Quality Assurance and Evaluation through Brazilian lenses: an exploration into the validity of umbrella concepts

Abstract

In our present research we address the question of whether it is valid to apply the QAE (Quality Assurance and Evaluation) umbrella concept, which was formulated to explain new phenomena in European educational governance, to similar developments in Brazilian basic education. This led us to reflect on the possible pitfalls and potential strengths of using umbrella concepts as analytical tools. This article presents this exploration and its operationalization. We confronted in-built assumptions in QAE with the contested, consensual and creative use of the notion of quality in Brazilian basic education, and looked for relationships. Our analysis shows that the Brazilian developments reiterate the relationships concerning global interconnectivity, and challenges those pertaining to conformity. We argue that the main risks of using umbrella concepts seem to concern the reproduction of understandings, which frequently leads to the disregarding of deviation.

A interface público-privada na governança educacional brasileira: Considerações a partir de uma análise subnacional

“…Suas influências remontam a alguns organismos internacionais, especialmente o BM e a UNESCO, como a eventos, dentre os quais destacam-se a "Conferência Mundial sobre Educação para Todos", realizada em Jomtien, em 1990 e o Relatório Delors, da UNESCO (Coelho, 2008). A LDBEN promoveu a redefinição dos papéis desempenhados pelas esferas governamentais nas políticas educacionais, entendendo que a educação é uma responsabilidade igualmente compartilhada entre os governos subnacionais e que deve contar com a participação ativa da sociedade (Castro, 1999). Ademais, a LDBEN assinalou ao Estado a competência para coletar, analisar e disseminar informações sobre a educação brasileira, assegurando a aplicação de um processo nacional de avaliação do desempenho escolar em todos os níveis de ensino, em colaboração com os demais sistemas educacionais, de modo a definir prioridades para a educação nacional e melhorar a sua qualidade (Brasil, 1996).…”

Layers of reflectivity in comparative research

“…These two elements of reflective research, the political and the ideological, and the way the text seeks to claim authority (Alvesson & Sköldberg 2009: p. 273) are intertwined in this book. This intertwining resembles the reflection offered by post-colonial theories and relates to us as researchers as cultural in-and outsiders and to the questions of how we can build an understanding of Brazil, China, and Russia with "Western" concepts from the Global North (see Centeno, Kauko & Candido 2017). We construct this reflection by analysing a set of research narratives from the members of our group in the penultimate section.…”

“…Prominent here is Kingdon's idea of multiple streams. Drawing on the garbage can model (Cohen, March, & Olsen 1972), he describes how political actors aim to combine policies and problems at the right moment and introduces the idea that actors (for Kingdon, policy entrepreneurs) prefer certain solutions and try to find the right problems to couple these with, rather than vice versa (Kingdon 2003). The model has been criticised for its heuristic view and for its lack of understanding of historical trajectories (Zahariadis 1999;Baugartner, Green-Pedersen, & Jones 2006: p. 963).…”

“…The construction of this system took years of societal effort; its termination took a single day. When it was annulled, we had just submitted a journal article for review which partly addressed the establishment of the new system (Centeno, Kauko, & Candido 2017) and were left wondering how the gap between fast-paced political development and the usually slow-paced publication process might be bridged.…”

Datafication in schools: enactments of quality assurance and evaluation policies in Brazil

“…Simultaneously, data make some processes invisible, since the ends often prevail over the means. The 'umbrella concept' (Centeno et al, 2018) of quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) conceptually incorporates the production and circulation of data in education (Piattoeva et al, 2018). Data is used to improve schools and education, to hold schools and teachers accountable, to control school access and progress, to reward and punish schools and school staff and to compare student achievements across schools, municipalities, regions (states, provinces) and countries (Jarke & Breiter, 2019).…”