Considering the science teacher's role in the implementation of environmental issues in school, a survey was carried out (Benetti, 1998) to identify science school teachers' perspectives regarding environmental education-related activities in fundamental schools (11 to 14 year-olds). The interviewees' statements were divided into four categories…

This study investigated how urban and rural children who lived along a major river in Brazil understand and value their relationship with the natural environment. Forty-four Brazilian children in fifth grade were interviewed, and background of the city and village they lived in was ascertained. Each child was individually administered a…

This study assessed the impact on student learning outcomes of the Integrated Center of Public Education (ICPE), an innovative program in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for at-risk students; and compared school educational programs of the ICPE and a regular public school serving the same low-income community and focusing on critical thinking competence…

How low-income Brazilian students explain their school performance and the predominant achievement causes were studied. The relationship between achievement attribution and school achievement and students' conceptions of choice, career, agency, and relationship with achievement were also studied, using the causal attribution theory of B. Weiner.…

A discussion of classroom communication looks at the function of questions, particularly teacher-initiated pedagogical questions but also other classroom questions, either teacher- or student-initiated. Two fourth grade science lessons, conducted in Brazil by different teachers, are analyzed. Analysis focuses on the relative effects of the…