News
Researcher from CeiED, Lusófona University, presents a lecture at Casa Capitão, in Lisbon
Patrícia Ferraz de Matos, an Integrated Researcher at CeiED, Lusófona University, presented a conference entitled “The Persistence of Lusotropicalism” at the closing event of the LEAP (Legacies in Progress) European project. LEAP promotes critical and plural reflection on colonial legacies and their impact on contemporary European societies.
The aforementioned conference aimed to discuss Lusotropicalism: what it is; how it originated; how it was appropriated by the Estado Novo regime; and how it still leaves traces in Portuguese society today. The conference proposed a critical reading of the contemporary consequences of the country's colonial legacy.
The event, organised by Gerador — an independent platform for information, culture and education — aimed to reach a broad international audience. It took place on 17 April at Casa Capitão in Lisbon. Journalist Joana Gorjão Henriques participated in the event, delivering a talk on the “Current Map of Colonial Legacies”. There was also a panel discussion on “Colonialism in Digital Culture”, moderated by Eliana Silva and featuring Fábio Silva (Biblioteca Negra), Neusa Sousa (Chá de Beleza Afro) and Raquel Nhaga (Dando à Língua Podcast). Artist Emma Make was present throughout the event, providing illustrations at various points.
More information here: https://gerador.eu/en/residencias-insubmissas-gerador/
Seminar | Between Control and Trust: What Essential Learning for What Kind of School
On April 24, 2026, the CeiED – Interdisciplinary Centre for Education and Development Studies at the Lusófona University – University Centre of Lisbon organized the seminar Between Control and Trust: What Essential Learning for What Kind of School? The seminar was accredited as a Short-Duration Training Course for primary and secondary school teachers, which contributed to the participation of educators from various institutions.
The opening session featured presentations by Professor and Researcher Elsa Estrela and Professor and Researcher António Teodoro, who proposed a broad reflection on schools and the curriculum in Portugal. Their intervention addressed recent changes to the Essential Learning framework and the curriculum, reflecting on the role of assessment, the challenges faced by teachers, and the importance of finding a balance between control and trust in schools.
The second part of the event included a roundtable discussion with four specialists: Professor Regina Duarte, former Commissioner of the National Reading Plan; Professor João Pedro Aido, from the Board of the Portuguese Teachers’ Association; Professor Paulo Feytor Pinto, from CELGA-ILTEC (Centre for General and Applied Linguistics Studies) at the University of Coimbra; and Professor Vanda Pequito, from José Saramago Secondary School.
The debate focused on the Essential Learning framework for Portuguese language education, highlighting advances but also several weaknesses in the curriculum documents. The speakers emphasized the absence of a coherent and progressive model for the development of readers, while also questioning the excessive centrality of assessment, the lack of clarity regarding the literary canon, and the shortage of effective time for autonomous reading in schools.
The participants also defended the need for greater articulation between different paradigms of reading instruction and stressed the importance of more deeply rethinking the role of schools in the development of critical, autonomous, and culturally engaged readers.
Article by Margarida Belchior in Público on teacher shortages and the articulation between primary education cycles
Margarida Belchior, researcher at CEIED – Interdisciplinary Centre for Education and Development of Universidade Lusófona, has recently published an opinion article in the Portuguese newspaper Público addressing teacher shortages and the articulation between the 1st and 2nd cycles of basic education.
In the article, titled “Teacher shortage and the integration of the 1st Cycle of Basic Education with the 2nd Cycle”, the author critically reflects on structural challenges affecting the Portuguese education system, particularly the lack of teachers and its implications for curricular and pedagogical organization.
The analysis highlights the need to rethink articulation models between education cycles, in a context where teacher shortages have been worsening and have become a structural issue, affecting thousands of students across the country.
The article contributes to the public debate on education policies, emphasizing the importance of sustainable solutions to ensure quality education and the valorization of the teaching profession.
The full article is available in Público: https://www.publico.pt/2026/04/11/opiniao/opiniao/falta-professores-integracao-1-ciclo-ensino-basico-2-ciclo-2170892
New higher education degree regime analysed in Público
Professor António Teodoro, Director of the Institute of Education at Universidade Lusófona and of CeiED – Interdisciplinary Research Center for Education and Development, published an opinion piece in the Portuguese newspaper Público on 3 April 2026.
The article, entitled "More freedom or more control? A first reading of the new degree and diploma regime in higher education", offers a critical analysis of the draft decree-law submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI) for consultation with higher education institutions. Starting from the modernisation rhetoric that frames the document — flexible learning pathways, micro-credentials, recognition of prior learning and openness to new student profiles — the author argues that the reform extends well beyond expanding opportunities. Instead, it introduces a profound reconfiguration of how the system is regulated, in which the widening of possibilities coexists with a significant strengthening of control mechanisms. The author also highlights the diploma's strong European dimension — its alignment with international qualification frameworks and initiatives such as the European degree — as a vector integrating the national system into a broader political space where benchmarks are increasingly defined in comparative terms. The article contends that the true scope of the reform lies not so much in the surface-level changes to pathways and credentials, but in the way the system itself comes to be conceived, organised and governed.
Article by António Teodoro and Elsa Estrela in Expresso: “Essential learnings: what if we learned from good examples?”
A new opinion article published in the newspaper Expresso offers a critical reflection on the concept of essential learnings in Portugal and challenges us to recentre education on meaningful knowledge and trust.
The opinion article “Essential learnings: what if we learned from good examples?”, published in the newspaper Expresso, critically examines how the school curriculum has been shaped in Portugal.
The authors propose a shift in perspective: replacing a logic of control with a culture of trust, valuing pedagogical practices inspired by good examples and oriented towards more meaningful, critical and lasting learning.
When Shame Disappears: Education in the Laboratory of the New European Right — an article by António Teodoro in VISÃO
Professor António Teodoro, Director of the Institute of Education at Universidade Lusófona and of CeiED – Interdisciplinary Research Center for Education and Development, published an opinion article in the 9 April 2026 issue of the Portuguese magazine VISÃO.