UCLA

Historically, traditional education systems and most scholarship have focused on the academic outcomes of schooling as well as the economic benefits of education for individuals (such as earnings) and societies (such as economic growth). While acknowledging the importance of such outcomes, this study instead focuses on the social outcomes of education, including health, wellbeing, citizenship, and civic engagement. Specifically, the research undertaken has sought to understand some of the social outcomes associated with the educational experiences of three innovative schools that align with the integral education perspective in Brazil. The latter considers students as whole including multiple dimensions (e.g., social, physical, emotional, political, and cultural) and emphasizes the role of education in promoting citizenship and social justice. A qualitative multicase approach is adopted to explore the educational experiences of the participant schools: EMEF Presidente Campos Salles and Centro Integrado de Educa��o de Jovens e Adultos Campo Limpo (CIEJA-Campo Limpo) in S�o Paulo, and Escola SESC de Ensino M�dio (SESC High School) in Rio de Janeiro. Two focal points of the study are the contexts in which the schools function and the extent to which their strategies follow an expanded view of integral education emphasizing the social and citizenship dimensions of education, as well as the social outcomes of education that can be associated with their approach. The analysis draws upon the concept of (citizen) integral education which is developed based on the existing research literature in the Brazilian context, and also from what is known about the social outcomes of education as well as the social quality of schooling. The findings suggest that the participant schools are aligned with the citizen integral education perspective, and help to reveal that many social outcomes are generated by the educational strategies of the schools both at the individual and community levels, including enhanced health and wellbeing, autonomous, democratic and engaged citizens, and reduced levels of violence. Recognizing the challenges involved in implementing such innovative strategies on a large scale, several policy recommendations are put forth including the prioritization of citizen integral education across distinct educational policy areas, focus on intersectoral policies, prioritizing educators’ work conditions and training, and the development of a system for monitoring and assessing the social outcomes of education as well as the social quality of citizen integral education schools.