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- The L1 school subject: assessment of the impact of the common core state standards on primary school textbooks of portuguesePublication . Matos, Isabel Aires; Silva, Ana Isabel; Melão, Dulce; Amante, Susana; Castelo, Adelina; Balula, João PauloIn Portugal, the last few years have been marked by continuous and rapid changes in the curriculum guidelines of Portuguese in Elementary Education. As a result of these changes, didactic resources have been produced in order to keep up with the fast developments that have been taking place. Bearing in mind that the lifecycle of textbooks is six years in Portugal, analyzing the impact of the above-mentioned changes on these resources becomes of utmost importance. Thus, this paper aims at examining and discussing the changes that the Common Core State Standards for Portuguese (CCSSP), enacted in August 2012, produce in the adaptation of Primary School textbooks of Portuguese. Six Primary School textbooks of Portuguese, published by four different publishing houses, were analyzed, according to the following criteria: (i) the overall structure of the textbook, its division into units and didactic sequences; (ii) operationalisation of the performance descriptors of the CCSSP in textbooks; (iii) texts within textbooks that are proposed as part of the domain of Literary Education (LE). It is possible to observe that there are minor differences between textbooks that have been adapted to the CCSSP and those non-adapted in terms of the global structure, of the organization of didactic units, of the structure of didactic sequences and of most aspects at a micro level. However, we can note that the CCSSP define the literary corpus to be explored and, given the central role played by the text in textbooks (in which the reading, writing, grammar and speaking tasks depend on the text), the lack of the prescribed texts is difficult to overcome. It is in this light that we will study the real impact of the changes in the curriculum guidelines on the production of didactic resources for mother tongue education and we will also reflect on what truly forms the basis of mother tongue textbooks.
- Literary texts included in textbooks of Portuguese and literacies in L1 educationPublication . Balula, João Paulo; Amante, Susana; Silva, Ana Isabel; Melão, Dulce; Castelo, Adelina; Matos, Isabel Aires deAt a time when the tendency is to embrace immediacy and the easy path, the reading of literary texts from different periods, genres and countries becomes an essential activity for gaining linguistic, cultural, historical and world knowledge. Literature, as a complex phenomenon, enables the dialogue between the contemporary reader and the generations that preceded him/her, contributing towards the discovery and interpretation of differences and continuities. The acquisition of a particular semiotic baggage that comes from the reading of literary texts, as well as the ability to question oneself and to intervene in the real world, enhance a reader-text dialogic interaction, which is capable of generating important educational effects. Thus, its relevance to the training of autonomous, competent and critical readers stands out. In light of the above, using as a theoretical framework the Portuguese government guidelines relating to literary education - the National Reading Panel, the Curriculum of Portuguese language for Primary and Middle School Education and the Common Core State Standards for Portuguese - we selected a total of eight textbooks of Portuguese – six for primary school education and two for the first two years of middle school –, by five different publishing houses, and we examined their literary texts, bearing in mind that the work developed in class is strongly influenced by their availability in textbooks. In this paper, we aim to: i) present and discuss the outcomes of our study, by shedding light on the main characteristics of literary texts included in textbooks of Portuguese and their impact on literacy practices; ii) investigate the importance and diversity of the texts included in the textbooks analysed, highlighting the ways in which they might contribute towards the training of autonomous and critical readers. The main results of our research are (1) a great difference in regards to the texts available in textbooks prior to the government guidelines outlined above, prevailing recent narrative texts by authors representing different quadrants of the Lusophone world, and (2) a lack of diversity in literary forms, cultural contexts and time frame, a diversity that we find necessary for the development of lifelong reading habits.
- Textbooks as a basic resource for the promotion of intercultural coexistence? – A case studyPublication . Amante, Susana; Pinho, Sara; Balula, João PauloIt has become commonplace to assert that we are living in a time of rapid economic transformation and social mobilisation, which leads to a massive flow of people and goods across borders. This phenomenon has been changing the way in which communities function and, besides economic and social implications, political and cultural conditions follow a parallel course. No longer, if ever, can we speak of “pure” cultures rooted in one particular geography, because cross-cultural interactions have been challenging one’s sense of identity. As a matter of fact, identities are hybrid, dynamic, often fractured and even imagined in nature. Yet, certain common experiences and phenotypical traits have contributed, most of the times, to the emergence of a national consciousness and to an ethnocentric/eurocentred vision of the world. Cliché as this may sound, since there is now a plethora of literature on multiculturalism and on interculturalism, the fact is that, in Portuguese schools, some students still seem to be shaped and limited by their cultural background and it is up to us, as teachers, to prepare children for this contemporary globalised world. But education is much linked to the ideology of the ruling elites and is political at every stage. The textbook publishing industry, following a selective curriculum, is proof of the perpetuation of the “status quo”, because school materials have sometimes ignored and marginalised peoples seen as the “Other”. In this light, time has come for us to analyse the way that textbooks have adopted and adapted to the government’s recent policies, the so called “Metas Curriculares”, namely in the treatment of a literary corpus. We will direct our particular attention to textbooks that address Mia Couto’s “O beijo da palavrinha” and “O gato e o escuro” to check if activities relating to the texts of this Mozambican writer do promote tolerance and acceptance of differences or if they are marked by ignorance and prejudice.
- Textbooks as a Basic Resource for the Promotion of Intercultural Coexistence? A Case StudyPublication . Amante, Susana; Pinho, Sara; Balula, João PauloIt has become commonplace to assert that we are living in a time of rapid economic transformation and social mobilisation, which leads to a massive flow of people and goods across borders. This phenomenon has been changing the way in which communities function and, besides economic and social implications, political and cultural conditions follow a parallel course. No longer, if ever, can we speak of ‘pure’ cultures rooted in one particular geography, because cross-cultural interactions have been challenging one’s sense of identity. In fact, identities are hybrid, dynamic, often fractured and even imagined in nature. Yet, certain common experiences and phenotypical traits have contributed, most of the times, to the emergence of a national consciousness and to an ethnocentric/eurocentred vision of the world. Cliché as this may sound, since there is now a plethora of literature on multiculturalism and on interculturalism, the fact is that, in Portuguese schools, some students still seem to be shaped and limited by their cultural background and we, as teachers, need to prepare children for this contemporary globalised world. But education is much linked to the ideology of the ruling elites and is political at every stage. The textbook publishing industry, following a selective curriculum, is proof of the perpetuation of the status quo, because school materials have sometimes ignored and marginalised peoples seen as the ‘Other’. We, thus, intend to analyse the way textbooks have adopted and adapted to the government’s recent policies, the Common Core State Standards for Portuguese, namely in the treatment of a literary corpus. We will direct our attention to textbooks that address Mia Couto’s O Beijo da Palavrinha and O Gato e o Escuro to check if activities relating to these texts promote tolerance and acceptance of differences or if they are marked by ignorance and prejudice.