In March 2017, Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro, the executive secretary at the Ministry of Education in Brazil, was preparing to send the final draft of a new national framework for education to the National Council of Education, the body with the deciding vote. The process of drafting the reform had been long and challenging. Even the idea of national educational standards in Brazil was a contentious one, between those who believed standards would reduce the country’s deep educational inequality and those who thought that schools and local governments were best placed to make decisions about teaching.

Despite the opposition, pro-standards forces had managed to create and maintain a broad coalition of experts, foundations, and politicians from across the political spectrum, and had shepherded the drafting process through years of extreme political upheaval. However, just as the draft was about to be published, members of the influential evangelical caucus approached the ministry leadership with a list of changes they wanted the ministry to adopt. If Castro refused, the consequences for the president’s legislative agenda could be dire; but if she agreed, she risked alienating many of the framework’s supporters and the fragile coalition might disintegrate. Years of careful negotiation – and the reform itself – were in jeopardy.

This case study steps into this dangerous moment for the reform and asks students to weigh up the complex political and ethical issues at stake.