Education in Viral Times: The Portuguese Case

Abstract

This article presents a contribution to understand the effects of the COVD-19 pandemic in (basic and secondary) education. It is focused on the lockdown process and the ensuing transition for a distance learning model in Portugal, between March and June 2020. With such purpose, the article starts with the search for a suitable theoretical framework to understand a new and unpredictable phenomenon, with a biological background and a leverage of a complex set of political, economic, social and cultural dynamics. Then, some key international reports are discussed. In the second half, after some methodological notes, the main results of a survey to the school principals in Portugal are analyzed, taking into account its application in three moments and therefore its ability to sketch trends and evolutions during this period. The main conclusion is that Portuguese schools were able to assure to the large majority of its students an education service through the Internet, through an intensive process of teachers’ learning, organizational development and an unprecedented collaboration between the several education actors. In spite of a remarkable diversity of solutions, the dominant trend was the temporary «migration» of a traditional education model to «standardized» digital environments and, therefore, it has not been able to involve a part of children and young people in more vulnerable conditions, nor to consistently develop a more creative, inclusive and innovative pedagogical model.