Chapter 10: Adolescence and Education: Contemporary Trends in Brazilian Research

This chapter provides research findings and discusses methodological issues regarding adolescence and education since the early 1990s. This period coincides with the implementation of the Statute of Children and Adolescents, passed in 1990, which is concerned with the rights of children and adolescents as human persons in society, as well as with the responsibilities of adults toward them (Nogueira, 1998). The statute has educational implications, as it explains family, school, and government roles and duties aimed at ensuring the full development of all youngsters and protecting them against risk. In this sense, the statute can be considered advanced legislation with positive effects that should be already present in educational contexts. Nevertheless, no one has yet attempted to assess its influence on theory, research, or educational practices. On the contrary, Mello (1999) contended that there are notorious discrepancies between the statute’s tenets, on the one hand, and family and school practices regarding children and adolescents on the other.