COMPARATIVE EDUCATION AND HIGH SCHOOL REFORMS: BRAZIL AND SPAIN IN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Comparative education analyzes educational policies and practices across different countries, fostering critical reflection and contributing to teacher education. Comparing reforms makes it possible to identify impacts, convergences, and divergences clarifying trends and challenges in contemporary education. This article aims to comparatively analyze high school reforms in Brazil and the Bachillerato in Spain, highlighting convergences and divergences in light of comparative education as both a methodological and formative approach. The study employed the technique of Comparative Research, Epistemology, and Transfer (IET), along with the triangulation of documentary sources, adopting a dialectical methodology and systematic analysis of documents, including Law No. 13.415/2017 (Brazil, 2017) and LOMLOE (Spain, 2020). The comparative methodology assumes a dual role: research and a laboratory for critical reflection on educational policies. The results reveal that both systems respond to the demands of the 21st century, focusing on competencies, curricular flexibility, and connection with the labor market, yet they face structural, cultural, and socioeconomic challenges that limit inclusion, equity, and educational quality. The study underscores the predominance of neoliberal trends and the need to reconcile innovation with specific historical and institutional contexts. It emphasizes the importance of critical teacher education and the construction of democratic and participatory public policies to implement fairer and more comprehensive reforms. It concludes that the practice of comparative education enhances critical analysis, reflective appropriation of international references, and the improvement of integrated educational practices and policies capable of promoting inclusive, high-quality, and citizenship-oriented education in secondary schooling, both in the Brazilian and Spanish context.