The content of Stoichiometric Calculations has long been discussed in the Chemistry discipline. The difficulties presented

by students and, why not, by teachers, related to this content are countless. In this dissertation we address some of these

difficulties, as they are very relevant in the teaching – learning process of Stoichiometric Calculations. The main objectives

were to identify possible variables associated with student learning in relation to this content. To this end, semi-structured

interviews were carried out with ten chemistry teachers from public and private schools in the Distrito Federal. The data

collected, which analyzed using Grounded Data Theory. In addition, six works (books) were also analyzed. One from

each collection suggested for New High School. Due to the complexity of this teaching - learning process, the results

found show that is no way to dissociate the difficulty presented by students, with regard to teaching Stoichiometric

Calculations, without aspects related to teachers, textbooks, teaching methodology of the of this content itself, and even

the students themselves, are not taken into consideration. Therefore, in principle, possible solutions for improving the

teaching and learning of Stoichiometric Calculations must simultaneously take into account the presence of these

aspects.

The current educational reality, in which there is a greater influx of students with disabilities into Basic Education, requires methodologies and the improvement of teaching materials that favor not only the permanence of these students in ordinary classes, but also the quality participation of these individuals in the teaching and learning process. To this end, exploring alternative ways of contributing to this right is fundamental. The idea therefore arose to investigate the possibilities of using a Role Playing Game (RPG) for visually impaired students in the school environment. In RPGs, players play characters and externalize their actions in order to find solutions to the challenges addressed in the stories narrated by the master. This type of game is usually cooperative, the players must relate to each other in pursuit of common goals. In this way, RPGs definitely don't need physical resources, depending mainly on the construction of the participants' mental images, the interrelationship between team members and the students' body languages. In this context, in order to observe the possibilities of using RPGs for visually impaired students, this work was based on Vygotsky's socio-interactionist understandings, through case studies that favored the behavioral evaluation of students during the application of the adventures. This choice was made due to the need to follow a qualitative methodological path that would allow the observation of specific factors in the research in question. The research was carried out in two public schools in the Distrito Federal. In one of the schools, the game was played in the resource room. Four students with disabilities took part in the RPG. In order to contribute to the construction of information relevant to this research, data collection was based on the students' logbooks and the filming of the game applications. Finally, Bardin's content analysis was used to categorize and analyse the information gathered during the research. As a result of these investigations, it was possible to see the different alternatives that have arisen through the use of role-playing games for visually impaired students. It was noticed that this tool can encourage the construction of mental images by these students, as well as giving them the opportunity to externalize information through body language, without their visual specificities becoming an obstacle.

The New High School, developed from Law no. 13,415 of 2017, is composed, in addition to the curricular components of Basic General Education, of a flexible curricular portion called Formative Itinerary, whose curricular units must develop around at least one of four possible structuring axes: 'Scientific Inquiry', 'Creative Processes', 'Mediation and Sociocultural Intervention', and 'Entrepreneurship'. Since ‘scientific inquiry’ is a historically significant statement in science education, the aim of this work is to analyze the conditions of emergence of this statement among curriculum policies, with its consequent establishment as one of the structuring axes responsible for supporting curricular units related to all areas of knowledge. As support for this study, I present a historical overview of scientific inquiry throughout the trajectory of science education in Brazil and a bibliographic survey concerning the theme with the purpose of making visible different meanings already incorporated into this statement in educational and epistemic discursive fields, and the processes involved in the production of a system of reason that regulates the elaboration of curriculum policies, accepting and legitimizing certain statements. Based on an enunciative analysis inspired by Foucauldian studies, I aim to highlight how 'scientific inquiry’ acquires currently a typically school-based approach in the discursive field of science education, with the meanings that constitute it closely resembling 'scientific literacy' and ‘inquiry-based science education’. In dialogue with the policy cycle approach, I prioritize the analysis of the National Common Curricular Base and the Curriculum in Motion of the New High School, normative documents that govern curriculum structuring, with the intention of understanding how they have been activating this statement, finding meanings close to those practiced in the academic field. Finally, to access the context of practice and grounded in the theory of enactment, elaborated by Stephen Ball and collaborators, I examine the catalogs of curricular units of the formative itinerary of the Education Secretariat of the Federal District seeking to understand how the structuring axis of scientific inquiry is being interpreted and translated in their syllabi. I realize that, although notably significant to teachers in the Natural Sciences field, the term 'scientific inquiry’ carries a multiplicity of meanings, often used in disagreement with what we have been understanding as 'school inquiry-based science’. Thus, I highlight the need for greater systematization of information and methodological subsidies by curriculum policies regarding the development of this approach.

This master’s degree thesis study was consolidated through the use of qualitative methodology, inside the research’s line of Science teacher’s formating process, with an emphasis on the specific thematic of Narratives, Culture and Knowledge.. The search for the development of objectives was carried out through the use of semi-structured interviews, which had as a fundamental theoretical basis elements of narrative research and the autobiographical method. The research process aimed to understand and investigate the possible influence of academic and personal experiences and “pivotal moments” during the teacher’s formating process of graduates of the Biological Sciences course at the University of Brasília in their choice of becoming Biology teachers, and whether they were decisive for this decision to work in the specific area of Science and Biology teaching. The analysis of life stories shared during interviews used the Discursive Textual Analysis (Moraes, 2003) method of analyzing stories, through the construction of analysis categories created based on the themes of the specific objectives, and also, of that emerged throughout the process.

The research focused on analysing the meanings produced in the initial training of Science and Biology teachers, specifically from the subject Reflections on Gender and Sexuality in Science and Biology Teaching (RGeSex), offered at the University of Brasilia (UnB). Guided by a perspective that understands gender and sexuality from their historical and cultural inscriptions, in which discursive and non-discursive practices produce and are produced, I set out to look at teacher training as one of these regulatory institutions, a producer of meanings and part of the complex network of power relations that make up the complex device of sexuality. To do this, I used a discursive approach, in dialogue with Michel Foucault and some of his interlocutors, in order to provoke debates capable of generating strangeness in the deterministic logics and effects of truth that usually underpin the systems of thought of the pedagogical processes of Science and Biology. By analysing a wide range of sources, including transcripts of classes, interviews with participants and their textual productions, I was able to identify and understand the meanings produced in the discipline, based on discursive regularities and the conditions of possibility that allowed the statements to emerge and disperse. In this context, giving visibility to the statements proved crucial for a critical analysis of the discourses related to gender, sexuality and teacher training itself. Furthermore, in line with the theoretical-methodological perspectives that guided me, I analysed how these discursive events can be translated into pedagogical potential, aiming to produce other ways of thinking in different pedagogical devices and training processes. Multiple statements were identified, some of them of pain, fear and expectations in relation to the themes of gender, sexuality and education. Others of welcome, care and love in training. The pedagogical potential of interactions with fellow teachers was highlighted as a powerful teacher training strategy. In this sense, the unique and rare statements that emerged in this context enriched perspectives and multiplied new ways of thinking, allowing access to the order of discourse.

Critical Environmental Education (EE), through its formative processes, positions itself as a political education in addressing socio-environmental issues. It is a branch of EE that takes into account the importance of an education that is critical and transformative of reality, aiming for participatory, reflective, engaged subjects, so that they can involve other social actors in education through political actions in a democratic sphere of exercise of citizenship and the pursuit of environmental and social justice. In this sense, playfulness through game-based work presents itself as a methodology capable of aligning with EE practices, as it is committed to unveiling social and environmental contexts with their asymmetries and contradictions. Assuming that decision-making is an inherent part of games, it is understood that games can stimulate decision-making and action-taking in specific socio-environmental contexts. Thus, the research described in this thesis, by associating playfulness with Critical EA, sought to propose and analyze the convergent formative dimensions between the two fields, focusing on the object of study in terms of problematizing and contextualizing of socio-environmental reality and on the teaching purpose, from the perspective of critical perception and social participation as an exercise in environmental citizenship. To this aim, a game in the format of a team contest was developed and implemented in the Environmental Sciences course at the University of Brasilia for four terms, three in remote format and the last one in person. The research strategy was conducted through a case study, using data collection instruments such as adapted focus group technique with semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, a logbook, and student postings on social media which considered their descriptions and messages, documents issued, and participation records. The data collected was analyzed using an adapted technique of content analysis of Bardin (1977). Regarding the study object, which concerns socio-environmental issues, the game as a work-play brought about different outcomes: understanding of the different social, political, economic, historical, and cultural aspects and contexts that compose the issues; development of a sense of belonging and collectivity; greater awareness of reality; interactive aspect between academic knowledge and local reality; awareness of government omission processes; learning through informal processes; new reflections and questioning about the issues; understanding of new concepts which reveal mechanisms of socio-environmental inequality (environmental injustice, and environmental racism). As for the teaching purpose, the work-play brought other outcomes: the understanding of the different causes, manifestations, and conditionalities surrounding the issues; the process of interpretation and understanding of concepts; active study with guarantees of freedom and autonomy to think and act; praxis as a reflective practice; interactive learning through the dialogue of knowledges and transversalities; the occupation of different institutional and non-governmental spaces and interaction with different movements; emancipation through participation in different social and political spheres; mobilization for social justice; social and political learning through the organization and political articulation of actions; understanding of public policies; personal transformation in the perspective of transitioning from a passive stance towards problems to an active one towards solutions, and finally, social return.

The theme of food with a focus on “Special Food Needs” (NAE) and its relationships with the training of Science teachers in the early and final years is still little explored in the literature on Science Education. However, it is possible to perceive that the Science teacher has an important role in carrying out pedagogical actions that allow food choices capable of promoting health and quality of life. Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation was to identify the perceptions of Basic Education teachers about “Food Inclusion” and carry out a proposal for continuing education to address this theme in a school with teachers from the Early Years. The phases of this work were organized into bibliographic surveys on Inclusive Education, the main legislation and historical milestones that support it and how they are articulated with Inclusive Food and Science Education. It was also researched how the literature on Science teaching has addressed the formation of Science teachers in relation to the theme of Inclusive Food at school. The methodology was qualitative and data collection was organized in two steps: -1. Firstly, using a questionnaire as a research tool, available on the Google Forms platform, we sought to know the conceptions of Natural Sciences teachers of the Final Years of Elementary School about restrictions and/or adverse reactions to food and was answered by nine teachers; 2- In the second stage, a Conversation Circle was held, as a research instrument, during a pedagogical workshop of face-to-face extension in a public school in the Federal District, as a proposal for continuing education. This workshop had the participation of twelve teachers from the Early Years of Elementary School and addressed the content on NAE, in addition to providing a culinary practice with inclusive recipes. Data were analyzed based on Content Analysis. The results of the questionnaires showed that teachers understand the importance of discussing adverse reactions and food restrictions in Science classes, however, some do not feel prepared to include this subject in their classes, as they are not familiar with the subject. It was observed that the majority claimed to have knowledge on the subject, due to family contexts. The pedagogical extension workshop for Early Years teachers collaborated to create a space for dialogue that would provide a didactic approach on NAE in the school context and the rights of students inserted in this food reality. I believe that the greatest contribution of this training was to problematize the issue of food inclusion and awaken the teacher's interest in this issue that can be presented not only in their classes, but also in their social experiences. Thus, I understand that it is necessary to encourage discussions about teacher training based on the theme of food in order to perceive it as multidimensional, so that pedagogical practices are carried out in a more conscious and inclusive way.

 The “School Week to Combat Violence against Women” reinforces the need for the issue of “women” to be addressed in Basic Education. The objective of this research was to analyze the contributions of a continuing education course for teachers of Natural Sciences in the final years of elementary school with the theme "Women Scientists" to promote the approach of gender issues during this week. The methodology used was qualitative and included the participation of teachers in the final years of a public school in the Federal District. The analysis of the results was based on Discursive Textual Analysis and the results indicated that teachers need to have more dialogue environments to propose actions that they can use this week, as well as in other moments of their classes.

The complexity of the socio-environmental reality is perceived in different ways that may vary according to the socio-cultural contexts in which the subjects are inserted, their experiences and all the baggage of the lived world. Based on this, the present study is based on a phenomenological understanding of the environment and recognizes Paulo Freire's pedagogy and environmental rationality as essential approaches in structuring a critical Environmental Education (EA) approach that enables the integration between scientific and sensitive knowledge in a contextualized way. The objective of the research was to study socio-environmental perceptions of Integral Education students in elementary school at a public school in Sobradinho (DF) and the potential of a pedagogical intervention with the production of autobiographical narratives for the constitution of a critical EA practice. Guided by the (auto)biographical research method and narrative production, the educational process was developed through an interdisciplinary workshop, with the objective of facilitates the exchange of knowledge and contributing to the expansion of knowledge and reflections of the students. The workshop’s planning was intentionally flexible, allowing the development of activities to occur in an organic way. The results suggest that most of the participants have a strong concern with socio-environmental problems in their living environments, especially related to pollution, followed by deforestation. In addition, some written and oral narratives present elements that reveal the students' appreciation and admiration for the landscapes of the Sobradinho region and a certain affection for the socio-environmental experiences lived in their contexts. We consider that the methodologies adopted in the work favored the dialogue of knowledge, the problematization and the reflection on the experiences and perceptions of the participants in an authentic and enriching way. The narratives produced indicate a possible expansion of knowledge and perception of the participating students, being considered essential to present alternatives to hegemonic discourses, by revealing elements related to both rational knowledge and sensitive knowledge that cross the subjects' experiences.

This dissertation aims to value the actions that compose resistance to the established formative crisis in the education field. The influences of neoliberal society, favorised the rupture of the reflective processes in education, resulting in semi-formative environments for teachers. Therefore, the path between the desire for emancipation and the emancipatory process itself is now marked by contradictions, which make it harder to fulfil expectations for a better formation among teachers. To cope with the decline of cultural and scientific training, the Small Groups of Research (SGR) emerged as an alternative. Based on the theoretical construct of resistance developed by Henry Giroux, the SGR values a critical and authentic formative project, fomenting actions to resist the interruption of critical-reflective processes, especially in teacher education. The research aims to identify these actions developed in SGR that enable resistance movements to a semi-formative logic. The methodological structure outlined and highlighted two aspects following a qualitative approach:  the history of SGR represented in the scientific literature and the dialogue with members of this story. Epistemologically based on Paulo Freire's dialogical approach: we worked with narratives of eight participants in SGR groups. The dialogues were conducted in the format of semi-structured interviews and analyzed from the perspective of Content Analysis.The analyses were conducted through the lens of two major categories: i) qualification of hegemonic forces within teacher education and school life; ii) conditions, actions, and content of counter-hegemonic education. The results reveal that the effort to horizontalize the university-school relationship allowed for a formative convergence between institutions, creating spaces for a deeper understanding of the concrete reality within schools. However, it became evident that this relationship is mediated by neoliberal aspects of the system, which impede formative progress. The praxis undertaken in the "school ground" and developed with teachers facilitated the identification of intrinsic cultural aspects that were crucial for a critical and political configuration of resistance. The incorporation of Socio-scientific Issues (SSI) proved to be significant in resisting traditional models engendered under the false neutrality of science. Finally, we understand that the hollowing out of formative spaces is a neoliberal project aimed at solidifying the reproductive and content-focused logic of educational spaces. A sensitive examination of the relationships that mediate work and education is required to keep hope alive amidst exhaustion caused by the devaluation of teaching. In this context, we understand that the PGP is not immune to neoliberal pressures, but aligned with a dialogical perspective, it assumes a critical formative configuration and offers theoretical opportunities that strengthen the sense of struggle and resistance in the continuous education of teachers.

In several countries around the world, a decline in interest in careers related to science and technology (S&T) among school-aged youth has been observed. At the same time, women and lower-class families are underrepresented in these careers, indicating that an interest in science can incorporate social inequalities. As a response to this problem, this thesis introduces the concept of fondness for science as a tool to investigate, from a critical perspective, the development of students' interest in science. Based on a dialogue between the works of Pierre Bourdieu and John Dewey, the notion of taste for science allows placing the scientific interest between the structure of class relations and the aesthetic experiences individually experienced at school. Thus, the taste for science is defined as the practical sense that guides students to distinguish which languages, procedures and people belong to science. As they learn to make these distinctions competently, some students are recognized (by peers or by themselves) as people of science. Therefore, the development of scientific interest goes beyond merely commemorative experiences, integrating feelings, understanding and belonging. The public image of science and the scientist can substantially influence students' professional decisions. A part of this research investigated how young people from Basic Education in two private educational institutions see science and how this perception guides (or not) their professional choices. Another part of this research was conducting interviews about the life history of five former students of basic education, currently attending higher education. The students have different social conditions (gender, color and social class), although they had the same high school Chemistry teacher. The interviews situated family and school experiences in the elaboration of the Sociological Portraits with the objective of identifying dispositions that allowed answering how the continuity of the experiences of the interviewees contributed to the development of the taste for science and in what way the school and the teachers contribute to the students move away from/identify with science. The analysis of the first part leads to the conclusion that students' contact with school science can produce lasting and prescriptive impressions about science and its relationship with society. It is common to find a distorted image of science as a risky activity practiced by brilliant men, discouraging talented girls and boys from identifying themselves as participants in science. Some attitudes promoted by teachers are presented and can reduce this distorted image. The results of the interviews showed that dispositions are built by family experience and students remember little of episodes that have distinguished themselves during a school scientific practice, despite having demonstrated distinctions in other situations both at school and in the family. The personality of science teachers proved to be substantially relevant to developing some students' taste for science. Students, although they remember little of the classes they experienced, are able to identify a teacher who respects their individuality. Some characteristics of a teacher valued by students are presented. The school proved to be relevant to the choice of a professional career, although in a revocable way. Furthermore, there is always, to some extent, family influence on the professional career. Potential teaching attitudes are presented to develop a taste for science and influence students regarding a scientific career, despite acknowledging that the school will have limitations. This thesis defends a look at situations, often overlooked, at school during science classes as ways of acting, speaking, respecting individuality with doses of humor and encouraging the participation of excluded and/or ignored individuals.

The notion of innovation is quite present in contemporary education. Despite the growing demand for innovation in education, however, its meanings are rarely evident. The constant and frequent pressure for teachers to innovate presents a significant potential to engender identity crises in these individuals. Our research revolves around this idea. Our goal is to understand how science teachers deal with the frequent demand for innovation in contemporary education and how they feel about it. We do this through life stories and experiences of teachers recognized by their school communities as innovators, as well as school administrators with the same recognition. It is a (auto)biographical research in which we seek novel interpretations of the relationship between innovation and teacher discontent. First, we identify how these teachers understand the idea of innovation in education, and then we seek to understand if they express the idea of teacher discontent and how this state is translated by them. We explore the fragility of the term "innovation in education" and conclude that the concept of "innovation in education" is complex, polysemic, and problematic. It does not have a univocal definition, and its meaning varies in different contexts. Despite this diversity, the demand for innovation in the educational field is increasing, and teachers are frequently called upon to promote such changes. Another central concept in our work is contemporary identity, focusing on current identity crises. Based on the works of Zygmunt Bauman and Stuart Hall, we characterize contemporaneity as a time when individuals can have multiple identities, which are constructed through a narrative process. Drawing from Manfré's work (2014), which investigates teacher discontent, we arrive at the notion of identity crisis related to the issue of "innovation in education." Teacher discontent is understood as a state, and not just a phenomenon, in this context. Our findings point to the fact that the feeling regarding the constant and frequent demand for innovation in education is one of discontent. To a greater or lesser degree, the demand for innovation is understood as dissatisfaction with who they are or propose to be. The perception of teachers is that possessing some technical expertise is essential to attend the demand for innovation in education, but it is not clear exactly what such expertise entails. One way to deal with the feeling of discontent that we identified is by establishing learning commitments with their students. Ultimately, these teachers fundamentally claim a sense of belonging. 

At thepresent time, discussingsexuality in theclassroomisassimilated as anassignmentof NC teachers, in times of inclusive schoolthisresponsibilityhasgained new contoursandevenbiological-hygienistthemeshavetakenonotherdimensions, as theliterature review reveals. The initial training oftheseteachersseemstohaveundergonesignificantchanges in termsofinclusion; as for SexualityEducation, transformationsseemto move slowlytowardsfacilitatingpedagogicalactivity, as describedbystudies in theseareasofknowledge. The presentworkaimstoidentifyhow Natural Sciences (NC) teachersdeveloptheirunderstandingof Inclusive EducationandSexualityEducationduringthedegreeandtheperceptionoftheimportanceofthis training sothatthere are conditionstopromotethearticulationbetweenthethemes in its pedagogicalpractice, in the perspective ofproposingan Inclusive Education in Sexuality. The elementsused in theresearchwereconstructedthroughnarrative interviews withteacherslicensedtoworkwith NC whohadexperience in Basic Education (EB) classes andwereanalyzedusingdiscursive textual analysis. The teachersinterviewed point out problems in theinitial training ofdifferentnaturesand in bothareas, namely, inclusionandsexuality, as well as in thearticulationbetweenthem. The legislationmadestudiesoninclusionmandatory, however, withregardtoEducation in Sexuality, thereis no legal obligation, consequentlytheyendupnot happening in a systematicway. Weproposethedenomination Inclusive Education in Sexuality (EIS) in the perspective ofexpandingtheconceptsofsexualityandEducation in Sexualitywith a viewtoassociatingthemwithinclusion, understandinginclusion as a wayofinvolvingallthediversitythatismanifested in a biologicalbody. The lackofinitial training of NC teachers in Inclusive Education in Sexualityresults in difficultieswhendevelopingprojectsthatinvolvebothareas in EB. Manyquestionsremainabout EIS, which must beunderstood as a field in constantdevelopment. 

The present study aimed to investigate the sustainability vision and practices promoted by the Federal Institute of Brasília (FIB) Estrutural Campus with the local community to promote sustainability. The Campus is located near Estrutural City, in the Federal District, which is a community marked by high social vulnerability and several socio-environmental challenges, including the lack of quality public education. Until recently, the region also housed the largest dump in the country and in Latin America, known as Lixão da Estrutural (or Lixão do Jóquei). To achieve the objective of the thesis, initially, an integrative literature review was carried out, which analyzed the scientific productions indexed in the SCOPUS and SciELO databases and produced between the years 2015 and 2019. Of the 687 articles found, 82 were selected for analysis . The results reveal that the sustainability practices of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are more concentrated in the dimensions of management and teaching. Despite the variety of strategies identified, in general, the initiatives are individual and compartmentalized. Then, in order to explore the case of the Structural Campus in depth, a single case study was conducted. The following instruments were used for data collection: document analysis, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and a research diary, which were analyzed based on the assumptions of Discursive Textual Analysis (DTA). The results show that the main efforts of the Structural Campus in sustainability, according to the academic community, are directed towards teaching and, secondly, towards management. Regarding the approach to the theme in the curricula, it is present in the courses on the environment axis and occasionally in the others. In the management dimension, it was also observed that there is little engagement and participation of the academic community in the initiatives, as well as failures in the communication of sustainability actions. Although there is no sustainability policy of its own, in some institutional documents the topic is approached, sometimes approaching the concept of sustainable development, sometimes approaching the concept of sustainability. In the extension dimension, the data reveal that initiatives are mainly concentrated in projects that aim to promote the continued formation of the community. It was also observed that there are different levels of understanding of the extension between managers and teachers, and the servers involved with the territory have a more mature view of the extension and the socio-environmental issues that the community faces. Although the EstruturalCampus has several sustainability initiatives in the four dimensions, in general, they are carried out punctually and conducted by few individuals, which highlights one of the institution's challenges, which is to overcome isolated actions. In addition, regarding the relationship between the Campus and the territory and vice-versa, it was observed that it is necessary to strengthen this relationship and better disseminate the institution's activities within the territory.