Alimentação, ensino de ciências e liberdade: leituras multidimensionais sobre os alimentos a partir de uma escola de ensino médio do agreste potiguar

Abstract

Beyond nutritional aspects, food is present in our daily lives as part of a complex food system surrounded by a variety of conditioning factors, as well as having a significant historical, cultural, emotional, political and economic impact, with each region's own particularities. The subject needs to be addressed in Science and Biology teaching in a way that includes its multidimensionality, from a Food and Nutrition Education perspective, which presupposes the pursuit of emancipatory practices. Freirean pedagogy, centered on the student and their deliverance, can be beneficial when teaching the subject from this perspective. This research aimed to explore the possible contributions of an educational perspective based on Freirean assumptions, for a multidimensional reading of the theme of food in science teaching, in a public high school located in the Rio Grande do Norte's Agreste region. The qualitative study was developed in collaboration with UFRN's Laboratório de Popularização das Ciências (LabPOP) and is described as an action research project, which previously included a bibliographical and documentary survey. The research participants were students from five classes from three high school grades at the Escola Estadual Monsenhor Paiva, in Vera Cruz, in metropolitan Natal/RN, including the classes in which I taught Biology or Curricular Units. The research comprised class meetings, guided by the Pedagogical Moments, preceded by a prior dialog for classes planning purposes. Data was constructed according to Textual Discourse Analysis, which resulted in the following categories: Directly nutritional aspects; Food production and classification; Family, tradition, affections and customs; Taste, processing and industry; Un(avoidable) barriers to health; Income, politics, access and (im)possibilities; Countryside, experience and work; Freedom. Each category was discussed on based on arguments related to Freire's assumptions: horizontal, patient and critical listening; the relationship between curricular knowledge and social experience; the social, economic and ecological importance of the living context; education and thinking emancipation, based on seven of the main works of the educator Paulo Freire. These assumptions contributed to the planning, dialog and approach of different dimensions of food, setting it up as a possibility for Science and Biology teaching. The Educational Product was developed based on the empirical research results and additional reflections, and it consists of a video, communication material, for teachers in training or in practice, entitled “Let's talk about what we eat? A guide for science and biology educators”. The production gathers reflections and guidelines, rather than being a ready recipe, but a baseline to develop activities that aim to work on the theme food in the classes, in the perspective adopted by this work, the Freirean pedagogy.