Moving Away from a Graded System

This book presents an analysis of a non-retention policy in Primary Education in Brazil called as Cycles of Learning and its implementation in a sample of Brazilian primary schools. The policy investigated was designed to reduce retention and dropout rates and age/grade mismatch, provide students with more time to learn and ultimately create a more inclusive educational system. The theoretical framework used in the thesis is based on the 'policy cycle' approach developed by Stephen Ball and his colleagues and Basil Bernstein's theories of recontextualisation and pedagogies. The data, which are largely qualitative, derive from interviews with policy makers and analysis of policy documents. The research also involved qualitative investigation of four primary schools, consisting of interviews with 20 teachers and eight heads and observations of classrooms and schools' activities. Overall the research has found that the policy's implementation has been contested and patchy. This book demonstrates the need to analyse the mode of implementation and the nature of the policy itself so that the process of reform can be better understood.