For more aesthetic experiences of nature in public primary and secondary education schools¹

ABSTRACT

This theoretical essay aims to problematize the (lack of) aesthetic experiences of nature in the school curriculum and practices and to evoke possibilities of coping with that absence. We understand that, in the tangles of life, aesthetic ~ ethical ~ political² experiences are constituent and not dissociated and that our bodies are in constant correspondence with the more than human world. We start by retrieving the main global documents and national laws that guide environmental education in schools. Based on that, we discuss the neglect of school environmental education by recent public policies. Orientated by the philosophical current of ecophenomenology, we defend a less anthropocentric school environmental education that also advocates for more aesthetic experiences in nature. Thus, we discuss the legislative limitations, school space configurations and the curriculum for this environmental education to be achieved.

Keywords:
Sensitive; Formal education; Affectivity; Ecophenomenology; Environmental education