, allows to take into account their psychological particularities for this educational level, fundamentally related to their professional and academic motivations, this enriches the quality of the result obtained in learning and contributed to the preparation in topics environmental conditions of the students to face their civic responsibility before the profession they choose as a modality in their continuation of studies.
Bibliographic references:
- National Environmental Strategy. CITMA, 1996. To evaluate is to reflect on teaching. Contextualized interaction in the classroom. Carlos Rosales.
ix National Strategy for Environmental Education. CITMA. Havana, 2005. x GEA Glossary. ISP Enrique José Varona. 2003.
xi Environmental education based on the subjects of Physics and Mathematics in Pre-University Education. Covas Álvarez, O. Thesis presented as an option to the scientific degree of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences. Las Tunas, 2006.
xii School in life. Álvarez de Zayas, C. Editorial Pueblo y Educación, City of Havana, 1999.
xiii Complete Works. Martí Pérez, J. 1963.
xxii Agenda 21. Chapter 36. Promotion of Education, recruitment and awareness. Environmental Education Bulletin, 1994, n. 13. xxiii National Strategy for Environmental Education, CITMA, 1997.
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