Resumo:
In view of the urgent need to discuss socio-environmental issues in times of environmental collapse, this study investigates the process of constructing the professional identity of future Biology teachers enrolled in an Environmental Education course. From this context, the following research question emerged: which dimensions of teacher professionality are highlighted and/or developed by Biology undergraduate students when they are placed in situations in which they need to think about and develop Environmental Education projects? To answer this question, the general objective of this study is to identify and analyze the possibilities that a course exclusively focused on Environmental Education themes offers for the construction of teacher professionality. More specifically, the study aims to: understand the process of constructing teacher professionality among undergraduate students in a Biological Sciences teacher education program enrolled in a mandatory Environmental Education course; identify which dimensions of teacher professionality emerge from this educational process; and analyze which dimensions of teacher professionality are expressed by Biology undergraduate students in their discourse about future Environmental Education teaching practices. This research is qualitative in nature and characterized as a field study. The following procedures were used for data collection: participant observation in a mandatory Environmental Education course, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews with students participating in the course. For data analysis, Content Analysis with a focus on thematic analysis was chosen due to its ability to organize and interpret qualitative data. The results highlight the contributions of Environmental Education to the initial teacher education process, making it possible to observe different relationships between Environmental Education and the construction of different aspects of teacher professionality, analyzed through four categories: moral obligation, which encompasses the teacher’s commitment to students’ education beyond the curricular dimension; commitment to the community, derived from the relationships established with the social community in which teachers carry out their practice and from the political aspects involving teaching work; professional competence, related to teachers’ practices, activities, and knowledge; and, finally, the construction of teacher professional identity.
