Schools2030 Portugal
Collaborating with teachers in Lisbon, Sintra, Leiria, Santarém, Gondomar, and Porto.
In Portugal, the programme takes place in School Clusters that group together several schools from different education cycles, and which are invited to take part in the programme. The invitations are made to the school principals with whom AKF already has some established contact (in the area of civil society, education, or environment) or intends to establish in that area, reinforcing inter-programmatic links in the communities.
Each school board decides how the design teams will be formed, following its own internal strategy. Schools2030 Portugal recommends to them that design teams be made up of 6 to 8 members, with representation from different schools, age cohorts and professional profiles, such as:
- A profile that promotes reflection and building towards the challenges of education
- Two members per age cohort, preferably
- Professionals working in the school, with a broad view of the school environment and students, for example: psychologists, social workers, school mediators, special education, assessment teams.
- The design teams can also be made up of: students, parents and members of civil society organisations.
The decision on which problem or issue to address is usually taken by the design team. AKF staff present the Schools2030 objectives and focal domains, underscoring that the innovation should strengthen the development of each cohort’s socio-emotional skills, as well as literacy and numeracy. In addition with the tools of the “Evaluate/Explore” phase, the process of defining the problem upon which the design team will focus is reinforced by the results of the holistic learning and literacy evaluation assessments previously carried out in each cluster by Schools2030 Portugal’s assessment partner, the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto.
Our Team in PORTUGAL
Filipe Martins
Senior Education Director and Schools2030 National Coordinator
Fernando Santos
Senior Education Officer
Ines Carvalho
Senior Education Officer
The Portuguese Education Context
Portugal, located in the Iberian Peninsula of Southern Europe, has left a profound cultural, architectural and linguistic influence across the globe, with a legacy of around 250 million Portuguese speakers around the world. It is a developed country with an advanced economy and generally high living standards.
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A peaceful and relatively stable nation, it has a high standard of education accessible to most, but urban communities of migrants often suffer from higher drop-out rates and lower outcomes and so there is a need to address education equity in some areas.
Portugal’s education policy increasingly promotes a diverse set of skills beyond pure academic learning, as well as the use of more innovative tools for student assessments. The government is also focused on increasing the decision-making powers of both schools and municipalities and to improve student agency in school governance. However, there is at present a limited local evidence base to inform such decision-making processes at school and policy levels.
The Portuguese Education Context
Portugal, located in the Iberian Peninsula of Southern Europe, has left a profound cultural, architectural and linguistic influence across the globe, with a legacy of around 250 million Portuguese speakers around the world. It is a developed country with an advanced economy and generally high living standards.
A peaceful and relatively stable nation, it has a high standard of education accessible to most, but urban communities of migrants often suffer from higher drop-out rates and lower outcomes and so there is a need to address education equity in some areas.
Portugal’s education policy increasingly promotes a diverse set of skills beyond pure academic learning, as well as the use of more innovative tools for student assessments. The government is also focused on increasing the decision-making powers of both schools and municipalities and to improve student agency in school governance. However, there is at present a limited local evidence base to inform such decision-making processes at school and policy levels.
THE THREE-STEP MODEL IN PORTUGAL
ASSESS
Priority Learning Domains
PORTUGAL
Alongside its selected Learning and Assessment Partners (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto), the Portuguese team has worked to define the learning domains on which the programme will focus in the coming years. These were selected in consultation with a focal group of parents and teachers as well as the Secretary of State for Education.
The Schools2030 Portugal team have worked closely with Schools2030 Global Partners to adapt and translate rapid and longer form assessment tools across the different age cohorts.
These tools not only address holistic learning levels, but also the quality of the teaching environment and are designed to be used as rapid, or longer form assessments. The team is also working on a platform to aggregate indicators and/or typologies of data emerging from the Schools2030 in Portugal.
Priority Learning Domains
PORTUGAL
PRE-SCHOOL
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Problem Solving
- Empathy
- Relationship Building
PRIMARY SCHOOL
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Problem Solving
- Empathy
- Reconciling Tensions
SECONDARY SCHOOL
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Critical Thinking
- Empathy
- Ethical Decision-Making
Access examples of assessment tools
from across our programme countries.
All these tools are available free to download below and will continue to be refined and iterated to ensure robust psychometric validity.
We move forward together in education if we work together…we need the practice, but we also need the research, the evidence, the student voice, we need everything that is happening in the Schools2030 programme.
Professor João Costa, Former Minister for Education, Portugal
INNOVATE
The Schools2030 HCD Toolkit was adapted, translated and re-designed for the Portuguese context in Q4 2021. The team in Portugal will make these resources available on the new AKF Education website, with a dedicated area for human-centred design, as well as on the AKF Portugal Moodle platform.
To facilitate the introduction of the methodology for the human-centred design, a training course was delivered to 20 teachers in November 2021. Following the HCD training, sessions are now being implemented across many schools.
Geras
DESIGNED BY: Algueirão School Cluster
TO IMPROVE: Empathy, self awareness, creativity, relationship building, respect for nature
AGE GROUP: All ages
“Geras” is an outdoor learning initiative conceived at one of the schools within the school cluster, EB do Casal da Cavaleira, in 2022- 2023 academic year. In its initial phase, it involved collaboration from an educator (from the 5-year-old cohort, one group), three primary school teachers (one group in the 10-year-old cohort), and one secondary school teacher (one group
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in the 15-year-old cohort). In total, five educators and approximately 80 children co-created outdoor activities, aligning them with the curriculum and requesting input from peers, teachers and families to meet wider social needs. This innovation was showcased at the Schools2030 Global Forum in Porto.
Com(viver) em Com(unidade)
DESIGNED BY: Santa Barbara School Cluster
TO IMPROVE: Empathy, relationship building, problem solving, reconciling tensions, critical thinking and literacy
AGE GROUP: All ages
The team’s objective is to create a pleasant space for and with the educational community where various outdoor activities will be developed, as well as themed meetings and workshops with families and students, with the aim of providing meaningful experiences of close contact with nature and encouraging physical activity, promoting well-being, empathy, mental health,
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sustainability, citizenship, respect and coexistence.
Download our HCD Tools in Portuguese to start creating education innovations in your school.
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Toolkit
Full version
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Toolkit
Facilitator Guide
Schools2030 Human-Centred Design Toolkit
School Leader Guide
INFOGRAPHICS AND LEARNING MATRIX
The team in Portugal have developed the below infographics to show the structure of the Schools2030 network and programme operations in the country. They also have developed a learning matrix that shows their selcted learning domains for each age group, and provides wider context on how these fit into the Portuguese curriculum more broadly.
SCHOOLS2030 PORTUGAL ‘HOW IT WORKS’ INFOGRAPHIC
SCHOOLS2030 PORTUGAL LEARNING DOMAINS MATRIX
SHOWCASE
The Showcase is a key epart of the Schools2030 programme in Portugal, designed to celebrate and share the innovations developed by school-based design teams. Showcasing serves as both a platform for presenting solutions and a moment of collective reflection, mutual learning, and connection among schools, educators, students, and education stakeholders.
Showcasing take place at various stages of the HCD cycle through a series of in-person events. These include three regional gatherings—North (Porto and Gondomar), Centre (Golegã, Alcanena, Marinha Grande), and Lisbon (Lisbon and Sintra)—where nearby school clusters present their work in a more interactive and collaborative setting. Each regional showcase is hosted by one of the participating schools and includes not only the design teams and students but also local education stakeholders. A national event brings together all participating school clusters and features broader engagement, including policymakers, scientific partners, civil society organizations, and AKF collaborators, offering a high-profile platform for sharing and influencing educational practice at scale.
At both regional and national levels, the programme is tailored to the themes of the innovations and includes pitches, poster exhibitions, and curated spaces for knowledge exchange. One innovation is also selected annually—together with all the design teams—to represent Portugal at the Schools2030 Global Forum. Beyond these dedicated events, the Schools2030 programme is also showcased through conferences, government briefings, educational meetings, and other AKF initiatives, ensuring continuous visibility and impact across the wider education ecosystem.
News and stories from Portugal
IMPACT AND LEARNING
Portugal
We regularly produce learning and research reports that inform and strengthen our programme delivery. Read and share our latest learnings for Portugal or click below to browse all our reports.
Learning Report 2024
Learning Differences Report - Portugal
OUR PORTUGUESE partners
Country Assessment Partners and Learning Partners
In-country Assessment Partners initially supported the development of Schools2030 assessment tools and offer ongoing guidance for teachers in using them. Learning partners in each country track and measure the efficacy of the innovations and teacher professional development, and produce yearly reports with recommendations for how to make the programme stronger. Find out more about how our global and national partnerships work on our Coalition page.
Explore Schools2030 in our other countries.
