Sofia Freire

Inclusive ideals/inclusive practices: how far is a dream from reality? Five comparative case studies

The creation of inclusive schools is no simple process as it implies huge changes that might generate resistance and fears, which can undermine the process of change. Quite often the changes in the legislation do not correspond to changes in the conceptions and/or practices of the actors involved in the process. As such, it is important to study what is happening in schools and to understand how they are managing to implement the political changes and overcome the tensions and difficulties they face. This is a comparative case study, aimed at describing five mainstream school teachers, their beliefs and practices, and how these are related to other schooling conditions. This study raises some questions, namely about the importance of an adequate regular school teacher support and an adequate education.

Identity Construction through Schooling: Listening to Students' Voices

One of the main problems faced by several educational systems around the world is educational exclusion. Portugal is no exception. It is recognized that those who drop out of education are at risk of social exclusion, with reduced opportunities to participate in society. In order to understand this, the authors reconceptualized the school as a community of practice, where students not only appropriate academic knowledge, but also new ways of being and perceiving themselves and others, and school practice itself. This article aims to better understand educational exclusion from the perspective of at-risk students. How do their constructed positional identities originate ways of being, relating and acting in relation to school agents and practices? The authors developed four focus group interviews with students presenting high rates of truancy and failure. Against their expectations, several students showed intent of pursuing their own path within the school system and saw themselves as capable of changing the conditions of failure in order to succeed in school.

A discussão de controvérsias sociocientíficas na formação de professores

Resumo: A promocao da compreensao da natureza da ciencia constitui um dos eixos fundamentais dos curriculos de ciencias actuais, procurando que os alunos entendam a producao do conhecimento cientifico e tomem decisoes sobre assuntos de base cientifica com impacto directo na sua vida. Contudo, a investigacao demonstra que os professores nao integram esta vertente no seu ensino, comprometendo as aprendizagens dos alunos sobre esta tematica. Num outro sentido, a investigacao atribui potencialidades a discussao de assuntos sociocientificos controversos na escola na construcao de uma imagem de ciencia mais real. Com este estudo, pretende-se compreender como e que um conjunto de 29 professores-formandos, de um mestrado em Educacao, avalia as potencialidades deste tipo de metodologia. Apesar das avaliacoes bastante positivas, constata-se a necessidade de continuar a apoiar estes professores na implementacao destas actividades com os seus alunos de modo a desenvolverem o conhecimento necessario a sua implementacao. Palavras-chave: Formacao de professores. Ensino de Ciencias. Discussao. Controversias socio-cientificas.

Curriculum Conception, Implementation and Evaluation: An Experience

Aligned with the new trends in curriculum studies, the Portuguese physical and natural sciences curriculum of basic education was reorganised by introducing several new ideas and principles, such as the notion of competence, the development of adequate learning experiences, an emphasis on formative assessment of students and the idea of flexible management of the curriculum. In order to promote changes in teachers’ practices and conceptions, the reorganisation of the curriculum involved a complex process of implementation. However, this process of curriculum change was stopped abruptly due to a change in government. This chapter’s goals are to describe the process of curriculum change, how teachers interpret and implement the science curriculum and the factors that affect the way the curriculum is implemented. We analysed data from three types of studies: (a) a nationwide study focused on teachers’ perspectives regarding the science curriculum, (b) a meta-analysis of several comprehensive Portuguese studies and (c) a multiple case study involving five schools. Results show that teachers modified certain practices not according to the original intentions of the curriculum, but according to how they perceived and experienced some of the constraints and their educational and school contexts. These results support the idea that it is essential to create structures capable of responding to the emerging training needs of teachers. The creation of communities of practice involving educational researchers and teachers may facilitate discussion and reflection about the curriculum, providing teachers with resources to accomplish innovations and for providing them with feedback about the work they are developing.

CURSOS DE EDUCAÇAO E FORMAÇÃO: UMA OPORTUNIDADE PARA QUESTIONAR PRÁTICAS DE SALA DE AULA E RECONSTRUIR IDENTIDADES ESCOLARES

Este estudo tem como objectivo conhecer o impacto de activi- dades investigativas em aulas de Fisica e Quimica na reconstrucao de identidades escolares. Estudaram-se tres turmas do ensino secundario de um curso de Educacao e Formacao. Participaram 28 alunos, com historias pesadas de insucesso escolar, aos quais se fez uma entrevista em grupo focado. Recorreu-se a um metodo de analise de conteudo. Os dados suge rem um percurso, inicial, feito de insucessos, assente em identidades esco lares negativas, que nao sendo passiveis de ser re-avaliadas ou restauradas, geram vontade de abandonar a escola. Para alem disso sugerem que novas experiencias pedagogicas e curriculares podem facilitar a reconstrucao dessas identidades e a emergencia de novas formas de se relacionar com a escola e com o saber escolar.