Infraordinary nature and childhood: the school in possible minor environmental education

Naturaleza infraordinaria e infancia: la escuela en la posible educación ambiental menor

This text is part of a broader study linked to a Master’s dissertation in Education developed within the PPGEDU/URI – FW. It addresses the themes of childhoods, the infraordinary, the school, and its pos- sible “minor” environmental educations, aiming to reflect—based on a bibliographic review—on these relationships, and to propose the construction of possibilities for “minor” environmental educations that are more sensitive to children’s everyday experiences and to their singular ways of relating to nature. Children have a relationship with the world that is infraordinary, being drawn to what appears trivial to adult eyes. These minor interactions constitute their way of being in the world, their way of learning, and of connecting with the environ- ment. To support these arguments, the text begins by problematizing Environmental Education. It then addresses the school within the scope of possible “minor” environmental educations, as well as chil- dhoods and the infraordinary. The idea of the infraordinary, inspired by Georges Perec, runs counter to the extraordinary and turns toward everyday nature. Although common and often overlooked, these everyday subtleties are fundamental to understanding life and hu- man experience. Thus, this study proposes rethinking environmental education in schools through sensitive, everyday experiences with children, valuing small gestures, daily discoveries, and the cons- truction of more integrated and affective relationships with nature, in contrast to the hegemonic and standardizing logics that guide much of educational practice.