Pedagogical innovation has posed major challenges over the generations and continues to be a topic of interest, relevance and global debate. In the times we are living in, situations of extreme complexity stand out, especially when we equate issues of a diverse nature and scope such as ‘The anxious generation’ (Haidt, 2024), ‘The age of artificial intelligence and our human future’ (Kissinger et al., 2021), ‘Big data & Analytics’ (CôrteReal, 2022), fake news in ‘The hate machine’ (Campos Mello, 2021), ‘Migration and Globalisation’ (Tomiko Ribeiro Aizawa, 2020), ‘Climate change. What we know and what we don't know’ (Curry, 2019), “The school we have and the school we want” (Lima, 2017). The intensity and accelerated way of living in new societies generates in us predispositions and feelings of insecurity and a fierce desire for attention and ‘doing things’ (Han, 2014, p. 42).We have entered a world of fragile, fluctuating, momentary relationships (Bauman, 2003b). We need to ‘Reimagine our futures together’ (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation [UNESCO], 2021), weaving dialectical, interactive networks of connection capable of generating ‘communities of similarity’ (Bauman, 2003b, p. 53), inscribed in healthy lifestyles and well-being. At the centre is the idea of a better world through authentic education (Azevedo, 2011, p. 134) and the total development of the person. Human learning ‘implies a web of necessary relationships with other human beings’ (Savater, 2006, p. 32) and activating the principle of educability (Law nº. 46/86, 1986b), as an ‘effective moulding of the human being’ (Savater, 2006, p. 36), ‘Ensuring the development of the human being’ (Savater, 2006, p. 36). 36), ‘Ensuring the development of reasoning, reflection and scientific curiosity and the deepening of the fundamental elements of a humanistic, artistic, scientific and technical culture’ (LAW Nº. 46/86, 1986b), presupposes ‘a shared vision of the public purposes of education’ (UNESCO, 2021, p. 6) and the endeavour to ‘work together to create shared and interdependent futures’ (UNESCO, 2021, p. 6). In this logic, ‘Schools must be protected educational spaces, as they support inclusion, equity and individual and collective wellbeing’ (UNESCO, 2021, p. 6), a circumstance that highlights the need for a more holistic approach to education a social commitment to School for ALL (...) learning has become a social priority, not only to equip students with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that are globally recognised, but also to promote their well-being in a society that is constantly changing and that does not always create the conditions to promote inclusive, equitable and quality education (...) innovation measures are distributed across the pedagogical, curricular and organisational dimensions, with more weight given to the latter two (Pacheco, 2019, pp. 91, 99, 101). The improvement and quality of teaching and learning processes raises the question every day of how important and challenging the role of pedagogical innovation is in promoting a humanistic, inclusive education at the service of full human development. ‘Educating in the 21st century requires the realisation that it is essential to be able to adapt to new contexts and new structures, mobilising skills, but also being prepared to update knowledge and perform new functions (Profile of Students Leaving Compulsory Education [PASEO], 2017, p. 13). It is the school's mission to develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and talents, as explained in the PASEO, in order to equip each person, each pupil, to ‘critically analyse and question reality, evaluate and select information, formulate hypotheses and make decisions in their daily lives’ (PASEO, 2017, p. 16). This is the purpose of this research, which leads us to question the concept(s), perceptions, characteristics and practices of pedagogical innovation, when considered in the light of the Erasmus+ Programme, in a school grouping located in the north of Portugal and, in particular, with regard to greater student motivation to learn more and better. The pedagogical innovation carried out through PE+ has indelibly demonstrated over the years how much it favours people-centred learning processes, observing the principles of interculturality, diversity, involvement, collegiality, exchange, contextualisation and articulation. In this assumption, the practice of plural pedagogical approaches, of an interactive and participatory nature, involves and implicates the educational community (e.g. families, teachers and non-teachers, organisations). The vision that underpins it makes the student the protagonist of their learning process and gives them the chance to xiii generate structured life projects aimed at active, intercultural, civic and European citizenship. The practice of pedagogical innovation within the scope of the Erasmus+ Programme, especially with regard to secondary education, is still in need of further scientific and empirical research, a circumstance that justifies our choice and object of investigation. With this in mind, the only way to contribute to a better identification, characterisation and understanding of teaching and learning processes is to provide knowledge about pedagogical innovation practices in the light of Erasmus+, expressed in a descriptive and interpretative discourse of specific situations, using the data collection and analysis techniques we have chosen-documentary research and analysis and interviews. The investigative, pragmatic and instrumental approach is based on three integrated studies, in article format, focussing on pedagogical innovation practices through Erasmus+ in secondary education. Article 1 consists of a systematic scoping review, applying the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) analysis model, by reading and critically analysing 11 articles on pedagogical innovation associated with the Erasmus+ Programme, with the aim of identifying the main concepts, challenges and aspects that enhance and inhibit pedagogical innovation practices between 2017 and 2021. The Erasmus+ programme is considered to be a programme of excellence as it promotes new ways of learning, with a humanist basis, so that we can learn to live together and become citizens for a world that is constantly growing and changing, through the promotion of interactive, sustainable pedagogical practices, based on innovation, curricular articulation, sharing, communication, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, promoting practices, skills and essential lifelong learning, to improve the quality of learning and educational success, as explained in the guiding documents of national and European educational policies. The main aim of this article is to support studies 2 and 3. Article 2 focuses on identifying/classifying the nature of the pedagogical practices promoted and competences developed through Erasmus+, using the qualitative research paradigm as a methodology, through exploratory-descriptive research, by content analysis, of a corpus of 12 articles, between 2017-2021, based on the analysis matrix convened by Paniagua and Istance (2018) and PASOE (2017). It was found that the main pedagogical practices identified within the framework of Erasmus+ are aligned with the concepts, aspects that enhance and inhibit pedagogical innovation presented in article 1, and are therefore practices included in the pedagogical innovation matrix (Paniagua & Istance, 2018), using pedagogies in which the student is the main actor, in the construction of dialogical, intercultural learning, through the promotion of dialogue, involvement, active participation, above all in terms of experiential, integrated and interdisciplinary learning, in line with national and international educational policies. Article 3 consists of identifying and characterising the nature and type of pedagogical practices suggested in the grouping's official documents, at secondary school level, relating to Erasmus+ and the discourses of the people interviewed. The methodology selected as a research strategy is based on a case study, prioritising documentary research and in-depth interviews. From the results obtained, it can be said that the Erasmus+ programme promotes: (1) essentially interactive pedagogical practices, namely Multiliteracies and Discussion, Experiential Learning, Integrated Learning, Blended Learning and Gamification; (2) personal skills in information and communication, languages and text, critical and creative thinking, aesthetic and artistic sensitivity and (3) unique, experimental, personalised, generative learning of various kinds (programming, robotics, digital training). It can be evaluated as a programme of excellence, very positive, innovative, encouraging, being characterised as a successful programme, ‘at the forefront (...) a sun illuminating minds or a window to the world’, because it creates innovative scenarios and reflective learning environments, intercultural dialogue, interpersonal relationships, active and participatory enrichment, involvement, student mobility and professional development, through problem solving, promoting active, civic and European citizenship to achieve higher quality learning.
| Date of Award | 7 Mar 2025 |
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| Original language | Portuguese |
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| Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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| Supervisor | Cristina Palmeirão (Supervisor) |
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