A case of international co‐operation in science education: dependence or development

The process of international co‐operation in the scientific area has been seen by some as a factor of development, and by others as a means of establishing relationships of dependence among regions and nations. This paper considers the difficulties and the potential of exchanges between central and peripheral countries, based on an analysis of the evolutionary process of science education in Brazil. The conclusion reached is that, if international cooperation is to lead to an effective modernization of science education, a number of conditions have to be fulfilled: didactic materials must be adapted to local needs and cannot simply be transplanted; there is a need to concentrate activities in the training of human resources; mechanisms for the diffusion of innovation have to be enlarged, and contacts be established between diverse groups that represent, pluralistically, the various tendencies in a certain field of work.