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Children in elementary schools located in municipalities crossed by the Carajás Railway Corridor, in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, are advancing from grade to grade without acquiring the basic knowledge required. This finding is the starting point of the Doctoral Thesis in Education by Altemar Lima, defended on July 1 at Lusófona University in Lisbon. The central question guiding the research is: what explains school failure in the Carajás Railway Corridor?

This mixed-methods, exploratory study focused on the Railway Corridor in Maranhão. Supervised by Manuel Tavares, its aim was to uncover the causes of school failure from the perspective of the Municipal Education Leaders, the main subjects of the research. The study is grounded in the sociology of education, drawing on historical-dialectical materialism, Southern epistemologies, and, complementarily, world-systems theory.

The author defines “excluding inclusion” as the educational model that universalizes access to public elementary schools but denies popular classes the mastery of socially legitimized knowledge through promotion without proficiency. Automatic progression is understood as a form of selectivity that conceals school failure. While it promotes access, it does not guarantee learning. National assessments, such as SAEB, end up being instrumentalized by local political interests, masking reality and compromising the future of many students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The thesis highlights that socioeconomic factors such as child labor, unemployment, hunger, and other adversities directly affect student performance and learning. Drawing on decolonial theory and world-systems analysis, it examines how public schools in the Railway Corridor contribute to the reproduction of social inequalities, while denouncing the mining-export enclave as a driver of exclusion.

The study identifies three dimensions of school failure:

• Sociological: the historical exclusion from access to education;
• Epistemological: the delegitimization of indigenous and local knowledge;
• Pedagogical: uncritical and decontextualized education.

Inspired by authors such as Paulo Freire, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Wallerstein, Quijano, Manuel Tavares, António Teodoro, Ana Benavente, and Jessé Souza, among others, Altemar Lima argues for a decolonial education that values local knowledge, confronts structural racism, and challenges the logic of reproducing social inequalities.

In addition to exposing school failure along the Carajás Railway Corridor, the thesis calls for reigniting the debate on this persistent problem and its new manifestations, both in academic circles and within schools.

The work serves as both a warning and an invitation to reflection: school failure, though rarely discussed, remains a scar on education offered to disadvantaged groups. It is “an old issue and a new problem”, hidden by high promotion rates but revealed through low proficiency levels.

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CeiED researcher João Filipe Matos has been formally invited to join the Strategic Council of SAPIEN – South and Atlantic Pedagogical Innovation & Excellence Network, a Centre of Excellence led by NOVA University Lisbon.

The abstract of the article developed by João Firmo, a researcher in training at CeiED and at IPAM - Instituto Português de Administração de Marketing, in co-authorship with Margarida Varela (ISG - Instituto Superior de Gestão), has been accepted for presentation at ICERI 2025 - 18th Edition of the International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, which will take place in Seville, Spain, from November 10 to 12, 2025.

The paper analyzes the main historical, legislative, and academic milestones that have shaped the trajectory of marketing education in Portugal, highlighting the influence of the Basic Law of the Educational System (1986) and the Bologna Process (2005) in developing a binary system that balances university and polytechnic education.

Through a historical and exploratory approach, the authors identified 30 higher education institutions in Portugal offering marketing-related courses, of which only five have a specific focus on Marketing Management. The study emphasizes the need for greater alignment between academic training and the demands of a globalized economy, reinforcing the strategic role of marketing in national business development.

Congratulations to the authors on this important achievement, which contributes to the international recognition of research in Education and Marketing Education!

Please find the full abstract below:

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of marketing education in Portuguese higher education, focusing on the legislative and academic developments that have shaped its path. Grounded in the Basic Law of the Educational System (1986) and the Bologna Process (2005), the binary model of higher education in Portugal-divided between universities (research-oriented) and polytechnics (professionally oriented)-has fostered a diverse and accessible educational environment.

The historical analysis is organized around four transformative market eras and their corresponding educational phases, tracing marketing's progression from a discipline closely aligned with economics to a strategic field with significant social and business relevance. Influential thinkers such as Philip Kotler played a key role in redefining the scope and impact of marketing. A major milestone in Portugal was the founding of IPAM in 1984, which marked a significant step in formalizing specialized marketing education.

This exploratory study initially employed secondary research methods, drawing on reports, academic literature, and institutional data. The investigation identified 30 higher education institutions in Portugal offering marketing-related programs, with only five specifically focused on Marketing Management-two in universities (Lisbon and Maia) and three in polytechnic institutes (Lisbon, Porto, and Santarém). These programs reflect the growing importance of marketing for economic strategy and business competitiveness.

The findings suggest that while marketing education in Portugal has made notable progress, a stronger alignment with the practical needs of a globalized economy is still required to enhance its strategic contribution to national business development.

João Firmo
PhD candidate, 2nd year, Education

How do researchers ethically engage with other people’s life stories? How do researchers’ emotional experiences shape the development of research in education? A new article by André Freitas offers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the ethical and emotional complexities involved in narrative inquiry in education.

Published by the International Journal of Research & Method in Education (Taylor & Francis), the article, titled “Decision-making in narrative inquiry in education: ethical gathering, transcription, validation and analysis of lived experiences”, explores how the researcher navigated methodological decisions and personal vulnerability when working with lived experiences, particularly in school settings.

The article draws on Freitas’s doctoral research (University of Porto), carried out in Portugal and Brazil, where he examined how teachers’ and pupils’ art experiences reveal new insights into cultural production, professional development, and educational trajectories and meanings. His autobiographical stories - centred on desire, passion, love, and freedom - anchor ethical reflections across four key stages of qualitative research: gathering, transcription, validation, and analysis.

“I wanted to show that narrative research is not only about collecting data - it is about establishing relationships built on responsibility and care with ourselves, with others, and with institutions”, explains Freitas. “Ethical decisions often emerge in moments of silence, emotional connection, or even exhaustion.”

The study presents a compelling case for embracing emotional honesty and reflexivity in research, especially for early-career scholars working in educational contexts. Freitas highlights how strategies such as drawing, digital storytelling, and music were intentionally used to honour the complexity of human experience and uphold ethical integrity.

Key highlights from the article include:

• The use of arts-based narrative methods to explore the lived experiences of teachers and pupils.
• A focus on reflexivity and emotion as essential components of ethical research practice.
• Ethical analysis of how desire shapes data gathering, how passion informs transcription, how love underpins validation, and how freedom guides analysis.
• Advocacy for a creative, flexible, and relational approach to ethics in educational research.

The findings are especially relevant for researchers, educators, and postgraduate students involved in qualitative studies, as well as institutions seeking to strengthen ethical frameworks in educational research.

To cite this work:

Freitas, A. (2025). Decision-making in narrative inquiry in education: ethical gathering, transcription, validation and analysis of lived experiences. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2025.2543261

To request full access to the article, please contact the author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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