Cuestiones socioambientales (csa) como articulador curricular regional: un estudio de caso en la licenciatura en ciencias naturales y educación ambiental de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios

Abstract

This doctoral research is situated within the research line Inclusion of the Environmental Dimension in Science Education, part of the Science Education emphasis of the Interinstitutional Doctorate in Education at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. The study examines the potential of Socio-Environmental Issues (SEI) as regional curricular articulators in the training of pre-service teachers enrolled in the Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Sciences and Environmental Education at UNIMINUTO in the departments of Cundinamarca, Huila, and Santander. The research responds to the need to strengthen the relationship between science education and environmental education in the face of contemporary socio-ecological conflicts and the growing demand for pedagogical approaches that are context-responsive at the territorial, ethical, and political levels. Grounded in critical theoretical perspectives, the study draws from education based on socio-environmental issues, environmental justice education and its links to science education, environmental citizenship education, the pedagogy of environmental conflicts, community-based environmental education, and current curricular debates in higher education and teacher training. The state of the art was developed through a hermeneutic philosophical approach with an abductive foundation, using content analysis supported by Atlas.ti 7. This review enabled the identification of four emergent categories that describe the current environmental field within science education and its relevance to addressing the socio-environmental crisis. Methodologically, the research follows a qualitative and action-research design within an interpretive-critical framework. It adopts a Type 14 transformative inclusive single-case study, drawing on methodological contributions from Rodríguez (1999), Yin (2018), and Stake (1999). The investigation was structured into three phases: (1) diagnosing the causes of curricular disarticulation between science education and environmental education; (2) characterizing environmental conflicts in the three departments through an examination of EJAtlas, OLCA, and OCA databases, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 17 participants; and (3) generating guidelines for a SEI-based curricular adjustment proposal through the analysis of three discussion groups. Findings from Phase 1 reveal that the environmental dimension within the program has been incorporated in a fragmented, intermittent, and primarily declarative manner, with limited structural integration at the mesocurricular level. Phase 2 characterized 41 environmental conflicts: 21 in Cundinamarca, 4 in Huila, and 16 in Santander, classified into typologies such as mining, hydrocarbons, water management, infrastructure, waste management, land use, biodiversity and biological conservation, and violence against environmental leaders. This phase resulted in the creation of an open educational resource consisting of a database and a territorial map of conflicts, as well as the identification of didactic criteria and possibilities for curricular articulation through SEI. Phase 3 produced curricular transformation guidelines aimed at strengthening an interregional, socio-environmentally committed teacher profile capable of understanding and pedagogically addressing ecological-distributive conflicts. Overall, the findings emphasize the need for an educational approach that systematically articulates science and environmental dimensions, grounded in citizen participation, critical analysis, and territorial understanding. The research concludes that teacher training must be anchored in real socio-environmental conflicts and promote situated didactics based on SEI in dialogue with communities. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that environmental education cannot remain confined to the classroom; it must extend into the territory as a space for the collective construction of knowledge—an essential condition for preparing educators to confront the challenges posed by the global environmental crisis.