A Case Study in the City of Goiania
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The cursinho industry and the advancement of the neoliberal agenda for access to education in Brazil: a case study in the city of Goiania by Sabrina Fernandes A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Economy Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario ©2012, Sabrina Fernandes Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1 Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93632-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-93632-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract The objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between the advancement of the neoliberal agenda for education in Brazil and the “cursinho” industry of preparatory services for the university entrance exam. It utilizes a class-based theoretical critique of neoliberalism to investigate how the cursinho industry has affected access to universities and what it entails for inequality at the intersections of class, race, gender, and schooling background. The case study of the "cursinho" industry in the city of Goiania, holder of the highest urban Gini coefficient of Latin America, uses field surveys and in-depth interviews with university students and “cursinho” representatives. It seeks to demonstrate how “cursinhos” have become normalized as a determinant factor to access public universities and, as a private mediator, have contributed to the marketization of education that affects educational inequality and the hegemonic position of the privileged classes. ii Acknowledgements My special thanks to Dr. Cristina Rojas, for her guidance as a supervisor was essential for the execution of this study, and to Dr. Justin Paulson, whose advice helped me to work through the challenges I encountered along the way. I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the Institute of Political Economy, Dr. Janet Siltanen, and Donna Coghill for the support given to me during my degree. I would also like to acknowledge Carleton University and the Universidade Federal de Goias for assisting with the ethics clearance portion of this study. I am very grateful for the company of my peers at the Institute during our shared journey, and for my husband, Gordon Thomas, who was a pillar of patience and encouragement at every stage of this project. Finally, I offer my deepest gratitude to my family for their continuous love and understanding. Table of Contents A bstract.......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables.................................................................................................................................v List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................................vi List of Appendices ..................................................................................................................... vii 1 Chapter: Introduction ..........................................................................................................8 2 Chapter: Higher education and barriers of access in Brazil ......................................... 13 3 Chapter: Theoretical perspectives on neoliberalism and education .............................. 29 3.1 Education as a public and social good ...........................................................................30 3.2 The neoliberalization of education ................................................................................34 3.3 Hegemony, reproduction and normalization.................................................................42 3.4 Breaking the cycle: education as counter-hegemony ....................................................47 4 Chapter: Methodology.......................................................................................................52 4.1 Methodological lens ......................................................................................................52 4.2 Research design ............................................................................................................. 56 5 Chapter: Case study - Neoliberalism and cursinhos in the city of Goiania .................. 66 5.1 The city of Goiania as a case study of inequality ..........................................................66 5.2 Cursinhos in Goiania ..................................................................................................... 70 5.3 Exploring inequality of access at the Federal University of Goias (UFG) ....................80 6 Chapter: Concluding remarks ........................................................................................119 Appendices .................................................................................................................................126 Bibliography..............................................................................................................................147 List of Tables Table 1 - Goiania, capital of Goias, Brazil (2009/2010 numbers) ........................................67 Table 2 - Number and types of schools in Goiania ................................................................. 69 Table 3 - Schools in Goiania according to enrolment numbers ............................................ 69 Table 4 - Dominant characteristics of preparatory course institutions in Goiania ..............74 Table 5 - Chi-Square values and Likelihood ratios for selected variables ..........................81 Table 6 - UFG vestibular data ................................................................................................... 89 v List of Illustrations Figure 1 - Map of Brazil............................................................................................................. 59 Figure 2 - Brazil's Gini 1976-2009 ............................................................................................68 Figure 3 - Public and private schools in Goiania .....................................................................69 Figure 4 - Cursinho years of operation....................................................................................75 Figure 5 - Monthly cursinho fee................................................................................................76 Figure 6 - Students enrolled ........................................................................................................76 Figure 7 - Time spent at cursinho..............................................................................................77 Figure 8 - Time spent at especifica classes.............................................................................. 78 Figure 9 - Monthly residential income .....................................................................................84 Figure 10 - Monthly residential income ( cursinho only)....................................................... 85 Figure 11 - Race of survey participants ....................................................................................87 Figure 12 - Sex of survey participants ...................................................................................... 88 Figure 14 - Major preference of participants ........................................................................... 91 Figure 15 - Number of attempts at the vestibular exam for current major .......................101 Figure 16 - Use of cursinho services by participants............................................................ 104 Figure 17 - Types of cursinho services used by participants