Quality Assurance and Evaluation through Brazilian lenses: an exploration into the validity of umbrella concepts |
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| Authors: | Vera G Centeno Jaakko Kauko Helena H D Candido |
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| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Education, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland;2. Centre for Comparative and International Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany;3. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;4. Department of sociology and political science, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil |
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| Abstract: | In our present research we address the question of whether it is valid to apply the Quality Assurance and Evaluation (QAE) 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 operationalisation. 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 re-production of understandings, which frequently leads to the disregarding of deviation. |
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| Keywords: | Brazil quality basic education umbrella concepts evaluation measuring large-scale assessments World Bank SAEB CAQI |
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