Abstract:

The main purpose of the research is to compare Portuguese and Finnish public schools (lower and upper secondary schools) to examine their contexts and conditions of governance, stressing similarities and differential characteristics. The interpretative analysis focuses on the data emerging from multiple case studies, highlights the policies and practices of participation of local autonomy, and the organizational and curricular options leading to the development of the citizenship of the students.

Within the European education system, Finland has shown us an example of what is considered by bodies such as OECD and UNESCO quality education. Portugal and Finland are, at the moment, highly different countries regarding their academic students’ results in non-higher education. In exploring the potential influences of decentralization, school governance and teaching policies over students performance and success, our hypothesis is that the value of the use of contrasting cases can override the value of comparable cases.

We shall use the results of the research to improve our understanding of decentralization and conditions of school governance, confronting different contextualized experiences in two different countries. We also expect to provide significant insights to find grounds for potential changes that deepen the exercise of autonomy, the school community participation in the decision-making process and the construction of the citizenship of the students.

Keywords:

research project, comparative education.