Branca Miranda

Emerging Models of Teacher Training: The Case of Portugal

Political/National Contexts for Changes The structural reforms of geography teacher training in Portugal have been justified by the global evolution of the educational system and took into account: (1) the political will to extend the period of compulsory schooling, which now covers the whole of lower secondary education, but will soon cover upper secondary education as well; (2) the inclusion of a growing proportion of pupils whose composition is socially, ethnically and culturally diversified; (3) the rising ‘massification’ of higher education, which has led to measures that have altered the branches of study, as well as the types of courses on offer, namely in Higher Schools of Education and private universities. Nevertheless, the number of students is now decreasing in both lower and upper secondary education (data from 2002/2003 point to a reduction of 2.6% and 5.0% respectively), which are precisely the school levels for which geography is an important curriculum subject. Thus, the evolution of schools’ demographic indicators is already causing a surplus in the whole supply of teachers for many curricular subjects and will surely affect geography teachers in a similar way. As a response to such conditions, major policy changes were recently introduced in recruitment methods, which make it difficult for newly qualified teachers to apply for a school place and secure permanent tenure. Until the mid-1980s, training was predominantly school based for all disciplines, although new forms of concurrent provision also began to be offered to prospective teachers in lower secondary education from 1971 and 1980 onwards. Such training was first given in the new educational training courses (ramos de formação educacional) of the science faculties, and was later extended to the arts faculties, where geography is integrated. Changes in society and the obligation of policy makers to adapt education to new demands seem unavoidable. How far these demands have an impact on the content of teacher training is therefore a question of utmost importance. Education authorities have tended to increase regulation of initial teacher training as part of tertiary-level educational provision. The reason for this trend may well be the desire for more uniform patterns of training, so that it corresponds to national and international quality standards. IRGEE 158g