University of London

Institute of Education

Masters in Educational and Social Research

(MRes)

Another Piece of the Education Puzzle in Brazil:

Implications of the Admissions Policy to Higher Education

on Teachers and Students from Secondary Schools

Roussel De Carvalho

September 1st, 2009

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the MRes in Educational and Social Research

“This dissertation may be available to the general public for borrowing,

photocopying or consultation without prior consent of the author”

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Abstract

This dissertation addresses some issues concerning potential implications of the

Brazilian policy of admissions to higher education on last-year secondary school

teachers and students. The research was based in the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the

southernmost state of Brazil, and it encompassed a sample of 508 students from seven

different schools. Also, fifteen teachers were interviewed and questioned about the

relationship between the university-entry exam and their curriculum development and

teaching practice. Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and field along with Stephen Ball’s

work on class strategies were used as theoretical foundations with which to guide this

project in order to understand students and teachers’ perceptions and attitudes about

the admissions system within the classroom.

This work will stress the level of importance attributed by students to the university-

entry exam and how it conflicts with their teachers. There is a misconception by the

general public, academics and the government – one which is not rooted in field

research – that the entry exam completely guides the classroom curriculum and

teachers’ practices. This is a dangerous generalisation which this research intends to

demystify. The level of curriculum autonomy granted by the government and schools

as well as teachers’ own beliefs’ about education end up clashing with students’ ideas

on secondary school and the university-entry exam, causing a disarray in the teaching

and learning within the classroom which private prep-courses capitalise upon.

Differences between types of secondary schools are highlighted, where the federal

school system is the one which seems to have absorbed the culture of the university-

entry exam the most.

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Table of Contents

Abstract 2List of Tables 4List of Acronyms 41. Introduction 5

1.1 – Rationale 61.2 – Research questions 10

2. Literature Review 112.1 – International Perspectives on Admissions Policy to Higher Education 112.2 – The Brazilian Debate 15

2.2.1 – Literature on Prep-Courses and Student Strategies 182.3 – The impact of access to higher education in the secondary school. 18

3. Theoretical Background 213.1 – Introduction 213.2 – The concept of Habitus and Field in the Brazilian Admissions Policy to Higher Education 253.3 – Policies, Practices, Strategies and Inequality 27

4. Methodology 304.1 – Introduction 304.2 – Qualitative Methods: The Interviews 314.3 – Quantitative Methods: Survey Research 324.4 – Questions of Reliability and Validity 33

5. Findings, Analysis and Conclusion 355.1 – The Issues 355.2 – The largest university-entry exam in the state and what it can tells us about education in the city of Porto Alegre. 365.3 – Discussion about students’ and teachers’ attitudes and perceptions 40

6. Personal Reflection 507. References 528. Appendixes 61

Appendix 1 – The UFRGS’s University-Entry Exam Explained (Vestibular) 62Appendix 2 – The Brazilian Educational System of Access to Higher Education 67Appendix 3 – About the city of Porto Alegre 71Appendix 4 – The National Exam of Secondary Education (ENEM) explained 72Appendix 5 – Types of Institutions of Higher Education 73Appendix 7 – Qualitative Analysis Codes 77Appendix 8 – Data from Secondary Education in Porto Alegre 80Appendix 9 – LDB (Education Law of Directives and Basis) & PCN (National Curricular Parameters) 84Appendix 10 – Data Analysis using the official secondary education age bracket87Appendix 11 – Recent developments in the Brazilian policy of admissions to higher education: The New ENEM. 92Appendix 12 – The Interview and Coding Processes 93Appendix 13 – The Institutionalised State and Institutional Habitus 97Appendix 14 – Developing the Questionnaire 100Appendix 15 – Secondary Data 106Appendix 16 – Data from the UFRGS’ socio-economic questionnaire 107

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List of Tables

Table 1. Percentage of approved candidates by age per Year (p.37)

Table 2. Percentage of approved students by age and type of school (p.38)

Table 3. Percentage of approved students by type of school and prep-course by age group per Year (p.39)

Table 4. In your opinion, what is the most important function of secondary school? (p.40)

Table 5. What are your expectations regarding the university-entry exam? (p.43)

Table 6. My teachers focus all their lessons only on the content of the university-entry exam (p.44)

Table 7. My teachers inform me, during lessons, of what could/will be IN the entry exam (p.45)

List of Acronyms

UFRGS – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

UEE – University-Entry Exam

BES – Brazilian Educational System

CV – Concurso Vestibular

MEC – Ministry of Education and Culture

INEP – National Institute for Research and Studies in Education

FEE/RS – State Foundation for Statistics / Rio Grande do Sul

HE – Higher Education

IHE – Institution(s) of Higher Education

SINPRO/RS – Syndicate of Teachers(private)

CPERS - Syndicate of Teachers(public)

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1. Introduction

The present MRes dissertation is the culmination of a two-year, part-time study in

understanding the potential impacts of the main admissions policy to higher education

in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil: the Concurso Vestibular 1 (CV) or, herein,

University-Entry Exam (UEE). This set of examinations has been, in one shape or

another, the most important connection between secondary and tertiary schooling since

the beginning of the 20th Century (i.e. Almeida, 2006; Castelo Branco, 2004; Leser,

1985; Netto,A.R, 1978, 1986) and it is still a requirement for any student wishing to

enter the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)2 to succeed in these tests.

As a direct consequence of having a single set of examinations as the entry

requirement and in order to fill a gap spotted in the educational market, privately-run

prep-courses have become widespread in the 1970’s (i.e. Bachetto, 2003; Castelo

Branco, 2004; Freitas, 1984) and established their own ‘industry’ in the 1980’s (i.e.

Castelo Branco, 2004). According to Freitas (1984), they even have become another

‘stage’ in the Brazilian Educational System (BES), even if not an official one, rooting

themselves in the Brazilian educational-cultural scene by greatly contributing to the

proportion of students passing the UEE (i.e. Borges and Carnielli, 2005; Dallago, 1986;

Santos, 2005; Silva and Padoin, 2008; Sousa Filho, 1986).

Private Prep-courses have not been the object of many official studies (i.e. Fortes,

2005; Freitas, 1984). Nevertheless, due to its intense media exposure to draw ‘clients’

based on claims of exam success and presence in the classroom through free school

talks, they are likely to exert unintended ‘forces’ within the classroom itself. Fortes

(2005) in his Masters research implies that a ‘prep-course effect’ exists as a result of a

large disarticulation between universities and the secondary school, where prep-

courses are perceived as an important and almost indispensable phase of preparation of

the UEE in the life of a student. I am also interested in whether this is factual and if

1 See Appendix 1 for an explanation about the UFRGS’s UEE2 UFRGS is the largest and main federal/public university in Rio Grande do Sul and it is located in the city of Porto Alegre. It has the most ‘respected’, demanding and sought after UEE of the state.

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these ‘forces’ exist in Porto Alegre. Either way, they must be understood if patterns of

inequality of teaching, learning and access to higher education are to change.

Thus, one of the main objectives in this research is an attempt to scrutinize this key

stage of the BES: the UEE, with the intention to establish an account of the forms and

patterns of teachers’ and students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the UEE,

illustrating how it may affect them. Fundamentally, this work wishes to contribute to

the Brazilian debate on the interconnection and interdependence between secondary

and tertiary education. Moreover, other spin-off consequences will also be touched

upon as a way to delineate a thorough context from which the reader shall be able to

comprehend the environment in which this UEE takes place.

1.1 – Rationale

The Brazilian system of university admissions, more specifically the Concurso

Vestibular (CV/UEE), has instituted itself in the Brazilian culture as a ‘rite of

passage’(i.e. Franco in Santos, 1997, p.228) and has been a part of a rather extensive,

opinionated and somewhat controversial discussion in the academic-cultural milieu for

at least four decades (i.e. Castelo Branco, 2004; Castro, 1981; Gatti, 1992; Gracelli,

1983; Guimaraes, 1984; Hamburger, 1970; Leao, 1980; Moraes, 1997; Netto,A.R,

1981; Santos 1988), even though it has officially existed since 1911 (i.e. Castelo

Branco, 2004; Netto, A.R, 1980; Porto, 1970; Ribeiro, 1982; Souza, 2007; Vianna,

1986). The first ‘real’ engagement in open debates about the UEE began around 1970

– probably because of the Brazilian higher education reform act of 1968 (Brasil, 1968)

– with a series of papers that emerged from the I Symposia on the Vestibular, and were

published in the ‘Ciencia & Cultura’ journal, where articles ranged from the details

about the examination to its potential implications to the educational setting of the day.

However, it is important to note that many of those original papers from 1970 were not

research papers based on hard data, but, instead, used mainly rhetoric and anecdotal

evidence to support their authors’ intentions and opinions. This can be affirmed by the

lack of references for the arguments made in those papers (see Fonseca, 1970;

Hamburger, 1970; Netto, A.L.M,. 1970; Netto, A.R, 1970).

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Below are a few examples of statements that were made about the UEE and the

secondary school without any of evidence or consultation with teachers or students to

try to understand what they think or perceive to be the reality of the influence of the

UEE in their classrooms.

‘The last year of secondary school, in particular, is practically

abandoned: the student focus on doing the prep-course and gives

minimal attention to the school work. Some private schools intensify

the last year, putting, in a way, the prep-course within the school,

modifying the general function of schooling’3

(Hamburger, 1970, p. 224)

‘… the secondary school has always been a place where you ‘get a

diploma’, and only after that, a place where you learn’

(ibid, p.225)

‘The secondary school presents an orientation which privileges the

preparation for the tertiary courses, without offering, still, opportunities,

sufficiently numerous and attractive for the concomitant cultural and

vocational qualification’

(Netto, A.R., 1970, p.229)

‘it has been observed that the curriculum effectively adopted at

secondary school depend a lot on the UEE…. This enslaves the

secondary school... [and they] lose their freedom of a more varied,

creative and experimental education…’

(Castro, 1981, p.6)

A variety of studies/essays about access, candidate profiling and validity of the

examinations soon followed. However, in spite of the growth of the debates in the

1980’s with, for example, the ‘Vestibular Hoje’ seminar of 1986 (i.e. Leite, 1986;

Normando, 1986; Ribeiro, 1986) and in the 1990’s with the new education reform of

1996 (Brasil, 1996), the basic structure of the admissions system remained pretty much

3 All translations of brazilian authors are my own.

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the same – still with the existence of the UEE but with different types4 of questions,

length, time, etc – while research continued to focus on profiling candidates or

discussing the merits and flaws of the system (see Chapter 2).

Additionally, anecdotal evidence suggests that schools are influenced by these

examinations and have become ‘factories’ reproducing the UEE in their curriculum. In

her book ‘How the industry of the vestibular is made?’5 , Guimaraes (1984) argues that

‘the dynamic of secondary school pushes students towards an all-or-nothing exam,

[where] schools ‘fabricate’ candidates, even though they are aware that the majority

will not pass’(p.7), but no field research has been found for this allegation. Yet, it

seems to be the general framework many academics and politicians still use, as it can

be seen by the culture of opinionated papers as well as official government documents.

This tactic is explicit when the Ministry of Education say that,

‘Another characteristic of the traditional vestibular [UEE], even if

involuntary, is the way in which it ends up orienting the secondary

school curriculum…’

(MEC, 2009, p.1)

The document in question does not present any evidence of this particular impact on

the secondary school curriculum; neither do many of the other papers on this subject

(i.e. Amorin Jr and Moura, 2005; Castelo Branco, 2005; Ramos, 1982; Sousa Filho,

1986; Sparta and Gomes, 2005; Vianna, 1978). Researchers who do present evidence

tend to use government survey data and/or university-entry data to arrive at certain

conclusions about some perceived problems of the higher education admissions system

(i.e. Damasceno, 1986; Ferreira, 1999; Sampaio, Limongi and Torres, 2000; Silva e

Padoin, 2008; Schwartzman, 1989) but not about its actual impact on the school

curriculum, teachers and/or students.

In support of this view, in an early review of the literature on the UEE, Nunes (1985)

affirms that ‘the common ground of all the studies which look to examine the relations

between the UEE and the education system is the discussion of its efficiency in the

4 Each university is autonomous and has its own type of examination, with its own ‘curriculum’. This means they each have a list of topics which will be in their examination. 5 Free translation

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selection of the most able’ (p.74). Further arguments and evidence to establish this lack

of substantiation on raw data before and after 1985 will be given in chapter 2.

Nevertheless, the current dialogue on the access to higher education in Brazil has many

aspects, and yet ‘it tends to review themes, problems and proposals of alterations in the

selection process …without essential differences amongst them’ (Bessa, 1990, p. 47).

On one hand, the polemic issue of social reproduction and inequality as a consequence

of the UEE is not new and many authors have analysed the socio-economic profile

and/or performance of enrolled candidates in one way or another (i.e. Borges and

Carnielli, 2005; Moraes, 1997; Sampaio, Limongi and Torres., 2000).

On the other hand, however, ‘The results of this type of selection [UEE] are not

intended to analyse the [type of socio-educational] background received by the

candidates nor the intellectual aptitude for higher education studies’ (Santos, 1988, p.

59), The university-entry exam is simply a classification instrument; it does not

indicate whether a candidate is suitable for academic studies. Potentially, this could be

an argument against the validity of the studies about social-selectivity coming from the

data gathered, as it does not ‘paint the real picture’ of the entire BES. As Normando

(1986) argues, ‘the UEE does not accentuate social differences, it only makes it

evident’(p.84). Conversely, there has not been, to this author’s knowledge, any

systematic study of direct impacts to the teaching and learning happening in secondary

schools by the UEE system.

Given the absence of large-scale public (free) alternatives to a university qualification

in order to enter the job market, the UEE may have long-lasting effects on a myriad of

‘stakeholders’ such as students and their families, as well as primary, secondary and

tertiary schools and their teachers. Acting as a long funnel, there is likely to be a

tremendous pressure from all sides in order to succeed in entering higher education.

Moreover, this is also likely to have implication to those who do not intend to attempt

university entrance since their choice is extremely limited. However, these issues will

not be treated in this research as it goes beyond its scope.

This work is a response to a fundamental deficiency of significant field research. Using

original material alongside official data, I aim to present some reasonable and

corroborated arguments about the tangible impacts of the admissions policy to higher

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education inside the classroom. Only when school actors such as teachers and students,

which play out education policy are heard, will it be possible to understand the

consequences of the ‘culture of the vestibular’ on teachers’ and students’ practices and

experiences of secondary education.

1.2 – Research questions

Hence, based on the rationale described above, in order to achieve the purpose of this

research, this project has the following proposed questions:

i) What are the perceptions and attitudes of teachers’ and students’ – of the third-

year of secondary school in the city of Porto Alegre – about the ‘culture of the

vestibular (UEE)’? How does the UEE impact on teaching and learning in the

classroom and are there strategies used in order to ‘get through’ the UEE?

ii) Auxiliary Question: Who are the students entering the Federal University of

Rio Grande do Sul, which is based in Porto Alegre and is the largest and most

competitive federal university in the state? Where are they coming from? Can

this data corroborate the results from the fieldwork with teachers and students

in schools?

For a meaningful understanding of the Brazilian Educational System and the

admissions system of higher education, please read Appendix 2. In chapter 2, a more

detailed literature will be explored while a theoretical framework will be developed in

chapter 3. The methodological background of the research strategy is discussed in

chapter 4, followed by a careful analysis and conclusion of the data gathered in the

field (chapter 5). In the last chapter (6), a brief personal reflection on the entire process

is given.

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2. Literature Review

The Brazilian literature regarding the UEE is, at first glance, extensive. However,

when one takes a closer look at the different types of publications, the actual subjects

of discussion and the manner in which research has been conducted, it becomes

apparent that there are particular foci and concomitant areas of neglect. Therefore, in

this section it will be necessary to draw attention not only to what has been argued by

academics and the government but also to the lack of field research in the area which

this dissertation is concerned about.

2.1 – International Perspectives on Admissions Policy to Higher Education

In order to achieve stable and credible policies of admissions to Higher Education, any

educational system and IHE must have a robust way of selecting its students. Given

the globalised capitalist economy and widespread marketisation of education, it has

become increasingly difficult for countries with an already large socio-economic gap

to achieve an ‘equitable’, ‘just’ and ‘democratic’ way of choosing candidates to higher

education, in spite of all its efforts. Some type of formal examinations is likely to have

taken place in order to measure students’ abilities – the definition of which vary

dramatically from country to country – and used to accept or reject students. This

approach to admissions draws mainly on ‘meritocratic’ principles of educational

selection as well as embracing a superficial and ‘false’ sense of equality of opportunity

where, for example, all students would be doing the same exam under the ‘same’

conditions6. Dubet (2004), insists that ‘in a democratic society, where in principle,

equality amongst all is postulated, personal merit is the only way of building just

inequality, or a legitimate inequality (p.544, my italics) even if this means a possible

widening of socio-economic gaps due to poor methods of selection, such as the case of

Brazil.

6 In fact, this is exactly what the Brazilian government has proposed to the federal universities in May 2009; one single centralised examination to select students to all federal universities. This did not go down well with universities and a compromise was reached. More can be read on appendix 11 on the recent developments of the admissions policy.

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This meritocratic idealism promoted by many governments also has at its heart the

creation of more opportunities, i.e. increase number of vacancies at HE7, with the

intention to widen participation in Higher Education. This has, in the UK for instance,

contributed to a widening of the gap between the middle and working classes as the

middle class families use their wealth of appropriate socio-cultural capitals to take up

more of those new opportunities. (Archer et al, 2003)

In line with the argument above, Espinoza (2008) concludes that, in Chile, in spite of

increased participation at post-secondary level from all classes, it is the upper/middle

classes which gained disproportionate higher access to tertiary education and in Spain,

Lopez (2009) finds empirical evidence which supports the claim that the expansion of

higher education overwhelmingly benefits children with higher socio-economic

backgrounds. Jones (1982) argued that ‘the provision of more places in higher

education [i.e. like what has been happening in Brazil] will not mean more

representative patterns of entry in terms of social origins. Those with the largest stock

of ‘cultural capital’ will be able to benefit the most’ (p.167), thus perpetuating the so-

called legitimate meritocracy. He also concluded that in New Zealand ‘social origin

still exerts a powerful influence on educational aspirations and destination’ (p.167).

But admissions to higher education are not only a matter of competition. Elements of

choice and self-exclusion also exist as ‘... universities are classified and judged by both

the applicants themselves and the wider society…’ (Reay, David and Ball, 2005, p.163)

developing a complex hierarchy within the HE system. They (ibid.) make further

comments on the lack of research on the theorising of choice and access to higher

education in the UK, US and Australia as well as the lack of studies from the

perspectives of students themselves (p.viii), finding that ‘students confront very

differing degrees of choice and these are significantly shaped by social class’ (p.vii).

Additionally, this theorisation could be extended to school teachers who seem to be

left out regarding the issue of influences of access to higher education in their practice.

Further still, Hargreaves (1998) argues that ‘… a great deal of work remains to be done

– especially in relation to the contextual and political factors that shape or influence

7 This is one of the main ‘democratic’ solutions implemented in Brazil

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educators’ emotions [and actions] in ways that affect their work and their students’

(p.319). These are very important statements, which contributes to the rationale of this

dissertation. Talking to teachers and appreciating the factors that influence their

thinking about the various impacts of the admissions system in their lessons is vital to

shake up the current perception that ‘…the curriculum of the secondary school is

moulded by the selective processes used in institutions of higher education’ (Quote

from Marcelo Pereira da Silva, director of conceptions and curricular orientations of

the Secretariat of Basic Education – Ministry of Education - OEI, 2008).

In the UK, Ball (2003a) clearly demonstrates some of the impacts on teachers arising

from marketised educational policies where their ‘…struggles are currently highly

individualised as teachers, as ethical subjects, [they] find their values challenged or

displaced by the terrors of performativity’. As it will be shown later (chapter 5), such

processes are not, at the moment, at work in the BES, as there is no formal inspection

system nor league-table regime and, teachers also feel they have a good degree of

autonomy in the Brazilian classroom in spite of some government guidelines for the

construction of the curriculum, called PCN’s (National Curricular Parameters,

Brasil/MEC, 2008).

McNeil (2000) was able to identify the influence of a strong testing regime on

teachers’ practice and students’ learning, demonstrating how standardisation of the

school curriculum [i.e. the UEE in Brazil] ‘widens educational inequalities and

masks…persistent inequities…[it] narrows and trivialises what can be

taught…widening the gap between the education provided to poor and minority youth

and that to which middle-class children have access’ (p.230-231). A standardised high-

stakes entrance exam means prep-courses can benefit and profit from by providing

what Koretz (2005) calls substantive and non-substantive coaching8, therefore, biasing

and inflating performance on the examinations, meaning the selection process does not

necessarily select those with the desired aptitude and characteristics for the courses but

those who can perform better in the exam.

Moreover, Duru-bellat, Kieffer and Reimer (2008), exploring the patterns of social

inequalities in the access to higher education in France and Germany argue that,

8 Prep-courses are considered ‘free-courses’ and do not have to abide by any educational code or law. They have to abide by the ‘consumer statute’.

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‘in order to understand social inequalities in diversified higher

educational systems one needs to take into account the specific

institutional configuration of tertiary education in each country as well

as the different pathways leading to eligibility’.

(p.365)

This may be true of European countries where a very large number of students finish

secondary education and enter university. But in Brazil, only around 9.8% of the

population between 18-24 year olds are enrolled in a Higher Education course

(Schwartzman, 2004) and social inequalities that are evident in higher education are

likely to have started developing at a much earlier stage (i.e. Zago, 2006)

In Australia, Levy and Murray (2005) argue that ‘…universities should reconsider how

they select new students, as it appears a large and untapped market exists of students

who, with the appropriate support, are more capable of adequate performance at

tertiary level’ (p.139, my italics). This could also be translated to Brazil since over

70% of those selected to the federal university in Porto Alegre have had to take an

intensive private prep-course, therefore, inflating their actual performance (and over

55% had already finished secondary school for at least 2 years, see chapter 5). Studies

by Teixeira and Lopes (1996) and Magalhaes and Andrade (2006) argue that UEE

performances do not correlate with performances at the HE level. And further still,

Pedrosa et al. (2006) have also shown the existence of this ‘untapped market’ where

those youngsters from a disadvantaged background entering UNICAMP9 generally

performed better than others once inside the university, something they have called

‘educational resilience’.

It can be seen from the arguments above that the international literature has many

examples of the impacts of social backgrounds on access to higher education, as well

as how the patterns of inequalities are extremely similar, despite efforts to widen

participation at Higher Education. Also, on how standardisation, inspection and

league-table policies can impact on teaching and learning (i.e. Ball, 2003a; Coffield et

9 University of Campinas, in the state of Sao Paulo

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al., 2007; McNeil, 2000, Webb, 2005, 2006). Therefore, this work will seek to argue

that an admissions system to higher education like the one in Brazil can have just as

much influence on teaching and learning inside the classroom.

2.2 – The Brazilian Debate

There have been many different types of papers about the politics and history of the

Brazilian UEE policy, how it was developed, how it has changed over the years (i.e.

Baeta, 1985; Franco and Baeta, 1985; Lelis, 1985; Leser, 1985; Netto, A.R., 1986;

Serpa, 1986; Vianna, 1986) and many Brazilian dissertations and thesis also give brief

accounts, most notably Castelo Branco’s brilliant doctoral thesis on the Brazilian myth

of the liberal professions (i.e. parents’ wishing their children would be doctors,

lawyers, engineers etc) and the portrayal of university as the only way for success.

Nonetheless, it is not the purpose of this work to dwell on it. The primary concern is to

appropriately address the UEE and the classroom consequences associated with it.

After the intensification of the 1970’s papers on the UEE, argues Vianna (1988), the

production dropped considerable in the 1980’s and ‘the new material, even if relevant,

was opinionated in character’(p.129) just as described in part 1.1 of this dissertation.

Furthermore, he explains that ‘almost never the decision making process about the

access to higher education is based on empirical evidence and past experiences’

(p.129), corroborating with the argument that there is a tendency of Brazilian research

to use academic rhetoric without substantiating their claims. This appears to be

engraved in Brazilian academe psyche. For example, in the proposal submitted in April

2009 to the Association of Rectors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education

(ANDIFES) on the reform of the access policy, the Ministry of Education clearly

affirms that ‘… the university-entry exam satisfactory fulfils its role in selecting the

best candidates for each of the courses, amongst the enrolled…’(p.1), which was

shown before, is not true as their performance is not matched at university and with the

existence of the ‘untapped market’ of disadvantaged students.

Schwartzman (1991) dares to claim that ‘…as students flocked to secondary schools in

search for passage into the universities, their curricula turned into mere rituals of

memorization and rote learning…’ (p.4), however, as it is shown in Chapter 5, while

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students surveyed believe secondary school serves the purpose of preparing them for

the UEE, the teachers interviewed in Porto Alegre, on the other hand, have a

completely different view of its function and their role as curriculum developers within

the school, and do not guide their teaching on the UEE. Other assumptions are based in

certain principles which are not founded nor made explicit.

Vasconcelos and Silva (2005) present the argument that ‘public school leavers are

disadvantaged in the process by not having received sufficient preparation to compete

in equal terms with students from private schools and prep-courses’ (p.455). On the

other hand, they do not reflect upon the fact that students and teachers from prep-

courses only have one purpose: to study for the entry-exam; while students from

secondary schools also need to study to pass their teacher-assessed tests and

courseworks. They also neglect to point out that most of the school curriculum is left

to teacher to decide and many teachers do not even think about the UEE, as pointed

out by a teacher during an interview when asked about what influenced their

curriculum development,

‘…to be honest I tend to focus more on civil servants public exams, as many students from our school will want to find work when they leave here, the university-entry exam doesn’t really crosses my mind when preparing my lessons.’

(Teacher from Public School X).

Attempts to influence public and academic opinion is also clearly visible from Heraldo

Vianna (1978) when he says ‘it is observed that, really, in the current school, the

teacher began to worry about preparing the student, mainly to the task of exam-

taking…’(p.70) without giving any sources or evidence for this statement. And from

Claudio de Moura Castro10 (2008) where in another assertion about the Brazilian

curriculum he says ‘nobody knows what should be taught, and the authorities do not

know what has been taught – unlike England, where the subject of every single lesson

is centrally determined’ (p.120), a bold and unsubstantiated affirmation which could

not be further from the truth, especially since the 14-19 curriculum reform (QCA,

2007).

10 Castro and Vianna are two of the most respected educational academics in Brazil.

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On the other extreme, when research is based on data, invariably it will be taken from

universities databases or government surveys and answers to socio-economic

questionnaires given to students at the moment of enrolment in exams (i.e Almeida,

2006; Andrade and Dachs, 2007; Ortega, 2001; Pinto, 2004; Ribeiro, 1990;

Schwartzman, 2004), which also raise questions of reliability and validity. Authors

have also extensively argued about whether there is elitism inside federal universities

through the social selectivity embedded in the admissions system.(i.e. Santos, 1997)

Ribeiro (1988) infers that ‘for every [academic] career there are candidates with

extremely defined socio-cultural profiles’ (p.101).

However, in an attempt to study the different ‘causes’ of success in the UEE, Ferreira

(1999) finds that ‘there is a consistent social selectivity in the recruitment of future

graduates, but…some variables…do not corroborate the idea of an ‘elitist’ social

selection, when the analysis is controlled for the competitiveness of different courses’.

Furthermore, ‘the supposed socio-economic and cultural elitism of students in federal

universities do not proceed…even though the access to higher education is restricted to

very specific types of youngsters’ (Sampaio, Limongi and Torres, 2000, p.41).

Inevitably, the existing research on the UEE also deals with issues of the validity of the

instrument used to select students (see Vianna’s (1987) extensive literature review of

post-graduate research on the matter), alternative processes of selection (i.e. Barros,

1985; Vianna, 1980; Schlichting, Soares and Bianchetti, 2004) candidate profiling and

social selectivity (i.e. Amorin Jr and Moura, 2005; Avena, 2004; Borges and Carnielli,

2005; Damasceno, 1986; Ferreira, 1999; Pedrosa et al., 2006; Sampaio, Limongi and

Torres, 2000; Schwartzman, 1989) as well as social justice, inequality and university

quotas (Brandao and Marins, 2007; Castro, 2005a, 2005b; Dias et al., 2008; Grance

and Maneiro, 2005; Mascarenhas, 2003; Neves and Lima, 2007; Portes, 2006; Santana

et al., 2003; Soares and Andrade ,2006; Zago, 2006, 2007).

Santos (1988) also has very firm views on the influence of the UEE in secondary

schools, asserting that ‘this is so strongly instituted in our schools, in teachers, in

parents; this ideology of the vestibular is so dreadful that any attempt to give a real

education finds severe criticisms…’ (p.71), though, as before, also unsubstantiated.

18

2.2.1 – Literature on Prep-Courses and Student Strategies

Private prep-courses constitute a very enclosed sector in Brazil, hardly opening its

doors for educational research with very little work done on its actual impact in the

secondary school classroom. There have been works on alternative prep-courses, most

remarkably, Baccheto’s (2003) thesis and on private prep-courses with Freitas’ (1984)

treatise where he establishes that prep-courses are ‘organically integrated to the

educational system’, an argument which this work corroborates (see Chapter 5).

However, Freitas does not delve into how this has been achieved or what impact it has

on secondary education teaching and learning, which is part of what this research

intends to do since a prep-course is the main strategy used by students to pass the

entry-exam.

The literature on students’ strategies to access higher education is also scarce. Paul and

Ribeiro’s (1989) work demonstrates that another strategy for gaining entry to higher

education is the multiple enrolment in university examinations, though in a mixture of

private and public universities. Nogueira (2004) contributes to the discussion with

research on well-off students and their families, where it becomes apparent that parents

with ‘family businesses’ tend to prepare their children for succession from an early

stage which means their sons/daughters do not invest all their energies in academic

success tending to study in private universities that are much less demanding in their

admissions procedure. This confirms what is argued in Chapter 3 that the field and

habitus of students and families can and do have a major impact in post-secondary

choices.

2.3 – The impact of access to higher education in the secondary school.

The only other works that have been found, after an extensive search in Brazilian

journals and post-graduate thesis/dissertations, about the interaction between

secondary school and access to higher education was a paper by Sparta and Gomes

(2005) and a Masters dissertation by Oliveira (2006). The intention of the first paper

was to investigate the importance attributed by secondary school students to the access

to university which is similar in nature to this research. However, it is important to

note that my research goes much further in exploring the impacts on teaching and

19

learning as well as teachers and students’ perception of the culture of the university-

entry exam and how it may impact in the classroom. In their paper, also using students

from the third year of secondary school in Porto Alegre, they cite works related to

students’ expectations of their choice of courses, though nothing specific on direct

impact on classroom practice, like Oliveira (2006) does.

Sparta and Gomes conclude that the UEE exerts pressure on the secondary school,

claiming it is a ‘practically isolated alternative to those finishing secondary school’ but

they do not attempt to explain or indicate other impacts. It only establishes the

preference from both public and private school students to take the entry-exam and

how post-16 choice of routes is dependent upon the parents’ level of education. It does

not offer a firm theoretical background on why the UEE is deeply rooted in the

students mind. Yet, if one looks at the work of Castelo Branco (2004) and Oliveira

(2006), one can find attempts at some narratives of the possible influences on parents,

teachers and students and how they became firmly established in the local culture.

Furthermore, Oliveira (2006) discusses at length the influence that the UEE has on

history teachers’ assessment practices - in the city of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais –

where, according to her, local examinations tend to normalise and align the school

curriculum while teachers’ previous personal experiences with these exams also help

to shape teaching and learning in the classroom. In a way, the entry-exam curriculum

becomes implicit in the construction of knowledge of both teachers and students, even

though it may not be accepted as a formal curriculum. Support textbooks also reinforce

its contents, with over 70% of its questions being from previous examinations11 as well

as having exam-related and structured topics. It is possible that, in spite of trying to

teach for a more rounded education, teachers and students end up conforming to the

educational reality within the classroom. In chapter 5, the analysis of the data will

enlighten this particular issue.

Overall, this literature review has tried to include as many examples related to the

objectives of this research as possible. However, some essential and non-essential

research has been left out due to lack of space. The literature presented in this chapter

as well as those already mentioned in chapter one, represents some of the most

important research in the field of admissions policies to higher education and the

11 Personal research of three Brazilian physics textbooks.

20

impact of these policies on secondary school teachers and students. As previously

mentioned, the literature on access to higher education is extensive, but reports on its

actual impacts on secondary education is very limited. In the next chapter, we will

discuss the theoretical backgrounds which will support the arguments presented in this

work.

21

3. Theoretical Background

3.1 – Introduction

As it has been argued earlier, the policy of admissions to Higher Education in Brazil

has remained virtually unchanged for a long time and, as a result, it has given rise to a

vastly marketised solution to ‘help’ certain students enter university: private prep-

course12. However, the ‘choice’ of attending one is only likely to be ‘available to those

who are already advantaged’ (Power, 1992, p.495) because the concept of ‘choice’

ultimately assumes ‘that responsible parents will invest a great deal of energy in

ensuring …‘that [their] child gets a [good] education’…’ (Gerwitz, Ball and Bowe,

1995, p.21). Moreover, the efficiency of this ‘choice’ process may rest upon ‘the

volume of social capital available to an individual or family…[which] play[s] a crucial

part in their ability to mobilise their cultural and economic capital (Ball, 2003c, p.81).

Additionally, all this capital,

‘depends…on the form of the distribution of the means of

appropriating the accumulated and objectively available

resources; and the relationship of appropriation between an

agent and the resources available, and hence the profits they

produce, is mediated by the relationship of (objective and/or

subjective) competition between himself and the other

possessors of capital competing for the same goods...’

(Bourdieu, 1986, p.19)

In the case of this dissertation, the much desired place in the public university is the

eventual good which is under intense competition. However, taking on a private prep-

course is not the only strategy used to gain access to higher education. Those who are

able to deploy their capital to attend private secondary schools also improve their

chances of entering the federal university (see Chapter 5). Ball (2003b) also argues that,

in the UK, middle class families do not accept public state education as a viable choice.

The same can be said about middle (and upper working) class families in Porto Alegre

12 There are 37 private prep-courses in the city of Porto Alegre and only 13 community prep-courses (those with a limited number of free places for students from disadvantaged background). See Appendix 6 for an explanation of Brazilian-style prep-courses.

22

with the widespread existence of private schools (half of all secondary schools in the

city13) which denotes the cultural tone of the local community and the willingness of

many families to use the different forms of capital they possess to provide the best

chance for their children. Reay, David and Ball (2005) reinforce this argument when

they say that ‘an individual’s ability to deploy knowledge, skills and competences

successfully is powerfully classed’ (p.21). And as it will be shown later, this is

intrinsically dependent upon the field and habitus of these students and their families.

Furthermore, the Brazilian educational system employs through part of its hidden

curriculum the idea that students, especially those in private schools – which have

inherited some enhanced form of social, cultural and/or economic capital due to their

social origin – are, by default, ‘academically talented’; and would therefore be

university applicants. Eggleston (1977) explores this issue by explaining that the

hidden curriculum can be thought of as a ‘way of life’ and ‘instrument of social

control’ that ‘identifies the students [and teachers] with ‘their place’ in the social

system, brings them into compliance with its norms and values and with the structures

and the sanctions with which they are imposed’(p.117).

This is clearly visible in the analysis of the student questionnaire (Chapter 5) when

students where asked what their expectations of secondary school were. Also, when

comparing the ‘actual’ school curriculum with the content requested by the UEE, it

becomes apparent that there needs to be a strategy in place to deal with the issue of the

UEE as it is clearly implicit in the construction of knowledge within the classroom,

with textbooks14 also reinforcing through a consistent sequence and questions linked to

the university-entry exam, completely conforming with the social reality instead of

trying to help the educational community in combating the illusion of ‘learning for

life’.

In this way,

‘higher education establishes a close correspondence between

social classification at entry and the social classification at exit

13 In spite of half the secondary schools being private, only about 1/4 of all students in secondary schools are enrolled in this type of school (Sec.Ed Rs, 2009)14 Although textbooks are not necessarily used by teachers in the classrooms – see chapter 5.

23

without explicitly recognising, and in most cases denying, the

link between social properties dependent on social origin and

academic selection…’

(Naidoo, 2004, p.459)

So as to understand the above correspondence, it is paramount to recognise and study

the UEE’s potential for social selectivity (e.g. Borges and Carnielli, 2005; Queiroz,

1996; Sampaio, Limongi and Torres, 2000; Santos, 1997; Zago, 2006) through

academic selection as well as the pressures it will exert on secondary schools and

families (e.g. Santos, 1988). Nevertheless, to achieve this task, a firm theoretical

background must first be established to ascertain its ‘real’ weight on the whole

Brazilian Educational System (BES) and whether or not Brazilian ‘education policies

[of admissions to higher education]..[are] primarily aimed at satisfying the concerns

and interests of the middle and [upper] class[es]’ (Ball, 2003c, p. 25). In addition, there

are many factors which may contribute to ensuring this interest of,

‘…social formation [which] collaborate harmoniously in

reproducing a cultural capital conceived of as the jointly owned

property of the whole ‘society’….because they correspond to

the material and symbolic interests of groups and classes

differently situated within the power relations, ….tend[ing] to

reproduce the structure of cultural capital among these groups

or classes, thereby contributing to the reproduction of the social

structure’.

(Bourdieu and Passeron, 1992, p. 11)

In order to Illustrate this argument, it has been shown that ‘youngsters who finish

secondary school...come, in general, from families richer than the population average,

are more frequently white…, have parents with higher schooling than the

average…and reside in the Southeast and the South of Brazil’(Sampaio, Limongi and

Torres, 2000, p.26). This strong evidence clearly indicates some level of stratification

in Brazilian society and the cultural weight it can have on students because it is the

‘experiences and expectations of applicants [which] differ on the basis of social class,

compounded by ethnicity [,] … gender’ (Reay, David and Ball, 2005, p.159) and, at

24

least in Brazil, geographical location, that will help determine the impacts that

admissions policy to higher education is likely to have on students. This links to

Bourdieu’s conceptualisation on the ‘reprodu[ction of] social and cultural inequalities

through the hidden linkages between scholastic aptitude and cultural heritage

(Bourdieu 1998)’(in Mills, 2008, p.79).

While students may have much of their reproduction associated with specific

differences in socio-cultural inequalities, Brazilian teachers of secondary schools on

the other hand, operate in a completely different reality. According to the official union

for teachers of private secondary schools in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Sinpro/RS,

2006), 42.5% of teachers work in two or more schools. However, they do not specify

whether these other schools are also private or public. There is no official data for

those secondary school teachers, from Porto Alegre, working in public schools, but the

likelihood is that it is a much higher number due to the much lower salaries of

secondary school teachers in public (state) education 15 . Anecdotal evidence also

suggests that some of these teachers, either in the private or public sector, also work in

a private prep-course16 in order to complement their income and have a good standard

of living.

Consequently, in order to assess the impact of admissions policy to higher education,

one has to search for the evidence, or lack of it, ‘in the sites where learning takes

place’ (Coffield et. al., 2007, p.726). Also, they (ibid.) remind us that ‘policy makers

are not writing upon a blank slate, but on a page already taken up with ‘ecologies of

practice’, past and present initiatives and specific local factors’ (p.728). This is

especially important for the Brazilian reality as the continental proportions of the

country and the multicultural habituses should demand localised and ‘proportional’ (in

terms of population) solutions for the future. In the next section, the conceptual

framework in which this study is based upon will be extended so as facilitate the

development of the ideas behind it.

15 In 2009 the highest paying private school in the city of Porto Alegre paid R$31.00 per hour (about £9) (source: SINPRO/RS) and secondary school teachers in a public school have a basic starting salary of around R$12.00 per hour. (CPERS/RS).16 Many prep-courses pay in the region of R$30-60 an hour, making it very attractive for teachers (data gathered by asking prep-course teachers how much they made)

25

3.2 – The concept of Habitus and Field in the Brazilian Admissions Policy to Higher Education

Despite the fact that Bourdieu’s concept of habitus has been contested by the academic

community (i.e. Reay, David and Ball, 2005), its systematic theorisation is essential

for understanding how it will be applied in this particular context. Moreover, due to

Bourdieu’s (1993a) own insistence, habitus will enable the individual to draw on his

own experiences to take on transformative and constraining actions, mainly because

‘the term characterises the recurring patterns of social class outlook – the beliefs,

values, conduct, speech, dress and manners – that are inculcated by everyday

experiences within the family, the peer group and the school’ (Mills, 2008, p.80).

However, it must be said that habitus is only ‘called upon’ when there is a divergence

between habitus and field, for example, when working class students end up in schools

full of middle class students or vice-versa. Further still, to Bourdieu, habitus is an

internalised structure incorporated by the individual through which he may perceive

the social world and therefore will help to regulate his social practice (Silva 1992,

p.140)

This is why it is important to realise that habitus is not necessarily explicit to

individuals. It is likely to have been embedded in students’ and teachers’

consciousness throughout their lives, moulding their everyday experience of reality

(Bourdieu, 1990). Habitus will, therefore, have the capacity to influence students’ life

choices and teachers’ pedagogical practices as it symbolises a confluence of

competences and needs which links with a structured, and sometimes unconscious,

social practice of reproduction. It is the distinctive confluence of habituses from

different ‘subjects’ that will help determine their perceptions and attitudes towards the

university-entry exam inside the classroom since habitus is also a ‘logic of practice’, a

set of ideas to be and to do in particular settings (fields) which is normally

commonsense, obvious and taken for granted by participants.

Because habitus exists in a ‘field’, the university-entry exam and the classroom will be

part of what will be called ‘field(s)’ where the actions of these actors take place. A

field may be one or more different structures of social formations where different states

of power may exist and where the autonomy is constantly questioned and may change

from time to time (Bourdieu, 1993b). A field is a set of positions and statuses which

26

are subject to struggle. It is the outcome and the stake of struggles and a set of power

relations which may incorporate many habituses placed within it, or it may be

exclusive or closed. But habituses facilitate the existence of the field, as a meaningful

entity. The entanglement habitus-field enables a myriad of conflicts between the

pertinent social agents, possibly ‘generat[ing] change and transformation but also

disquiet, ambivalence, insecurity and uncertainty’(Reay, David and Ball, 2005, p.28).

Consequently, the distinct fields of the university-entry exam policy and the secondary

school classroom not only clash amongst themselves, but will also allow students’,

teachers’ and their,

‘class relations [to] generate, distribute, reproduce and legitimate

distinctive forms of communication, which [will] transmit dominant

and dominated codes; and that the subjects are differently positioned by

these codes in the process of acquiring them’…[within their existing

habitus].

(Bernstein, 1990, p.13 in Hoadley, 2008, p.64)

Further still, in spite of the habitus’ power to reflect, in part, the social position of

university-entry exam applicants and their teachers; it should not be seen as a static

concept. Its constitution is passive of change as students and teachers interact and

experience new events (personal or not), permitting, in some circumstances, a kind of

transcendence of habitus, a disidentification. However, this practice of altering

habituses will only happen in different degrees as their personal ‘choices are bounded

by the framework of opportunities and constraints the person find herself in, her

external circumstances’ (Reay, David and Ball, 2005, p.27).

Therefore, the field of the university-entry exam, having its own subconscious agenda

and conditioning, will engage with teachers’ and students’ dispositions which are

‘inevitably reflective of the schooling context in which they are, in part, acquired’(ibid,

p.26), causing a definite impact on their institutional practices. This is especially

relevant for the Brazilian reality, due to the specific and extreme classed nature of the

local society, its occupations and schools (i.e. MEC/INEP, 2004b; Ornstein and

Morerira, 2008; UNESCO: Brasil, 2008). Also, the Government and the upper/middle-

27

classes in Brazil have, ‘inadvertently’, established what Bourdieu calls the

‘institutionalised state’17 (Bourdieu, 1986).

3.3 – Policies, Practices, Strategies and Inequality

The objective in this section is to develop a brief underlying rationale of the different

practices and strategies which Brazilian students may employ as a reaction to the

university-entry exam policy implemented by universities. In spite of the different

cultural background from the UK, the theorisation developed by Ball (2003c) on class

strategies emerging from educational policies are very relevant to the Brazilian reality

and is part of the backbone in which this study rests upon.

Ball (2003b) also suggests that,

‘…the [educational] market works as a class strategy, creating a

mechanism which can be exploited by the middle [and the upper

working] classes as a strategy of reproduction in their search for

relative advantage, social advancement and mobility.’

(p.17)

Therefore, so as to take advantage of the current admissions system, students’, their

families and teachers’ will have to utilize a range of habitus-dependent strategies if

they wish to establish or overcome their social, cultural or economical position. For

some, and perhaps increasingly for most people, ‘habitus…as it is constantly subjected

to experiences, generates diversity’ (Ball, 2003c, p.16) and, at the same time, it allows

a ‘way of thinking which powerfully illuminates the processes by which social

reproduction can take place…’(Hatcher, 1998, p.19 in Ball, 2003c, p.17). Therefore,

the middle and upper working classes in Brazil will tactically deploy their skills and

use them to support their personal interests, though national geographical differences

clearly remain.

Gale (2003) continues the argument by exploring the important idea that it is the

structure of the different capitals possessed by individuals (or group of individuals)

17 Discussion in Appendix 13.

28

and the degree in which they are positioned within the field that will determine the way

they react to different types of policies, while at the same time, recognising the ever

present conflict between personal values and ‘personal utility’ (Hatcher, 1998).

Nevertheless, in Brazil, the left-central government appears to recognise these

individual struggles, especially by those in disadvantaged circumstances, and many

public universities have now introduced a system of quotas (affirmative action) in the

UEE, while keeping most of the number of vacancies static. This in turn, has produced

greater competition between those students from a predominantly middle-class

background from private schools, creating a stir amongst certain members of the

UFRGS’ educational community (i.e. UFRGS, 2006); This is a clear example of how

‘the state…regula[tes] the system by responding to the particular way in which

different classes mobilise around system contradictions’(Poulantzas, 1973, p.192 in

Ball, 2003c, p.28).

The admissions policy has, indeed, been subjected to some change, though the process

by which students compete for these quotas remains the same. Not only that, the UEE

has certain rules18which all candidates still have to abide by, meaning the actual

selection of these particular students is still thoroughly commodified, since those that

have been able to be better prepared, especially through either a federal school, private

school or prep-course, will be more likely to succeed. This indicates a thoughtful

deployment of capital, which has been build up within, as part of their habitus and

most certainly shaped by the existing field, ‘enabl[ing] them to gain access to and

monopolise advantageous educational sites…’(Ball, 2003c, p.168).

Teachers must also adapt while the university-entry exam market plays its role in the

selection process. They must be aware that ‘the distinctions and identifications of class

are embedded in non-cognitive dispositions as well as the minutia of everyday

perceptions and fears’ (ibid, p.177) of students since they are, in one way or another,

contributing the formation of their habitus. Teachers are one vehicle of capital

distribution and ideally should be aware of this kind of strategic advantage – but in

most circumstances, in most classrooms, difference in forms and volumes of capital

are taken to express essential abilities or intelligence.

18 See appendix 1

29

They must remember that class ‘is an activation of resources and social…interplay of

identities, in specific locations, for particular ends’ (ibid, p.176). It is the teachers’

understanding, development and manipulation of this interplay which will help

determine some of the impact the university-entry exam has on themselves and,

consequently, their students.

In addition, not only is the school environment capable of manipulating and

consolidating this social status-quo through the inculcation of certain hierarchical and

somewhat synthesised ideological views in order to facilitate classed cultural

reproduction; but it is also reinforced by ‘the aggregate … patterns of choices [and] the

hidden hand of class thinking’ (ibid, p.146) of families and individuals which help to

create social divisions and inequalities within our society. The decision to enter a free

or paid university; to attend a private prep-course or not; the teachers’ pedagogical and

epistemological choices and the government’s policies on federal and state education;

all contribute to the enduring stratification of Brazilian society. However, this is not

always or necessarily a passive process of transmission of knowledge or a simple

decision-making process especially in times of dramatic socio-economic and political

change. The acquisition of any type of capital can also assume a transformative role

‘within’ individuals which may lead to the confrontation in an act of resistance by

teachers, students, parents or schools against the imposed ideology (Giroux, 2001).

For these reasons, the attitudes, perceptions and expectations of students and teachers

of the third year of secondary school in the city of Porto Alegre are likely to present

the characteristics mentioned above as well as being influenced by their constructed

habitus within their field of existence, which has a very classed structure that will

either, attempt to reproduce or change the status-quo of the admissions policy to higher

education in Brazil and the UEE process.

30

4. Methodology

4.1 – Introduction

This section is interested in critically examining the approaches chosen to collect the

data required for this MRes dissertation. A careful reflection on the technique

employed will also be provided throughout the text so as to assess its validity within

this particular framework. In order to answer multiple research questions and, at the

same time, generate enough evidence which would be suitable to support the

arguments, an integration of quantitative and qualitative methodologies was chosen,

given that ‘[w]ithout combination of approaches we are often left with no clear way of

deciding between competing conclusions’ (Gorard, 2001, p. 5)

Firstly, it was decided to use qualitative methods to research teachers because these

possess a singular ability to appreciate the outcomes of the social milieu on human

development as well as entering and struggling with certain attitudes and perceptions

which may be induced by different fields and habituses. Qualitative data analysis is a

connecting route which capitalises upon a variety of data-gathering techniques and yet,

relies on a methodical, comprehensive and reflective approach that demands a lot of

discipline from the researcher (De Carvalho, 2009). Additionally, ‘…[qualitative]

research is ideologically driven. There is no value-free or bias-free design’ (Janesick,

2000, p.385), meaning that a researcher must position himself ideologically and state

his biases in order to put his investigation into context (ibid).

These ideas must also be applied to quantitative methods, which were used with

students to allow a more concrete measure of such attitudes and perceptions on a

slightly larger scale as well as to try to give an indication of the underlying

consequences of the UEE, especially with the help of the collection of secondary data19

from the UEE of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). The wish to

assemble responses from a specific population by following certain scientific

principles (Czaja and Blair, 2005) was key to ‘shape the use of methods

chosen’(Crotty, 1998) and to facilitate the uncovering of participant’s understanding of

his social reality. In this light, survey research was the method selected so as to probe

19 More about the secondary data in Appendix 15

31

into the relevant issues described in the research questions. It is important to realise

that ‘social survey is a complex operation, and a first requirement is therefore the

development of a clear plan’ (Oppenheim, 1992, p. 8), meaning all possible

considerations should be taken into account before developing the tools needed to

proceed with the study.

Therefore, the rationale behind the different methods within each line of thought will

be described, explained and reflected upon, in order to pave the way for the analysis of

the data collected.

4.2 – Qualitative Methods: The Interviews

To institute an analysis pathway, a researcher needs to be guided by principles which

are able to give meaning to his interpretation of the results obtained. The theoretical

stance taken by the symbolic interactionist seems to be appropriate for this particular

task since reality can be seen as that which makes sense to the subject and one of the

most effective ways of making it clear it is through the use of semi-structured

interviews. This is because human beings tend to give or attach different meanings to

their perceived truth brought about by his/her socio-cultural interactions, where a

personal and independent interpretative process takes place and possibly influencing

his understanding of his own reality. Here, Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus

will give the adequate foundations to this interpretation since the ideological

inclinations of the interviewee are brought about by his habitus and field. This will,

therefore, help give meaning to answers to questions from the interview which are also

constantly subjective to internal and external pressures surrounding the particular

moment of the interview.

Consequently, it is important to engage with the analytic process of the interviewee by

trying to understand the context while appreciating that his ‘thoughts are not

transparently available’ (Smith, Jarman and Osborn, 1999, p.219). With this intention

in mind, I will use a technique called Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

in an attempt to elicit teachers’ perceptions of the university-entry exam and its

relationship with the educational community.

32

It is likely that a personal version of IPA will emerge because qualitative analysis,

‘is not about adhering to any one correct approach or set of

right techniques; it is imaginative, artful, flexible, and reflexive.

[However] It should also be methodical, scholarly and

intellectually rigorous’

(Coffey and Atkinson 1996, p.10)

IPA has been used because it aims to ‘explore in detail the participants’ view of the

topic under investigation…[as well as] an individual’s personal perception or account

of an object or event as opposed to an attempt to produce an objective statement of the

object or event itself’(Smith, Jarman and Osborn 1999, p.218). The entire practice is

devoted to bringing to light perceptions the interviewee may have about the topics

being examined. Nevertheless, the researcher must recognise that ‘theories [and

interpretations] are shaped by data, but can never reflect the complex (political)

realities of people’s lives’ (Ezzy 2002, p.23) as well as their perception of what their

worlds’ entail since any ‘…interpretative framework provides a unifying account of

events observed in the world, that is temporary, uncertain and limited’ (ibid, p.28). A

description of the interview and coding processes can be read in Appendix 12.

4.3 – Quantitative Methods: Survey Research

A small-scale survey research was the method selected in the research design to

complement the qualitative data collected and tackle the research questions.

Nonetheless, before starting the work, it was important to realise that ‘social survey is

a complex operation, and a first requirement is therefore the development of a clear

plan’ (Oppenheim, 1992, p. 8), meaning all possible considerations should be taken

into account before developing the tools needed to proceed with the study. Also,

according to Gillham (2008), it is a good resource for answering ‘what? questions’

(p.2) which is what this research question is trying to achieve: to figure out, according

to students’ own understanding, what are the possible impacts in their attitudes

towards secondary school and the UEE which may be caused by the ‘culture of the

33

vestibular20’. However, in spite of the data collected being mostly quantitative, and

therefore passive of statistical analysis, ‘surveys fail to describe the qualitative features

that make for the uniqueness of each member of the collectivity that the survey is

intended to represent’ (Thomas, 2003, p. 44) as each individual will hold their own

personal views on how their perceptions are shaped. Nevertheless, the intent is to

assess students’ actual perceptions and not how they were formed.

In addition, this process is non-experimental and analytic as it seeks to ‘explore

associations between particular variables, [statements or intentions]’ (Oppenheim,

1992, p. 21) in order to ascertain whether there is an effect on students’ practice based

on their understandings of the ‘culture of the vestibular’. Since the aim is to deal with

issues of attitudes and perceptions, it was settled on the use of a questionnaire21

(Andrews, 2003, p. 31). Also, this would allow for a wider coverage of students’ with

varied backgrounds in a short period of time, as Porto Alegre is a relatively large city

with extreme population differences under the same system.

A significant disadvantage of questionnaires, however, is to secure the completion of

all questions and the return of all questionnaires (Thomas, 2003, p. 69), but this can be

achieved by the researcher’s presence, supervision and a systematic on-the-spot check

of the returned surveys. This assumes a self-administered questionnaire, which

‘ensures … accurate sampling, a minimum of [researcher] bias…while

permitting …necessary explanations (but not the interpretation of questions)

(Oppenheim, 1992, p. 103)’ (in De Carvalho, 2008)

4.4 – Questions of Reliability and Validity

According to Oppenheim (1992) and de Vaus (2002), reliability and validity are the

two major obstacles in the construction of Survey Research. Matters of reliability are

difficult to address since a reliable question is ‘one that should be answered in the

same way on different occasions if given to the same person’ (de Vaus, 2002, p. 96).

The assumption, of course, is that the person remains the same, which is a flawed

20 The culture of the UEE is a way of thinking about secondary education in Brazil. The UEE and going to university are seen as the only means of getting a well-paid job and is the aim of the vast majority of students. There is an entire industry of prep-courses which rely on this culture to persist even helping toreproduce it. Understanding the effects and impacts of this culture is, therefore, of immense interest.21 More about the development of the questionnaire and the sampling procedure in Appendix 14

34

argument since in every single moment people are experiencing new external inputs

which can or does change them, even if in a subconscious level, and therefore people

are prone to alter their opinions or attitudes. Nonetheless, assuming the axiom is true,

the researcher must now check and re-check his questions/statements and make sure

the interpretation is solid and constant. Another point of interest is people’s different

levels of literacy which, in spite of the effort made by the researcher to create simple

and inclusive statements, can still shatter the confidence on the instrument.

On the other hand, the validity of a questionnaire is a characteristic that I had more

control over since the items should be able to ‘measure what it is suppose to measure’

(Oppenheim, 1992, p. 144). In order to achieve this and increase the validity of my

questionnaire I had to constantly modify and re-align my statements without losing

sight of the research questions. Due to lack of time, availability and geographical

issues, the piloting stage was compromised and I had to rely on an altered and

translated version which were completed and interpreted by a sample of teachers at my

place of work. As I was interested solely on the question wording, inclusiveness and

other relevant issues raised by de Vaus (2002, p.97-99) this did not seem to interfere or

cause problems as much as anticipated. In fact, it was extremely helpful so as to adjust

the questionnaire to its current form.

Ultimately, in qualitative research, it is paramount to achieve a high degree of quality

during data analysis in order to establish its validity. Researchers must be reflective

and must critically assess their data as well as their role within the particular context of

the research. The reliability of one’s data can be improved by rechecking transcripts

and translations as well as by making sure the codes have been properly assigned

(Flick, 2007). The research must also be rigorous during the interview processes so as

to ensure the validity of its schedule, the details of this can be found in appendix 12.

35

5. Findings, Analysis and Conclusion

5.1 – The Issues

Before I start my discussion of the data gathered during field work, it is of immense

importance to understand more about the context in which this research took place.

There has always been plenty of anecdotal evidence on the problems of the admissions

system to higher education but little research about its actual impact on teachers and

students has ever been done (see chapter 2). Therefore, figuring out factual

substantiation of background issues which first gave rise to this research as well as

giving a voice to teachers and students formed the foundation of this work.

The city of Porto Alegre has one of the highest GDP’s22 in Brazil. As mentioned

previously, in the last years, the number of private secondary schools in the city has

equalled that of public schools. However, public schools cater for about 3/4 of the total

secondary school population 23 . Additionally, just over 49% of students, in the

secondary school age range, are actually enrolled in secondary education (MEC/INEP).

The data on teachers is sketchier, since teachers usually teach in more than one

school24 (very often in the private and public sector and sometimes in prep-courses as

well), but it is known that in 2007, there were 35% (1,534) of teachers in the private

sector and 65% (2,864) in the public sector25. Class sizes in Porto Alegre vary between

30-50 students, even in private schools26 and the total number of students finishing

secondary school has now stabilised in around 10,000 (around 57% public, 45%

private) after five years of decline. In terms of higher education, Porto Alegre has a

total of 30 institutions, 27 of which are private which is an impressive marketisation of

the higher education system, in such a short period of time (see McCowan 2004) and

22 In 2006 it was R$ 20,900 (around US$ 11,000 in 2009 exchange rates) – (source: FEE-RS)23 Multiple sources (INEP/MEC, FEE-RS, UFRGS, etc). All the data and graphs about Porto Alegre can be found in appendix 824 Data from the private school teachers’ union (SINPRO/RS) say that around 42.5% of private school teachers in the entire state teach in more than one school. In Porto Alegre, the number is likely to be much higher since the cost of living is also higher, and salaries in the secondary state sector are very similar.25 Data from FEE-RS, 2007.26 Data collected from my own research in the 7 schools in Porto Alegre, though data for the entire country is also available from the ministry of education, MEC/INEP.

36

there are around 50 different types of prep-courses27 in the city, 13 of which are

community prep-courses28;

As it can be quickly spotted, the numbers simply do not add up for a country that

wishes to become completely developed and economically independent. On top of

everything else, these numbers are from Porto Alegre, considered highly developed in

Brazil. Educational statistics for the North and North-East regions of Brazil are at least

20-30% lower (MEC/INEP, 2004a). Understandably, the problems with the Brazilian

education are much larger than the problems with its Higher Education admissions

system. Nevertheless, as it will be shown, they deserve just as much attention from the

education community.

5.2 – The largest university-entry exam in the state and what it can tell us about education in the city of Porto Alegre29.

A large secondary data set from UFRGS’ socio-economic questionnaire concerning

four different years (2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007) was used in an attempt to form a

small picture30 of the admission’s process in the city. The rationale behind this lies in

grasping its magnitude and arguing about the power that this particular exam exerts in

the cultural milieu of the local society, which then filters down to prep-courses and

secondary schools.

Turned the attention to those students which have passed the exam (around 70% come

from the city of Porto Alegre), the numbers are striking, to say the least.

27 Prep-courses are courses which prepare students for the university entry exam, usually the one from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. It is deemed that if one is prepared for the UFRGS’ exam, one can take any other exam.28 Free, available only to those of very low income and usually focussed more on issues of inclusion and awareness. In Porto Alegre, they reach a much smaller audience than private prep-courses due to issues of location, class-sizes and number of volunteer teachers.29 All the data used in this section has been kindly given by COPERSE, an internal organ of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul responsible with all matters concerning the university-entry exam.30 It is important to realise that the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre also has three other large private universities which also caters some city students, despite the distance from the capital.

37

Table 1 % of approved candidates by age per Year2001 2003 2005 2007

Age18 or Less 44.0% 41.5% 41.0% 42.4%19 – 24 38.8% 41.9% 42.3% 40.7%25 or more 17.3% 16.6% 16.8% 17.0%Total 100% 100% 100% 100%

The table above shows how over half of the existing places31 are taken by those

students who have already graduated from secondary school for more than one year32.

Also, the proportion of students that passed the exam relative to their enrolment is

fairly stable, with a slight increase in the 19-24’s category33. This bears some deeply

relevant questions. What is happening to the other school leavers? Where are they

going? Are they entering private university? Private vocational schools? Taking a

prep-course for a year? Looking for work? What type of work?

The state government does not keep any reasonable records of secondary school

leavers’ movements so there is no way of understanding how students interact with a

completely autonomous higher educational system and the job market. Still, working

with the available data, we must understand who these candidates are as it will

enlighten our basic understanding of the secondary education students entering

university, who is being left behind and why.

Looking at patterns of those approved and the school they come from, some

remarkable patterns begin to emerge. The table below clearly shows that the vast

majority of school leavers (18 or less) which have been approved come from private

schools and that those from public schools which are entering the federal university

have been out of the system for a some time and probably had to use a different

strategy with which to gain access, either a prep-course or courses of lower

status/competition.

31 Data for places per year can be seen in Appendix 2. 32 Although, there may be some students which have just graduated because they have repeated one or two grades.33 The school leaving age in Brazil varies tremendously as students may repeat or advance grades. A shift in the age by one (i.e. 17 or less as the leaving age, the proportions change completely). The official boundaries used in government’s statistics is 15-17, but in order to allow a future comparison in age-related terms with the other educational systems, the age of 18 was chosen as the cut-point with which to work with, and it is the one which makes more sense in this particular context. The same tables in this section using the official boundaries are given in appendix 10

38

Table 2 % of approved students by age and type of school per Year 2001 2003 2005 2007

AgePublic Private Public Private Public Private Public Private

18 or Less 28.8% 71.2% 28.4% 71.6% 30.5% 69.5% 23.2% 76.8%19 - 24 46.6% 53.4% 47.4% 52.6% 47.3% 52.7% 42.7% 57.3%25 or more 64.6% 35.4% 66.8% 33.2% 61.0% 39.0% 60.6% 39.4%

By introducing whether the candidate has attended a prep-course or not (Table 3, p.38),

it becomes apparent that this is the main strategy used to enter a free higher education

institution. Furthermore, it seems to have considerable impact in all age groups and,

even more important, with important differences between public and private school

students. What can this tell us about the impact the entry exam and prep-courses have

on the secondary school?

Over the years, prep-courses have certainly expanded, developed and established a

certain culture in the minds of students in Porto Alegre. When this is associated with a

secondary school which does not prepare students for the exam, students are left with

limited options and one would expect high percentages of approved students which

have done a prep-course. If this is true, other questions emerge. What do these simple

statistics tell about the state of secondary education in the city of Porto Alegre? What

are the expectations of secondary school students about their own educational system?

What about teachers? How do they feel about their work? What does it tell us about

the validity or function of secondary school?

In the next section, teachers’ and students’ voices will be brought to light in order to

make sense of this junction in the educational system, providing the evidence needed

to answer the research questions and when entwined with the data above, will demand

a complete reform of the system.

39

Table 3. Percentage of approved students by type of school and prep-course by

age group per year

2001 2003

Public Private Public Private

Prep-Course Prep-Course

No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

18 or Less 29.0% 71.0% 22.3% 77.7% 30.9% 69.1% 26.5% 73.5%

19 to 24 18.1% 81.9% 12.1% 87.9% 15.6% 84.4% 13.2% 86.8%

25 or more 39.8% 60.2% 30.8% 69.2% 40.0% 60.0% 37.1% 62.9%

2005 2007

Public Private Public Private

Prep-Course Prep-Course

No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

18 or Less 29.6%

70.4% 25.8% 74.2% 29.2% 70.8% 26.7% 73.3%

19 to 2416.8% 83.2% 10.6% 89.4% 17.6% 82.4% 15.5% 84.5%

25 or more41.1% 58.9% 41.7% 58.3% 46.3% 53.7% 43.7% 56.3%

40

5.3 – Discussion about students’ and teachers’ attitudes and perceptions

The student population for this work comprises of 508 students (with complete

questionnaires) of the last-year of secondary school from seven very different schools

within the city of Porto Alegre. There are several ways in which one could have

analysed this data; however, when comparing schools within each system, it was clear

that the results were very similar between schools of the same systems directing the

analysis towards a more simple division: Private Schools, Public-State Schools and

Public-Federal School. This happened in spite of these schools having very different

socio-economic backgrounds, which could be an indication of different underlying

‘fields’ and ‘institutional habituses’ within these systems.

When questioned about what they believed was the most important function of

secondary school, it immediately became clear that the phenomenon of the university-

entry exam is very much inculcated into students minds’ as also explained by Sparta

and Gomes (2005). The table below shows the results:

Table 4. In your opinion, what is the most important function of secondary school ?Type of School

Answer Private Public State

Public Federal

Prepare me for the University-Entry Exam 69.3% 65.5% 79.7%Prepare me for Life in General 13.9% 14.7% 9.8%Prepare me for the Job Market 2.2% 9.2% 6.0%Prepare me for Citizenship 10.9% 8.0% 3.0%Other 3.6% 2.5% 1.5%Total 100% 100% 100%

And when asked whether they believed their schools was fulfilling this function

around 80% of students from both private and state public schools said they were,

while an impressive 97.3% of students from the federal public schools said their

schools was working towards achieving what they believed was the main objective of

secondary schooling. The federal school already seems to show a different grasp of the

culture of the UEE and this is also corroborated by current and former teachers from

the federal school when talking about the place of the exam within the federal system,

‘In the federal school they live the reality of the university-entry exam every single day. To them, it is practically an extension of their school

41

life. They are very focussed into passing the exam and entering the federal university.’

(Former teacher of a federal school in Porto Alegre)

‘… the UFRGS’ exam is a big focus during lessons as almost every one of our student will try it’

(Teacher from the federal school)

Even though students may believe the function of secondary school is to prepare them

for the UEE, only around 30% of these students (school leavers) will actually pass the

federal university exam without doing a prep-course (either in the afternoon during the

same year, or the following year).

In addition, when teachers were asked the same question regarding the function of the

secondary school, their answers were completely reversed. Only 10% of the teachers

interviewed said the main function of the secondary school is to prepare for the UEE.

This indicates a disparity of teachers and students’ expectations, which is

complemented by a lack of solid guidance from the government34 on the relationship

between secondary education and the UEE. Based on this very simple set of data, it is

not difficult to begin to understand why the Brazilian education system fails the vast

majority of its students.

Furthermore, it is important to note that each school has its own ethos and approaches

when it comes to managing the issue of the university-entry exam. To help illuminate

this issue, some senior teachers were asked about how they perceived this within their

school:

‘Our objective is not the university-entry exam. The school is not a ‘big third year’ with a prep-course attached to it…..We don’t work with the entry-exam in sight, we try to work with the abilities and proficiencies which they need for life and will, hopefully, make the student do well in the exam...’

(Senior Teacher from a Private School A)

‘...we are preparing our students for life and today and the university-entry exam is part of their lives and to the private school… we have to work with it in mind. The exam is part of life and if this doesn’t happen,

34 See appendix 9 for a brief description of the Law of Bases and Directives on Education.

42

the school loses out in the market. And the private school needs to be competitive, so we [teachers] enter this conflict between what we believe in and what we need in order to prepare our students, because, especially when they reach the third [last] year they demand this…they ask for questions from the exam…. so much so that in the third year, here in the school, we have [an afternoon] prep-course called ….where they only work with questions from/for the vestibular with specialised teachers’

(Senior Teacher from Private School B)

‘There is nothing imposed on us, we have autonomy in the classroom. The classroom is ours. And I think this is something good because when we have that autonomy and freedom you become more motivated and it means people trust you. Because from the moment you enter the classroom, the senior leadership team trusts your judgement and theyknow that we will have this interchange between the classroom and the university-entry exam’

(Senior Teacher from Public School X)

These statements also describe how teachers have different understandings of the

dynamic of the UEE and how they have to deal with its existence. As there is no

central government guidance, each school and teacher seems to be left to their own

devices as well as their own epistemological underpinnings in order to judge their

options within the school classroom.

Since the admissions system to higher education is completely autonomous, without

any compulsory, centralised entrance system, schools and teachers tend not to see

themselves as guardians of the keys to higher education, although they may attempt to

help. However, some private secondary schools around Porto Alegre, and indeed

Brazil, have taken extreme measures and eliminated the third year of secondary

education (compressing all the contents into 2 years) and promoting the last year of

secondary education as a large prep-course. This marketing strategy worked and they

have become very popular amongst the middle/upper classes.

This trend, as mentioned by Freitas (1984), is supported in the data gathered where

around 70% declared they would enrol in a prep-course in case they failed to pass on

their first attempt (the one straight after finishing secondary school); in spite of around

55% of them believing it is not paramount to take do a prep-course in order to pass the

university-entry exam. Their expectations regarding the exam are pretty unrealistic,

43

with those from the federal system35 having a lot more confidence (this school’s actual

pass rate is very high: around 60% in the last examination series - 2008) as shown in

the table below.

Table 5. What are your expectations regarding the university-entry exam?

PrivatePublic State

Public Federal

AnswerI will be approved on my first attempt 46.0% 47.9% 78.2%I do not have any big expectations. I want to pass in the first attempt, I'll just give it a try 40.1% 24.8% 9.8%I am doing it because I am being pressured by my family 0.7% 1.3% 0.8%I am certain I will not pass the exam 1.5% 0.8% 0.8%Other 1.5% 0.8% 4.5%Will not take the exam 10.2% 24.4% 6.0%Total 100% 100% 100%

The main difference between private and state public schools is the number of students

not taking the exam straight after school. What does this actually mean? According to

the questionnaire, they will either look for work and start a prep-course at the same

time, or either just work or just take a prep-course36 or even enrol in a vocational

course. Also, why is the Public-Federal school so strikingly different? Potentially, it

could be explained by the fact that it is a selective school37 and according to the

school’s senior management, students are mainly of middle/upper classes; and as

shown earlier, they seem to have an embedded culture geared towards the university-

entry exam.

Additionally, secondary teachers have to understand and deal with the pressure coming

from students which ‘demand’, at least some, focus on the university-entry exam.

According to the teachers interviewed this mainly happens through exam questions

being used in teacher assessments/homework combined with teachers’ tips and

suggestions during lesson time. Students also seek information outside school, usually

downloading previous papers, old prep-course booklets bought or borrowed from

friends/family and expert websites. There are many different strategies being used by

teachers and students to include the university-entry exam in their lives. 35 This federal school is selective.36 These were some of the outcomes mentioned in the questionnaire.37 In the other federal school in the city students are selected via a lottery draw. However, the school is located in the extreme outskirts of the city, which means there will be issues transportation (and therefore conditions to pay for the transport since it is only half-subsidised) and as a consequence, of what will be the actual backgrounds of the students applying.

44

When talking about the influence of the exam in their curriculum development

teachers say,

‘When we make the schools’ annual plan, what do we do? We seek that which the third year needs to have … and, of course, we think about the university-entry exam. The questions from the tests are questions from past entry-exams. So they [the students] need to adapt since most of them [the students] leave the school to do the exam, so we cannot forget about that reality.’

(Teacher from Public School Y)

‘The entry-exam in Porto Alegre exerts a large pressure in secondary schools. This ends up limiting the development of creative abilities among the students. I do try to awaken their interests related to the knowledge aspects of my lessons, but at the same time I try to make them feel safe to face the exam…it is a difficult dilemma’

(Teacher from Private School C)

Taking a closer look at the student questionnaire data, it becomes apparent the

meaningful influence of the ‘field’ (the school system) of which the students belong to,

possibly interacting with their individual habituses, establishing a particular culture

and reproducing a particular ethos. The table below shows students’ responses when

asked whether their teachers focus all their lessons on the topics which will be in the

exam:

Table 6. My teachers focus all their lessons only on the content of the University-entry exam.

Private Public State

Public Federal

on None/Few lessons 30.7% 40.8% 6.7%on Some lessons 38.7% 33.2% 16.5%on Most/All lessons 30.6% 26.0% 76.6%Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Again, the federal school has clearly been highly influenced by the UEE, while the

public and private schools show a certain independence from it, despite claims from

the media and the government that secondary schools use the university-entry exam

curriculum as standard and reproduced it in the classroom. Table 7 below gives more

evidence of how the entry-exam permeates the school system, especially the federal

one.

45

Table 7. My teachers inform me, during lessons, of what could/will be IN the entry exam

Answer Private Public State

Public Federal

Hardly Ever/Never 13.9% 20.2% 0.0%Sometimes 19.7% 21.4% 1.5%Many Times/All the Time 66.4% 58.4% 98.5%Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

The data from teachers also substantiate the idea that there is a far more complex

underlying relationship with the university-entry exam. When asked about teaching

and learning strategies they used completely different and independent arguments.

‘The examination process does not tend to interfere with my job in the classroom, because I have other objectives. I visualise a more integral formation through readings and study of knowledge of the world. The university-entry exam is just one more step in the life of those who choose to do it’

(Teacher from public school X)

‘The culture of the entry-exam ‘plasters’ the curriculum. In this sense it is very negative. However, secondary schools should not abandon the contents of the exam while the examination exists’

(Teacher from private school A)

‘…I develop my subject in terms of the knowledge they need and whether this knowledge has connections with other subjects…. Every lesson is an assessment because the process of testing doesn’t tell me anything, especially multiple-choice questions, like the entrance exam… When I have a ‘test’ I use extended writing questions. Although, I also have an exam with questions from the university-entry exam, so I have two types of assessment…’

(Teacher from Public School Z)

‘….We try to follow the examinations from UFRGS and PUC, which are the main focus. It is ‘on top of’ these exams that we kind of prepare our lessons, only that we try to go slightly further…’

(Teacher from the Federal School)

There is no question that teachers feel they have autonomy and independence in the

classroom in order to choose topics and decide how to teach them, though, perhaps not

as much in the federal school. Also, the interview data shows that there is a conflict

46

with their epistemological/personal beliefs about education, especially when it comes

to including the UEE in their lessons. This appears to contradict what Oliveira (2006)

has found in her Masters dissertation with teachers of history in the state of Minas

Gerais. She affirms that the entry-exam of the local federal university interferes

significantly with the classroom assessment practice of history teachers. At this

moment it is extremely important to reflect on the vast proportions and cultural

differences in Brazil and understand the influences it will have on particular local

communities will also be different.

In conclusion, after considering all the data collected from teachers, students as well as

the secondary data from the federal university, the Brazilian Secondary Educational

System – in this local context – has been partially engulfed by the local universities’38

admissions policy. The unchangeable nature of this exam and the existence of prep-

courses have created an immense cultural shift in the minds of students and school

teachers. This can be corroborated by a study (ESP, 2006) from some Eastern

European and Asian countries regarding ‘private tutoring’ which also found that it

‘…exarcebat[es] social inequities, distort[s] curricula and teacher

performance….skewing the university admissions process…’ (p.13), amongst other

individual issues due to the particular nature of private tutoring in that region.

Furthermore, according to the evidence presented, the students not only have entirely

opposite attitudes and expectations towards secondary school than teachers; they also

have accepted and embraced the prep-course culture. They seem to have (wrong)

expectations that they will pass the federal university exam without having to take a

prep-course; while the prep-course is likely to be their main strategy for entry to higher

education; if their economic capital allows them. As one public school teacher

interviewd puts it:

‘…those that can pay [for a prep-course] will have better conditions and chances than others, because it is nothing new to say that prep-courses do not teach them anything, they just prepare them to pass the entry-exam….’

38 All local universities/IHE operate a similar one-exam-fits-all approach as its main admissions’ policy.

47

Thus, due to student-teachers’ conflict of beliefs on the purpose of secondary

education and teachers’ understanding that their lessons should always go beyond the

entry-exam or even not include it at all, a huge educational gap has been created. A

careful, detailed and independent study of this gap; how to bridge it; avoid it and

change it is needed as well as a concomitant study of student admissions to university

and drop-out and retention rates are needed in order to assess the real magnitude of this

problem and find reasonable solutions.

On another light, Bourdieu’s conceptual understanding has proven useful in spotting

the potential reproductive processes as well as the power exerted by social, cultural

and economic capital on the formation of students habitus within a certain field (like

the type of secondary school). The federal school seems to engage much more deeply

with the university-entry exam, taking it more seriously than the other schools in this

study.

Further still, due to the nature of private schools in Porto Alegre, where the majority is

also affordable to a high working class (monthly payments vary from R$300 to R$800),

there is little difference between private and state school students and teachers, in

terms of attitudes and beliefs towards secondary school and the entry exam, as shown

in the data. One possible speculation is that the fields of the entry-exam and the prep-

course have been interacting with all secondary school students’ own field that their

perceptions are no longer distinguishable. For example, when asked whether the entry-

exam is a fair way to select students, the results shows over half of students from

public schools believing it is, which is not an expected outcome; especially after

having learnt that the proportion of public school leavers entering university is small.

As the secondary data shows, coming from a private school is a strong indicator of

school leavers’ chances of passing the university-entry exam while taking prep-course

has the greatest influence on admission rates. Moreover, many of those coming from

the public school that have passed the exam tend to come from the federal schools,

which leaves many questions regarding the status of the public-state system. The trend

appears to be reversed for ‘mature’ students, which is what one would expect, since the

young students from private schools have already entered the university at an earlier

date.

48

It is at this point that Stephen Ball’s arguments on class strategies become evident and

helps to build a strong foundation to explain what has been demonstrated. In spite of

the belief of over 50% of public school students that the exam system is fair, it will be

- as expressed earlier - ‘the volume of social capital available to an individual or

family…[which] play[s] a crucial part in their ability to mobilise their cultural and

economic capital (Ball, 2003c, p.81).

The public-state school student might have similar ideas and expectations as the

private school student regarding secondary school, prep-courses and the entry exam,

but he does not seem to have the same volume of capital at his disposal. This could be

argued, for example, in terms of students’ performance in the entry-exam where in all

years studied, private school students have scored consistently higher than public

school students. In fact, of all those students who have passed the exam and have

scored above the exam standardised mean, around 60% are private school students.

Also, when looking at the same cohort (students that passed the exam), students from

public schools are from families that earn much less than private school students39

Moreover, it will not be just his family, type of school and his local community but

also the physical space of his school 40 which will contribute to this capital

accumulation, helping to build the student’ habitus, therefore, gearing him towards

deploying more effective strategies to pass the exam. However, in May 2009 the

government has introduced a new initiative on the admission system which will alter

many aspects of admissions and strategies deployed in some federal universities,

though in the case of UFRGS, the main entry exam has remained the same. Further

discussions and its implications are in Appendix 2 and 11.

In summary, it needs to be highlighted that the admissions system to higher education

has helped to shape a culture and brought immense and multifaceted conflicts inside

the secondary school, modifying its original purpose as conceived in the constitution

and the Education Act of 96 (Brasil, 1996; see appendix 9). The government has

39 See appendix 16 for the data on these statements. 40 Public schools visited were old, rundown and there was graffiti in the classrooms as well as broken properties.

49

allowed the development of an intense entry-exam and prep-course culture41, which

can be detrimental to secondary school students and teachers. This needs utmost

attention and transformation. Brasil also needs more exchange with other international

systems to learn to re-think its strategies, because otherwise, as one of the private

school teachers says,

‘The students [will] continue to use the ‘prep-course philosophy’ to pass the university-entry exam and end up showing little interest in the learning opportunities while in secondary school, trusting possible 'miracles' and 'macetes' (hot tips based on mnemonics, songs, and exam statistics) taught by prep-course teachers. Also, there is a lack of interest; they are very de-motivated by the job market which is completely saturated. We try to motivate them in the classroom, but it is hard to reach our goals when prep-courses promote an ‘easy way in’.

41 Prep-course teachers are also commonly seen on television giving lessons and advice a couple of weeks before the exams. Many have some form of ‘celebrity’ status in the city, contributing to the propagation of the culture.

50

6 – Personal Reflection

This research has been the culmination of two years of part-time study while being a

full-time Physics teacher in a comprehensive secondary school in England. It has been

a difficult process due to innate challenges of studying and working at the same time.

Nevertheless, the study proved to be intellectually stimulating, eye-opening and

immensely rewarding when analysing and putting together all the data collected.

The first visible problem I believe I encountered while thinking, preparing and doing

this work, was the ambition of the data collected. There was an over-estimation on the

amount and type of data needed to write this MRes dissertation, which was not dealt

with accordingly. However, the data collected has been valid and it will also serve as a

starting point for research papers to be written in the future for attempted publication

in Brazilian and world education journals. I believe I have achieved the outcomes I set

out to achieve; nevertheless, it will be paramount that any further work is more

narrowed in scope. The lack of space to present the entire range of the data has made

me more critical in selecting the most important passages, data and statements so as to

have a coherent and direct argument which the reader can satisfactorily comprehend.

The formulation of the instrument of data gathering was particularly challenging as I

was not able to pilot it in Portuguese. The pilot was done in English with English

subjects. A slightly modified version42 was produced and some of the questions used in

it, proved to be inefficient. On the other hand, questions that were designed to provide

a certain answer gave me unexpected results, which actually added value to the

understanding of the different systems and the student population within those schools.

Overall, I believe it gave me satisfactory results which were corroborated with

teachers’ interviews. Also, I felt there were many other issues that were not explored

fully, either due to the lack of space or my own ability to summarise what I believed to

be important. However, I believe I have learnt new skills and have certainly added

them to my academic repertoire.

Producing an adequate literature review was also a demanding endeavour. The

literature on the university-entry exam was extensive, though many not based on actual

42 The Questionnaire can be seen in Appendix 14

51

field research, and finding appropriate materials from particular topics such as prep-

courses required extensive searching skills which had been acquired during the course

and showed to be invaluable. The write up also required appropriate reviewing skills

that have certainly improved during the entire process and it will certainly contribute to

future work as I needed to select only the most important and relevant portions due to

the large number of references used.

Finally, in this work, I have attempted to demonstrate that changing the Admissions

System to Higher Education in Brazil is vital to start solving the giant education puzzle

in a country of continental proportions. Only the promotion of independent field

research may be able to demonstrate Brazil’s real internal reality and influence policy

instead of the proliferation of opinionated and unsubstantiated articles. Otherwise, it

will continue to stutter and fail to help its people to succeed completely.

52

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61

8. Appendixes

62

Appendix 1 – The UFRGS’s University-Entry Exam Explained (Vestibular)

The ‘vestibular’ is the main connection between secondary and tertiary schooling in

Brazil. It is a requirement for any student wishing to access the Federal University of

Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) to pass these standardised tests to compete for a place at

one of the offered courses. Every single student, independent of the course they have

applied for, will take exact same exam and on the same days.

Below is a graph describing the numbers of candidates enrolled per year, while on the

opposite (orange) axis is the total number of vacancies in a given year. The pink line

denotes the number of candidates which have actually competed for a spot at the

university (they have not missed an exam day), making it clear that the pressure and

competition starts even before the exam is taken43.

According to the university’s statute

Art.3rd – ‘The Vestibular examination consists of tests which aim to evaluate students’

acquired knowledge in the subjects of the ‘normal secondary school’, which for this

examination are’:

43There are a number of reasons why they might have missed one of the five (now three) days of examinations which the data alone would not be able to pick up on, reason why it will not be taken into account.

UFRGS - Vestibular Enrolments

4.332

3.561

25

27.5

30

32.5

35

37.5

40

42.5

45

47.5

50

19961997

19981999

20002001

20022003

20042005

20062007

20082009

Th

ou

sa

nd

s#

of

ca

nd

ida

tes

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

Th

ou

sa

nd

sU

FR

GS

Va

can

cie

s

Total Initial Competitors Total Net Competitors (after absences) Total Vacancies

UFRGS Vacancy Growth 1997-2008 = 21.65%

63

Biology Portuguese Language

Physics Portuguese Writing

Chemistry Portuguese Literature

Mathematics Foreign Language

Geography History

As it can be seen, it is a very academic examination. Those students wishing to pursue

subjects like drama or music at university also have to take a ‘specific abilities’

examination, where they need to demonstrate they have the skills to take the course.

Each exam, except for the writing, now consists of 25 questions. Each exam has a

different ‘weight’ depending on the course you have chosen. The foreign language

exam can be in either English, French, German, Italian or French. The standardised

score for each subject is calculated by the following equation:

Then, the “weighted harmonic mean”, which is the “candidates’ argument of

competition” (AC) is calculated:

Furthermore, according to article 8th ‘The candidates will be automatically eliminated

if they fall in any of the following categories:

Where for each individual test:

Ep = Standardised ScoreEb = Candidates’ Gross Test Score μ = Mean score of test (gross)σ = Standard Deviation of the Test

64

A – fail to get at least one question right in each test;

B – fail to achieve at least 30% of all 9 tests overall;

C – whether they have been placed, for the course applied, a position greater than 4

times the number of vacancies for that particular course;

D – obtain in any of the tests taken a ‘standardised score’ equal to/or less than zero;

E – fail to achieve at least 30% in the Portuguese writing test.

There have been recent developments in their policy due to the new government

strategy for access to higher education (appendix 11). The entrance exam is still the

same and it is still valid. However, it now complemented by the new National Exam of

Secondary Education (ENEM) in the following way:

The score achieved by the candidate in the ENEM will be standardised/normalised

based on the average score and the standard deviation of each of the four objective

tests of the ENEM. Then, a score called ‘The Benefit’ will be calculated in order to

add this result to the ‘weighted harmonic mean’.

2

200)500100(

x

Nc

Benefit

If the benefit = 0 or less, then the candidate gains no advantage. The better his result at

the ENEM, the higher his final combined argument will be. A new grade called E10 is

then calculate

E10 = AC + Benefit

Then a new standardised Candidate’s Argument of Competition (AC_new) will be

calculated in the following way:

10

11516

_

EAC

newAC

It is complicated business, but it has been designed to conform with government policy

(appendix 11) and to maximise the result from the normal university-entry exam which

already exists. For example if a student receives a benefit of 300 points (extremely

high as it corresponds to 800 points in the standardised ENEM score), actually it only

Nc =Result from ENEMµ = Mean of the results of the ENEM candidatesσ = Standard Deviation of the results of the candidates of the ENEM

65

corresponds to 13.87 points in the final candidate’s competition argument. Not a huge

amount, but one that can make a difference for extremely competitive courses like

medicine. On the next page is a graph of the overall candidate’s density (total

candidates/total vacancies) per course for the last 10 years.

66

Av

era

ge

De

ns

ity of C

an

did

ate

s p

er C

ou

rse

in

the

'Ve

stib

ula

r' Ex

am

ina

tion

be

twe

en

19

97

-20

07

0.0

0

5.0

0

10

.00

15

.00

20

.00

25

.00

30

.00

35

.00

MusicPhysics

Maths - Bacc.Theater - Lic.

StatisticsVisual Arts - Bacc

Maths Lic. NightSocial Sciences - Day

BiblioteconomyPhilosophy

Languages - BaccMining Eng.

Metallurgical Eng.Geology

Chemistry - Lic. NightEconomy

Geography - DayPhysics - Lic. Night

Maths - Lic. NightSocial Sciences - Night

ChemistryCarthographical Eng.

ArchivologyCivil Eng.

Languages - Lic.Chemical Eng.

AgronomyProduction Eng.

Actuarial SciencesGeography - Night

Material Eng.Industrial Chemistry

Mechanical Eng.Pedagogy

AccountingElectrical Eng.Theater - Bac.History - Day.

Physical Education - Bac.History - Night

Physical Education - Lic.Biological Sciences

Food Eng.Administration

PharmacyPublic Relations

NursingAdministration - Night.

Architecture and UrbanismEnvironmental Eng.

Computational SciencesVeterinary Medicine

Design - ProductOdontologt

Computational Eng.Journalism

Communications and PublicityInternational Relations

NutritionBiomedicine

Judicial Sciences - DayJudicial Sciences - Night

Design - Visual Psychology

Medicine

Average Density of Candidates

67

Appendix 2 – The Brazilian Educational System of Access to Higher Education

Before discussing the theoretical background and methodology employed to address

the issues raised in the research questions above, it is necessary for the readers to have

some understanding of the BES pathway for the access to higher education.

The entire educational system in Brazil has multiple layers and can be confusing to the

uninitiated44 so only the basic details will be dealt with here. After nine years of

primary education (7-14 years old), students normally have three years of secondary

school (15-17 years-old)45. Secondary schooling is mainly structured in two ways:

either a ‘traditional’ or a ‘technical’ (vocational) approach (Sec.Ed.RS, 2009). For this

masters’ dissertation, only the traditional system is discussed as it is the most

widespread in the country, although students that finish the technical school can also

attempt the UEE. As an example, in Porto Alegre46 there are 144 secondary schools

following the traditional route (72 public and 72 private schools) and 42 ‘technical’

schools47 of which only 13 are public and with limited vacancies (SecEd, RS, 2009).

Only about 49% of students between 15-17 years old are actually enrolled in secondary

education (MEC/INEP, 2008)

In terms of the curriculum followed, by law it is not prescriptive and general guidelines

are given in the PCNEM48 about what broad topics it should mainly consist of, called

‘technologies’ (Brazil/Mec 2008), but in practice, each teacher has a great deal of

autonomy (See Chapter 5 – Analysis) to choose whatever topic s/he judges appropriate.

Usually, the main curriculum followed is very academic, which happens to be similar

to the topics asked by many of the entrance examinations. Subjects like Art or Drama

do not exist in the ‘normal’ time-table through the 3 years and one may only find these

either in an afternoon club (usually in private schools) or an external private provider.

44 See below for a detailed diagram of the entire system45 Ages are relative since students may fail to pass to the next grade more than once as well as enter formal education one year earlier. 46 See Appendix 3 for details about Porto Alegre’s location and statistics47 Number of courses offered by these schools are limited48 See appendix 9

68

All Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) are autonomous, meaning they are allowed

to choose their own admissions system. Each IHE has different requirements for their

examinations, either in terms of quantity of topics, number of questions, period of time

allowed to complete it, etc (To certify this statement, all one must do is check the

websites for different universities and download their program of study for the UEE).

This is a nightmare for a student that wishes to try a vacancy in multiple universities.

The UEE can also assume several different forms. Some institutions have recently

introduced the National Examination of Secondary School ENEM49 as either a ‘first

phase’ in the selection process or the grade received as a percentage of the final

admission result (see www.mec.gov.br or www.ufrgs.br ).

Additionally, some universities have used a ‘Serial’ system, where students have to

take examinations at the end of each year of secondary school (i.e. Belmonte, 2008;

Nossa, 1999; Resende, 2000; Schitling, Soares and Bianchetti, 2004). ‘Given the

highly competitive nature of the vestibular[UEE], it is very hard to enter a public

university and receive a free higher education without having previously ... attended a

private [prep-course]’(McCowan, 2007,p.585). Prep-courses are one of the main

consequences of having a single set of examinations to enter higher education and are

common place, specially in urban areas, (there are at least 50 different prep-courses in

the city of Porto Alegre, most will usually target the UFRGS’ UEE). However, many

already have classes targeted for different universities or lessons for specific courses

(i.e. medicine or law; i.e. http://www.universitario.com.br or www.unificado.com.br,

two of the largest prep-courses in the city. [sites in Portuguese]).

This complete disarray of policies only makes it more difficult and confusing for the

student, who is also worrying about his normal, teacher-assessed, school examinations

in order to pass the final year, get his secondary school diploma and then be allowed to

attempt to enter university.

Unfortunately, the misinterpretation and misuse of the concepts of ‘equality’ and

‘democratic’ in the political and academic discourse (McCowan, 2007) ended up

generating a dysfunctional system which has managed to not only become inculcated

in the culture of secondary school students and teachers, but also create an extremely

49 The ENEM was introduced in 2001 and it is not compulsory. See Appendix 4 for full information about the ENEM.

69

profitable industry (i.e. Guimaraes, 1984; Santos 1988, Veja, 2009). As an example of

this misuse, in the document released by the Ministry of Education and the National

Council of Education (CNE) about the regularisation of the Selective Process for the

access to undergraduate courses in IHE, they explicitly use the argument that because

the ENEM has a single content for the whole of Brasil and it offers a parameterised

measure of the topics dominated by all possible candidates to higher education, it is

therefore an instrument which is technically secure and therefore is universally equal

and democratic (MEC/CNE 1999, p.5-6). They also claim, without giving references,

that ‘several researches have demonstrated that the lack of equity in the access to

higher education is not a direct consequence of the process of selection, but of the

socio-economic conditions of the context of the origin of the candidates and of the

inequities in the previous levels of education’(p.7). It is very easy to blame it on the

socio-economic backgrounds and yet remain oblivious of this fact when selecting

students to higher education. If the government is aware of this differences, it should

address it in its education policy of admissions instead of wanting a ‘single measure

fits all’ process.

To make matters more difficult, there is a range of different institutions of higher

education in Brazil 50 , of extreme variable quality, possibly making the Higher

Educational system one of the most complexes in the world. For more details on the

city of Porto Alegre and its secondary education situation, please refer to appendix 8.

Comparisson with the English Qualification system (source: The British Council)

Below is a table produced by the British Council in an attempt to compare both

educational systems.

50 See appendix 5 for an explanation of the different types of institutions

70

As it can be seen, the British Council also uses the ages 15-17 as the official secondary

school age. However, there is a mistake on the British side, as GCSE students start at

the age of 13/14, depending on the school and attend school up to the age of 16 and

then advance to GCE’s until the age of 18/19. Also, current developments in Brazilian

Primary Education mean that student now start at the age of 6 and must attend 9 years

of primary education.

71

Appendix 3 – About the city of Porto Alegre

Where is it?

Porto Alegre is the 10th largest city in Brazil(2008). It is the capital of the state of Rio

Grande do Sul, which is the southernmost state.

City of Porto Alegre Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre

(pictures from Wikipedia)

The city of Porto Alegre has a population of about 1.66 million people, while the

metropolitan region comprises of around 4.16 million.

Demographics

The population in Porto Alegre is divided as follows (source: PNAD/IBGE 2007):

White (80.7%)

Pardo (Brown) (10.7%)

Black (8%)

Asian or Ameridian (0.6%)

Porto Alegre has a population literacy rate of 96.55%, one of the highest in Brazil and

a GDP per Capita (2006) of R$ 20,900 (around US$ 11,000 in 2009 exchange rates).

[Source: FEE-RS]

72

Appendix 4 – The National Exam of Secondary Education (ENEM) explained

For the past 11 years until 2008, the ENEM used to be a single exam with 63 multiple

choice questions of an interdisciplinary nature and not related to the National

Curricular Parameters (PCN). Also it had one portuguese writing question. The

examination was not compulsory and was not comparable from year on year. Its main

purpose was for public school students and those of disadvantage backgrounds to

compete for a private university scholarship/funding from the government.

In May 2009, the Ministry of Education decided to change the ENEM in an attempt

‘to reform the secondary school curriculum’. The new ENEM has 45 multiple choice

questions in each of the four different areas of knowledge called ‘technologies’: Maths,

Portuguese Language, Sciences and Humanities. The INEP (National Institute for

Studies and Research in Education), a government body, has decided to use a statistical

analysis called Theory of Item Response, in order to make the ENEM comparable year

on year.

The ENEM will now be assuming a rather more compulsory nature, since it will be

used in the access to higher education. More about the details of the new developments

of this new access system can be read in Appendix 11.

73

Appendix 5 – Types of Institutions of Higher Education

Below is a table illustrating the number and types of Institutions of Higher Education

in the country, in the State and in the State Capital (Porto Alegre)

Brazil Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre

Type of Institution Public Private Total Public Private Total Public Private

Total

University 96 87 183 7 11 18 3 1 4University Centres 6 116 122 0 6 6 0 2 2Integrated Faculty 4 124 128 0 3 3 0 1 1Faculty 66 1408 1474 0 52 52 0 14 14Technology Faculty 38 150 188 2 12 14 0 5 5Institute/School of Higher Education 15 314 329 0 10 10 0 4 4Centre of Technology Education 33 0 33 3 0 3 0 0 0Total number of IHE 258 2199 2457 12 94 106 3 27 30

Source: INEP,2008, http://www.educacaosuperior.inep.gov.br/funcional/busca_instituicao.stmIt is important to remember that there are more institutions on the surrounding cities and towns whichalso serve the population of Porto Alegre. The Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre has 30 other towns.with a total population of about 2.5 million people, bringing the total to 4 million people.

Universities

They are multidisciplinary institutions, public or private, to form professionals of

“higher level”. They develop regular activities or teaching, research and

“extension”/outreach.

Specialised Universities

They are IHE, public or private, specialised in a “knowledge-field”. I.e. Health

Sciences, Social Sciences, etc, in which they develop regular activities or teaching,

research and “extension”/outreach in basic and/or applied areas.

74

University Centres

They are IHE, public or private, multicurricular, which must offer high level learning

and opportunities for the qualification of its professional cohort and conditions of work

to the learning/school community.

Integrated Faculties and Faculties

They are IHE, public or private, with curricular proposals in more than one

“knowledge area”, organised under the same regiment and command, with the

objective to form professionals of “higher level”. It is allowed to minister courses of

various types: sequential, undergraduate, graduate and extension. Does not have to

develop research activities.

Institute/Schools of Higher Education

They are IHE, public or private with the goal of ministering courses of various types:

sequential, undergraduate, graduate and extension.

Centres of Technological Education

They are institutions specialised in technology/vocational qualifications, public or

private, with the goal to qualify professionals in higher level courses in technological

applications to the various sectors of the economy and produce research and

development of new technological processes, products and services, in strict

articulation with the productive sectors and society, offering mechanisms for

continued(further) education.

Source: MEC/INEP 2008. Available at

http://www.educacaosuperior.inep.gov.br/educacao_superior.stm

Types of Courses

Sequential Courses: Up to two years of study to obtain or update tecnical/professional

or academic qualifications. There are two types: Specific or Complementary.

Undergraduate: Courses of up to 4 years of study to obtain either a Baccalaureate (i.e.

Physics), Licentiate (i.e. Teacher of Physics) or Technical (i.e. Hotel Management)

75

Diploma. The Baccalaurate allow the holder to exert a profession which demands a

Higher level study and the Licentiate is specific for Teaching in Primary or Secondary

Schools.

Graduate Studies: They may be “lato-sensu” or “stricto sensu”. Lato-sensu are

courses of specialisation, MBA’s or equivalent, usually lasting one and a half years

with a minimum time of 360 hours. Strito-sensu is a Masters or Doctoral degree lasting

between 2 to 5 years with an academic/research focus.

Source: MEC/INEP, 2008

Available at : http://www.educacaosuperior.inep.gov.br/tipos_de_curso.stm

76

Appendix 6 – Prep-Courses in Porto Alegre

There are several types of pre-courses. Depending on the duration of the chosen

module they can be ‘extensive’, ‘semi-extensive’, ‘intensive’ or ‘revision’. Also, prep-

courses offer specialised and more expensive with longer hours and smaller classes to

those wishing to take Medicine or Law, which are more prestigious courses and harder

to ‘get in’. Two main modalities exist: one may take all CV subjects at once or choose

subjects one either feels ‘weaker’ or has a greater ‘weighing’ for the course they wish

to enter. Prices in private pre-courses vary considerably, depending on popularity, size,

target-group, location, period of the day, length of course, etc. Also, prices vary

slightly if you pay “on the spot” or in instalments and how you pay it: cash, cheque,

credit card, etc. Below is a table to compare two of the most well known and expensive

courses in Porto Alegre.

Cost in Reals (R$) of Semi-Extensive Prep Course

Morning Afternoon/Night Books

PV 1 5,597.00 3,572.00 480.00

PV 2 4,320.00 2.812.00 590.00

PV3 1,378.00 1,203.00 0

PV4 1,350.00 1,350.00 0

Prices are correct as of May 2008. PV2' s price is for internet enrolment.This particular courses lasts for 4h/day. 5day/week, 7 months of the year £1.00 = R$3.35

PV1 has 4 branches in Porto Alegre and PV2 has 3, PV1 also has 3 more branches

in ‘satellite-towns’ around Porto Alegre. PV3 and PV4 are prep-courses targeted to

the working class in the city centre.

At last count, there were 37 private prep-courses, though many only have certain

subjects. Also, there are many pre-vestibular tutors, who teach individual private

lessons that are not being taken into account. Also there are 13 community prep-

courses. These are free for disadvantaged people (admission is means-tested) wishing

to try the entrance-exam. Usually teachers are volunteers and teaching students and

numbers of students attending is much smaller. Community prep-courses are usually

also concerned with integration and inclusion issues.

77

Appendix 7 – Qualitative Analysis Codes

Once the process of choosing key words was developed and the idea of having

‘headline’ summaries for each passage, it was important to construct a matrix with

these headlines. They have been, at first, separated between public school and private

school teacher. The motivation for this particular separation arises from the need to

explore differences, similarities and contradictions in their discourse and asses the

impact the other 13 interviews done for this MRes dissertation. The current list appears

below:

Public School

1. Teachers have a degree of independence for curriculum choice;

2. Teacher Professionalism in recognising the necessity to embed teaching about

the university entry exam;

3. Prep-courses impact on school teacher pedagogy;

4. Teacher conflict due to demand from students about the university-entry exam

5. Certain ‘official’ curricular freedom as there is no demand from the school on

what to teach specifically;

6. Influence of university-entry exam on teachers ‘behaviour’ demanding

adaptation of [resources and] assessment in the classroom to cater for students

needs;

7. Freedom of content choice contrasted by examination pressure;

8. Clear difference between prep-course, secondary school and university-entry

exam in teachers minds;

Private School

9. Parental demand vs. Parental misunderstanding;

10. Professional conflict between education and exam preparation;

11. Student demand leads to specialised solution in exam preparation

12. Recognition of the existence of an internal conflict of schools’ personal ideals

and marketised ones;

13. Student preference for leading universities, pressure from students on teachers

about university-entry exam

14. School ‘restrictions’ on certain teaching resources, teachers have partial

autonomy

15. Parental concern and conflict with new examination (ENEM)

78

The most important issue at hand is to take extreme precaution by ensuring that each of

those codes are represented in the transcript so as ‘not to allow the researcher’s own

bias distort the selective process’ (Smith, Jarman and Osborn 1999, p.223).

Categories

Segmenting the data is extremely useful when one has several interviews which to

analyse. The project currently being undertaken has 15 such interviews that, hopefully,

will benefit from the ‘headlining’ and categorising involved in this process. When

looking for categories I have tried to find common ideas or a certain connection

between the headlines.

Categories and Themes(Codes)Category Themes

Parental Involvement

9. Parental demand vs. Parental misunderstanding; 15. Parental concern and conflict with new examination (ENEM)

Student Demand

4. Teacher conflict due to demand from students about the university entry exam;

11. Student demand leads to specialised solution in exam preparation

13. Student preference for leading universities, pressure from students on teachers about university-entry exam

School’s Ideals 5. Certain ‘official’ curricular freedom as there is no demand from the school on what to teach specifically;

12. Recognition of the existence of an internal conflict of schools’ personal ideals and marketised ones;

14. School ‘restrictions’ on certain teaching resources, teachers have partial autonomy

Teachers Independence vs Conflict of Ideals

1. Teachers have a degree of independence for curriculum choice;

4. Teacher conflict due to demand from students about the university entry exam

5. Certain ‘official’ curricular freedom as there is no demand from the school on what to teach specifically;

8. Clear difference between prep-course, secondary school and university-entry exam in teachers minds;

10. Professional conflict between education and exam preparation

14. School ‘restrictions’ on certain teaching resources, teachers have partial autonomy

79

University Entry-Exam and Prep Courses

2. Teacher Professionalism in recognising the necessity to embed teaching about the university-entry exam;

3. Prep-courses impact on school teacher pedagogy6. Influence of university-entry exam on teachers ‘behaviour’

demanding adaptation of [resources and] assessment in the classroom to cater for students needs;

7. Freedom of content choice contrasted by examination pressure;

8. Clear difference between prep-course, secondary school and university-entry exam in teachers minds;

10. Professional conflict between education and exam preparation;

11. Student demand leads to specialised solution in exam preparation

13. Student preference for leading universities, pressure from students on teachers about university-entry exam

At first, the categories on the left (see table above) were developed thinking about the

most common features in the data while on the second column the headlines which

were thought to correspond to each heading were selected. It is important to note that

some headlines are used in more than one category, showing the interrelationship

between them. The numbers next to the code correspond to the numbers given above,

where statements 1 – 8 are from a public school teacher and 9 – 15 are from a private

school teacher. The category names have changed once or twice in order to

accommodate the range of headlines available for the interviews analysed.

Source: De Carvalho, Roussel (2009) Qualitative Data Analysis. Unpublished

Coursework, Institute of Education.

80

Appendix 8 – Data from Secondary Education in Porto Alegre

Ps: in 2008/2009 the number of private secondary schools has grown to 72.

Growth of Secondary Schools in Porto Alegre, RS. (source: FEE/RS 2007)

37

72

70

53

30

40

50

60

70

80

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

To

tal

Nu

mb

er

of

Sec. S

ch

oo

ls

Private Sec. Schools Public Sec. Schools

Net Growth Public Schools: 26.4 %

Net Growth Private Schools: 47.2 %

Education Establishments in Porto Alegre,RS

(source:FEE/INEP 2007)

70

3

72

27

37*

13*

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

12007/2008

To

tal N

um

be

r o

f E

sta

blish

me

nts

Public Sec. Schools

Private Sec. Schools

Public Universities

Private Institutions ofHigher Education

Private Prep-Courses

Free CommunityPrep-Courses

* Estimates: 2008

81

Total Number of Teachers Secondary Schools*(source: FEE-RS)

1.534

0.985

2.864

2.664

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Th

ou

sa

nd

s

Year

To

tal

Nu

mb

er

of

Te

ach

ers

Private Sch. Teachers Public Sch. Teachers

*32.7% Private School teachers teach in more than one school (source: SINPRO/RS – 2006)

Net Growth 1991-2006: 7%

Net Growth 1991-2006: 36%

Pupil Enrolment Secondary Education (14-17) 1991-2007 in Porto Alegre, RS.

(source: FEE-RS/MEC/INEP-2007)

12.01914.059

30.681

43.169

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Th

ou

sa

nd

s

# o

f p

up

ils

en

roll

ed

Private Public

Net growth of students enrolled in secondary

public schools: 29%

Net decrease of students enrolled in

secondary private schools: 17%

82

Number of Students Finishing Secondary Education in Porto Alegre

(source:FEE-2007)

4.308

3.411

5.837

4.257

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Th

ou

sa

nd

s

Year

To

tal N

um

ber

of

Stu

den

ts

Private School Public School

Students Accessing Institutes of Higher Educationin Rio Grande do Sul, 2006

11.4

0.6 2.2

64.7

4.6

40.0

-

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Vestibular Other Selective Processes* Other Forms of Acess**

Th

ou

sa

nd

s

To

tal

Nu

mb

er

of

Stu

den

ts E

nte

rin

g IH

E

Public IHE Private IHE

* National Exam of Secondary School (ENEM), Serial Evaluation of Secondary School and other types of selection** Internal Change of Course, Transference (from other IHE no ex-officio ), Transference ex-offício , International agreements, Admission of student with previous HE diploma. Re-opening of enrolment and other types of acess Source: MEC /

80 % of the access in public instiututions of Higher Education in Rio Grande do Sul is through a single set of examinations: the vestibular

Only 4% is selected through other processes.

83

The results below indicate the results of secondary school students in the ENEM

in 2007.

Secondary Educational National Examination

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

BRASIL STATE PORTO ALEGRE

Th

ou

sa

nd

s

Me

an

Sc

ore

Public Schools Private Schools

84

Appendix 9 – LDB (Education Law of Directives and Basis) & PCN (National Curricular Parameters)

The LDB has been updated over the years (the last time in 1996 with later additions

and amendments) and it attempts to lay down the principles which should guide the

educational establishments in Brazil. However, it is an out-dated conglomerate of

idealism and utopia and it does not serve education any justice. For example, the third

article of title number two (On principles and ends of national education) states that

education will be:

‘I - in equality of conditions of access and permanence in school’

‘IX – guarantee of the quality of standards’

In Porto Alegre, many public schools do not have enough vacancies for all the students

wishing to study. Schools in poor neighbourhoods have much less resources (books,

teaching staff, etc) and are not on a par with other public schools. All one must do is

look at the results from the ENEM over the years.

With respect to secondary schooling the law, Arto.36 speculates that

‘I – it should encourage the basics of technological education, the comprehension of

science, of the languages and arts, the historical processes of transformation in our

society and of its culture, portuguese language as an instrument of communication,

access to knowledge and exercise of citizenship’

Unfortunately, during secondary education, technology is only taught in specialist

schools. Normal secondary public and private schools have a strictly academic

curriculum. The vast majority of schools do not have science labs. Only the rich

private schools have them. However, lessons within the lab happen usually once a

month as there is, usually, only one to share either between all subjects, or one per

subjects for all years of secondary schools. The teaching of Art is mainly restricted to

primary schools. Very few are the schools which have Art in secondary school, as it is

not a subject of the entrance exam. There are no music or drama lessons either in the

conventional curriculum. Occasionally some schools offer it as an extra-curricular

activity in the afternoon, usually a paid activity.

85

The Brazilian law on education goes on to explain what it expects of all levels of

education and other dispositions. It also establishes the how education should be

financed. It establishes on ‘Title VII – on the financial resources’ , in Art. 69 that

‘I – The Union [The Brazilian Government] will apply, annually, never less than

eighteen , and the states, federal district and municipals, twenty-five per cent or what is

established in the respective constitutions or organic laws, of the amount collected in

taxes, taking into account the constitutional transfers, in the maintenance and

development of public education’

According to INEP, in 2006 the country invested only 4.3% of the country’s GDP. In

the OECD paper ‘Education at a Glance 2008’, it is clear that Brazil does not seem to

take its education very seriously, in spite of increase in investments. OECD countries

have an average of US$ 7,736 annually while Brazil spends US$1,186, which is 5

times lower. In 2008, Brazil spent 4.4% of its GDP while the average in OECD

countries is 6.1%. One of the greatest problems in Brazilian education is the poor

allocation of resources. Brazil has the highest investment in tertiary education.

According to the paper,

‘…of all countries compared, Brazil still has the highest proportion of expenditure on each tertiary student relative to GDP per capita (108%), followed by Mexico, Switzerland, the United States and the partner country Chile, which spend more than 50% of GDP per capita on each tertiary student, but still have an expenditure about half the size of Brazil’s. Though, in Brazil, tertiary students represent less than 3% of the students enrolled in all levels of education combined’

(OECD 2008, p.9)

Therefore, there is a massive gap in educational investment in a country with the size

of Brazil where there are still many schools without electricity.

The PCNEM’s

Differently to what one may think, the Brazilian secondary school curriculum, is not

‘official’. The legal document called PCNEM is conceived as ‘orientations’ for the

implementation of ‘competencies and abilities’ thought to be needed in secondary

school. On page 13 it states:

86

‘The group of these new contents will not consist of a unique list of topics which could be taken as a minimum(base) curriculum, because it is simply a proposal, not compulsory nor unique, of a ample vision of the work in each discipline. Under such perspective, learning is conducted in a way that the disciplinary knowledge, with its specific nomenclature, do not separate themselves from the understanding of its language, as well as the practical knowledge, how to equate and resolve real problems, in a way, they are also associated with a vision of the world. In this proposal, therefore, competences and knowledge are developed together and reinforce themselves’

(Brasil/MEC 2008, PCNEM )

The document continues separating the sciences into different disciplines and within

each discipline, it breaks up into areas of knowledge, with recommendation on what it

should consist of. However, it does not give detailed statements of what students

should know, which is something that entrance-exam curriculum program does. .

Moreover, if one compares Brazilian Education policy documents with the ones

produced by the DfES or QCA, one quickly notices surprising differences, especially

on what concerns the delivery of ideas. The Brazilian documents are long, with large

sentences with many technical words and does not seem fit to its audience. The use of

rhetorical flourishes undermines the central message and the same is true of its

examinations, like the ENEM, which is the topic of Appendix 11.

87

Appendix 10 – Data Analysis using the official secondary education age bracket

The official age bracket for secondary education, used in all government policy

documents, includes only students between the ages of 15-17. However, in Brazilian

Education, students may repeat or skip one or more years depending on achievement,

meaning students can finish earlier or later than those ages, reason why it is extremely

hard to have reliable statistics about secondary education in Brazil. As an example,

according to the School Census of 2001, 53.3% of Brazilian students between the age

of 15-17 were actually enrolled in secondary education. However, according to OECD,

78% of Brazilians between 15-19 were enrolled in school while the vast majority were

still in primary education, due to several grade repetitions(MEC/INEP 2004b, p.20).

This is another reason why it was decided to use students up to 18 years old in the

official analysis in chapter 5, and also for possible comparative issues with England.

Nevertheless, it was decided to present here what the data would look like, if the

official age were used.

Total Candidates Approved by Age Group

Age Group 2001 2003 2005 2007 17 or Less 21.6% 20.9% 19.9% 21.5%18 to 24 61.1% 62.4% 63.4% 61.5%25 or Above 17.3% 16.6% 16.8% 17.0%

Total number of candidates enrolled by type of schools per year

Type of School 2001 2003 2005 2007

Public School 49.20% 51.91% 49.08% 44.12%

Private School 50.80% 48.09% 50.92% 55.88%

Candidates Approved by year per type of school

2001 2003 2005 2007Public School 39.42% 41.22% 39.80% 35.35%Private School 60.58% 58.78% 60.20% 64.55%

Enrolled Candidates - UFRGS exam (on average, 65% are from Porto Alegre

Age 2001 2003 2005 200717 or Less 23.9% 25.9% 26.6% 29.7%18 to 24 59.6% 58.1% 57.3% 55.2%25 or Above 16.5% 16.0% 16.1% 15.1%

88

Candidates by age group per type of school per year

2001 2003

Age Group Eliminated Approved Eliminated Approved

Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private

17 or Less 33.30%66.70% 19.80% 80.20%36.30%63.70%21.30% 78.70%

18 to 24 52.80%47.20% 39.80% 60.20%56.10%43.90%41.90% 58.10%

25or Above 65.50%34.50% 62.60% 37.40%69.80%30.20%64.00% 36.00%

2005 2007

Age Group Eliminated Approved Eliminated Approved

Public Private Public Private Public Private Public Private

17 or Less 34.00%66.00% 23.10% 76.90%31.20%68.80%17.60% 82.40%

18 to 24 52.90%47.10% 40.30% 59.70%47.50%52.50%35.00% 65.00%

25 or Above 68.50%31.50% 58.40% 41.60%66.20%33.80%59.20% 40.80%

89

OVERALL Candidates that have or have not done a prep-course

2001 2003 2005 2007

No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes

Eliminated 42.9% 57.1% 41.4% 58.6% 41.3% 58.7% 43.2% 56.8%

Approved 22.7% 77.3% 23.9% 76.1% 23.3% 76.7% 25.8% 74.2%

Candidate situation by age group and whether or not a prep-course was taken

2001 2003 2005 2007

No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes17 or LessEliminated 59.9% 40.1% 60.1% 39.9% 63.7% 36.3% 65.3% 34.7%Approved 36.7% 63.3% 41.8% 58.2% 40.9% 59.1% 43.7% 56.3%

18 to 24Eliminated 34.2% 65.8% 31.4% 68.6% 29.2% 70.8% 29.3% 70.7%Approved 13.8% 86.2% 14.0% 86.0% 13.3% 86.7% 14.2% 85.8%

25 or AboveEliminated 49.5% 50.5% 46.7% 53.3% 45.7% 54.3% 48.2% 51.8%Approved 36.5% 63.5% 38.9% 61.1% 40.1% 59.9% 45.0% 55.0%

90

Can

didates b

y Age G

roup

, Typ

e of Sch

ool and

Prep

-Cou

rse per Y

ear

91

The data when presented in this manner, demonstrates greater disparities between the age

groups than if the other age group were used. In this light, more arguments could be made

against the university-entry exam and its potential influences on the entire local

community. It remains clear that the prep-course industry is a major player in all age

groups and types of school. All this data brings to light the disturbing reality of Brazilian

secondary education and its progression.

92

Appendix 11 – Recent developments in the Brazilian policy of admissions to higher education: The New ENEM.

In May 2009, the Brazilian Government decided to send a new proposal to federal

universities in an attempt to change the admissions system. Their intent is to increase the

‘democratisation’ of opportunities to higher education, to centralise the examinations as

well as improve student mobility within the country (i.e. study in different states). Their

proposal also has the goal of changing the secondary school curriculum in the expectation

that schools will align their curriculum with the requirements of the new ENEM by

‘valuing the academic contents pertinent to secondary school’ (MEC/SES 2009).

In their first draft, the Ministry proposed that all universities used only the new ENEM as

the instrument to select students to universities, which is a group of four examinations of

45 multiple-choice questions and a portuguese writing exam. However, federal university

rectors were not happy about this. The government and rectors started negotiations and

agreed on a final proposal which will already be in use from 2009.

In its final form, the new ENEM proposal has become diluted and as further away as

possible from what the government intended. The new ENEM can now be used by federal

universities in the following ways, according to their wishes:

1 – As the only examination used to select students (like the original)

2 – As a ‘first phase’ of selection, but students would still take the university-entry exam

3 – As a percentage of the final argument of competition of the student, combined with

the university’s own entrance exam.

4 – As the only examination to select students for the vacancies that haven’t been filled.

Federal universities are opting mainly for options two and three, although some will use

option one. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul has chosen option three, which

means students still need to take the original university entry exam which has not changed

at all. As described in Appendix 4, the actual value of the new ENEM when compared

with the original exam is extremely small, although for very competitive courses where

the difference between candidates’ scores are minimal, it is likely to make a difference.

93

Appendix 12 - The Interview and Coding Processes

Semi-structured interviews were carried out as it is reasonably flexible, allowing the

researcher to explore other topics that may come up during the interview while still

having his main questions and objectives adressed. The interviews were short in length

(about 15 minutes) mainly due to certain obstacles imposed by the schools51. Locations

where the interviews took place varied from school to school, depending on the day and

time they happened.

Below is a description of the step-by-step procedure I undertook as described in De

Carvalho (2009):

Firstly, I listened to the interview twice before transcribing them so as to get to

grips with its structure and content;

Secondly, the transcription process started. It was decided not to transcribe pauses,

interruptions or tone as the main concern is with the content of teachers’ responses

and its meaning. However, it is important to realise that,

‘verbatim data is much mediated by the presence of the researcher,

what she chooses to ask, the way she asks it, how she leads the

conversation, how she frames the interview event….[and] how she

interprets what she selects…’.

(Holliday 2007, p.61)

This means that coding of such data must be carefully considered as not to be

influenced by the inherent biases in the researcher’s framework. For example, it is

important to allow as far as possible the codes to surface from the texts and not

bring pre-conceived codes based on what the researcher believes is what he wants

from the data.

51 Even after months of communication certain schools did not know I was coming, or had not arranged for teachers to be fully released from the classroom. The schools’ lack of information in spite of all the information sent was the main problem.

94

Thirdly, the process of translation began. All interviews were done in Portuguese.

This meant a proof-reading session (reading the transcript while listening to the

interview) and then translating the interview. All the ‘slang’ and local terms used

in the interview had to be noted, put into context and the best English alternative

found. On occasions, translated sentences had to be slightly longer or shorter in

order to accommodate for the meaning of the Portuguese sentence. A lot of effort

was put in place in order for the ‘strength of the statement’ to be kept the same,

where the intention and meaning were kept as close as possible to the original.

Below is an example of a teacher statement with translation when asked about the

university-entry exam and the schools perception’s on it:

Teacher: - porque ele tá and se isso não acontece, a escola perde no

mercado. E a escola particular, ela tem que ser competitiva também, então

a gente fica num conflito entre o que a gente acredita e o que a gente

precisa preparar o nosso aluno, porque principalmente quando eles chegam

no terceiro ano eles nos cobram isso.

Teacher: Because it exists [the UEE] and if this doesn’t happen, the

school loses out in the market. And the private school needs to be

competitive, so we [teachers/senior leaders] enter this conflict between

what we believe in and what we need in order to prepare our students,

because, especially when they reach the third [last] year they demand this.

Eventually, some of the interviews followed on a ‘tangent’ on different topics

which were not translated as they were deemed to be not relevant to the research.

Therefore, a selective translation process took place.

After this process was completed, the interview transcripts were read once again. Key

words were highlighted and initial thoughts on the general central themes of the

interviews started. Below is the description of the coding process with appropriate

examples.

95

The Coding Process

Describing the coding process, Coffey and Atkinson (1996) argue that it is ‘a way of

generating concepts from and with our data’ (p.26) which ‘reflects our analytical ideas’

(p.27) and ‘enables the researcher to identify meaningful data and set the stage for

interpreting and drawing conclusions’ (p.27). Furthermore, it is vital to maintain the focus

while transcribing. This is particularly significant in this case, as interviews went through

a translation process, where there is always a risk of “data contamination”. It is vital to

attempt to keep what seems to be the original meaning, whatever the style of interview or

the researcher-bias in his mother-language translation preferences, especially with

‘difficult’ words. To eliminate this, I searched for a group of words that could have the

same meaning, wrote the sentence again and checked for internal consistency.

Example of transcript with Key codes and themes from a Portuguese Language teacher

from a ‘working/middle class’ public school when asked about whether the university-

exam curriculum was imposed by the school on them in order to teach in the classroom

(De Carvalho, 2009).

Key Code

Words:

Autonomy

Freedom

Trust

Interchange

Teacher: There is nothing imposed on us, we have

autonomy in the classroom. The classroom is ours.

And I think this is something good because when

we have that autonomy and freedom you become

more motivated and it means people trust you.

Because from the moment you enter the classroom,

the senior leadership team trusts your judgement

and they know that we will have this interchange

between the classroom and the university-entry

exams.

Key Themes:

A degree of

Independence for

curriculum choice.

Professionalism in

recognising the

necessity to embed

teaching about the

university entry

exam

It is imperative to explain that, ‘the term coding encompasses a variety of approaches to

and ways of organising qualitative data,….generating concepts [that] have important

functions in enabling us [to] rigorously review what our data are saying’ (Coffey and

Atkinson 1996, p.27). Not only that, the researcher will always be in control of which

aspects to highlight as well as how detailed it should be (Coffey and Atkinson 1996),

96

which is one more reason for taking extreme precautions while coding translated

interviews. Once the process of choosing key code and themes were developed, it was

important to construct a matrix with these themes52 to which passages of the interviews

could be associated with for easy reference in the analysis chapter.

52 See Appendix 7 for a list of codes generated.

97

Appendix 13 - The Institutionalised State and Institutional Habitus

The Government and the upper/middle-classes in Brazil have, ‘inadvertently’, established

what Bourdieu calls the ‘institutionalised state’ (Bourdieu, 1986). Brazilian society’s

socio-cultural capital has been thoroughly commodified in the form of academic

qualifications, transforming the university degree into a ‘mythical entity’ (Castelo Branco,

2004). In Brazil, the job market puts the university degree in a pedestal, making it the

main route towards getting a reasonable pay in the world of work. Public (free) vocational

options are extremely limited and the private sector is expensive, albeit most are

reasonably respected amongst employers.

Bourdieu understands that the status of certain types of jobs – in Brazil called Liberal

Professions – (i.e. Macedo, 2005) can alter due to the ‘democratisation’ of access to these

jobs (Robbins, 2004). To a certain degree, this has been happening in Brazil through a

type of higher education voucher system (Catani, Hey and Gilioli, 2006). However, as the

UEE has remained the same for an exceptionally long time; it has created a certain degree

of cultural acceptance of the different modes of academic choice ‘allowed’ to students,

making the process of selection extremely difficult to change. This attempt at

modification of the field and the habitus by, for example, heavily promoting the access of

public school leavers and afro-descendents to private universities – which have an easier

CV and have a lower density of candidates53 – through a system of grants as a means to

try to neutralise the social inequalities has been given little thought about the source of the

reproduction and selectivity caused by a poorly maintained educational system.

Another issue that must be raised if there is an intention of forming a different type of

field is the retention and maintenance of these students in such institutions once they are

accepted in the fee-funding program or even the introduction of ‘quotas’ for these

students in the UEE. (i.e. Andrade and Dachs, 2007; Azevedo, 2004, Benevides, 2004)

since, as Bernstein (1992) argues, drop-out rates are class related to, and in part reflects,

the types of capitals which (low) working class students bring to bear in the field of

Higher Education as well as the potential disparities between ‘dominant’ and ‘legitimate’

pedagogies and students’ prior experience and access to ‘realisation and recognition rules’.

53 Density of Candidates = total number of candidates / total number of vacancies (also calculated per individual course)

98

My work about the Brazilian system of admissions to higher education also attempts to

understand what is involved in the social selectivity, which happens in the academic and

social institutions together with the relationship with the current status of post-secondary

choice in Brazil. As well as how this ‘culture of the vestibular’ (re)produces students’

‘cultural and social capital, material constrains (see Reay at all, 2002), social perceptions

and distinctions, and forms of self-exclusion (Bourdieu, 1990a)’ (Reay, David and Ball,

2005, p.29).

The failure in not attempting to drastically alter the field in which students’ and teachers’

habituses operate – by: a) not having regulated compulsory secondary schooling up to the

age of 16; b) not having an certain alignment between university-entry requirements and

secondary school and c) allowing the continuation of a set of examinations (i.e. the

university-entry exam) which has certified the Brazilian social exclusion process – could

potentially damage the future of Brazilian education as these issues have the power to

influence the environment within institutional habituses, which,

‘…constitute a complex amalgam of agency and structure and could be

understood as the impact of a cultural group [ - the brazilian government - ]

or social class [- the brazilian upper/middle classes - ] on an individual’s

behaviour as it is mediated through an organisation – [the brazilian

universities] (McDougal, 1997)’

(ibid, p.36)

Secondary schools themselves can be conceived as having different institutional habituses

with the ability to manipulate students’ perceptions of, not only higher education, but also

what the job market is after. The actual location of schools within the city, as well as, for

example, the physical state of classrooms54, as well as their history and iconography can

be potential factors which build upon the institutional habitus and help determine, even if

subconsciously, students future destinations post-secondary schooling. This is because,

‘…agents [(students) that are] subjected to very different conditions of

existence and endowed by this fact with very different, or even divergent,

54 When I visited one school in an disadvantaged area of the city, the room had graffiti all over the walls, including strong swear words.

99

systems of dispositions (habitus), yet occupying … different field

positions… can… seize the opportunity … to advance their own claims or

defend their own interests’

(Bourdieu, 1988, p.175)

100

Appendix 14 – Developing the Questionnaire

Preparing a student questionnaire requires detailed research about types and number of

questions and the style of the instrument which will answer my research questions. In

order to discover students’ attitudes and understandings, it was decided to rely upon a

principle detailed by de Vaus (2002);

‘ We can learn more [about a person’s attitude] by asking how

extreme their view is…, [by] provid[ing] a statement that

expresses a[n] [extreme] position …and asking them to say how

strongly they agree or disagree with it’.

This idea drove a search for ‘extreme’ or strong statements which would indicate the

direction of students’ attitudes or understandings about the impacts of the culture of

the vestibular on them. For example, one of the statements chosen was: ‘The

University-Entry Exam (Concurso Vestibular) MUST be abolished’. The preference for

intense words like must and abolished relies on the assumption that students have

somewhat inculcated view about this exam – which has been around for over 70 years

– and are willing to express it. The concept of having an assertion of extreme attitude

requiring the student to take a position should show their perceptions on the exam. A

strong view on this question associated with other data collected could potentially

show the impact that the Vestibular might have on students ‘academic career’.

To complete the task, a Likert Scale with r = 5 was chosen as the scaling apparatus,

due to its ‘technique for attitude measurement [where] [a]n individual is confronted

with statements which are essentially value judgements. The value judgements may

concern the individual’s reflections of reality or the individual’s …. dispositions’(Gob

et al., 2007, p. 604). Additionally, I made the decision to break down the questionnaire

in to sections with different items. This would allow me to measure the direction not

only within sections, but also the overall direction of the questionnaire.

In order to try to cater for the myriad of personal philosophies and to reach a good

questionnaire balance, the statements alternated between belief, attitude, behaviour and

knowledge (de Vaus, 2002) and all were carefully checked and re-checked for

101

grammar, inclusiveness or exclusiveness of the respondents; whether it was a leading

question or a double-barrelled (if yes, they were modified) and especially if it was

sensitive to variation, because ‘if our questions do not pick up actual variation in the

sample then the information obtained will be of no use at the data analysis stage’(de

Vaus, 2002, p. 96). Another issue highlighted by de Vaus is the use of a pilot in order

to reduce non-response rates which are ‘affected by question content, question

construction, method administration and questionnaire length’ (p.97).

Population and Sample

According to Gorard (2001), population is the group which one decides to study and

the sample is the subgroup which is actually involved in the research. The results

obtained from the sample are the ones we (might) wish to generalise to the entire

population. Because I am interested in last-year students’ of secondary the ‘first’

population is the total number of students in all (144) secondary schools in the city of

Porto Alegre, Brazil. But ultimately, a small sample of those students was chosen.

Letters of presentation with a description of the research and its aims and a short

school questionnaire were sent to all schools, inviting them to participate and allow me

to go into the classroom.

Breakdown of schools in the city of Porto Alegre, the eligible schools and those chosen to participate.

Type of Secondary School

Total number of secondary schools

in Porto AlegreReturned Answered

Questionnaires Said ‘YES’ to research visit

Chosen for the

researchPrivate 70 8 6 3

State 70 10 7 3

Municipal 2 0 0 0

Federal 2 2 2 1

Total 144 19 15 7

Notice that the relative proportion of State schools was slightly higher than Private

schools, though not statistically significant to elaborate on any probable bias due to the

nature of the school. Surprisingly, included in the sample of schools that said ‘yes’ to

the visit was the top performing federal and private schools as well as the lowest

performing school in the city.

Continuing the work, purposive sampling was chosen as the preferred sampling

method, which is a term ‘used when researchers have a clear idea of the kind of group

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they want to find out about’ (Gillham, 2008, p. 20). It is a research which essentially

consists of a selection of ‘case studies’ chosen based on Patton’s suggestion of

Maximal Variation, where I have tried to integrate a few schools that are as further

away (in origin, achievement, location, average income level, etc) as possible in order

to try to show how different schools might be affected in different ways or not (Flick,

2007, p. 28). Besides, purposive sampling allows me not to make any generalisations,

since the work is composed of seven interconnected case studies.

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Appendix 15 – Secondary Data

One central issue about the secondary data collected that must not be dismissed is

whether it can be considered valid since most of it is collected from a questionnaire

which changes year on year and sometimes modifies its response structure. As argued

above, the fundamental assumption is that answers are as close to the truth as possible.

Also, the researcher must be familiar with the terms used in the questionnaire so as to

be able to recognise differences in expressions and search for a single code for each

particular question. The data in question corresponds to the years of 2001, 2003, 2005

and 2007. After 2007 the university introduced a system of quotas for students from

public schools and disadvantaged backgrounds, which although interesting to analyse,

does not fall into the scope of this work.

The data pulled together from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

on the university-entry exam serves an extremely important purpose. It will not only be

used to blend into the field data and help establish its validity but also to aid the

uncovering of hidden problems of the UEE which contribute to the cultural

reproduction of the local community and the disturbing reality of secondary education

in Porto Alegre. As it has been explained earlier, the data was collected from UFRGS

because it is the largest federal university of the state which happens to be located in

Porto Alegre, therefore, enrolling mostly students from the city. It offers free tuition,

making it more competitive and difficult to be admitted

These characteristics make the UFRGS’s UEE a cultural phenomenon in the city, with

the development of private prep-courses whose teachers are known in the entire city

and regularly appear on TV and schools modifying their curriculum to use the last year

of secondary education simply as a large prep-course. Other known facts are related to

teachers that teach in schools and prep-courses at the same time and students that study

at school in the morning and in a prep-course in the afternoon. Other indicators will

emerge from the secondary data such as those related to income, establishments of

study and age of students which are passing the exam. Consequently, these

characteristics will help gauge the impacts on teachers and students when amalgamated

with the primary data.

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Appendix 16 – Data from the UFRGS’ socio-economic questionnaire

Percentage of Approved Students scoring more than the mean by type of secondary

school per year

2001 2003 2005 2007

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Less than the Mean (500) 57.7% 42.3% 68.0% 32.0% 50.0% 50.0% 60.4% 39.6%

More than the Mean (500) 38.9% 61.1% 40.4% 59.6% 39.4% 60.6% 33.7% 66.3%

Percentage of approved students within each category of family earnings by type of school

per year

2001 2003 2005 2007

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Public

School

Private

School

Monthly

Average

Income

in SM

(Monthly

Minimum

Wage)

Currently

1SM =

R$430,00,

which is

around

£100,00

Up to 1

SM

(inclusive)

0.9% 0.4% 1.1% 0.4% 2.2% 0.7% 2.8% 0.5%

From 1 to

5 SM

(inclusive)

24.0% 7.0% 34.0% 11.9% 38.8% 14.7% 47.9% 19.7%

From 5 to

10 SM

(inclusive)

37.6% 21.9% 37.1% 27.8% 35.7% 30.3% 33.2% 36.5%

From 10

to 20 SM

(inclusive)

26.1% 31.6% 20.9% 31.8% 16.9% 30.3% 12.8% 26.8%

From 20

to 30 SM

(inclusive)

7.5% 18.9% 5.0% 15.1% 4.9% 14.1% 2.3% 10.5%

More than

30 SM4.0% 20.2% 1.8% 13.1% 1.5% 9.9% .9% 6.0%

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