Sensos-e Volume 3 No. 1 focuses on “Research, Intervention and Social Projects” and aims to disseminate experiences, projects and actions of educational and social nature in various fields (community education, socio-educational and sociocultural action, community action, among others). The call for papers made it possible to submit articles in other educational fields, to be published in a specific section.
Nineteen proposals were submitted from Portugal and Brazil, and only 18 were reviewed, because one did not include multimedia elements. A double blind review was carried out by members of the editorial board or, in specific cases, by reviewers indicated by the members. Twelve articles were accepted for publication, five of which are published in a specific section. The high number of submitted articles confirms the interest of researchers in the theme of this issue and reveals the research and intervention carried out across its various fields. Due to its quality, we decided to publish all the articles, thereby changing the No. 1, of the Volume 3 of this Journal, into a special issue.
The article (Por) Portas e travessas: Ensino, investigação e intervenção social na e com a cidade (Doors and crossings: Teaching, research and social intervention in and with the city), by Rosalina Costa, describes an experience that promotes reflection on the relationship between higher education, research and social intervention. The project that the author presents is simultaneously an innovative teaching and learning experience in the initiation to scientific research of higher education students, and a project of social intervention in the local community. Inserted in the Activity Plan 2015 of the CLASE – the Local Council of Social Action of Évora, the project contributed to analyze and understand the experience of the aging population in relation to the urban space in the historical center of Évora.
Uma cidade que se desafia. Relato de um projeto municipal de educação não formal para a promoção do sucesso escolar (A city that defies itself. Report of a municipal non-formal education project to promote school success), by Filipe Martins, Susana Constante Pereira, Liliana Lopes, Patrícia Costa, Teresa Ferreira, and Ana Oliveira, presents the community project “Desafia-te”, developed with young people at risk of dropping out of school and with very visible school failure marks. This project is based on a preventive logic, aiming at the acquisition of learning and the promotion of skills in students in order to help them to face the challenges of school and society. It was developed in a community in a non-formal educational context, with young people aged 14 to 18 years, parents and other people responsible for their education, and various local actors. The article clarifies the method, techniques and actions of the project, and unequivocally reflects the great potential of the Portuguese Territorial Network of Educating Cities.
Sofia Veiga and Maria João Antunes, in the article Escola para quê e para quem? Redescobrindo sentidos comunitários. Um projeto de educação social na Escola da Ponte (School for what and for whom? Rediscovering community meanings. A social education project at Escola da Ponte), describe a social education project developed at Escola da Ponte, supported by participatory action research methodology. This project started from a concrete problem, due to the relocation of the educational institution to a new parish, and the need for an active participation of social and educational actors in the new context for a school open to the community. The project is based on the concepts of Citizen School and of Educating City. In the article, the authors make a brief contextualization of the project and present literature review, and they focus mainly on the presentation of the objectives, development and evaluation of the project.
The article Escola de Luta: um projeto de memória, de denúncia e de anúncio (School of Struggle: a project of memory, denunciation and announcement), authored by Elaine Santos, allows us to reflect on the inter-influences between educational, political and social issues, and the importance of teaching and learning through projects, starting from the presentation of some projects developed at the Escola Estadual Parque Marajoara II (São Paulo, Brazil). Sustained by the ideas of Paulo Freire, the author stresses the importance of a transformative school that forms active and participant individuals, who are builders of their own stories and aware of their abilities to change the world. It ends by reinforcing the social commitment of education.
The benefits of music for the person with mental illness are recognized in the action-research project described in the article Contratempo: utilização da música como um instrumento de inovação social para o combate ao estigma na doença mental (Contratempo: the use of music as an instrument of social innovation to fight against stigma in mental illness), by Carlos Campos, Tiago Rodrigues, João Pereira, Luís Ribeiro, Ana Morais, Teresa Santos, Filipa Campos, Liliana Silva, Luísa Pereira, António J. Marques, and Raquel Simões de Almeida. Music is an important personal and social development strategy in fighting against stigma and serving the recovery. In the article, the authors present the methodology and procedures of the “Contratempo”, critically analyze the intervention strategies of this project and also include a reflection about its place in current research in this area. The project, developed with young people from the academic community and with people with mental illness, aimed at fighting stigma and promoting social inclusion by facilitating the empowerment and recovery of the person with mental illness.
In the article Projeto Sincronias – Artes visuais e inclusão social (Sincronias Project – Visual arts and social inclusion), the authors (Raquel Almeida, Ana Morais, Filipa Campos, Liliana Silva, Teresa Santos, Luísa Pereira, António Marques, Susana Silva, Filomena Seara and Joana Macedo) present a social inclusion project by the arts called “Sincronias”, resulting from the collaboration between Associação Nova Aurora na Reabilitação e Reintegração Psicossocial – ANARP and Escola Superior de Educação do Porto of Instituto Politécnico do Porto. The authors discuss the educational potential of art in the rehabilitation of people with mental illness, diagnosed mainly with Schizophrenia, and they analyze the impact that the project is having on the various actors. In addition to the development of artistic skills, the potential is highlighted of artistic and community participation in social inclusion and in the training of people with mental illness.
Joaquim Fialho, José Saragoça and Carlos Alberto da Silva in their article Diagnóstico social no terceiro sector. A radiografia das Misericórdias do distrito de Évora (Social diagnosis in the third sector. A radiography of the Mercies of the district of Évora) present a summary of a social diagnosis of the current state of the Mercies in this district. This is based on a diagnostic methodology developed by the authors. This article makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the dynamics and of the inter- and intraorganizational relationships of Mercies, their social role, the limitations and constraints that condition their intervention, as well as their potential. A reflection is made on a vast set of conclusions such as the reduced density of the network of contacts among institutions that suggests a markedly individualist framework of action.
The following five articles are part of the section dedicated to projects from other fields, not specifically included in the central theme of this issue.
The article Compreensão oral em aulas de PLE: Contributos para atividades no nível C (Oral comprehension in PLE classes: Contributions to activities at level C), by Teresa Bagão, presents an action research project developed during an internship and which resulted in the organization and construction of a set of materials aimed at facilitating oral comprehension in learning a foreign language. The documents used, as well as the auditory activities developed within the scope of the project are presented through descriptions and audio and video recordings, appearing as important elements in the perspective of the didactics of foreign languages.
The authors of the article Artes visuais para a educação infantil: atividade semipresencial na formação de professors (Visual arts for early childhood education: Semi face-to-face activity in teacher education), Lígia Fontana and Lilian Lizardo present an action research developed with a group of students of the Pedagogy course, in a private institution in Brazil, on the use of the Whatsapp application, in face-to-face and remote classes. From the study, the authors conclude that virtual environments facilitate sharing, communication and access to new learning, enabling a knowledge built in the collective.
In the article Aplicações multimédia – um recurso educativo na exploração de coleções museológicas (Multimedia applications – an educational resource in the exploration of museum collections), Maria João Mota presents the process of building an innovative multimedia application that allows the presentation of the textile collection of the Aveiro Museum, without jeopardizing its conservation. The interactive feature of the application facilitates the involvement and participation of the visitor.
In the article Teatro como pedagogia social e prática de desenvolvimento pessoal – Brecht e a Educação Social (Theatre as social pedagogy and personal development practice – Brecht and Social Education), Júlia Correia reflects on the potential and pedagogical interest of Brecht’s didactic pieces in political, personal and social education developed in different fields of education and Community intervention. The author presents a historical contextualization of the Brechtian pedagogical pieces and, based on Steinweg’s theorization, she discusses the relevance of this work in the present times, in the social education spectrum, for the awareness and participation, where subjects are both spectators and actors, actively participating in the phenomenon of creation (artistic and social).
In Associações/grupos/coletivos portugueses e questões Trans (Portuguese associations/groups/collectives and transgender issues), Ana Ferreira presents and discusses the approach to transgenderism that exists in social networks and websites of Portuguese associations / collectives / groups linked to gender identity. The author defends the need for greater sharing of information content in social networks as well as forms of termination in the event of discrimination based on gender identity and expression.
We hope that the diversity of experiences here discussed will promote new projects and enhance sharing and discussions. The next issue of Sensos-e will focus on the theme “Teaching Sciences and Technologies: Reports of Practices”. The publication of articles in other educational areas will also be possible in a specific section.
