Neoliberalism and science education south of the equator: perspectives from Brazil

Olave and Bravo’s paper motivated us to reflect upon aspects that characterize the neoliberal turn in Brazilian education. Such reflections are grounded on a brief attempt to discuss central ideas of neoliberal ideology as presented by the cited authors, namely competitiveness, meritocracy, and individualism. The discussion is briefly contextualized in the light of Brazilian history, and a few examples of how such ideas have materialized in curriculum policy as well as practice are offered. We argue that the neoliberal ideas that have been assimilated in contemporary educational discourse hinder the deconstruction of, and the positioning against, policies that reinforce social inequality and prevent dialog.