Forging Radical Alternatives in Higher Education: The Case of Brazil
Keywords:
Alternative universities, Brazil, deschooling, higher education reform, institutional theoryAbstract
In recent years, new forms of higher education have emerged that challenge many of our assumptions about what a university is. In Brazil there has been a particular flowering of these alternative universities, on account of the wave of popular mobilisation following the end of the military dictatorship, aided by political support from the centre. These new institutions are characterised by distinctive aims or missions, whether relating to a particular ethnic or cultural group, a social or political movement, regional unity and intercultural exchange, or a spiritual calling. This article assesses the role and prospects of these institutions and analyses the ways in which they have positioned themselves in relation to the mainstream. The two factors of resources and recognition are found to be critical elements in ensuring their viability and success. However, dependence on funders and conformity with accreditation requirements also constrain the possibilities of embodying their distinctive vision. Finally, broader implications are drawn out for understandings of educational institutions, in light of Illich’s deschooling critique.
References
Barber, M., Donnelly, K., & Rizvi, S. (2013). An avalanche is coming. Institute for Public Policy Research, London, UK. Available from: http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/10432/an-avalanche-is-coming-higher-education-and-the-revolution-ahead
Bernasconi, A. (2007). Is there a Latin American model of the university? Comparative Education Review, 52(1), 27–52.
Bernstein, B. (1971). On the classification and framing of educational knowledge. In M. F. D. Young (Ed.) Knowledge and control. London: Collier-Macmillan.
Carvalho, C. A. (2006). O PROUNI no governo Lula e o jogo polÃtico em torno do acesso ao ensino superior. Educação & Sociedade, 27(96), 979-1000.
Comissão de Implantação da UNILA. (2009a). A UNILA em construção: Um projeto universitário para a América Latina. Foz do Iguaçu: IMEA.
Comissão de Implantação da UNILA. (2009b). UNILA: Consulta internacional. Contribuições à concepção, organização e proposta polÃtico-pedagógica da Unila. Foz do Iguaçu: IMEA.
Dore, R. (1976). The diploma disease: Education, qualification and development. London: George Allen and Unwin.
Esteva, G. (2007, November). Reclaiming our freedom to learn, Yes Magazine.
Figueiredo-Cowen, M. De. (2002). Latin American universities, academic freedom and autonomy: A long-term myth?, Comparative Education, 38(4), 471-484.
Finger, M. & Asún, J. M. (2001). Adult education at the crossroads. Learning our way out. London: Zed Books.
FOIRN/ISA. (2013). Instituto dos conhecimentos indÃgenas e pesquisa do Rio Negro: Formação e pesquisa avançada. São Gabriel da Cachoeira: FOIRN/ISA.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Sheed and Ward.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Gandin, L. A. (2006). Creating real alternatives to neo-liberal policies in education: The citizen school project. In M. W. Apple and K. Buras (Eds.), The subaltern speak: Curriculum, power, and educational struggles, (pp. 217–42). New York: Routledge.
Ghanem, E. (2013). Inovação em escolas públicas de nÃvel básico: O caso Redes da Maré (Rio de Janeiro, RJ). Educação e Sociedade, 34(123), 425-440.
Huisman, J., Norgård, J.D., Rasmussen, J. & Stensaker, B. (2002). “Alternative†universities revisited: A study of the distinctiveness of universities established in the spirit of 1968. Tertiary Education and Management, 8(4), 315-332.
Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling society. New York: Harper & Row.
Illich, I. (1973). Tools for conviviality. New York: Harper & Row.
INEP. (2014). Censo do Ensino Superior 2013. http://download.inep.gov.br/educacao_superior/censo_superior/apresentacao/2014/coletiva_censo_superior_2013.pdf
King-Calnek, J. (2006). Education for citizenship: Interethnic pedagogy and formal education at Escola Criativa Olodum. Urban Review, 38(2), 145–64.
Macfarlane, B. (2011). The morphing of academic practice: Unbundling and the rise of the para-academic. Higher Education Quarterly, 65(1), 59–73
McCowan, T. (2004). The growth of private higher education in Brazil: Implications for equity and quality. Journal of Education Policy, 19(4), 453-472.
McCowan, T. (2009). Rethinking citizenship education: A curriculum for participatory democracy. London: Continuum.
McCowan, T. (2016) Universities and the post-2015 development agenda: An analytical framework. Higher Education, 72(4), 505-525.
Motter, P. & Gandin, L. A. (2016). Higher education and new regionalism in Latin America: The UNILA project. In Robertson, S., Olds, K., Dale, R. and Dang, Q. A. (eds) Global regionalisms and higher education: Projects, processes, politics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Prakash, M. S. & Esteva, G. (2008). Escaping education: Living as learning in grassroots cultures (2nd ed). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Reimer, F. (1971). School is dead. Harmondsworth, Penguin.
Sampaio, H. (2014). O global e o local no ensino superior no Brasil: Apontamentos preliminares. Paper presented at the 38th ANPOCS conference, 27-31 October, Caxambu, Brazil.
Schmidt, J. P. (Ed.). (2009). Instituições comunitárias: Instituições públicas não-estatais. Santa Cruz do Sul: EDUNISC.
Singer, H. (2016). Innovative experiences in holistic education inspiring a new movement in Brazil. In H. E. Lees and N. Noddings (Eds.), The Palgrave International Handbook of Alternative Education. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Soares, T. (2015, May). Número de alunos da UNILA aumentou 11 vezes. A Gazeta do Iguaçu.
Santos, B. S. (Ed). (2008). Another knowledge is possible: Beyond northern epistemologies. London: Verso.
Santos, B. S. & Almeida Filho, N. (2008). A universidade no século XXI: Para uma universidade nova. Coimbra: Almedina.
Tavares, M. & Romão, T. (2015). Emerging counterhegemonic models in higher education: The Federal University of Southern Bahia (UFSB) and its contribution to a renewed geopolitics of knowledge (interview with Naomar de Almeida Filho). Encounters in Theory and History of Education, 16, 101-110.
Teamey, K. & Mandel, U. (2014). Challenging the modern university, perspectives and practices from indigenous communities, social and ecological movements. Paper presented at the Forum on Higher Education and International Development, London, 24 October, 2014.
Trindade, H. H. C. (2009). UNILA: Universidade para a integração Latino-Americana. Educación Superior y Sociedad, 14(1), 147-153.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2015). Statistical tables. Gross enrolment ratio by level of education. Available at http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=142&lang=en
Vianna, J. & McCowan, T. (2012). The university of Latin American integration: A new model of higher education against the odds. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Cádiz, 19 September.
Veiga, M. Da. (2012). How much “spirit†should higher education afford? Other Education: The Journal of Educational Alternatives. 1(1), 166-170.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License of their choice (usually CCBY 3.0 unported, but determined at the proofing stage by consultation with the Editor - readers looking for copyright permissions are required to do this on a case by case basis) that allows others to share the work in some way with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. We appreciate authors placing a link to the Other Education site wherever they choose to offer a PDF download to the original OE article.
