Enlarged partial agreement

Observatory on History Teaching in Europe

History is a compulsory subject throughout primary and lower secondary education. In the first four grades of primary school, students take a multidisciplinary course, “Environmental study” (ages 6-9). They then transition to the courses “History and geography of Portugal” for the last two grades of primary school (ages 10-11) and “History” throughout the lower secondary level (ages 12-14). For the latter course, teaching hours are shared with the courses “Geography” and “Citizenship and development”.

At upper secondary level, students choose to follow strands with distinct subject concentrations, impacting which history courses they are required or may choose to take, if any. Some courses are compulsory throughout all three years of upper secondary education: “History A” for the languages and humanities strand, and “History of culture and the arts” for specialised arts strands. Other courses are elective and offered only during the first two years of upper secondary education: “History B” for the socio-economic sciences strand, and “History of culture and the arts” for the visual arts strand. Furthermore, “History, cultures and democracy” is elective for the socio-economic sciences, visual arts and technological sciences strands in the final year of schooling. In other forms of schooling, history is part of a compulsory multidisciplinary course: “Integration area” for vocational education (ages 15-16) and “Citizenship and the current world” for special needs education (13-17).

There are private schools in Portugal, some of which follow the public curricula and some of which follow distinct curricula. History is taught only in Portuguese.

Since the Portuguese Education Act of 1986, the education system has been governed by the Ministry of Education. The curriculum guidance documents for each subject aim to promote the development of the areas of competences included in the “Students’ profile by the end of compulsory schooling”. Schools and teachers have a degree autonomy and flexibility: Decree-Law 55/2018 provides schools with up to 25% of curriculum autonomy so as to meet their specific needs. Schools and teachers have the autonomy to use integrated knowledge management, therefore a theme such as regional and local history can be addressed across multiple subjects.

The education authorities report that civil society organisations participate in curriculum development but minority groups do not.

The authorities report that minority groups (cultural, ethnic, linguistic, national, religious or sexual/gender) are included in the history curriculum. These also include Roma and Travellers.

 Curricula workstation by GEI (History curricula search by country)

Teachers are not required to use specific assessment methods, but the recommendation at national level is to use a diverse range of assessment methods in all subjects.

End-of-stage examinations are optional. At the lower secondary level, there are exams for the compulsory course “Citizenship and the current world”. At the upper secondary level, there are exams for the courses “History A” (compulsory for the languages and humanities strand), “History B” (elective for the socio-economic sciences strand), “History of culture and arts” (elective for the visual arts strand), “History, cultures and democracy” (elective for the socio-economic sciences, visual arts and natural sciences strands), “History of culture and arts” (compulsory for specialised arts strands) and “Integration area” (compulsory for vocational education). End-of-stage exams are set at the national level.

End-of-stage examinations assess the following fields of knowledge: historical content knowledge, historical thinking competences (e.g., critical analysis and evaluation of evidence, formulation and justification of historical arguments, consideration of different perspectives), generic skills (e.g., communication, co-operation, use of ICT).

End-of-stage examinations are written and include open-ended questions, close-ended questions, source-based questions and multiple-choice questions.

The Ministry of Education publishes an annual list of approved and non-approved textbooks following an evaluation and certification procedure. The selection and adoption of certified textbooks is the responsibility of the pedagogical council of the school grouping or non-grouped school.

All types of educational resources are allowed (see list):

ALLOWED

Apps for smartphones and tablets with historical content Artefacts (e.g., paintings, architecture, sculptures, contemporary art) Audio sources (e.g., music, the sound of a steam engine) Audiovisual sources (e.g., newsreels, private archives, commercials) Cinema and documentaries with historical themes Historiographical bibliography History textbooks Literature (e.g., historical novels, graphic novels) Local cultural heritage (e.g., costumes, food traditions, celebrations) Local and regional festivals and traditions related to historical events Museums and other places of heritage interpretation Oral sources (interviews with grandparents, relatives, neighbours, etc.) Primary documentary sources Printed or digital press (newspapers and magazines) Reports on historical topics in popular magazines Search engines and websites with historical content not necessarily validated by the education authorities Teacher notes Video games Visual sources (e.g., paintings, photographs, drawings) Websites and databases with historical content approved by the educational authorities

 International TextbookCat (GEI collection of Textbooks and Educational Media)

Teachers are required to complete two study cycles, a bachelor’s (licentiate) degree and a master’s degree oriented towards the teaching profession. Accreditation as a teacher is required and is provided by the higher education institutions.

At the primary level, teachers are trained to teach history and one or more other discipline(s). At the secondary level, teachers are trained primarily or exclusively as history teachers.

In-service professional development courses are optional. They are provided by accredited training entities and are supported through the governmental funding instrument Programa Operacional Capital Humano (Human Capital Operational Programme), or POCH.

 Portuguese History Teachers’ Association (official website)