RCAAP Repository

The cognitive, linguistic, communicational, social and cultural development of deaf children depends on the early acquisition of a language, preferably the Portuguese Sign Language (PSL). If these children are exposed to this visual-gestural language from an early age, their acquisition and mastery will occur naturally, which will facilitate all their future learning. However, most deaf children are the children of hearing parents, and thus lack early access to PSL, which may lead to poor school performance. Through a critical review of the literature and the responses currently implemented in Portugal, we intend to discuss the acquisition of PSL and the roles played by early intervention services, the family and the Bilingual Education Reference Schools highlighting their specific and complex context that requires specialized teams and practices and the need to work with deaf children and their families so that the student can achieve integral development. The major conclusions that result from the critical reflection address the need for the deaf youth’s family to be integrated into the deaf community, the learning of sign language, the follow-up of the family by the early intervention teams and the reflection on the training of professionals involved in deaf education in Portugal.

Higher education is recognized in our society as one of the best avenues for rewarding employment and associated with significant benefits. People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, with limitations in intellectual functioning and Adaptive Behavior, although aiming to continue their academic education, are one of the most socially excluded groups, facing prejudice that hinder their access to Higher Education. Based on a narrative literature review it is intended to gain an understanding of the process of inclusion of these students that is taking place in European higher education institutions, from the contributions of the literature. Thus, it aims to (i) describe features of programs operating in Europe; (ii) identify pedagogical methodologies that have facilitated the success of the teaching and learning process; and (iii) identify effects of their participation in programs offered by European institutions. This study shows that, with appropriate methodologies, it is possible to include people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Higher Education. We underline the importance of the positive effects and outcomes of improving employability from these inclusive curriculum initiatives.

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Classroom management is a critical area in the curriculum of teacher education programs. Student teachers’ conceptions of the role of the teacher as a class leader are frequently backed by their intuition and experience as students and socio-cultural context rather than evidence-based. This paper examines the conceptions of classroom management held by a multicultural group of forty-four student teachers attending a teacher education program at a higher education institute in Macao. The study aims at understanding the patterns of variation expressed by student teachers regarding the purpose and relevance of the object of learning. It compares a) the patterns of variation in students’ views of classroom management, and b) the students’ learning progress based on the pre-and post-test. The phenomenographic approach was adopted as the conceptual framework. Participants handwritten transcripts from student teachers at the first and last sessions of the course are the primary type of data collection. The findings show that changes in student teachers’ understanding of the conceptions of classroom management occurred during the course. The initial preferences for disciplinary approaches to classroom leadership have given way to conceptions of promoting the integration of classroom management into learning. The participants expressed increasing adherence to classroom management systems targeting and providing behavioural and academic supports and interventions to children and adolescents with and without special needs.

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The learning environment clearly expresses the intentions of the teacher who, using planning, conceives and develops the curriculum and circumscribes activities, with the aim of facilitating the construction of new learning by children. The environment involves wide dimensions (temporal, spatial, relational, resources and strategies) that, taken as a whole, can contribute to making the educational space more appealing and facilitating motivation and participation. The present study involved 8 students of the 2nd year of the Master's course in Pre-school Education and Teaching of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education (1st CEB), from a Higher School of Education in the Northeast of Portugal. Its aim was to understand the importance that students (future teachers) attach to the learning environment and the influence that it may have, both in disciplinary promotion and in the construction of a positive, participatory and complicit pedagogical relationship. The collection of information was based on the survey technique, through the application of a questionnaire with open questions. The study followed the paradigm of qualitative research and data content analysis. It should be noted that these students value innovative and significant learning environments, seeking to stimulate positive behaviours through a good management of the pedagogical relationship.

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The interest in studying the influence of the physical environment of school spaces on behavior, attitudes and teaching strategies is part of the context of the modernization program for secondary schools, still under execution, by Parque Escolar E.P.E. The ongoing investigation aims to determine how school principals, teachers and students perceive the changes introduced in modernized school spaces and the extent to which these have caused changes in the ways of teaching and learning, using the Design Manual: architecture and pedagogical implicit model. The study fits into a qualitative and quantitative methodology, with a strong research component of post-occupation study, and is being developed in three secondary schools in Porto’s district. The partial results of the analysis of the data collected in the survey, by questionnaire to the teachers, and by interview, to the Directors. The results show that the collective perception about the characteristics of the new school spaces, the conditions for teaching and learning and the effect on changing teaching practices are not coincident.

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Many researchers, in some cases organized in international projects, have shown considerable empirical evidence that the quality of leadership and school culture can be important factors in explaining the variation in student outcomes between schools. The present study characterizes the role of leaders and school culture in two schools with different academic results, but with similar student contexts and populations. Questionnaires were applied to teachers and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the directors and department coordinators of each school. From the analysis and interpretation of the data, it was possible to verify that the two schools present differences in the way the leaders (top and middle) are exercised and in their school culture. The school with the best academic results stand out for its organizational style, which gives it its own identity, and for its recognized and mobilizing leaders with shared missions and purposes. The data confirm that the existence of dialogue, pedagogical debate and cooperation between teachers, as well as a sense of belonging, transformation and proximity between teachers are essential aspects school success.

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The big changes that our society is carrying out, and, consequently, the changes imposed to the school organization, draw us not only a chart of doubts and uncertainty, but also a challenge. Many barriers are built when considering a reflexive and an experienced knowledge, and many of these barriers are built by ourselves. The ability to think about supervision among our peers is inherent to the concept of pedagogical supervision; as we consider it, it became even more important after the change of the Teaching Career Status. The research we present takes all of the stated above into consideration, and it aims to understand the perceptions and perspectives of three teachers and three heads of department of the same Oporto school. The aim is two folded: the knowledge concept in what the pedagogical supervision is concerned, and its field of action, i.e., how the head of a department performs the inherent supervision tasks as they are established in the actual law. The understanding of these perceptions also leads to the recognition of pedagogical supervision limitations, which somehow influence the teacher’s both personal and professional development strategy. In conclusion, it is our purpose to conceive an exploratory study in order to understand and describe the limits and the transgressions of the supervising action according to the teachers’ perceptions and the pedagogical supervisor’s functions.