Perceptions of Higher Education in Brazil in the First Decades of the Third Millenium

Author(s):

Martha A. Saad LucchesiEliana B. Malanga

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 05C, Changes and Reforms in Higher Education (Part 1)

Paper Session

Time:

2008-09-11

08:30-10:00

Room:

B2 215

Chair:

Graham Badley

Contribution

This study aims at reflecting upon the Brazilian higher Education situation in a context of deep change regarding the contemporary way of life. This study stems from evidence generated from field research. The expansion of the higher Education system in Brazil, for historical, political and economic reasons, has taken place mainly by means of private institutions following a logic close to a market one, according to some theoreticians. In 2005 private higher Education institutions accounted for 73.2% of the students registered; in the state of Sao Paulo, the most industrialized state in the country, this figure raised to 84.9% (Ministry of Education – MEC/ Educational Research Institute - INEP, 2006). Relevant data refers to the huge number of untaken places in private higher Education – 50%- in the regions of greater demand. Candidates having social-economic conditions to pay for their studies are disputed by the higher Education institutions through advertising. These ads show a certain concept of what would be desirable in a higher Education institution and configure the view of the private institutions’ administrators regarding the reasons leading students to seek higher Education as well as the students’ expectations for the cultures of teaching and learning. Thus, this study has carried out the analysis of the advertising made by the private higher Education institutions from the city of Sao Paulo. By means of the analysis of the discourse manifested at advertising messages from the private higher Education institutions, this study aims at understanding what they now believe to be the model for teaching and learning capable of meeting the Brazilian youth’s needs. We have observed the relationship between teaching and learning promised by the private higher Education institutions. Therefore, the scope of this study is the persuasive content of the message from the private higher Education institutions to conquer new students. The research question is: considering this moment of transition regarding Brazilian public policies for higher Education, what are the higher-Education needs of the Brazilian population aged 18 to 25 currently not attending college?As theoretical framework we will refer to Foucault (2002a, 2003), Derrida (2003), Lucchesi (2002, 2003, 2006), Lucchesi & Malanga (2006, 2007), Durham (2006), Durham & Sampaio (2000), Clark (1987) and Altbach (2007) to show that it is necessary to analyze these issues from many points of view.

Method

For this study we have applied the technique of discourse analysis to the advertising texts from the universities in the city of Sao Paulo. We have used the following criteria to choose the research sample: • Researched universe: Brazilian universities and university centers • Sample: institutions with one or more campuses in the greater Sao Paulo that advertised in the newspaper of the biggest readership in the city of Sao Paulo. For methodological reasons, we have focused our study on institutions with campuses located in the city of Sao Paulo. • Researched period of time: October, November and December (the months of more intense divulging, for the school year in Brazil goes from February to December) Data analysis: We have established the following categories for analysis: • The institution – size, whether it is a university or university center, tradition and administrative category (confessional, philanthropic, private) • Innovative aspects – interdisciplinarity, international cooperation, teaching- learning relationships based on the new paradigm for the 21st century university, which means that institutional research is the source for teaching

Expected Outcomes

The Brazilian university has been going through a turning point moment. Once again in its short history, approximately 90 years of age, must it decide whether to offer higher Education professionalized teaching or characterize itself as a real university, basing its mission and purpose for future generations on producing and divulging knowledge. The analysis has evidenced that the majority of the higher Education institutions does not cater for the needs of knowledge society. They still have not introduced the organizational, individual and even epistemological changes crucial to modify the practices of students, professors/ researchers and others collaborating with the teaching and learning process.

References

ABENSOUR, Corinne et al. (directeurs). La destruction du savoir en temps de paix. [sine loco]: Mile et Une Nuits (département de la Librairie Arthème Fayard) /Barcelone, Espagne: Liberduplex, 2007. ALTBACH, Philip G. Peripheries and centres: research universities in developing countries in higher education management and policy, Volume 19, No. 2, OECD 2007 http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/pga/pdf/Altbach_Research%20Univ_2007.pdf Last access: 26/12/2007. BRASIL, (2006). Ministério da Educação (MEC). Instituto de Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP). [Ministry of Education - MEC. Educational Research Institute- INEP] CLARK, Burton R. The academic life. New Jersey: The Carnegie Foundation, 1987. DERRIDA, Jacques (2003). A universidade sem condições. [The university without conditions]. Coimbra: Angelus Novus DURHAM, Eunice Ribeiro, (2006). A situação geral da educação no Brasil e o ensino superior. [The general educational situation in Brazil and higher education] In: ALMEIDA, Fernando José de (org.). O DNA da educação: legisladores protagonizam as mais profundas ... [Education’s DNA: legislators are the protagonists of the deepest...] (pp. 199-248).São Paulo: Instituto DNA Brasil. DURHAM, E. R. e SAMPAIO, H., “O setor privado de Ensino Superior na América Latina”.[ The private sector in Latin America: a comparative analysis] Cadernos de Pesquisa Fundação Carlos Chagas, nº 110, p. 7-37, julho 2000. FOUCAULT, Michel (2002a). A ordem do discurso. [The order of discourse] 8. ed. São Paulo: Loyola. _________As palavras e as coisas [The order of things]. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2002b. __________ (2003). Estratégia, poder-saber. [Strategy, power-knowledge] Rio de Janeiro: Forense Universitária. ___________ Microfísica do poder [The microphysics of power]. 11. ed. Rio de Janeiro: Graal, 1995. JAKOBSON, Roman (1969). Lingüística e comunicação. [Linguistics and communication] São Paulo: Cultrix. JOURDE, Pierre. (directeur). Université: la grande illusion. Paris: L’Esprit des Pénincules, 2007. LUCCHESI, M. A. S. ; MALANGA, Eliana Branco. University’s Transformations: Episteme, Mission and Ethos in the Contemporary World.. Essays in Education, v. 20, p. 1-14, 2007. Available at http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol20spring2007.html LUCCHESI, M. A. S. ; MALANGA, Eliana Branco .Transdisciplinary research in higher education institutions: possibilities and resistances. Education-Line (British Education Index, University of Leeds - Leeds LS29JT)., Leeds,England, p. 1 - 20, 21 ago. 2006. Available at http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/156872.htm LUCCHESI, M. A. S. ; MALANGA, Eliana Branco. (2006b). A análise do discurso na pesquisa sobre ensino e aprendizagem [Discourse analysis in the research on teaching and learning]. Contrapontos, Universidade do Vale do Itajai, v. 6, n. 2 (maio/ago 2006). LUCCHESI, M. A. S. ; MALANGA, Eliana Branco. (2005). Psicopedagogia, interdisciplinaridade e transdisciplinaridade [Psychopedagogy, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity]. In ANAIS: II Congresso Mundial de Transdisciplinaridade, Vila Velha / Vitória – Sept 06-12, 2005. Available at http://www.transdcongress.com.br MALANGA, Eliana Branco: LUCCHESI, Martha A. S. (2005). A transdisciplinaridade transformando a relação pesquisa / ensino / extensão na produção do conhecimento científico [Transdisciplinarity transforming the relationship between research / teaching / extension in the production of scientific knowledge]. In ANAIS: II Congresso Mundial de Transdisciplinaridade Vila Velha / Vitória – Sept. 06-12, 2005. Available at http://www.transdcongress.com.br MALANGA, Eliana Branco (May- August 1999). Variáveis psicossociais da publicidade [Advertising psychosocial variables]. Fragmenta (p.55-83). Aracaju, n.3. ISSN 1415-6717. Malanga, Eliana Branco (2004). “Linguagens e pensamento: Introdução a uma abordagem interdisciplinar entre a Psicopedagogia e a Semiologia para a compreensão da construção do pensamento” [Languages and knowledge: introduction to an interdisciplinary approach between psychopedagogy and semiology toward understanding the construction of knowledge]. Cadernos de psicopedagogia. [Psychopedagogy Journal] (p.28 – 39) São Paulo: UNISA/ Memnon Edições Científicas, v.3. ISSN 1676-1049. TOURAINE, Alain (2006). Um novo paradigma: para compreender o mundo de hoje. [A new paradigm: to comprehend today’s world] Petrópolis, RJ: Vozes.

Author Information

Martha A. Saad Lucchesi

University of São Paulo

University's Research Unit on Higher Education,Unit Public Policies,NUPPs

São Paulo

Eliana B. Malanga

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.