ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: DIAGNOSIS, CONTRADICTIONS, AND FORMATIVE POSSIBILITIES

Abstract

This study analyzes how environmental education is materialized in the daily context of a full-time public school, based on the relationship between environmental knowledge, attitudes, and sustainable practices within the school community, highlighting contradictions and formative possibilities. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach, predominantly quantitative, with a descriptive and exploratory design, grounded in the principles of critical environmental education. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to students, teachers, and other members of the school community, and analyzed using descriptive statistics combined with qualitative interpretation. The results indicate a high level of conceptual understanding of environmental issues and generally favorable attitudes toward sustainability; however, they also reveal significant limitations in translating this knowledge into systematic practices within the school environment. Environmental education actions are shown to be fragmented and weakly institutionalized, largely constrained by structural limitations, lack of adequate infrastructure, and insufficient integration into the school’s pedagogical project. Despite these constraints, the school community demonstrates a strong willingness to engage in future environmental initiatives, suggesting that the main obstacles are not related to lack of interest but to the absence of objective institutional conditions. It is concluded that strengthening environmental education in public schools requires its incorporation as a structural axis of school education, supported by collective planning, public investment, and continuous pedagogical practices.