Brazil:Fortaleza
From WAET
 | Este artigo está disponível em português |
V. J. McClendon
Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia
Virna Vieira, Daisyane Barreto, & Monalisa de Abreu Leite
School of Education, Universidade Federal do Ceará
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Fortaleza is a city of over 2 million (2,256,233 in the 2003 Census) and lies in the north eastern part of the country (IBGE, 2004) . Like many big cities worldwide it has many points of historical and cultural interests. It is known for its lovely beaches and active nightlife. There are many historical buildings of Portuguese architecture and a number of government and military installations spread about the city.
Fortaleza was developed from the Schoonenborch fort, constructed in 1649 by the Dutch on the coast of Ceará. In 1654, the fort was conquered by the Portuguese colonists and the name became “Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora de Assunção”, giving origin to the name of the city (History of Fortaleza, 2004). Today Fortaleza is one of the biggest cities of the nation serving as an important economic center of the northeast. The charm of Fortaleza is the mixture of traditions of the colonial period with more modern construction. At Iracema beach, home of the famous avenue “Beira Mar”, bold and modern buildings rise to the sky. While at the same time, in the sand, there are traditional styled rafts await the morning for the daily fishermen. On the sidewalks, traders offer handcraft and food for all tastes in the nightly fair or feirinha.
Fortaleza, the capital of the State of Ceará, concentrates the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) level of the state with R$10.372.794 (2002) while Ceará’s level is R$24.354.000 (IPECE, 2002). Therefore, it has the greatest production of wealth in the entire state, as well as clearly illustrating the many miseries of the mankind, unwieldy population concentration, aggravated by immigration of thousands flowing from the interior of the country
 Figure 1. Iracema Beach in Fortaleza - photo by Júnior Panela |  Figure 2. Upscale Shopping Center |
The city’s development has gained the attention of investors and it has become a target for important federal enterprises. These developments are based on an effort to increase industrialization as an economic attempt to solve much of the misery caused from the droughts, and which resulted in large populations relocating from the interior to the capital. Fortaleza clearly illustrates all the problems and the complexities of the great capitals of Latin America, with holes in its infrastructure, lack of adequate housing, poor education, poor health care, and unemployment. It is like any other large city taking in vast populations of unskilled and uneducated immigrants experience similar states of misery and poverty.
In last the four years 148 educational establishments, between small, average and great had closed the doors at Ceará and the insolvency is the main reason. It is estimated that by the end of the year the rate of the defaulters among the 1,800 private schools will be from 8% to 15% (“O Povo” Newspaper, November 13th, 2004).
A city cultural center serves as a natural gathering place for families and children as well as romantic young couples. The Dragão do Mar (Dragon of the Sea) offers a variety of facilities including several outdoor amphitheaters, an historical restaurant section, several art galleries, a modern theater which shows cinema art from around the world and a large museum on Cearense culture (the culture of the state). Many of the performances held there are free or very inexpensive so many can come. It offers a public location for local artists and student groups to perform music, art, drama, dance, and more. The culture of Cearense is a blend of old Portuguese influences, cattle ranching, and modern urban development. All of these influences can be seen as celebrated in local decoration, festival, dress, and architecture.
 Figure 3. University Musical Group at Dragão do Mar |  Figure 4. University Theater Group - photo by Seara da Ciência |
And there are challenges as well on the social and economic fronts in Fortaleza. As in other world cities, there exists crime, drugs, disease, and poverty. Lying in the northeast of Brazil, the state of Ceará is near the equator and on the coast. But it is also a desert area. In some years, rain is scarce, driving subsistence farm families to destitution. As a result, many pour into the city without resources in search of jobs and better opportunities. Homelessness and brutal working conditions are often their lot as a result of the lack of education and training in more urban skills.
Educational Information
The 2001 census recorded 629,695 children between the ages of 0 to 14 in the city of Fortaleza. In 2003 there were 663,376 children registered in schools locally. Also in 2003, there were 2,609 schools in the city with a total of 28,378 teachers working to support the curriculum. Clearly education in such an urban area is a tall task. And implementing programs such as technology integration are complicated by a number of issues including facilities infrastructures, school principal training, teacher training, followed by useful and purposeful ways to use technology to augment existing curriculum.
Technology plans established in the nation's capital are often far from being realized in towns and cities around the countryside. Public schools in Fortaleza often lack infrastructure for simple needs such as chalk and chairs. As such, demands for technology in the classroom often receive little attention. Escola Gustavo Barroso is a very fortunate city school, enjoying a small computer lab. But, as the picture clearly illustrates, the computer classroom is quite small, housing only 12 computers. American fund raising initiatives have been begun to increase the size of the lab and purchase 5 new computers along with some additional peripherals such as printers and some wireless technology.
As a unit, Gustavo Barroso has over 1000 students enrolled which including 140 in special education and 121 who are young adults iand adults. As the area is a poorer one there are many challenged faced by this school including student attendance and diet. In one case a student reported for school and quick detection by the staff found she was almost blind from malnutrition. Though this is unusual in Gustavo, such cases are far from rare in the poorer or more rural areas. And despite the R$30 per month federal “ bolsa ” for families whose children attend school, many families feel forced to have children work or beg to provide extra income.
Citywide there is a real need for equitable distribution of technology among the schools as well as teacher training on effective ways to integrate technology into the classroom. In addition, the state demands high qualifications for teachers, yet wages remain low. Many new graduates whch greater technology skills are employed at private school which pay somewhat higher wages.
An interesting feature for many public schools is the availability of after school classes. Some of the alternative and model schools offer lots of added curriculum like cultural dance, massage, horticulture, and after school sports and music lessons. Gustavo is fortunate enough to employ an English teacher and offers English classes to older students. As foreign language is a skill tested on the national college entrance exam, this provides a distinct benefit to its students.
Student case: Kelvyn
Wladson Kelvyn Prudencio da Silva is a 13 year old boy attending Escola Gustavo Barroso. He has attended school here since third grade, after having attended a private school early on. In fact he was born only a few miles away in the neighborhood maternity hospital and lives just across the avenue. Kelvyn's interests include pop rock music groups such as Avril Lavigne, Limp Bizkit, and Evanescence. He also likes going shopping as well as watching television and movies.
His neighborhood is called São Gerardo which is part of a larger area of Fortaleza known as Alagadiço having roughly 12,000 residents (1996 survey). The houses are small stucco units with flat tops. This type of construction is common all over Brazil and allows for additional levels to be constructed at later times. A noticeable change in architecture between old buildings and new ones in this area is the increased sizes of exterior walls as well as the addition of bars and other barriers to individual homes. Below see Kelvyn and his mom outside their home; it consists of a covered front portico, a small living room, 2 bedrooms (with multiple hammock hooks), and a larger kitchen and dining area in the back. Their furnishings are simple and used but they have a very nice television and equally nice stereo.
His immediate family includes his mother, one older brother and two older sisters. His aunt and uncle live just a few doors down the street. His aunt has a local open air restaurant on the corner of the street they live on. His mother spends all of her time taking care of the needs of the rest of the family and helping her sister in the restaurant when needed. Another aunt owns a fabric and towel workshop/factory and operates several stalls in the central market downtown. This is a critical benefit for Kelvyn's immediate family as his mother has no husband to bring in additional income. Kelvyn's brother and two sisters either work in the workshop or the stores at the central market.
 Figure 7. Outside of Gustavo Barroso school |  Figure 8. Kelvin and his mom outside their home |
At Gustavo, Kelvyn works two mornings a week as a student monitor for the computer lab with Paulo Sampaio, the computer teacher. He enjoys his work there and knows all the students at the school. He wants to learn more about computers and hopes this will help him in his future studies. And though he is aware of other schools as he has friends who attend, he is not familiar with their curriculum and does not wish to attend another place. He believes Gustavo has a good reputation for a quality education. The only problem he cites is some random student disrespect for teachers which the school promptly deals with.
 Figure 9. A picture of Kelvyn working at Gustavo Barroso |
Kelvyn currently studies a variety of subjects including math, science, history, English, Portuguese, religion, arts, physical education, and literature. Computer classes are not taught at Gustavo as a subject but rather time is scheduled for classes to come and integrate activities and research on topics related to each field. His schedule is much like a college program with 50 minute classes which meet 2 or three times a week. So with the typical Brazilian half day of school, he attends classes in the afternoons 5 days a week and still manages to get a great deal of studying done.
Next year Kelvyn will be 14 and preparing to enter high school at 15. He is eligible as a result of his good school performance to take extra classes to prepare for the High School entrance exam. These classes are actually held and taught by the teachers of his prospective school. They meet each morning for 5 days a week and each Saturday there are weekly performance tests. At the end of the year, the school will administer a test to determine which students score high enough to enter. This particular school (CEFET, a technical school) is known for its quality technical training curriculum. And Kelvyn is eager to attend.
But he also hopes to one day take the vestibular and enter college at Federal University of Ceará which is a well respected public university in Fortaleza. There he would like to study journalism and one day, become a news caster on the national news, Globo News. He even dreams of coming to the US to work for CNN.
References
IBGE. (2004). Retrieved October 3, 2004, from http://www.ibge.com.br
History of Fortaleza. (2003). Retrieved November 2, 2004, from http://www.ceara.com.br/fortaleza/historiadefortaleza.htm
O Povo (2004, November 13). Escolas enfrentam prova difícil. Retrieved November 15, 2004, from http://www.noolhar.com/opovo/economian/418405.html
Related Chapters
Brazil
Fortaleza is a city within the state of Ceará, located in the country of Brazil.
About the Authors
| V. J. McClendon is a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. Her areas of interest include virtual faculty teams and the use of emerging technologies to connect people and places and increase the potential for collaborative learning. She is also interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as a way to improve authentic assessment and reflection impacting the way we teach. She is an editor for the Educational Media and Technology Yearbook as well as WAET. Her degrees include an M.A. in history from Midwestern State University, an MLIS from the University of South Carolina, and a BA from the University of Montevallo. She has been involved in service learning through the Changing Perspectives FIPSE-CAPES grant, as well as through the School Library Media Program at both the University of Georgia and Georgia College and State University |  |
| Daisyane Carneiro Barreto is a current M.Ed. student in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia (UGA). She has a degree in Education from Federal University of Ceará and has been working in the area of research, teaching assistant programs, and projects to improve and implement new technologies in the schools in Brazil. She taught for one and a half years as middle school teacher in Espaço de Atividades Pedagógica (Fortaleza, CE), designing and developing lesson plans that incorporate technology in classroom . Her interests are K-12 and higher education, curriculum development, and technology integration |  |
Citation
APA Citation: McClendon, V.J, Vieira, V., Barreto, D, Leite, M de A. (2006, December). Brazil:Fortaleza. In M. Orey, T. Amiel, & J. McClendon (Eds.), The web almanac of educational technologies. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://www.waet.uga.edu/
