Portugal is an aging country. An important part of the response to the demographic challenge of aging will be given by the migratory balance. At the same time, Portugal  as other European countries currently experiencing one of the biggest phenomena of displaced populations worldwide, resulting from events such as war, government oppression and the search for better living conditions. Inevitably, educational systems are faced with the new demands that such demographic movements bring (Abrantes & Roldão,2019; Conselho da  Europa ,2018).. How are these populations welcomed in Portuguese educational system?

MixwithPeople Project aims to contribute to the analysis of political measures for the integration of immigrants and refugees into the Portuguese educational system, seen from the integration practices that Portuguese public schools were able to put into practice (Neves, Almeida, ;& Ferreira 2023; Mouraz  & Cosme, 2021).). It also aims to contribute to the knowledge and reinforcement of instruments aimed at welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees, operationalized through initiatives within the scope of training and education in others european countries (Ager & Strang, 2008),.

The new perspective that this project proposes is to look at Portuguese public schools, at the pedagogical practices of integration of immigrants that they are promoting, in a double movement of refocusing the object of study - it is not immigrants and their difficulties that are object of analysis, but the practices promoted by schools. It is not the flaws and perceived gaps that we are interested in prioritizing, but the effective and inspiring ways in which schools respond to these new audiences.

In short, the project aims to develop an extensive study of the pedagogical practices implemented by Portuguese public schools to promote the integration of immigrant students and then analyse some of these practices in more detail to understand their transformative potential.

However, in this presentation it is intended to answer to a specific research question that is: What integration practices for immigrant and refugee students and their families are developed by Portuguese School Groups?

The specific objectives are:

1 - How are such pedagogical characterized according to the three dimensions associated with the possible work of schools (Curricular dimension; Socioeconomic and family dimension; Socio-emotional dimension)

2 – What resources are allocated to these practices? What is the role of surrounding communities?

3. – What effects do these practices have? What factors are important in the effectiveness of these practices?

4. How do schools evaluate the results of these initiatives?

To answer these questions research team designed, validated and applied a survey to evaluate the diversity and effectiveness of pedagogical practices that promote the integration of immigrant students in Portuguese public schools. The questionnaire was organized into three sections. The first section (questionnaire S1) is intended to collect data characterizing the Groups with regard to the thematic subject. Such data is used as independent variables.The second section (questionnaire S2) aimed to map and characterize the initiatives developed by each Group of schools for the reception and integration of immigrants, as well as the resources mobilized, the monitoring strategies used and the results of such practices (appreciated in indicators of school success, in indicators of sociability ; in indicators of student satisfaction and well-being). There was a third section of the survey is intended to collect a detailed description of a particularly successful integration practice developed by the Schools. The survey applied to the Management of School Groups was previously submitted to the Ministry of Education in the process of Monitoring Surveys in the School Environment, and approved.

As said , collection data process is still running. Therefore we expect to characterize effective pedagogical practices organized by schools. Considering that the actions of schools in this integration process can be organized into the four dimensions mentioned above (curricular, socio-economic, family, socio-emotional and intercultural), these will be the first categories for characterizing the practices pedagogical integration of immigrants. We aim to highlight curricular agency of schools.

Abrantes, P., & Roldão, C. (2019). The (mis) education of African descendants in Portugal: Towards vocational traps?. Portuguese Journal of Social Science, 18(1), 27-55. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/11207 Ager, A. e Strang, A. (2008), Understanding Integration: A Conceptual Framework, Journal of Refugee Studies , 21(2), 166-191. Conselho da Europa (2018). Relatório da ECRI sobre Portugal. ECRI Secretariat Directorate General II – Democracy Council ofEurope, Estrasburgo. https://rm.coe.int/fi fth-report-on-portugal-portuguese-translation-/16808de7db Neves, C.; Almeida, A. P.; Ferreira, M. (2023) "Headteachers and Inclusion: Setting the Tone for an Inclusive School". Education Sciences 13(2), 129;https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020129. 10.3390/educsci13020129 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/13237 Mouraz, A., & Cosme, A. (2021). The on-going curriculum reform in Portugal: Highlighting trends, challenges and possibilities. InM. Priestley, D. Alvunger, S. Philippou, & T. Soini (Orgs.), Curriculum making in Europe: Policy and practice within and acrosscontexts (pp. 77-98). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83867-735-020211005