A relação entre a biologia e a formação cidadã: a perspectiva de estudantes do ensino médio do Distrito Federal

The concept of citizenship is complex and involves multiple dimensions of human development. In high school education, biology content has the potential to articulate scientific knowledge with social issues, contributing to students’ citizenship education. This study aimed to analyze citizenship education associated with biology content based on the perceptions of high school students from public schools in the Federal District. This is a mixed-methods study, which involved the application of questionnaires to students from four public schools in the Federal District. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data, derived from an open-ended question using the Free Word Association Technique, were subjected to content analysis, with the support of the IRAMUTEQ software for lexical analysis. The results indicate that most students perceive biology as relevant to understanding issues related to health and environmental concerns, associating it with the development of critical thinking and autonomy. However, the perceptions reveal limitations in the articulation between biology content and other social, political, and economic dimensions, suggesting challenges for a more integrated approach to citizenship education in biology teaching.