Abstract:

As part of a multiple action plan to adress school failure developed by the Intermunicipal Community of Terras de Trás os Montes (CIM-TTM), Portugal, the Project "Beliefs, knowledge and practices of teachers" was developed. This article presents a part of the study devoted to its central theme: school success. From the theoretical research carried out it was realized that there is a multiplicity of "school successes", its explicitness in order to unveil the meanings that underlie the various statements being rare [1]. In the project carried out, the meaning assigned to it is positioned in the development of competences, as seen according to the curriculum document The Profile of Students Leaving Compulsory Education [2], as complex combinations of knowledge, skills and attitudes, which children and young people should acquire as indispensable tools for exercising a full, active and creative citizenship. This project involved as participants the leaders (grouping directors, class directors and curricular department coordinators) and the teachers of all levels and cycles of education of eleven groupings integrated in the region covered by the CIM-TTM. In the part of the study here presented, group interviews were used with the leaders of each grouping for data collection. For data analysis we used content analysis and considered categories a priori defined and shaped by the theory: meanings of school success, success factors and strategies to promote success.

As results of the study, in relation to the meaning, factors and strategies of success, the following were highlighted:
(i) relativity of the concept and some criticism of educational policies;
(ii) association of the concept with attaining positive grades and student progress;
(iii) concept defined according to the profile in the above-mentioned curriculum document;
(iv) attention to the uniqueness of students;
(v) indication of personal factors (students' future prospects and expectations), family and social factors as promoters of school success, and
(vi) indication of the educational policy on curricular flexibility as a favorable framework for the implementation of support measures and individualized teaching that contribute to the success of all students.

References:
[1] Azevedo, J. (2013). Como se tece o (in)sucesso escolar: o papel crucial dos professores. In Joaquim Machado, & José Matias Alves, (orgs.). Melhorar a Escola. Sucesso Escolar, Disciplina, Motivação, Direção de Escolas e Políticas Educativas. Porto: Faculdade de Educação e Psicologia da Universidade católica Portuguesa/Centro de Estudos em Desenvolvimento Humano (CEDH) & Serviço de Apoio à Melhoria das Escolas (SAME).
[2] Martins, G. O., Gomes, C. S., Brocardo, J. L., Pedroso, J. V., Acosta Carrillo, J. L., Ucha, L., ..., Rodrigues, S. V. (2017). Perfil dos Alunos à Saída da Escolaridade Obrigatória. Lisboa: Ministério da Educação. Homologado pelo Despacho n.º 6478/2017, de 26 de julho. Acedido em http://www.dge.mec.pt/noticias/perfil-dos-alunos-saida-da-escolaridade-obrigatoria.

Keywords:

Educational success, concept, factors, strategies.