Information Society, Teaching, and Learning: Education Reforms in Brazil

This article examines the subject matter of learning within the context of information society, through an inquiry concerning both the reforms in education adopted in Brazil in the last thirty years and their results. It provides a revision on the explanations of school failure based on assumptions of learning problems due to cognitive and linguistic deficits. From the guidelines related with written school forms as well as the constant cultural oppression accomplished inside the school, the article claims the necessity of changing the psychological and pedagogic views that, under the label of democratic practices, determine school institutions and its daily life, by means of instrumental relations with knowledge that disregard the reading practices which are congenial to popular culture.

Communism and Public Opinion in Queensland, 1939-1951 : An Explanation of Queensland's Vote in the 1951 Anti-Communist Referendum

The starting point of this thesis was a desire to explain the rapid demise in the popularity which the Communist Party enjoyed in Queensland during the second world war. Wartime Queensland gave the Australian Communist Party its highest state vote and six years later Queensland again gave the Communist Party its highest state vote - this time however, to ban the Party. From this I was led into exploring the changing policies, beliefs and strategies of the Party, as well as the many sub-groups on its periphery, and the shifts in public response to these. In 1939 Townsville elected Australia's first Communist alderman. Five years later, Bowen elected not only Australia's first but also the British Empire's first, Communist state government member. Of the five electorates the Australian Communist Party contested in the 1944 Queensland State elections, in none did the Party's candidate receive less than twenty per-cent of the formal vote. Not only was the Party seemingly enjoying considerable popular support but this was occurring in a State which, but for the Depression years (May 1929 - June 1932) had elected a Labor State Government at every state election since 1915. In the September 1951 Constitution Alteration Referendum, 'Powers To Deal With Communists and Communism', Queensland regist¬ered the nation's highest "Yes" majority - 55.76% of the valid vote. Only two other states registered a majority in favour of the referendum's proposals, Western Australia and Tasmania. As this research was undertaken it became evident that while various trends exhibited at the time, anti-Communism, the work of the Industrial Groups, Labor opportunism, local area feelings, ideological shifts of the Party, tactics of Communist-led unions, etc., were present throughout the entire period, they were best seen when divided into three chronological phases of the Party's history and popularity. The first period covers the consolidation of the Party's post-Depression popularity during the war years as it benefited from the Soviet Union's colossal contribution to the Allied war efforts, and this support continued for some six months or so after the war. Throughout the period Communist strength within the trade union movement greatly increased as did total Party membership. The second period was marked by a rapid series of events starting in March 1946, with Winston Churchill's "Official Opening" of the Cold War by his sweeping attack on Communism and Russia, at Fulton. Several days later the first of a series of long and bitter strikes in Communist-led unions occurred, as the Party mobil¬ized for what it believed would be a series of attacks on the working class from a ruling class, defending a capitalist system on the verge of an economic collapse. It was a period when the Party believed this ruling class was using Labor reformism as a last desperate 'carrot' to get workers to accept their lot within a capitalist economic framework. Out of the Meat Strike emerged the Industrial Groups, who waged not only a determined war against Communist trade union leadership but also encouraged the A.W.U.-influenced State Labor apparatus to even greater anti-Communist antagonisms. The Communist Party's increasing militancy and Labor's resistance to it, ended finally in the collapse of the Chifley Labor government. Characteristically the third period opens with the Communist Party making an another about-face, desperately trying to form an alliance with the Labor Party and curbing its former adventurist industrial policy, as it prepared for Menzies' direct assault. The Communist Party's activities were greatly reduced, a function of both a declining member-ship and, furthermore, a membership reluctant to confront an increasingly hostile society. In examining the changing policies, beliefs and strategies of the Party and the shifts in public response to these, I have tried to distinguish between general trends occurring within Australia and the national party, and trends peculiar to Queensland and the Queensland branch of the Party, The Communist Party suffered a decline in support and membership right across Australia throughout this period as a result of the national policies of the Party, and the changing nature of world politics. There were particular features of this decline that were peculiar to Queensland. I have, however, singled out three features of particular importance throughout the period for a short but more specifically detailed analysis, than would be possible in a purely chronological study: i.e. the Party's structure, the Party's ideological subservience to Moscow, and the general effect upon it of the Cold War.

Medication prescribing and administration in nursing homes

Objective: to examine the key determinants of pharmaco-epidemiology in Australian nursing homes. Design: a cross-sectional survey of medication use in 998 residents in 15 nursing homes in Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales, Results: the total, laxative, digoxin/diuretic, benzodiazepine and psycholeptic medication prescribed and administered to residents of nursing homes was affected to differing extents by age and gender, the nursing home, resident functional disability and medical practitioner. Resident Classification Instrument (RCI) category and nursing home were the dominant determinants for prescribing and administration of the total drugs, laxative, benzodiazepine and psycholeptic medications. In contrast, the resident use of digoxin and/or diuretics was dependent on the resident age and on the functional disability (RCI category) of the resident but not medical practitioner or nursing home. Approximately 30% of medications were prescribed on a pro re nata (p.r.n.) basis and administered at the discretion of registered nurses. Conclusion: nursing home culture is a major determinant of the variability in medication use between residents, particularly for those medications often prescribed for p.r.n. use. The nursing home does not account for variation in the use of digoxin and/or diuretics which are prescribed on a non-discretionary basis.

Pricing corporate bonds in Brazil: 2000 to 2004

This paper analyzes the factors that influence the issuing price of debentures in Brazil in the period from year 2000 to 2004, applying a factor model, in which exogenous variables explain return and price behavior. The variables in this study include: rating, choice of index, maturity, country risk, basic interest rate, long-term and short-term rate spread, the stock market index, and the foreign exchange rate. Results indicate that the index variable, probability of default and bond`s maturity influence pricing and points out associations of long-term bonds with better rating issues. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Petroleum royalties and regional development in Brazil: The economic growth of recipient towns

In 1997, Brazil approved law n(cr) 9478, establishing new rules for sharing petroleum royalties with Brazilian municipalities. The goal of this paper is to evaluate whether royalties distributed under the new law have contributed for the development of benefited municipalities. For that the difference-indifferences estimator (diff-in-diff) is used, which compares the evolution of the economic product into the municipality affected by the new law with the unaffected ones, by exploring the new legislation as an exogenous change. The data refer to the municipal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate before and after the event. Results are surprising, showing that royalty receivers grew less than municipalities that did not receive such resources. The difference is small but statistically significant. In general, an increase of one real in royalties per capita reduces the growth rate of the municipal product in 0.002 percentile points. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The structure of worker compensation in Brazil, with a comparison to France and the United States

We employ comprehensive linked employer-employee data for Brazil to analyze wage determinants and compare results to Abowd et al. (2001) for French and U.S. manufacturing. While returns to human capita in Brazilian manufacturing exceed those of the other countries, occupation and gender differentials are similar. The worker-characteristics component accounts for much of the greater wage inequality in Brazil, but the establishment-fixed component has scant explanatory power. Thus, firm-or industry-level factors offer little scope for explaining the differences in wage inequality. Brazil`s wage structure resembles that of France, a country with some similarity in labor market institutions.

Demand elasticities for food products in Brazil: a two-stage budgeting system

The object of this article is to estimate demand elasticities for a basket of staple food important for providing the caloric needs of Brazilian households. These elasticities are useful in the measurement of the impact of structural reforms on poverty. A two-stage demand system was constructed, based on data from Household Expenditure Surveys (POF) produced by IBGE (The Brazilian Bureau of Statistics) in 1987/88 and 1995/96. We have used panel data to estimate the model, and have calculated income, own-price, and cross-price elasticities for eight groups of goods and services and, in the second stage, for 11 sub groups of staple food products. We estimated those elasticities for the whole sample of consumers and for two income groups.

Non-Spatial Government Policies and Regional Income Inequality in Brazil

Silveira Neto R. Da M. and Azzoni C. R. Non-spatial government policies and regional income inequality in Brazil, Regional Studies. This paper uses both macro- and micro-data to analyse the role of social programmes in the recent reduction in Brazilian regional income inequality. Convergence indicators are presented for different sources of regional income in the period 1995-2006. A decomposition of the Gini indicator allows the identification of the role of each of these income sources with respect to the reduction of regional inequality during the period. The results point out that both labour productivity and government non-spatial policies - mainly minimum wage changes and income transference programmes - do have a role in explaining regional inequality reduction during the period. [image omitted] Silveira Neto R. Da M. et Azzoni C. R. Les politiques gouvernementales non-spatiales et l`ecart des revenus regionaux au Bresil, Regional Studies. Cet article emploie des donnees a la fois macroeconomiques et microeconomiques afin d`analyser le role des programmes d`actions sociales quant a la baisse recente de l`ecart des revenus regionaux au Bresil. On presente des indicateurs de convergence pour diverses sources des revenus regionaux pour la periode allant de 1995 a 2006. Une decomposition du coefficient de Gini permet d`identifier le role de chacune de ces sources des revenus par rapport a la baisse de l`ecart des revenus pendant cette periode. Les resultats indiquent que la productivite du travail et les politiques gouvernementales non-spatiales - notamment la modification du salaire minimum et les programmes visant le transfert des revenus - ont un role a jouer pour expliquer la baisse de l`ecart des revenus regionaux pendant la periode en question. Convergence Productivite du travail Transfert des revenus Salaire minimum Effets spatiaux des politiques non-spatiales Silveira Neto R. Da M. und Azzoni C. R. Nicht raumliche Regierungspolitiken und das regionale Einkommensungleichgewicht in Brasilien, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag analysieren wir mit Hilfe von Makro- und Mikrodaten die Rolle von sozialen Programmen bei der unlangst erzielten Verringerung des regionalen Einkommensungleichgewichts in Brasilien. Wir stellen Konvergenz-Indikatoren fur verschiedene regionale Einkommensquellen im Zeitraum von 1995 bis 2006 vor. Eine Dekomposition des Gini-Indikators ermoglicht die Identifizierung der jeweiligen Rolle dieser Einkommensquellen fur die Verringerung des regionalen Ungleichgewichts im betreffenden Zeitraum. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass sowohl die Produktivitat der Arbeitskrafte als auch die nicht raumlichen Regierungspolitiken - in erster Linie Veranderungen beim Mindestlohn und Programme fur Einkommenstransfers - als Grunde fur die Verringerung des regionalen Ungleichgewichts in dieser Periode durchaus eine Rolle spielen. Konvergenz Arbeitsproduktivitat Einkommenstransfer Mindestlohn Raumliche Auswirkungen nicht raumlicher Politiken Silveira Neto R. Da M. y Azzoni C. R. Politicas gubernamentales no espaciales y desigualdades de ingresos regionales en Brasil, Regional Studies. En este articulo utilizamos datos macro y micro para analizar el papel de los programas sociales en la reciente reduccion en las desigualdades de ingresos regionales de Brasil. Presentamos los indicadores de convergencia para diferentes fuentes de ingresos regionales en el periodo de 1995 a 2006. Una descomposicion del indice Gini permite identificar el papel de cada una de estas fuentes de ingresos con respecto a la reduccion de las desiguadades regionales durante este periodo. Los resultados destacan que tanto la productividad laboral como las politicas no espaciales del gobierno - principalmente los cambios de salario minimo y los programas de transferencias de ingresos - desempenan una funcion a la hora de explicar la reduccion de las desigualdades regionales durante este periodo. Convergencia Productividad laboral Transferencias de ingresos Salario minimo Efectos espaciales de politicas no espaciales.

The Development of Science Education Research in Brazil and Contributions from the History and Philosophy of Science

Over the last 50 years a new research area, science education research, has arisen and undergone singular development worldwide. In the specific case of Brazil, research in science education first appeared systematically 40 years ago, as a consequence of an overall renovation in the field of science education. This evolution was also related to the political events taking place in the country. We will use the theoretical work of Rene Kaes on the development of groups and institutions as a basis for our discussion of the most important aspects that have helped the area of science education research develop into an institution and kept it operating as such. The growth of this area of research can be divided into three phases: The first was related to its beginning and early configurations; the second consisted of a process of consolidation of this institution; and the third consists of more recent developments, characterised by a multiplicity of research lines and corresponding challenges to be faced. In particular, we will analyse the special contributions to this study gleaned from the field known as the history and philosophy of science.

Colonization sequence of non-pollinating fig wasps associated with Ficus citrifolia in Brazil

Mutualisms, such as the fig-agaonid wasp association, are susceptible to colonization by parasitic species, which exploit the resources involved therein. In most cases, they oviposit into the figs from outside without providing any pollination service. In this study, we used several different methods (adhesive traps and direct standardized field observations) to assess the colonization sequence of a diverse fig wasp fauna associated with Ficus citrifolia, section Americana, in Brazil. They consistently showed a temporal partitioning in colonization among non-pollinating fig wasp species. Idarnes species belonging to the flavicollis and incerta groups colonized figs just before or during the fig receptive phase. In contrast, Idarnes females belonging to the carme group oviposited one to three weeks later, mainly in the middle of the inter-floral phase. Eurytoma, Heterandrium, Physothorax and Torymus were later colonizers, and laid eggs either in the middle or during the late inter-floral phase. The results suggest that these Neotropical fig wasps have different strategies of resource exploitation, even among species belonging to the same genus.

HISTORIOGRAPHY OF PSYCHOLOGY IN BRAZIL: Pioneer Works, Recent Developments

The evolution of the historiography of psychology in Brazil is surveyed, to describe how the field has evolved from the seminal works of the pioneer, mostly self-taught, psychologists, to the now professional historians working from a variety of theoretical models and methods of inquiry. The first accounts of the history of psychology written by Brazilians and by foreigners are surveyed, as well as the recent works made by researchers linked to the Work Group on the History of Psychology of the Brazilian Association of Research and Graduate Education in Psychology and published in periodicals such as Memorandum and Mnemosine. The present historiography focuses mainly the relationship of psychological knowledge to specific social and cultural conditions, emphasizing themes such as women`s participation in the construction of the field, the development of psychology as a science and as a profession in education and health, and the development of psychology as an expression of Brazilian culture and of the experience of resistance of local communities to domination. To reveal this process of identity construction, a cultural historiography is an important tool, coupled with methodological pluralism.

Modern Society and Culture in Brazil The Sociology of Florestan Fernandes

The establishment of modern sociology in Brazil was part of a thoroughgoing modernization of the country that began in the 1930s and the years immediately following World War II. The founding of the University of Sao Paulo made possible the systematic training of scientists devoted to teaching and research and broadened the way learning was understood. Florestan Fernandes was the outstanding personality among the first social scientists that the university produced, and the picture of the Brazilian sociologist today is largely inspired by his career. Enthusiasm and scientific rigor were the hallmarks of his approach. His early work reflects intellectuals` shared belief in the power of ideas to regenerate the nation, freeing it from a past that they condemned. The mature reflection of his later works retreats from this optimistic view, recognizing the emergence of modern society in Brazil as a complex process with mixed results.

Diario Trabalhista and black racial democracy in Brazil in the 1940s

In order to refute the interpretation that racial democracy in Brazil has simply been an illusion or ruse of white supremacy, the authors analyze the participation of Black leaders in the elaboration of the Brazilian national imaginary in the 1940s. They argue that during that period, racial democracy was a powerful instrument for mobilizing Blacks as well, whether as nationalists or anti-racists. The authors explore one of the most important sources through which this ideology was forged by a key figure of the Black intelligentsia, Abdias do Nascimento, with his column in the Diario Trabalhista [Laborite Daily] entitled ""Problems and Aspirations of Black Brazilians"". In this column, Nascimento published dozens of interviews with Black leaders and common people that demonstrate the foundations, principles, and interests involved in the construction of a racial democracy.