Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to compare the conceptualized model versus the actual implementation of the Federal Technological University of Paraná (UTFPR) in Brazil and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB) in Portugal, from its creations to the present day, in the institutional and pedagogical field. The two organizations focus on training professionals through more practical approaches, learning in close collaboration with industries and society, boosting regional development. Our research is justified by the fact that there are few studies on how higher educational organizations respond to the new demands in their local contexts, without violating their modus operandi. In Portugal, the higher education system is binary, composed of universities and polytechnics, whereas in Brazil, there is no designed system for higher education that distinguishes Classical Universities (CU) from Technological Universities (UT) such as UTFPR. The documentary evidence is composed of official documents and semi-structured interviews with managers involved both in the process of constitution of these organizations and nowadays. Data was treated using the Content Analysis technique. Firstly, this study showed that the organizations analyzed operated differently over the years. On its conception, UTFPR proposed an alternative model of university, however, after fourteen years there has been a departure from the characteristics of UAS, changingits university model. Distinctly, IPB remained faithful to the model devised in its creation, which to some extent also helped the institution to achieve national and international recognition, fulfilling its developmentalist mission.
Highlights
During the last decades of the twentieth century, there have been changes in the conception and purpose of universities (Kerr 1982; Howells et al 2014; Harkavy 2006; Hasanefendic et al 2017), impacting higher education, which is not immune to the changes that affect society in the 21st Century (Willis 2011; Pucciarelli and Kaplan 2016; Harvey 2001; Hewitt-Dundas 2013)
UTFPR was born as a Technical School1 in the context of the Second Industrial Revolution, but as a university it emerged in the context of the Technological Revolution, being transformed from Federal Center of Technological Education (FCTE) to Federal Technological University of Paraná in 2005
UTFPR was not a State project, but rather an initiative of the institution itself, induced by changes imposed upon the Brazilian educational framework (Brasil 1996, 1997), which altered the path of professional education in Brazil, but without any connection with public higher education policies
Summary
During the last decades of the twentieth century, there have been changes in the conception and purpose of universities (Kerr 1982; Howells et al 2014; Harkavy 2006; Hasanefendic et al 2017), impacting higher education, which is not immune to the changes that affect society in the 21st Century (Willis 2011; Pucciarelli and Kaplan 2016; Harvey 2001; Hewitt-Dundas 2013) In this context, some authors believe that science has, as its main role, to strengthen the social and economic development of the countries (MacLaren 2012; Hewitt-Dundas 2013; Heitor and Horta 2014, 2016). There are several works on the transformation in UTFPR (Romano 2000, 2005; Vitorette 2001; Guimarães 2001; Lima Filho 2005), but we have not found any reacent studies on UTFPR Likewise, research was carried out on Portuguese binary higher education, especially the Polytechnic Institutes (Amaral and Teixeira 2000; Fonseca 2001; Correia et al 2002; Teixeira et al 2004; Urbano 2008, 2011; Horta 2010; Dias 2012; Mourato 2014; Alves et al 2015; Heitor and Horta 2014, 2016)
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