Environmental education, emancipatory action and ecological citizenship

Considering that teachers are important agents in the construction of an emancipatory environmental education concerned with sustainable society, citizenship and social justice, this study focuses on the development of praxis-oriented research grounded by an action research methodology.The action research was developed with primary teachers from public schools in Brazil. The goal was to provide teachers with an opportunity to reflect on their practices and to encourage changes regarding the development of their students‟ critical thinking and emancipatory actions towards environmental problem-solving. The analysis of the findings gathered from distinct phases of the research – teachers‟ planning, taking actions, evaluation and (re)planning – indicated important progress in changing pedagogical practice of environmental education.