A study of Atconian university principles and their influence on higher education reform in Brazilian universities

Introduction. The era of the 1960's brough great pressures upon the Brazilian university: internally, characterized by the wish of the institution itself to be transformed; and externally, expressed by the desire of the surrounding community to have the university changed. The reform of 1966 was a product of these pressures and became the most important event in Brazilian educational history. This investigation sought to identify the influences of the ideas stated by Rudolph P. Atcon, upon higher learning reform in general, and in selected universities in particular. The following objectives were established: a) To investigate the principles formulated by Rudolph P. Atcon for higher education and to explore the influence of these principles on the reform of higher education in Brazil; b) To offer some suggestions for the continuing development of the university in Brazil during the next decade. Procedures. To accomplish the purposes of this study, the investigator identified and reviewed the principles of Atcon regarding the university. Subsequently, the academic, administrative, and physical structures of universities, as defined by Atcon, were studied. Brazilian universities were analyzed as they functioned prior to and at the beginning of the reform movement of 1966; in books and reports written by Atcon, organizational charts of Brazilian universities, reports and translations of relevant Brazilian documents, published works of education specialists, federal legislation and regulations pertaining to and related to higher education in Brazil issued by the government and by the Brazilian Federal Council on Education, government reports and publications, unpublished reports and research projects, and other sources collected by the researcher, utilizing the resources available in the University of Houston through its interlibrary loan, and with materials available at the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago, Illinois. Conclusions. Although great resistance to the development of higher education characterized the monarchial period in Brazilian history, the concept of higher learning began several centuries before the establishment of the first true university in 1920. However, from earliest times until 1966, the Faculdades (an institution in charge of professional teaching in the same liberal profession, almost synonymous with the term 'College' in North American terms, though less flexible in the academic and administrative sense) controlled and somewhat hampered the development of a university whose goals and objectives were not in harmony with those of the Brazilian people. Around 1966, Rudolph P. Atcon, specialist in higher education and author, identified the principles of the ideally administered university, as he saw them. There are identifiable similarities and parallels between Atcon's principles and the legislative reform of 1966, a governmental endeavor to improve higher education in Brazil that is still being felt today. Although the application of the totality of Atconian principles cannot be seen in any one university, several have adopted practices that can be identified as Atconian.