Digital Platforms in School Clusters’ Educational Management (DigP-SEM)

Preciosa Fernandes e Carlinda Leite

Domingos Fernandes

School organisation into clusters is justified by the reinforcement of autonomy, the fight against isolation between schools and the development of educational projects articulated between all levels of education and participated by the community. However, studies (AL_CL_PF2010; SM_TL2015) reveal feelings of dislike for this school organisation mode, based on a loss of autonomy, dependence to the main school and difficulties in collaborative work due to the distance between schools.

In addition, influenced by the Lisbon Special European Council (2000) and the Technological Educational Plan (2007), ICT became a focus in educational recommendations (European Commission, 2011; OECD, 2015), as well as an important part of school clusters? (SC) daily routines (AS_BS2008; AM_et al2012). Digital platforms (DP) (email, moodle, internet, etc.) became a resource in the communication in SC, about which there is little knowledge, justifying the relevance of the project DigP-SEM. The project main objetive is to produce recommendations for the use of DP towards a school educational management with effects in curricular sequentiality and in the development of a collectively participated, Educational Project (EP), embodying principles of an inclusive ?educating city? (Bologna Declaration, 1990).

Based on this, the project is organised around three specific goals: 1) to identify and characterise the means and aims for DP use in SC; 2) to map the effects of DP use in SC functioning; 3) to produce and validate a guide for DP use in SC. The project will be closely monitored and evaluated, ensuring the relevance of the knowledge produced. This knowledge will be shared with the SC that are willing to participate in the project, and disseminated in national and international scientific events in order to reach other contexts.

Aiming to take a photograph of the national panorama, the project integrates researchers from 6 universities (U. Porto; UTAD; U. Coimbra; IE-ULisboa; U. Évora; U. Algarve), with a vast experience in research in education, evaluation research methodologies and DP utilisation. The team’s expertise provides a potential for innovation to DigP-SEM, particularly in the development of a guide for the use of DP in SC. As so, the project will contribute to improve SC educational management.

1/10/2018 – 30/09/2021

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PTDC/CED-EDG/29069/2017)