Session Information
99 ERC SES 05 K, Professional Learning and Development
Paper Session
Contribution
This study is part of a PhD program on teachers’ professional role on curriculum change, in Portugal, since the Law-Decree n.º55/2018 (Ministério da Educação, 2018), and the implemented new goals for education, following the OECD (2019), UNESCO (2021), and European Union guidelines for the XXI century education. This research is an epistemological approach, focused on the development of a new agenda for education.
Today’s education goals are scored through key-competences, that students must learn until de end of compulsory school age (Ministério da Educação, 2017), measured by international systems for assessment: as PISA and TIMSS (Schleicher, 2018; Robertson, 2022; Teodoro, 2022), and other evidence-based assessment strategies (Biesta, 2017).
Teachers are called to be agents of these change (OECD, 2019), but at same time, they also must follow prescriptive methods to teach (Priestley et al. 2015). They also must have competences to deliver this new educational paradigm, acting as instructors on a learning competence, where what counts is social-economic and technological future for the XXI century (Biesta, 2022; Robertson, 2022).
Biesta (2017; 2022) and Giroux (2022) argue that the perception of teacher as instructors, following orders, doesn’t leave space for critical action. Education assumes a submiss role, working to satisfy society needs, and the will of consumerism: with students as consumers of the product of a fast-food education that, according with Biesta (2022), is based on a “learnification”, in which teachers don’t do what education should do: bring new knowledge to students.
As Biesta & Säfström (2023) and Giroux (2022) write, this concept of education goes against what is democratic public systems, subverting what Dewey (2018) said it should be the relationship between education and society: a bilateral relationship, instead of what it is now. Unilateral, with education taking orders from society, assuming students as objects (of assessment) instead of subjects, that have to learn to be in the world (Biesta, 2022).
OECD (2005) understands teachers as an important agent to fulfill the anticipator project for the future of education. Bandura´s (1997) definition for agency is an act of someone that produces an effect in society. Priestley et al. (2015) developed the Ecological Model for Teacher Agency in which they state that there are three dimensions interrelated dimensions in teacher agency: the present conditions and the past experiences influence teachers’ perceptions for their action and what they see education in the future.
Teachers are important actors in education, as Freire’s (1997) argues. They must have the autonomy to decide what’s best for their student’s knowledge growth, they must flourish their student critical consciousness (Freire, 2021).
The purpose of this study is to contribute for the development of the public democratic education, grounded on social justice values, where students are allowed to develop their comprehension of the world and themselves. Where school act on behalf of the purpose for what is grounded as a public institution, and teachers have an important role.
This study is focused on a critical analysis of the Portuguese curricular documents from the period of 2017 to 2023, analysis of the epistemological principles subjacent of this curricular change (Ministério da Educação, 2017; 2018a; 2018b), what do they understand as the student’s profile to be developed by teachers, to respond to this new professionals demands (Giroux, 2004), it´s relation with the Essential Learnings (Ministério da Educação, 2017), what should be the teachers profile for the school and students education success.
Method
This research is an epistemological approach, focused on a critical analysis of Portuguese actual system practices between the period 2017 to 2023, and its background is international educational reference documents (OECD, 2019; UNESCO, 2021), through Biesta´s World-Centred Education approach, for the promotion of a democratic, humanist school, focused on bringing knowledge to students. The methodology comes from an epistemological paradigm, socio-critic from Habermas (Cohen et al. 2018), that reflects on the OECD anticipatory political ideology, for the economical and sustainable development. The object of the study is characterized by its subjectivity analyzed according with Biesta paradigm with the purpose of educate, and school social role, the purpose of education, what is the human being relation with the world. The study also has a qualitative research basis, focused on a sociocritical and transformative paradigm (Coutinho, 2018), supported by the critical theory of Biesta (2022), through a solid literature review, to reflect on anticipatory policies from international organizations for education (OECD and UNESCO), and the Portuguese policy documents referenced before, that will be critically analyzed through Biesta´s (2022) approach, Freire´s (1997; 2021) autonomy and critical consciousness perception, and Priestley et al., (2015) teacher agency ecological model.
Expected Outcomes
The result of the literature review will contribute to ground the theory for empirical research to build the script for the interviews schedule for the following part of the research with actors from the political, teachers, and researchers from the education field.
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman and Company. Biesta, G. (2017). The Future of Teacher Education: Evidence, Competence or Wisdom? In M. Peters, B. Cowie, & I. Menter (Eds.), A Companion to Research in Teacher Education (pp. 435–454). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4075-7 Biesta, Gert. (2022). World-Centred Education: A View for the Present. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003098331 Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research Methods in Education (8th ed.). Routledge. Pereira Coutinho, C. (2018). Metodologia de Investigação em Ciências Sociais e Humanas: Teoria e Prática. Almedina. Dewey, John (2018). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. Myers Education Press. Freire, Paulo. (1997). Autonomia: Saberes Necessários à Prática Educativa. Paz e Terra. Freire, P. (2023). Education for critical consciousness. (3a) Bloomsbury. Giroux, H. A. (2004). Cultural Studies, Public Pedagogy, and the Responsability of Intellectuals. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 1(1), 59–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/1479142042000180935 Giroux, H. (2020). On Critical Pedagogy (2a). Bloomsbury. Hossaye, J. (2015) Le triangle pédagogique: Les différentes facettes de la pédagogie (Pédagogies références) ESF Editeur. Ministério da Educação. (2017a). Perfil dos Alunos à Saída da Escolaridade Obrigatória. https://dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Projeto_Autonomia_e_Flexibilidade/perfil_dos_alunos.pdf Ministério da Educação. (2017b). Despacho n.o 5907/2017. Diário Da República , 2a série(128), 13881–13890. http://www.dge.mec.pt/sites/default/files/Curriculo/Projeto_Autonomia_e_Flexibilidade/despacho_5908_2017.pdf Ministério da Educação. (2018). Decreto-Lei n.o55/2018. Diário Da Républica, 1a série, 2928–2943. https://dre.pt/dre/legislacao-consolidada/decreto-lei/2018-115645941 OECD. (2005). Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. https://www.oecd.org/education/school/34990905.pdf OCDE. (2019). Well-being 2030 Action OECD. Future of Education and Skills 2030: A series of concept notes. https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/learning/learning-compass-2030/OECD_Learning_Compass_2030_Concept_Note_Series.pdf Prange, K. (2004). What kind of teachers does the schools need?: The relationship between profession, method, and teacher ethos. European Education, 36(1), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2004.11042351 Priestley, M., Biesta, G., & Robinson, S. (2015). Teacher Agency: An Ecological Approach (1a). Bloomsbury. Unesco. (2021). Reimagining our Futures Together : a New Social Contract For Education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379381 Robertson, S. L. (2022). Guardians of the Future: International Organizations, Anticipatory Governance and Education. Global Society, 36(2), 188–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2021.2021151 Säfström, C. A., & Biesta, G. (2023). Introduction: The publicness of education. In The new publicness of education; democratic possibilities after the critique of neo-liberalism (1st ed., pp. 1–7). Routledge. Schleicher, A. (2018). World Class: How to build a 21st-century School System. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/education/world-class-9789264300002-en.html Teodoro, A. (2022). PISA and the limitations and risks of an OECD global governance program. Revista Lusofona de Educacao, 56(56), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.24140/issn.1645-7250.rle56.04
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