Brazilian actions to promote physiology learning and teaching in secondary and high schools

Members of the Education Committee of the Brazilian Society of Physiology have developed multiple outreach models to improve the appreciation of science and physiology at the precollege level. The members of this committee act in concert with important Brazilian governmental strategies to promote training of undergraduate students in the teaching environment of secondary and high schools. One of these governmental strategies, the Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência, a Brazilian public policy of teaching enhancement implemented by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) since 2007, represents a well-articulated public policy that can promote the partnership between University and Schools (7). Furthermore, the Program "Novos Talentos" (New Talents)/CAPES/Ministry of Education is another government initiative to bring together university and high-level technical training with the reality of Brazilian schools. Linked to the New Talents Program, in partnership with the British Council/Newton Fund, CAPES recently promoted the visit of some university professors that coordinate New Talents projects to formal and informal educational science spaces in the United Kingdom (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Brazil-United Kingdom International Cooperation Program) to qualify the actions developed in this area in Brazil, and one of us had the opportunity to participate with this.