Abstract
AbstractLatin America’s first encounter with the rest of the world happened over five centuries ago as a result of the European colonial conquest, characterized by the slave trade and the domination and exploitation of Indigenous Peoples. It was not until the late nineteenth century that Latin American Nation-States emerged in the quest for freedom, equality and access to citizenship. However, political instability and lengthy military dictatorships in the 1960s and 1970s provided limited and fragile access to citizenship.First, this chapter analyzes the current state of education and citizenship in Latin America, after three decades of a gradual return to democracy. Our analysis suggests that citizenship is an unfinished agenda throughout the region. Minorities such as Afro-descendants and Indigenous Peoples have limited access to citizenship due to the social and educational exclusion they experience. Second, we review the main debates related to global citizenship and analyze how the concept of global citizenship is constructed in core education policies and curricula in Brazil. We conclude by examining the uncertain prospects of global citizenship education in Brazil and in the larger Latin American context.
Highlights
It is important to understand that the definition of Latin America is above all a political concept that does not limit itself to a specific geographic, cultural or economic area
The increased prosperity of the European colonists was directly linked to the impoverishment of Latin America (Galeano 2012)
Some of the principles related to GCE are included in the Brazilian National Parameters for Education (Brasil 1997): (1) build tools to understand social contexts and to participate in large and diversified social and cultural interactions that are the basic conditions for exercising citizenship in a democratic inclusive society (2) take into consideration issues related to globalization, scientific and technological transformations and a discussion of society’s ethical values
Summary
It is important to understand that the definition of Latin America is above all a political concept that does not limit itself to a specific geographic, cultural or economic area. In order to reduce the process of exclusion in Brazil, specific affirmative action policies have been implemented by the Indigenous Student Support Program in higher education institutions to increase Indigenous student enrollment in higher education; help Indigenous students achieve good academic performance and provide them with access to graduate education; ensure permanence and increased efficiency; change institutional policies and community involvement; strengthen recognition and respect for cultural diversity in the university community; link Indigenous students to their communities through social service and the diffusion of culture; and promote research projects on Indigenous issues (Linhares 2010).
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