Educação em espaço não formal: Reconstrução de saberes, comportamentos e atitudes

Abstract

The fear around serpents has been perpetuating for years, owing to the innumerable beliefs and myths rooted in popular culture passing from generation to generation. This type of knowledge has led to a population decline of these animals, affecting the ecological balance and, consequently, society. The present study was carried out with students and had as objective to investigate the contribution of the Living Museum Reptiles of the Caatinga, as a non formal space, in the deconstruction and reconstruction of knowledge about snakes, in order to sensitize the students, thus promoting the preservation and conservation of these animals. The research was carried out in an urban school and a rural school, both located in the municipality of Campina Grande, state of Paraíba. The didactic intervention was carried out at the Live Reptile Museum of the Caatinga, located in the municipality of Puxinanã, state of Paraíba. Ten students from the urban area and six students from the rural area participated in the study. The research was qualitative. Questionnaires were used, applied in two moments before and after the didactic intervention. The simple frequency was used to analyze the quantitative questions and for the qualitative questions the categorizations of the answers provided by the students were carried out. We also analyzed the snake content present in the science textbooks used by the participating schools. In the questionnaire (pre-program) most students recognized snakes as part of the environment, presenting knowledge about venomous and non-venomous snakes. On the attitudes to be taken when encountering a snake, the students present a negative perception directed to the slaughter of the animal. After the didactic intervention, the students were able to reconstruct the knowledge about snakes based on previous knowledge. As to the categorization of the students' speeches, some students had a superficial prior knowledge about snakes, they showed certain subjects knowing but did not know how to justify them, after the intervention, the students elaborate answers more coherent and consistent with the biology of snakes. The textbooks analyzed in the present study showed innumerable gaps, the presented material is insufficient and full of conceptual errors. This study is an important tool for teaching science as a strategy for the conservation of snakes, since it has identified perceptions and attitudes of learners, as well as showing the non-formal site as the most appropriate to work on the theme.