Cordoba Reform and higher education: institucionalization of extension university in Brazil

Abstract

The Reform of Cordoba (1918) established a landmark for university reforms in Latin America. The Extension University is among principles that guided this student manifestation, understood as a social commitment of the Cordoba university. The objective of this paper is to analyze repercussions of the Cordoba Reform in relation to the university extension in the Brazilian context. The methodological approach is based on bibliographic research, documentary analysis and content analysis. As a result, the influence of the Cordoba Reform on university reforms and student movements in Latin America indicates how the current extensionist policies and practices are constructed. Although Brazil has elaborated some extension policies, there has been little financial support and appreciation of extension in university pedagogy. As consequence, there is a lack of engagement of the University community. Thus, the expectation is that the National Education Plan can contribute to strengthen the indissociable relation among extension, research and teaching in Brazilian Universities through goal of inclusion of extension in undergraduate courses curriculum.