Academic Drift in Brazilian Education

Brazilian education is marked by a strong academic drift, which has been a major obstacle to its differentiation, accessibility and improvement. Differentiation in education is important to provide educational opportunities for people with varying backgrounds and motivations, but is strongly opposed...

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Main Author: Simon Schwartzman
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 2011-04-01
Series:Pensamiento Educativo: Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pensamientoeducativo.uc.cl/index.php/pel/article/view/25635
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author Simon Schwartzman
author_facet Simon Schwartzman
author_sort Simon Schwartzman
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description Brazilian education is marked by a strong academic drift, which has been a major obstacle to its differentiation, accessibility and improvement. Differentiation in education is important to provide educational opportunities for people with varying backgrounds and motivations, but is strongly opposed by stakeholders within the education communities. Brazilian education institutions are formally very similar at each level, in spite of the large social and geographical differences throughout the country. There are very few students in vocational courses at secondary schools, and not many in short-term post-secondary course programs. Graduate education is highly academic, leaving little space for professional master programs and applied  research. Part of the problem is related to the 1996 National Education Law, which requires a very extensive academic curriculum for all students in secondary education. This situation is further aggravated by the National High School Exam, a comprehensive test which is being adopted as an entrance examination for many universities and does not give students the option to choose the type of education or subject area in which they will be examined. Consequently, a large number of students are unable to complete secondary education and tend to drop out, while at the same time, the country faces a serious lack of skilled workers of middle education level. This paper argues for the need to reverse this trend.
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spelling doaj.art-070e0f9f1dfe434e93d92a473845568e2023-10-31T02:32:10ZspaPontificia Universidad Católica de ChilePensamiento Educativo: Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana0719-04092011-04-01481152710.7764/PEL.48.1.2011.222829Academic Drift in Brazilian EducationSimon Schwartzman0Instituto de Estudos do Trabalho e Sociedade (Brazil)Brazilian education is marked by a strong academic drift, which has been a major obstacle to its differentiation, accessibility and improvement. Differentiation in education is important to provide educational opportunities for people with varying backgrounds and motivations, but is strongly opposed by stakeholders within the education communities. Brazilian education institutions are formally very similar at each level, in spite of the large social and geographical differences throughout the country. There are very few students in vocational courses at secondary schools, and not many in short-term post-secondary course programs. Graduate education is highly academic, leaving little space for professional master programs and applied  research. Part of the problem is related to the 1996 National Education Law, which requires a very extensive academic curriculum for all students in secondary education. This situation is further aggravated by the National High School Exam, a comprehensive test which is being adopted as an entrance examination for many universities and does not give students the option to choose the type of education or subject area in which they will be examined. Consequently, a large number of students are unable to complete secondary education and tend to drop out, while at the same time, the country faces a serious lack of skilled workers of middle education level. This paper argues for the need to reverse this trend.https://pensamientoeducativo.uc.cl/index.php/pel/article/view/25635educationacademic driftvocational educationsecondary educationsocial policybrazil
spellingShingle Simon Schwartzman
Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
Pensamiento Educativo: Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana
education
academic drift
vocational education
secondary education
social policy
brazil
title Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
title_full Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
title_fullStr Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
title_full_unstemmed Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
title_short Academic Drift in Brazilian Education
title_sort academic drift in brazilian education
topic education
academic drift
vocational education
secondary education
social policy
brazil
url https://pensamientoeducativo.uc.cl/index.php/pel/article/view/25635
work_keys_str_mv AT simonschwartzman academicdriftinbrazilianeducation