HEALTH CONCEPTIONS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION: KNOWLEDGE, VALUES AND PRACTICES
Health. Conceptions of health. Basic education. Science education
Health is a polysemic and multifaceted theme for which different concepts converge. It is a teaching and learning theme present in different basic education disciplines, especially those that make up the area of Natural Sciences. Conceptions about health can be situated from different aspects, among them, through the analysis of the interactions between knowledge, values and social practices. In this sense, the objective of this study was to identify and characterize the health concepts present in the teaching of Natural Sciences, considering the scientific knowledge, values and social practices expressed in curricular documents and by teachers working in basic education. It is an empirical research, of mixed method, sequential and with different procedures of data collection and analysis, among which a research questionnaire was built and validated to identify teachers' health concepts. The results of the different analyzes indicate that in the curriculum health is presented in a limited way, the knowledge about privileging the biological aspects of the human body, the values refer to the subjects' autonomy to maintain their health and the practices indicated have an individualized character, focusing on the prevention of diseases and injuries, therefore, a conception of health with a biomedical tendency. Teachers presented a concept of health in a broader perspective, valuing broad concepts of health, forms of care beyond the object of disease and health as a social right. However, the health theme was declared as uncommon in the teaching practices of these professionals. In view of these results, from a concrete experience, we present possibilities of insertion of the health theme in the context of science teaching, with inter and disciplinary approaches in which health can be presented considering its complexity and emphasizing its aspect as a right and as public policy. We emphasize the importance of the theme of health being present in all disciplines and areas of knowledge of basic education, in the training processes of teachers, in addition, that its insertion in the pedagogical support materials may include broad approaches, considering the knowledge, values and practices around the theme, considering that health, as well as disease, are issues with scientific, cultural, social and political implications.