Since the April Revolution of 1974, the teachers’ trade union movement has been the most significant expression of professional associationism in Portugal, providing a privileged space to study the assertion of teacher identity and collective participation in shaping educational policies. Emerging during the final years of the Estado Novo under the so-called “Study Groups”, the teachers’ advocacy movement consolidated after 25 April, giving rise to the first teachers’ unions.

The project focuses on the emergence and consolidation of these unions in the post-revolutionary period (1974–1979), exploring different political-union currents and the role of social movements in transforming education and Portuguese society. The research is based on documentary analysis and oral history, generating new historical knowledge and creating a publicly accessible digital library dedicated to teachers’ unionism and post-25 April social movements, while situating the Portuguese case in a comparative perspective.

Objectives

To analyse the emergence and consolidation of teachers’ unions in the context of the April Revolution and Portugal’s democratic transition, understanding their role as a social movement and collective actor in shaping educational policies. To produce new historical knowledge from documentary sources and oral testimonies and to create a publicly accessible digital library dedicated to teachers’ unionism and social movements in the post-1974 period, situating the Portuguese case within a comparative framework.

Research Team

• António Teodoro (Principal Investigator) – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• André Robert (Consultant) – Université Lumière Lyon 2
• Nuno Fraga – CIE-CeiED, Universidade da Madeira;
• Leanete Thomas Dotta – CIIE, Universidade do Porto;
• Ana Carita – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• Rosa Serradas Duarte – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• Manuela Mendonça – Federação Nacional dos Professores (FENPROF);
• Isabel Cluny – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• Sofia Micaela Castro da Silva – CIE-CeiED, Universidade da Madeira;
• José Viegas Brás – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• Maria Neves Gonçalves – CeiED, Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia;
• Cláudia Maria dos Santos Gigante – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona;
• Sandra Escobar – CeiED, Universidade Lusófona.

Partners

• Centre for Education Research, University of Madeira;
• National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF).

Associated ReLeCo(s)

ReLeCo Memory, Citizenship and Sociomuseology