Brazil
From WAET
 | Este artigo está disponível em português |
Tel Amiel, V. J. McClendon
Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia
Virna Vieira, Daisyane Barreto, & Monalisa de Abreu Leite
School of Education, Universidade Federal do Ceará
|
Brazilian Educational Structure
The educational system is divided into four major categories. Two years of pre-school for children approximately 4-6 years of age; primary/middle education, lasting eight years; secondary education lasting three years; and higher education comprising undergraduate and post-graduate degrees
There are both private and public institutions across the country. Public institutions are free and generally lack operational or material resources – these may range from basic services like electricity, to books for classes and libraries, to highly qualified teachers or perhaps a number of these. While not a rule, private institutions charge a monthly fee and generally boast a large number of teaching resources and highly qualified teachers. Because of the large disparity between rich and poor in the country at large, most poor and lower-middle class families will send their children to public institutions, while middle and higher income families are able to enroll their children in private institutions. As a result of the lack of resources and the pay discrepancies for teachers, the general belief is that most public schools are assumed to provide lower quality education and opportunities for students. Public schools are governed by designated either municipal, state, or federal governments according to the table below (see Ministério da Educação, 1996) . A large number of poor families are who keep their children in school until the 8th grade receive a “bolsa escola” (school scholarship) that provides them with enough money to purchase basic food supplies every month (about R$30/month per child enrolled). Because of their economic condition, many poor children work illegal jobs or roam the streets selling trinkets or begging for money. This program attempts to keep children in school and away from the streets.
| Type of institution | Approximate age | Governmental jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-school | 4-6 | Municipal |
| Primary education | 7-14 | Municipal and/or state |
| Secondary education | 15-17 | State |
| Higher-education | 18+ | State or federal |
While basic and secondary public institutions are generally seen as providing lower quality education, the most highly respected universities are those under the auspices of the state and federal governments. In order to be admitted to public universities, students must successfully complete a comprehensive exam called “vestibular”. This exam covers all knowledge areas including mathematics, biology, grammar, English, and others – independent of the student's major of interest. In order to pass the vestibular, many students extend their schooling for an additional year (or half of it) to review all areas of the curriculum. These courses, termed “cursinhos” are offered at a cost by a large number of private institutions, including secondary education institutions, which sometimes offer an additional year (or part thereof) to their normal curriculum. This additional time is optional, and is offered as a review of the secondary degree, preparing students for the “vestibular”.
The dynamics of this system creates an interesting paradox. Thus a shift occurs when students move from secondary to higher education. A majority of the students enrolled in public universities are those who completed in private primary and secondary education. Those previously enrolled in public (free) primary and secondary institutions generally are unable to enroll in public (free) universities. This shift results from variety of reasons. These include the lack of resources in public primary and secondary institutions, the challenges faced by lower-income students in regularly attending any school, the high costs of preparatory cursinhos better preparing those who can afford them, and others.
Educational Media and Technology
Brazil has had a long tradition of using educational media in schools. Though a historical overview is not the purpose of this chapter, it is important to note two important programs. EDUCOM, developed in 1984, was a national project which created the first centers for research and training in the federal universities of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, and Universidade Estadual de Campinas. These centers were some of the first educational training programs to use information technology for specifically in teaching and learning. Each location self-selected areas in which to implement technology based on their specializations including chemistry, teaching, and educational software development. Further, they also began using computers for educational testing and assessment. Today’s leaders in educational technology in Brazil started in the EDUCOM on research scholarships. These scholars witnessed the unfolding of educational technology from its earliest uses until its modern applications (Moraes, 1997).
Another one of the most notable programs is termed “TV Escola” (School TV) and it began in 1996. All public schools with 100 students or more were allocated enough funds to purchase a television, VCR, and a satellite dish connected directly to the Ministry of Education through a national satellite. The responsibility for the distribution of these funds was allocated to the states, which could then designate that individual schools purchase the equipment. One installed, the school and teachers would record and archive selected programs to be used for professional development and to be integrated into their teaching (Ozores, 2001; Toschi, 2001) .
The program faced serious setbacks in its early years. A lack of training left many teachers were unable to find resources to help them make use of these tools in the classroom. A 2001 report shows that more than 75% of teachers reported not having received training to use the equipment though more than 95% indicated interest in receiving training. More than 35% of the schools reported having unusable equipment. Not surprisingly the biggest reasons for not using the equipment included the lack of equipment, lack of training, and being “accustomed to using books” (Secretaria de Educação a Distância, 2002) . In visiting a public school in Bauru, one can see evidence of the lack of use of such equipment. One such school has all of the equipment it needs to make use of TV Escola, but has not been able to receive the signal for a long time. The TV Escola program continues, and has made a move towards the use of digital signals (for better sound and video quality). By building partnerships with universities and other public institutions, the program has managed to proliferate in many states and now boasts more than 4,000 video programs that can be used by teachers to enhance the classroom experience.
The move towards the integration of computing technologies in school is strong. The Ministry of Education has implemented a national technology integration program termed Programa de Informática na Educação (Educational Informatics Program; PROINFO) with ambitious goals through the deployment of technology in both classrooms and Núcleos de Tecnologia Educacionais (Educational Technology Centers, NTE), which serve as training and support facilities. Some of its initial goals included preparing 25,000 teachers to work with technology in education, installing 105,000 Microsoft Windows-based computers (100,000 in schools, 5,000 in NTE), and creating 200 NTEs around the country by the end of 2002. Ultimately the government hopes to provide Internet access to all schools, and access to the local community. By 2002, 53,895 computers had been installed in 4,629 schools (Brazil has approximately 215,000 schools dedicated to basic education). Approximately 137,911 teachers had been trained to use the implemented technology, and over 226 NTEs had been implemented by 2002 (Departamento de Informática na Educação a Distância, 2002).
As with the TV Escola program, the top-down approach to the deployment of computing tools plagued the success of this program. Computer labs sometimes remained locked and inaccessible for political reasons, because of a lack of trained individuals, or simply because school directors did not want to risk breaking the expensive equipment. Arranging for a technology coordinator inside each school proved difficult since criteria were not clearly established for what the position demanded. Moreover, the distribution of computers did not promote regional equity. Computers were allocated to states based on the average of schools with over 150 students and the number of registered students in each state. As a consequence, the richest state in the nation, São Paulo, received more computers than the 11 states of the North and Western regions of the country combined (Cysneiros, 2001).
Teacher Education & Training
In Brazil teacher training varies according to region. For example in the interior there are few opportunities for further education. Some teachers may have only a high school (or less) training before beginning teaching. Some may have a short workshop type of training though some may have nothing beyond normal high school training.
In order to improve the general quality of education for teachers with this type of training, the government established a law called “Década da Educação” (Decade of Education), in the which teachers would only be employed or admitted to work if they have a degree in Education (MEC, 2003). Therefore, teachers, who were already teaching without a degree, had to apply at a regular university or two year teacher certificate program for teaching up to fourth grade (or ten years old). One example of this, it is the certificate program offered by Unversidade do Vale do Acaraú - Ceará (UVA) as an additional education program for teachers, who were already working in schools, to pursue a degree. Of special note is that these courses require students to pay and initially, this program was offered only for teachers in service and did not require a "vestibular" (entry exam). Currently, it is open to anyone, even persons not holding teaching positions can enroll and pursue a two year teaching certificate through UVA. It now requires a vestibular, but it is not considered as difficult as those provided by public universities.
More exemplary training for urban teachers requires a university degree in pedagogy which takes approximately 4.5 to 5 years. This training includes courses such as: educational psychology, educational sociology, history of education, and philosophy and politics of education. In addition, students are required to complete practical field work in the classroom for 1 year. Those with this degree do not require any additional teaching certificates to begin teaching in schools; however they can only teach children up to 10 years of age. Those wishing to teach high school need other specialized coursework or a master’s degree in a special subject, for example, math or chemistry. Despite the required study of pedagogy for teachers, some persons with other degrees in other areas often are also employed. For example, some college students graduate from dentistry or medicine and wish to work before continuing their education. In fact, these non-education graduates may be hired simply because those pursuing science education often do not complete their studies. All persons wishing to teaching in publicly funded schools must pass selection examinations.
Teacher education in the universities provides technology integration courses as an optional study but not as a required area of study. As a result, only those interested in computers and the use of computers in education actually take this training. A number of difficulties exist in increasing quality pre-service teacher training at the university level as a result poor quality equipment, limited lab space and computers, and limited and decaying peripheral and software support tools. In addition, when working in the field, practicing teacher often do not embrace the new technology and the equipment at the schools is of even poorer quality, making planning and innovation challenging.
Unless teacher education programs incorporate a comprehensive technology training program for new teachers, incoming professionals will fail to make use of the equipment. A number of other issues must be addressed including the need for technical and pedagogical support (i.e. media/technical specialist), training for school directors, and increased access to computer laboratories, to make sure that the equipment is used effectively.
References
Cysneiros, P. G. (2001). Programa nacional de informática na educação: Novas tecnologias, velhas estruturas. In R. G. Barreto (Ed.), Tecnologias Educacionais e Educação a Distância: Avaliando Políticas e Práticas (pp. 192). Rio de Janeiro: Quartet.
Departamento de Informática na Educação a Distância. (2002). Relatório de atividades 1996/2002 . Retrieved December 20, 2003, from http://www.proinfo.gov.br/upload/img/relatorio_died.pdf
IBGE. (2004). Retrieved October 3, 2004, from http://www.ibge.com.br
INEP. (2003). Censo escolar . Retrieved September 2, 2004, from http://www.inep.gov.br/basica/censo/
INEP. (2004). DATAESCOLABRASIL . Retrieved September 1, 2004, from http://www.dataescolabrasil.inep.gov.br
IPECE (2004). Retrieved November 2, 2004, from http://www.ipece.ce.gov.br/
Ministério da Educacao. (1996). Lei de diretrizes e bases . Retrieved August 10, 2004, from http://www.mec.gov.br/legis/pdf/LDB.pdf
Ozores, M. V. P. (2001). Tecnologia e educação: Um estudo sobre o uso do TV escola no estada do Amazonas. UNICAMP, Campinas, SP.
Secretaria de Educação a Distância. (2002). TV escola relatório 1996-2002 . Retrieved Novemeber 1, 2004, from http://www.mec.gov.br/seed/tvescola/relativ.shtm
Toschi, M. S. (2001). TV Escola: O lugar dos professores na política de formação docente. In R. G. Barreto (Ed.), Tecnologias educacionais e educação a distância: avaliando políticas e práticas (pp. 192). Rio de Janeiro: Quartet.
Related Chapters
Fortaleza
Focuses on the case of one student, in a public school in the city of Fortaleza, in the state of Ceará, in the northeastern part of the country.
Bauru
Focuses on the case of one student, in a public school in the city of Bauru located in the state of São Paulo, in the southeastern part of the country.
About the Authors
| Tel Amiel received an M.A. in Communication Studies and Human Computer Interaction from Virginia Tech and at the time this article was written he was PhD student in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. He serves on the review board of the Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (JEMH AACE) and is a program committee member to the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Telecommunications (AACE). His interests surround the intersection between information and communication technologies, multicultural and democratic education, and the philosophy of technology. He currently works on a cooperative project with the city of Bauru in São Paulo, and Fortaleza, Ceará in Brazil through a FIPSE-CAPES funded grant. Previously Tel has lived in China, Brazil, and Australia |  |
| 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 |  |
| 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 |  |
Citation
APA Citation: Amiel, T., McClendon, V.J, Vieira, V., Barreto, D, Leite, M de A. (2006, December). Brazil. In M. Orey, T. Amiel, & J. McClendon (Eds.), The web almanac of educational technologies. Retrieved <insert date>, from http://www.waet.uga.edu/
