Boosting Teacher Professional Development Vol. 1 | Page 12

ol-Based Case Studies Action Plan Tem
te is there to help you identify and plan the implementation of your actions. While it can be a working document for the duration of the pilot, a final version needs to
pilot activities. The final draft will become part of a package of resources which should help other schools and teachers implement some of the actions you have pilo
final version. The pilot activity has three specific goals which are identified below. It is not necessary to implement actions targeting all three goals but ideally you w
me form through your actions.
r school (e.g. school
body, number of
cial focus areas, etc.):
lopment organised in
ntry)? E.g. where does
s are there? How is it
warded? What formats
ngateway.eu
Celeste Maria de Oliveira Costa Correia Simões
Portugal
Agrupamento de Escolas de Carregal do Sal – AECS - (Carregal do Sal School Cluster) is located in the district of Viseu, more specifically, in the municipality of
heart of the Beira Region in Portugal. Carregal do Sal is the home region of the Portuguese consul-general in Bordeaux Aristides de Sousa Mendes who, disob
issued visas and passports to an undetermined number of refugees fleeing from Nazism. The cluster is composed of 5 different schools (some 7km awa
Kindergarten school, 1 primary school (1-4 graders) 2 elementary/basic schools (2nd and 3rd cycles and one of them with primary level as well) and 1 elem
school (3rd cycle and secondary level students). So, basic education is the predominant level in my school cluster, which also offers vocational course
courses. There are 1115 students in the school cluster, mainly in primary anpd elementary/basic education - 704. There are 180 students in kindergarten, 148
65 in vocational learning and 18 in adult education courses.
My school is a UNESCO associated school, it has won an eTwining National Quality Label and an eTwinning European Quality Label and Flag with a Kinderga
usually participate in national contests, with good overall results: Youth Parliament, Spelling Bee, Entrepreneurship, Drawing competitions, European Langu
competitions, etc. The school cluster has a stable teaching staff (there are 136 teachers) with good professional and personal relationships, which contribu
environment.
This page on Eurydice gives all the information about continuing professional development in Portugal, and thus in my school cluster: https://eacea.
policies/eurydice/content/continuing-professional-development-teachers-working-early-childhood-and-school-education-57_en
In short:
- CPD is compulsory for teachers and the number of hours they have to attend depends on their echelon;
- For the purposes of career development and progress, teachers must attend 25 hours at the 5th echelon and 50 hours at the remaining echelons of
specialised training courses;
- There are different kinds of activity based on continuing professional training: training courses, training workshops, study circles, short courses or, at the re
Pedagogical Council of Continuing Professional Training, internships and projects.
- Professional development can happen inside or outside school;
- Continuing professional training is organised by different sorts of sponsors:
a. Higher education institutions;
b. Training centres run by school associations. There are 91 School Association Training Centres (Centros de Formação de Associação de Escolas – CFAE);
c. Municipal and inter-municipal run initiatives organised by schools and kindergartens that get together for the purpose;
d. Not-for-profit professional or scientific association training centres;
e. Ministry of Education central services, training in areas considered relevant for developing the educational system and other sponsors whose intervention is
domain.
- Teachers can attend free courses at their local school association training centre (Agrupamento de Escolas de Carregal do Sal is one of the 5 school cluster
Planalto Beirão, the local school association centre);
- Online courses and courses/seminars/conferences taken abroad can be accredited through the central Scientific-Pedagogical Council of Continuing Professio
(teachers have to send the certificates and programme);
- Leave of absence for CPD launched or organised by central services (i.e. the Ministry of Education’s central and/or regional Departments, the school/scho
teacher works), is preferentially given when training takes place during the non-teaching service hours of the teacher. If it has been proved impossible to tim
that they harmonise with the teacher’s non-teaching part of the timetable, the teacher is given leave of absence during his/her teaching timetable. Whatever
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