O cotidiano docente e os componentes físico-naturais no ensino de geografia

Abstract

Everyday life has been widely discussed in education, as it constitutes an important source of knowledge. The dialogue between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge proves to be fundamental for enhancing the teaching and learning process, as highlighted by research in the field of education. However, such discussions are mostly focused on students’ everyday life, while the dimension of teachers’ everyday life has been little addressed. From this perspective, aiming to foster reflections that articulate teachers’ everyday life with the teaching and learning process—particularly in Geography education and especially in contents related to the physicalnatural components of geographical space—this research seeks to understand to what extent the valorization and incorporation of teachers’ everyday knowledge can enhance their work in teaching such contents. This discussion becomes even more relevant considering that, frequently, the teaching of contents related to the physical-natural components of geographical space remains restricted to memorization, fragmentation, and the lack of a broader processual analysis, in addition to often being addressed in an isolated and decontextualized way. This aspect was evidenced both in the narratives of the teachers who participated in the research and in studies conducted by Geography education researchers who investigate these components. The investigation was based on the assumptions of qualitative research, using questionnaires and narrative interviews as methodological procedures. The participants were Geography teachers from Basic Education working in the city of Goiânia, selected through their participation in study groups linked to Lepeg/IESA/UFG and their practice in different regions of the city. Through the questionnaire, the study sought to understand the spatialization and experiences of participants in the city, while the narrative interview provided a possible path to understand how teachers perceive their everyday life and how we can build reflections that contribute to a deeper interpretation of teachers’ everyday life, with the aim of reflecting on the mobilization of contents related to the physical-natural components in Geography teaching. Data analysis indicated a restricted spatialization of the subjects within the city, predominantly connected to areas near their residences, which may limit their perception of the physicalnatural components present in urban space. The narrative interviews revealed that teachers recognize the relevance of everyday experiences for Geography teaching, especially in the use of examples. Although this mobilization is significant, the reflections presented in this research point to the need to go beyond a merely illustrative approach, proposing that teachers understand their everyday life as a geographical situation—thus enabling a comprehension of the physical-natural components of geographical space in which dynamics and processes are evident, as well as the inseparability between society and nature. This perspective allows the displacement of experience from the particular-individual level to the human-generic level, broadening understanding and enhancing Geography teaching. In this way, the importance of teachers interpreting their reality from a geographical perspective is reaffirmed—one that considers the concepts and categories inherent to the discipline, as well as the spatial concepts, principles, and operations that structure this science, thereby attributing greater meaning and significance to Geography lessons.