ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: TRAINING TOOL FOR STIMULATING CONSCIOUS SINCE INITIAL SCHOOL GRADES

Environmental education has the important role of alerting people to the consequences of their actions on the environment, as well as the impacts caused by them. In this perspective, teachers have the role of stimulating students to think in a contextualized way about how they relate to the environment in where they live and, thus, to modify small habits of everyday life, to reduce excessive water consumption, to recycle, reuse, avoid waste and consumerism This article aims to discuss the importance of teaching environmental education as a transversal theme from the initial grades of elementary education to reinforce the importance of working it effectively in schools. This study has as a future proposal the environmental education to be worked at schools, as a discipline from the initial grades will facilitate the formation of conscious citizens about their role with the environment, improving this relationship.


INTRODUCTION
Environmental Education (EE) is an important area of knowledge for the formation of citizens, because it stimulates the consciousness for the need to adopt a responsible attitude regarding their daily habits for the maintenance and conservation of the environment. EE has an educational approach based on an expanded perspective regarding the concept of education, in which the contextualized participation of the relations between human beings and the environment is stimulated, as well as the problems related to the inequalities of these relationships (SILVA, 2012).
The EE is not only materialized by theoretical knowledge, but by the accomplishment of actions, which aim at the change responsible for changes. These actions are supported through ethics, social justice and honesty, values to be stimulated since childhood (MACIEL, 2012). The environmental themes are increasingly present in the daily life of society. In this sense, EE becomes fundamental in all stages of school education processes, especially in the first years of teaching, when aspects related to critical-reflexive discernment about socialenvironmental issues should begin to be stimulated. Medeiros et al. (2011) understand that it ROQUE v. 1, n. 2, 2018 3 is easier to start discussions about environmental issues with younger people than with adult groups.
EE should be worked on at school from the early grades because in this way, it will be possible to obtain changes in the behavior related with the environment for future generations.
About this matter, Effting (2007) discusses the importance of environmental education: Environmental Education, as an essential component in the process of education and lifelong learning, with an approach oriented to resolve problems, contributes to the active involvement of the public, makes the education system more relevant and more realistic and establishes a greater interdependence between these systems and the natural and social environment, with the objective of increasing the well-being of human communities (EFFTING, 2007, p.24).
According to Rodrigues (2001), EA must to manage innovative analyzes at any time or place, and can be developed in formal or informal space. This should promote the awareness of several populations, providing means for democratic changes, which instigate the most disadvantaged populations. For such purpose, according to Maciel (2012), EE should establish the best relations between humans and the environment: Environmental education should establish ethical principles which guide man's relationships with nature, between the men, and provide the construction of a more just and humane nation, because his role is to generate ideas, ethical value creator, researcher of knowledge and creator of ideals (MACIEL, 2012, p. 43-44).
Thus, teachers have an important role to accomplish, stimulating their students to modify small habits of everyday life, such as reducing excessive water use, recycling, reusing, avoiding waste and consumerism. All these actions can help in order to recover planet in where we live and that needs to be taken care of, as well as to understand broadly the interactions of the relations between human beings and the environment. The problematic of this article is the next question: does the absence of environmental education teaching as a discipline from the initial series delay the formation of a social actor focused on environmental preservation? In this sense, the objective of this article is to analyze the ROQUE v. 1, n. 2, 2018 4 importance of Environmental Education teaching, engaged as a discipline from elementary school, in order to encourage teachers to work with this theme in schools.

Brief History of Environmental Education
In September of 1962, the publication of the book "Silent Spring" (1969) Education as an instrument to help solve environmental problems was promulgated. This Law is considered the most important environmental law in Brazil, which establishes the National Environmental Policy (Federal Law No. 6.938/1981, BRASIL, 1981. In relation to EE, the text of this Law requires that it be offered at all levels of education (CZAPSKI, 1998).
Federal Law 6.938/1981 discuss about the importance of EE and proposes that it is suggest at all levels of education. In this way, it is believed that there will be a greater stimulus so schools and teachers accomplish an important role in the relations of enlightenment on the interactions between humans and the environment. In this sense, Silva (2012, p. 03) argues that: "the current environmental problem reveals, first and foremost, a crisis of civilization itself. It is not the nature which is in disharmony, is society itself". For this reason, is emphasized the importance of these aspects has already been discussed in The Brundtlandt Report, also known as "Our Common Future" was published in 1987, which attributed the idea of "sustainable development", aiming in direction to discuss the impacts of this development as a whole, also reinforcing the indispensable ones relations between economy, technology, society and politics. This report also caught the attention to the need of support a new ethical attitude towards the preservation of the environment, marked by the challenge of a responsibility between the different generations of society in that moment (JACOBI, 2003).
In 1988, a special chapter (chap. VI) was adopted in the Brazilian Constitution for the first time in the country's history, which deals with the environment, characterized as a common good of the people and fundamental to the healthy maintenance of quality of life (BRASIL, 1988). In this text, it was attributed to the public power and the whole community the obligation to preserve the environment for the present and future generations (MEDEIROS et al., 2011).
In 1992, at the Rio 92 International Conference, celebrated in the city of Rio de Janeiro / RJ, Brazil, the Agenda 21 was elaborated, which "establishes a proposal for action focused on sustainability for the coming years, highlighting the need to build a school environmental education " (SAHEB, 2016, p.140). In this way, it is believed that in Brazil, this approach has been stimulated since the 1988 Constitution, and it has subsequently been improved and extended to contemporary contexts (OLIVEIRA et al., 2012). A few years after many meetings and conferences occurred in Brazil and the world to discuss environmental issues, on April 27, 1999, the then President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, sanctioned the Law establishing the National Education Policy Environmental (BRASIL, 1999).

The school and the formation of the citizen
The school has a great role in the formation of the citizen. The learning acquired during the school period will develop the social idea of forming a conscious citizen, that is, "the School as a place and institution with an important role for the development of the city, as well as of their habitants depending on existing practices" (MACIEL, 2012, p. 38 The school has the capacity of influence and modify the community where it is situated. However, it is from the theme of Environmental Education that it will be possible to Respect for the environment is fundamental for its conservation. In this sense, when the school works effectively in EE, the results are apparent throughout the community.

Environmental education and citizenship
At present environmental problems reveal, firstly, a crisis of the population itself. It is not nature that presents itself in disorder, it is human beings themselves and many of these disorders are caused by mismatches in the relationship between humans and the environment.
We create a risk society and we have an obligation to manage it. Therefore, to adopt actions  (JACOBI, 2003, 198).
In this way, EE becomes essential to instigate to change the social habits, citizen training and better living conditions. According to Fernandes (2010, p.81), "education for citizenship presents itself as a determinant element in the formation of participants and active individuals to assume the responsibility of fulfilling their duties and fighting for their rights." EE also has the role of alerting people as concerns the impacts of the environment, because it stimulates the human being to think. About that, Oliveira et al. (2012) declare: Thinking about environmental education is, above all, to think that it comes as an instrument of reflection in the search to be alerting people to think that certain attitudes taken by us, may be leading to pollution of our planet. It is necessary for the humanity to become aware that everything depends on us, so it is expected that environmental education will create awareness of the environment (OLIVEIRA et al., 2012, p.06).
EE teaching must be continuous, daily, and according to Jacobi (2003, p.198 In order to get that Environmental Education reach the proposed objectives, it should not be only informative. For this reason, Environmental Education should also seek to be critical, instigating human beings to create affection towards the environment, stimulating In the school curriculum, some disciplines from the areas of Human and Social Sciences bring concepts of sustainability and conservation. However, Environmental Education cannot be considered as discipline in the fundamental and medium levels of education, it is worked in schools transversally. According to school planning, in some cases, Environmental Education is only worked as a form of a project. About this, Santo (2007) state: One of the ways, which can be used to study the problems of the environment, is through a specific discipline and can change the behavior of many students, making them influent people in the protection of the environment so that they become ecologically balanced and healthy.
However, this discipline needs to have an application proposal, handling the specific topics of student interest, and not dissociated from the pedagogical proposal of the school (SANTOS, 2007, p.13).
Because of the lack of a specific discipline for environmental education in primary and secondary education, mentioning what MENEZES (2012, p.14) affirms about the importance of practical measures. Beyond to the theoretical discussions and propositions of Legislation on the subject -both already widely discussed and of recognized importance -when he expresses: "The current situation determines a more participatory and critical society in the ROQUE v. 1, n. 2, 2018 10 scope of public policies, therefore, it is important to strengthen the educational factor as a tool for the development of awareness of environmental issues". It is necessary to put into practice that academic production have already been widely published on the subject, as well as which is described in the current legislation. In this sense, it is perceived that Environmental Education constitutes an essential element in the formation of the citizen, stimulating the human being to develop a wider awareness about its role towards the environment where it is inserted.

CONCLUSIONS
Education is the basis of citizen formation. Thus, it is essential that children have a solid foundation in their training so that in the future they become citizens responsible for environmental conservation for all people, be it local, regional or global (DIAS 2006;FREIRE, 1996;MENEZES, 2012;SAHEB, 2016). Therefore, we can consider that Environmental Education, worked in schools as a specific Discipline from the initial grades and early childhood education, will facilitate the formation of conscious citizens about their role towards the environment, thus improving the relationship of humanity with environment.
Because childhood is a period of development, in this phase, questions related to the formation of character and ethical attitudes are acquired and taught, not only with nature, but also in the extended relations to the people around them and to the environment as a whole. In this phase, the teacher has great importance in the mediation of knowledge and it is up to him to seek better methodological strategies to contribute in the best way in the formation of the student / citizen, stimulating these people to become critical and reflective on current issues, in the broad and comprehensive understanding of environmental issues.
For Environmental Education to be worked as a discipline, it is necessary that teachers have training and instructions, in order to connect all students with the issues of interdisciplinary and transversallity, as well as the specifics issues of this area, so that the objectives of formation for the student / citizen aware of environmental questions are achieved. However, it must be considered that the problems of this lack of specific and adequate formation do not fall only on the shoulders of the teachers who carry out their activities in kindergarten, elementary and secondary education.
Universities and their undergraduate courses need to be adapted to the contemporary needs of pedagogical practices and effective approaches associated to inter and transdisciplinarity, as well as to the specificities of the area discussed in this text. There is a huge range of academic productions on this subject. However, the universities and their It is also up to the educators, who develop their activities in undergraduate university courses, to provide competent pedagogical formation, closer to the reality that university students will find in a future job market in elementary and high school educators. In this way, professionals who will come to the labor market will be better equipped to handle environmental issues in a broader and more effective way, in accordance with the contemporary needs and reality experienced in schools.
Therefore, with this article, it is suggested that, beyond to the implementation of the Environmental Education Discipline in schools, actions should also be implemented to improve the quality of life of every community involved with the school. In addition, from Environmental Education it becomes possible to develop changes in the community, in the school and in the environment as a whole.