Comparative Analysis of the Education System in Brazil and the UK
Introduction
Research in the areas of international and comparative education shows that globalization has had a remarkable impact on the education system (Bengtsson & Ostman 2013). "Globalisation has altered education policy, but also the way we study education policy," claim Verger, Novelli, and Altinyelken (2012) (p. 7).Subsequently, countries are increasingly adjusting their education policy to align with the changing environment. The UK ranks amongst the countries that have recognized the value of the education system to economic growth. Amongst the fundamental areas of concern relates to education and training policy. Caena (2014) is of the view that ‘education and training policy can increasingly be seen as a global commodity’ (p.311). This view has boosted the development of a new trend, which is characterized by cross-national collaboration and evidence-based policy action. Education systems across the world are experiencing immense pressure to institute reforms and align with the socio-economic changes, the labor market needs, meet international competitive drives, and be more efficient and effective (Caena 2014).
In reforming the education system, stakeholders within the education sector must take into consideration three main education features that include curriculum content, educational philosophy, and pedagogy. According to Stewart (2014), the purpose of integrating philosophy into the school curriculum is to improve critical thinking. Stewart (2014) further contends that ‘school philosophy provides a means for asking questions of value and purpose about curriculum content across and between subjects and affirms the capability of children thinking philosophically’ (p.1270). Alternatively, Tran, Le, and Nguyen (2011) assert that philosophy constitutes the beginning point of all decision-making about curriculum. Thus, it determines the aims, means, and ends of a particular curriculum.
To optimally deliver the content of the curriculum, the education system should be comprised of effective pedagogy, which entails the combination of different strategies and approaches to enhance the attainment of the learning outcome (Russell 2002). The methods and influences of the educational systems in Brazil and the UK are compared in this study.
Analysis
Comparative analysis of the curriculum, content, and pedagogy between Brazil and the UK
Brazil and the UK have developed an extensive national curriculum to promote learning. The Brazil educational system is regulated by the Ministry of Education and is structured into three main levels. Nevertheless, only the fundamental levels of education, which entail the lower secondary and elementary levels, are compulsory (Fujikawa 2015). Under the curriculum, students learn a set of literacy and mathematic skills. Additionally, the students further learn foreign languages specifically English. Similarly, the UK has developed an extensive national curriculum that is comprised of different subjects amongst them Mathematics, English, Science, and Arts subjects.
The UK and Brazilian governments are focused on ensuring that their respective education system contributes to the holistic development of students. This is underlined by ensuring that the school curriculum is focused on the mental, physical, moral, and spiritual development of students. Through this approach, the two countries’ curriculums play a remarkable role in preparing students’ capacity to deal with responsibilities, and experiences and exploit opportunities later in their life (Department of Education 2017). To determine the effectiveness of the education system in imparting knowledge to students, the UK and Brazil have entrenched assessment as one of the key components of the curriculum. According to the Department of Education (2017), assessment can either be formative or summative. Under the summative approach, the student’s performance is evaluated periodically to assess the student’s knowledge while formative assessment constitutes a part of the instructional process (Allman 2001). Both Brazil and the UK have entrenched summative assessments within the curriculum. Nevertheless, the UK is increasingly transforming the education system through the integration of formative assessment into the national curriculum (McMillan 2013).
Knight and Yorke (2003) highlight the close relationship between curriculum and evaluation. Thus, it is essential for the parties charged with the responsibility of designing the curriculum to ensure that the assessments are aligned with the curriculum content. Assessment is an important learning process component (Bartlett & Burton 2012). In addition to supporting the country’s education sector, the Brazilian government is focused on ensuring that students acquire skills that are relevant to the contemporary labor market hence improving their competitiveness about employability in the international labor market. In the pursuit of this goal, the Brazilian government has a comprehensive mechanism to assess learning. The mechanism is based on an internationally benchmarked index. The benchmarked index enables the Brazilian government to determine the performance and progress of each school based on a predetermined benchmark. One of the assessment techniques that both the UK and Brazil have entrenched in evaluating the effectiveness of the education system in promoting learning entails the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment method that gauges students' literacy, science, and maths skills at the age of fifteen (National Centre for Education Statistics, 2017). PISA is applied progressively after every three years (Carnoy et al. 2015). Although PISA is a relatively new practice in assessing learning amongst students in Brazil as opposed to the UK, the Brazilian government is very committed to ensuring that PISA is optimally entrenched in the curriculum. As a result of entrenching PISA, both the UK and Brazil can draw inferences on the extent to which the students develop knowledge of language and mathematics within the basic education level.
Influence of the political system on the education system
Considering that education is one of the key components of a country’s economic system, its establishment and development are influenced by different aspects amongst them the political, cultural, and gender spheres. This view is supported by the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (2017) which emphasizes that ‘curriculum development is both a political and technical process’ (para. 1). Thus, curriculum constitutes an issue of public interest. In recognition of the significance of the education system to society, the UK and Brazil are committed to supporting their country's education system.
In comparison to the UK, Brazil has a somewhat lower literacy rate. A survey conducted by Index Mundi (2015) shows that the level of literacy in Brazil is estimated to be 92.9 % while that of the UK is estimated to be 99%. To improve the level of literacy within the country, the Brazilian government is focused on reforming the country’s public education sector. One of the fundamental dimensions that the Brazilian government has taken into consideration in actualizing this goal entails the social dimension. For example, the Brazilian government has integrated an effective support system that is aimed at promoting learning and accessibility of education among children from different economic backgrounds (Fujikawa 2015). This commitment is underlined by the fact that the government has formulated a policy that ensures the provision of free education to students within the tertiary level, which is enshrined in the country’s constitution. Through this move, the Brazilian government has significantly reduced the number of illiterate people from 16.3 million people in 2000 to 13.2 million people in 2012 (Fujikawa 2015).
In addition to financial intervention, the Brazilian government announced its intention to integrate several aggressive measures that will lead to the transformation of the country’s education system. Amongst the key measures is the establishment of mandatory education years. Moreover, the Brazilian government is focused on providing teachers an opportunity to improve their teaching skills and qualifications (Fujikawa 2015). In 2014, the Brazilian government issued a directive that would increase the volume of investment in the education sector to 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (Fujikawa 2015). Similarly, the UK has entrenched the concept of free education, which is evidenced by the establishment of state and local government authority schools. The state and local authority schools are funded by the central government and provide free education to all students in the UK (Medwell 2015). Thus, one can argue that the provision of free education by both Brazil and the UK has significantly fostered equality within the countries’ education systems. Equity considers the social justice ramifications of education to fairness, justness, and impartiality of its distribution at all levels of education subsectors," state Holsinger and Jacob (2009) on page 4.
Gender, culture, and the education system
Despite the efforts made to promote access to education, the United Nations affirms that women and girls continue to experience a major challenge concerning accessing education. This assertion is underlined by the high rate of illiteracy among women and girls compared to their male counterparts. Holsinger and Jacob (2009) are of the view that.
