Exploring educators’ perception of issues involving Planetary Health : a qualitative study in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Background: Planetary Health is a transdisciplinary area that needs to be part of the curriculum of students at all levels of education, starting from basic education with early childhood education. The present work aims to discuss the perceptions of basic education teachers from a riverside school on Planetary Health issues, in addition to knowing the environmental context of communities and/or riverside schools in the Brazilian State of Amazonas. Methods: The data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with rural education teachers from the south of the state of Amazonas. For the data analysis, we opted for the content analysis (Bardin, 2009) with the support of the N-Vivo software - version 1.5. Results: The results indicated the main environmental problems related to anthropogenic actions in the community and school, in which the following questions stood out: garbage disposal in the river, mineral extraction, lack of basic sanitation, and the predominance of ultra-processed foods in school meals. On the other hand, teachers pointed out the great potential of rural schools to promote the consciousness of children and adolescents on Planetary Health themes. Conclusion: Primary school teachers in rural Amazonia are in contact with a rich source for the creation of teaching materials on PH for students, in view of the importance of the inclusion of PH themes in the formative trajectory of children and adolescents in the basic education curriculum. These experiences provide knowledge about the reality of riverside schools, local traditional issues, environmental sustainability, and the changes occurring in ecosystems, especially in the Amazon.