The world of pollinators: a pedagogical experience for the care of the Earth

Abstract

This article proposes a critical and purposeful look at hegemonic educational practices that, tied to economic developmentalism, privilege technical and instrumental knowledge, focused on analytical reason and marked by scientism, utilitarian anthropocentrism and competitiveness. Consequently, the value of subjectivity is highlighted, the presence and importance of kind or cordial reason is explored, and openness to affectivity, emotions, aesthetic sensitivity and spirituality are valued in the educational and learning processes. Dimensions inherent to the possibility of configuring ethical and political subjectivities committed to the care of the Earth and, therefore, respectful and compassionate with “otherness”. In coherence with the above, we present narratives constructed by a group of students who participate in a pedagogical proposal, focused on learning experiences about the decline and care of pollinators. These are stories about lived experiences, which express understandings and raise points of view about the containment of socio-environmental problems. Narrations that are interwoven with theoretical perspectives that are coherent to students and synchronized with the considerations around the educational potential of pedagogical activities oriented to the deployment of an ethics of care, in-action.