Cooperation for Quality Development: In-service teacher training program in Kuito-Bié

WAYt - Who Are You teaching? New migrations, teachers and intercultural education in the XXI century

Amidst educational issues of migrant and refugee people in school context, this project focuses on teachers' perceptions on the welcoming of diverse cultures in the educational system, and also on their preparation to deal with cultural diversity.

Cooperation for Development: a case study on teacher education in the province of Bié

Starting from the dialogue between the School of Nossa Senhora da Paz (Kuito-Bié, Angola) and the Centre for Research and Intervention in Education of the University of Porto, this project aims to conduct a qualitative study on the educational context of the province of Bié with a focus on teacher education, taking into account the educational development policies in Angola and the current 2030 DSG Agenda.

Engage Students: Promoting Social Responsibility of Students by Embedding Service Learning into Education Curricula

The general objective of ENGAGE STUDENTS is to empower the social dimension of higher education by increasing its relevance for society through embedding service-learning as a common pedagogical approach within education and research practice.
ENGAGE STUDENTS is an outreach project, in which universities from 6 countries reach out to the community (local associations, NGOs, etc.). For this purpose, the project works with a) teachers, b) students in higher education and c) community actors. Students can engage in community outreach if teachers - who teach in the regular curriculum - provide instructions and guidance how to do so. Teachers often lack methodologies to do this (service learning, project-based learning methodologies etc.).
Students gain practical working skills, are confronted with real-world challenges, and achieve results relevant for the labour market.
On the side of the community, they will benefit from evidence-based approaches with higher education institutions increasing the demand of research and teaching in adult education in community stakeholders. Community stakeholders are motivated to connect to higher education institutions, and thus adult education and higher education will meet here.
Moreover, the project will contribute to students' personal and professional development and the promotion of critical and engaged citizenship. Through service learning, the students will learn to exercise ethical, social and environmental responsibility and become responsible citizens making a positive difference to society in addressing the major local, regional and global challenges.
At institutional level, the project will enhance the infrastructure and methodology for service-learning and civic engagement and will foster the collaborations and support strategic service-learning and civic engagement partnerships.

European Students Sustainability Auditing (ESSA)

The European Students Sustainability Auditing (ESSA) project is a response to the developing commitment of higher education institutions and the growing interest of students in University Social Responsibility. The project received funding from Erasmus+ (KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, 2016-1-UK01-KA203-234648) from 01.09.2016 to 31.08.2019.
The ESSA project empowers students as auditors of social responsibility using the Benchmark Standards. During the Erasmus+ funded period, participating students experienced a learner-centred training programme USR auditing followed by completing cross-national student audit of a European higher education institution.
Participating students received an EQF Level 6 Certificate in Social Responsibility Auditing following satisfactory completion of the training programme, the institutional audit and the Certificate requirements through a portfolio based assessment of learning.

The objectives of the ESSA project have been to:

Create an innovative approach to the recognition and validation of knowledge, skills (including soft skills) and competences
Produce a significant Open Educational Resource (OER) for a ECTS 5 Credit Certificate in Social Responsibility Auditing (EQF Level 6)
Contribute to the wider process of developing alternative models of curriculum development

SOLVINC | Solving intercultural conflicts with international students

SOLVINC strengthens conflict management and communication skills by engaging with real-life cases of intercultural conflict, proposing possible solutions and thus alleviating experiences of discrimination for HE students. Within the project, we collected and analyzed real experiences of intercultural conflicts, devising negotiation and conflict management strategies as well as training material for HE staff to better deal with an increasingly diverse student population. Also, formats of intercultural learning between international and local students were implemented at partner universities in order to facilitate the development of intercultural skills among all students.

Coreografias da relação educativa: um estudo narrativo sobre o corpo na escola [Choreographies of the educational relationship: a narrative study about the body in school]

The value crisis of the modern era and the sociopolitical pressure that weights on a results centered school, lead to the belief that the personal experiences and the relational aspects of education are secondary. The educational relationship is above all a human relationship, where the body is an inexorable element, whose importance has been neglected. The goal of this study is to acknowledge the different meanings of the body in the school setting, particularly in its relational dimension. This thesis fits in a line of thought that demands solidarity besides an ethical, democratic and planetary consciousness. It pursues the school of the connection with the other and perceives the educational relationship as a privileged arena for transformation, socialization and subjectivation. It is founded on a view of the human being and the body as inseparable and, in them, experiences, meanings and knowledge are created, expressed and inscribed. This study entails the analyses of different kinds of autobiographic data about experiences related to school and to the educational relationship, and frames them around the body: i) autobiographic narrative of the author; ii) focus group with teachers from different levels of education; iii) written accounts from several participants; iv) and biographic interviews with teachers. The results support a perception of the body as creator and keeper of the meanings that where constructed and of the school experiences. Based on the corporeal dimension of the teachers and the students, and in the relation between the body with the time and space experienced in school, it was possible to identify what’s appears to be “the school of the good experiences” and “the school of the bad experiences”. The body is a maker of images and meanings that are implied in the learning experience and in the social, emotional, cognitive and ethical development of the participants. The emotions that surface in the bodies of the school progressively shape the repertoire of values and actions of each individual, which embodiment becomes an important part of the construction of their subjectivities. This study is a contribution to the underlining of human relationships in education, emphasizing the importance of conviviality in the educative process and enriching the appreciation of the role of the body in the school.