Raízes de infância e sementes de mundo: da análise documental da Educação Ambiental à produção educacional na Educação Infantil

Abstract

This study analyzes how Environmental Education is integrated into Early Childhood Education through a qualitative, critical-interpretative approach that combines documentary analysis and the examination of didactic situations implemented at the Escola Municipal de Tempo Integral Antônio José dos Santos during the second semester of 2024, in the municipality of Seabra, Bahia. The research examined national legal frameworks for Early Childhood Education and Environmental Education (Federal Constitution, Law No. 9.795/1999, National Curriculum Guidelines, and the Brazilian Common Core Curriculum), the municipal curriculum of Seabra, institutional school documents, as well as work plans and didactic sequences addressing socio-environmental themes. The study is grounded in the understanding of the child as a historical, ecological, cultural, and rightsbearing subject. The findings indicate some progress, such as the growing presence of environmental themes in pedagogical planning and the appreciation of experiential practices that foster care for the territory. However, persistent gaps remain: the predominance of isolated actions often tied to commemorative dates; the naturalization of conservationist practices detached from ethical and political problematizations; and a limited articulation with the territorial realities of the children. These gaps reinforce the need to understand Environmental Education as an ethical, political, and aesthetic axis of educational practice. As a practical contribution, the study proposes an educational product in the form of a set of didactic sequences for Early Childhood Education aimed at strengthening children’s sense of belonging, critical awareness, and ecological citizenship, aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, 12, and 17. It concludes that building a critical and transformative Environmental Education in early childhood requires practices that intertwine memory, territory, care, and hope, enabling children not only to observe the world but to inhabit it with responsibility and political love.