Problems of Education in the 21st Century

413

Authors: Editorial Board

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416-418

Authors: Agnaldo Arroio

Today it is possible to consider that the new technologies can offer many possibilities to be explored. There is no doubt about the changes in society when it is adequately supported by the new technologies. In fact, people from all over the world used to have high hopes that new technologies will be able to improve and promote healthier life, as well they also expect a huge impulse to promoting social freedoms, and at least to increase knowledge and more productive livelihoods. But for this scenario become true the traditional education goals should change to a different direction to gaining locally relevant goals and skills. In order to establish networks for all kind of partnerships, the new technologies could be used as the means for providing an access to and engaging in the lifelong learning programs all social groups of population around the world.

434-451

Authors: Luca Bussotti, Paolo Bussotti

Mathematics has always been a difficult issue, especially in the African countries. Mozambique is not an exception. This country had been colonized by Portugal until 1975. When the independence was obtained, a socialist regime was adopted (1977). The learning of mathematics entered the struggle against colonial and imperialistic ideas. Its best ally was Paulus Gerdes, one of the most relevant ethnomatematicians of the world, who carried out an intense promotion of this approach to mathematics in Mozambican school system. Albeit the great international impact of Gerdes’ ideas, Mozambique never implemented his methodology. When, at the end of the 80s, the country changed from socialism to liberalism, voting a democratic Constitution in 1990, its school system was aligned to the measures of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB). The most recent ones are represented by the Millennium Development Goals. Despite the various reforms of Mozambican school system, the results of Mozambican children in mathematics are among the worst in Africa. The reasons of such a failure are here explained, through a historical approach based on national documents. The most recent experiences of school reform carried out by international agencies together with national institutions are stressed. The negative results obtained by the Mozambican learners as to mathematics are due to several reasons: 1) a lack of consideration of the Mozambican cultural substrate; 2) an improper massification of the school system, where the quality of instruction has been neglected; 3) the specific choice to marginalize mathematics education.

467-482

Authors: Mohammad Hasan Mirzamohammadi, Hamdollah Mohammadi

Present research aims to explore the effects of Neoliberalism on higher education based on the Henry Giroux's artistic view points and to examine the process of commercialization and privatization of higher education in Iran, from the same perspective. Giroux considers market-oriented reforms in higher education as a part of the hegemony of Neoliberalism, which seeks to realize the competitive homo economicus, as the ideal man, through using the new techniques of governmentality. Today market-oriented reforms in higher education are prevalent throughout the world. But what is currently in progress as privatization and commercialization in the higher education of Iran is a pale copy of Neoliberalism’s logic which is to justify the profit-oriented view of the knowledge and university. Market-oriented reforms of this type are not compatible with Islamic educational goals and will do much harm to Iranian higher education and will have negative impacts on Iranian universities.

498

Authors: Editorial Board

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