We're All In This Together-High School Musical

Having now spent countless hours at public and private schools in Teresina and Brasilia, I feel can accurately provide a little background on the Brazilian school system.  In my efforts to be fair, I will follow up my post titled “You're the Inspiration,” in which I suggested ways American school can learn from Brazilian schools, with some suggestions for the Brazilian schools based on how we do things in the United States.

But first some background information:

The Brazilian Constitution guarantees a free public education for all students and school attendance is required (though not always enforced) for ages 6-15.  Students in Brazil begin attending school around 6 years old.  Students attend Encino Fundamental from grades 1-9.  These schools are funded by the city.  When students attend high school (Encino Medio, grades 10-12, funded by the state) they choose to go to a public or private high school.  Typically the quality of the private schools is much, much better.  Only about 10% of students in Brazil attend private school.  Once students complete high school, they study intensely for college and university entrance exams, called Vestibular.  Students must take a different test for each college, university, or program they hope to attend.  Their acceptance is based solely on their test score.  For example, if a student wished to study business at University A, they would take one exam, and if they wished to apply for the history program at the same university, they would have to take a different test.  If students are not accepted anywhere and still want to go to college, their only option is to study for a year and try again in the next entrance cycle.  The tests are extremely high stakes and, contrary to the high school level, the public universities (paid for by the national government) are the best and most difficult to get into.

Here are some statistics that I found very interesting:

• ·      There are 31.5 million students attending elementary school, but only 8 million students attending high schools according to the World Bank report: “Achieving World Class Education.” 
• ·      The illiteracy rate for students under 8 in Brazil as a whole is 15%, for the state of Piauí it is 28.7%.
• ·      73.3% of teachers in Brazil have a college degree, 26.2% have a high school education, and .5% (or 12,000 in the entire country) only have a 9^th grade education.  Teacher training is something the government is trying to remedy and currently 300,000 teachers are enrolled in education programs.
• ·      A teacher’s salary is 1451 Reals per month.  This is the equivalent of $725 per month, or an annual salary of $9,425.
• ·      Violence in schools in pretty much non-existent.
• ·      Class sizes are usually 40-50 students.

As I have mentioned, schools are typically divided into three sessions: morning, afternoon, and evening, each lasting five hours.  Students attend only one of the three sessions while teachers often work at least two of the sessions, most often at different schools.  Classes are also held during a Saturday session.  Students usually take up to 15 classes at a time and have each class one day a week for 50 minutes.  At schools in Brazil students stay in the same classroom all day with the same students while teachers rotate through.   The school year starts in February and ends in December with a month long break in July.

One thing that really surprised me about schools in Brazil is that usually principals are elected.   Students, parents and the community all get involved in the nominating and electing process and all three groups are able to vote in the elections.  Terms vary from school to school.

While I have seen many positive things at schools during my time in Brazil, I do think there are a few things Brazilian schools can learn from schools in the United States.  Since the TGC program is about learning from each other, here is my list:

1.  More time in fewer classes.  If students have class only once a week for 50 minutes, it makes it extremely difficult to learn anything, especially subjects like foreign language and math that require consistent practice and repetition.  By the time students attend high school their math and language skills are often behind international standards because students simply haven’t had the time in class to keep up.  Along those lines, it is imperative that teachers and students have the opportunity to practice speaking a foreign language (especially English.)  Very often students and teachers focus on grammar and vocabulary but have weak pronunciation.

some of my students I see everyday 1st period

My second period class, I see them everyday

2. Give students more choice.  A key part of the intrinsic desire to learn is student interest in the subject.  While I absolutely agree students should have a basic foundation in required core classes, I think it is necessary for students to choose some classes in which they are interested to enjoy coming to school.  Well-rounded students are more highly educated and more apt to continue with their education.

   3. Give teachers a break.  If teachers are to be effective, they must have time to plan, evaluate student work, collaborate, and learn.  When teachers are running from school to school to other jobs, it is impossible for them to effectively plan for optimum student learning, much less assess their students.  As a result, it is easiest for teachers to default to lecturing which is one of the least effective teaching methods.

Social Studies teachers from my department on a day dedicated to teacher learning

  4.  Provide more student centered learning.  Allowing students to collaborate, work on projects, use technology, and interact with material leads to more highly developed critical thinking skills and more creativity.  These skills are imperative if students are to be successful beyond high school in college and careers.  Students must learn to think for themselves rather than just prepare for tests (the U.S. could be reminded of this as well.)

Students work together on a project

one of many computer carts at my school

  5.   Find ways to incorporate more technology.  While there is technology and wireless in some schools in Brazil, there is not nearly enough access for students to learn how to effectively use the Internet for something beyond Facebook.  Students must learn how to use technology appropriately for research, creating, evaluating information, communicating, etc. if they are to be truly successful in the globalized world of the 21^st century.  I understand that resources are limited, but resources do exist and Brazilians are experts at adapting to the circumstances in other areas.  In many of the schools we visited in Teresina, there weren’t a ton of computers, but teachers found ways to get students working on them-using computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.  Administrators and teachers must find ways to maximize the resources they have to provide students with the opportunities to practice these imperative skills.

 

As I said in my post on June 19th, there are many positive things going on in Brazil, and there is a lot we can learn from Brazilian schools.  However, learning together is always the best way and schools in Brazil can work toward improvements as well.