FROM SPACE TO PLACE

the school vegetable garden as a key element for stimulating a sense of belonging in formal education

Abstract

This article starts from the premise of the importance that collectives have in the construction of a new pedagogical space. The text was elaborated from an excerpt of the case study carried out at the Pedro Ernesto Municipal School, located in the Lagoa neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The research aims at the critical and reflective analysis of the process of appropriation and the sense of belonging in the collective construction of the agroecological pedagogical garden of the school unit. The didactic sequences were developed between May 2021 - May 2023. The methodological set was centered on action-research, complemented by conversation circles. It had the direct participation of 350 students belonging to 9 classes from the 1st to the 5th year of Elementary School, 10 teachers, 1 pedagogical coordinator, 2 directors, 2 educational agents, 3 cooks, 2 maintenance people and 1 researcher. For the collection of results, semi-structured interviews were conducted and children's feelings were systematized through collectively generated Word Clouds. It was observed, throughout the collective construction in the school vegetable garden, that the students were gaining their own place, having a voice and autonomy in the space, generating a feeling of care, affection, and identity, as the space belongs to them. This feeling favored the consolidation and real internalization of learning, actively fostering the creation of knowledge.