The role of the teaching of biology in critical formation regarding the relation between human and non-human animals

Abstract

The Teaching of Biology must use several methodologies and contextualize the contents. In this process, Environmental Education and the debate about the relations of human and non-human animals are the opportunity to generate critical thinking and awareness raising. However, Biology Teaching often occurs through anthropocentric, utilitarian and speciesist contextualizations not advancing to a more complex and expanded debate that considers ethical aspects of animal life. This research sought to define which approaches in this teaching can favor a possible process of awareness of the students and what impacts can be generated from a didactic intervention that privileges a contextualized and relational debate of the contents. An intervention was carried out at a State College in Ponta Grossa-PR, with a second (2nd) year high school class, through the application of a questionnaire before and after didactic intervention as a significant activity that problematized the relationships between human and not human. The data collected in the questionnaires and analyzed by means of graphs evidenced the anthropocentrism, utilitarianism and speciesism implicit in the previous responses to the didactic intervention and after the realization of this it was noticed that significant changes occurred in several aspects, such as constructive discussions through the applied concepts and relations with the daily life of students. This allowed us to verify the previous knowledge of the students involved, to select relevant strategies for teaching the subject, and to evaluate the impact of this methodology for a possible process of awareness.