Social, political and economic relationships in the Amazon are mediated by nature and government policies, programs, and regulations, including environmental education policies, which have disseminated the concept of sustainable development in over recent years. Based on these elements, this study explores the social representations that give…

We discuss oral history interviews with academics who laid the foundation of research and pedagogies in daycare for under three-year-olds in Europe and North and South America since the 1970s. Their work is clearly embedded in the social-political context of their country: the left-wing programmes for disadvantaged families in the U.S.A.;…

The Brazilian system of higher education is discussed, including its evolution, the 1968 reform and its unintended consequences, and the recommendations of the 1985 presidential commission on higher education. Issues of interinstitutional diversity, institutional autonomy, and the influence of special interest groups on policy are addressed.…

Political forces in Brazil have caused significant economic changes, including hyperinflation, and policy that threaten higher education in a variety of ways, including failure to expand during a period of economic strength, severe loss of academic autonomy, lowering of academic and administrative standards, and declines in teacher education and…

A review of the evolution of Brazilian policy for higher education concludes that the conflicts, shifts in decision arenas, and decisional paralysis reflect (1) basic lack of consensus in the nature, goals, and possibilities of higher education in a society, and (2) disagreement about the resources available to a government. (Author/MSE)

Major patterns of relationship between the public and private sectors in Latin American higher education are discussed. Three key evolutionary waves are identified that have led to three private-public patterns dominant in Latin America today. For both the public and private sectors, attention is directed to origins and growth, who pays and rules,…