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- Supervised teaching practice in initial teacher education of early childhood teachers in PortugalPublication . Viana, Paulo; Abelha, Marta; Inês, Helena; Gramaxo, Patrícia; Seabra, FilipaSupervised teaching practice (STP) is a fundamental stage of initial teacher education, including preschool educators and teachers of the first cycle of basic education (1st CBE), which impacts their future practices. Our objectives were: a) to characterize STP in the curricula of degrees habilitating teachers for preschool education and teaching of the 1st CBE; b) to gather indicators about the process of STP implemented by the same cycles of studies; and c) to describe the improvement recommendations by the Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) to the same cycles of studies, concerning STP. The study was based on the documentary analysis of the plans of study, and A3ES reports on the initial teacher education programs preparing preschool educators and teachers of the 1st CBE of public higher education institutions (HEI) in Portugal, available during the academic year of 2020/2021. The results point to discrepancies in the definition of contact hours and the number of hours dedicated to supervised teaching practice across HEI. The recommendations for improvement by the A3ES about STP encompass cooperating teachers, the accompaniment by the HEI, and the conditions of reception at the cooperating schools.
- What makes a school a happy school?: parents’ perspectivesPublication . Gramaxo, Patrícia; Seabra, Filipa; Abelha, Marta; Dutschke, GeorgWell-being, equity, and inclusion are central aspects of happy schools. In this context, we aim to provide information to identify the characteristics of happy schools and Portuguese children’s level of happiness at school. In total, one thousand three hundred and ninety-nine parents of children from five to twenty years old participated in this study by answering a mostly open-ended questionnaire. They indicated their perceptions of how happy their children were at school, the moments they associated with individual happiness and unhappiness, and the characteristics of schools that they found conducive to promoting happiness. The findings show that parents value the relationships their children establish at school, teachers’ personal and professional skills, learning strategies, and the fact that students can be creative while learning valuable content. From the perspective of parents, unhappy schools are characterized by teachers with negative attitudes and attributes, bullying, an excessive workload, and consequent stress. Differences in terms of gender and age were not significant in this study. We found that levels of happiness at school decrease as students’ ages increase.
- Happy Schools People: our findings and actionsPublication . Gramaxo, Patrícia; Vargas, Carlos
- What makes a school a happy school?: Portuguese students’ perspectivesPublication . Gramaxo, Patrícia; Flores, Isabel; Dutschke, Georg; Seabra, FilipaIntroduction: UNESCO has sparked interest in the study of happy schools and, through its Happy Schools Project (HSP) framework, provides tools that enable the teaching and learning community to work towards making “happy schools” a reality. Since the understanding of happiness is culturally influenced (HSP studied Asian countries), we sought to identify parallels between the HSP framework and Portuguese schools through the eyes of students. Methods: We asked a group of Portuguese students to rate their happiness at school and answer three open questions: What makes you happy at school? What makes you unhappy at school? What is a happy school? Using an online survey, 2708 students participated in this study. We coded the answers with variables derived from the HSP framework, aiming to understand what characteristics students value most when referring to their happiness or unhappiness at school and what features a happy school should have. Results: Findings show that most Portuguese students consider themselves to be reasonably happy. No relevant difference exists between boys’ and girls’ self-reported happiness levels, and their happiness decreases as age increases. Children emphasized relationships with friends and teachers and teachers’ attitudes, competencies, and capacities as elements of a happy school. We found that school unhappiness is related to excessive workload and bullying. Discussion: Even though there are cultural differences between countries, when we identified the characteristics of a happy school from the perspective of Portuguese students, we found similarities with the HSP framework guidelines.
- Happy schools Portugal: elementos definidores da felicidade organizacional das escolasPublication . Gramaxo, Patrícia; Seabra, Filipa; Dutschke, Georg; Abelha, Marta