Contributos da avaliação exterrna em dois agrupamentos do Alentejo

O presente trabalho de investigação teve como ponto de partida a questão "O contrato de autonomia representa ou não uma mais-valia no processo de desenvolvimento da organização escola?'; assumindo esta o eixo central deste trabalho: "Contributos da Avaliação Externa em dois Agrupamentos do Alentejo'’. Neste sentido, foram definidas algumas hipóteses de trabalho: em termos de visão/estratégia procurámos verificar se uma liderança forte, com objetivos definidos e hierarquizados, apresentando uma nova forma de gerir o currículo, provocará na escola uma maior aptidão para atingir as metas estabelecidas; quanto à motivação/empenho, se os órgãos de gestão da escola assumirem o processo de decisão e se responsabilizarem pelo mesmo, este facto constituirá uma mais-valia para a escola de modo a alcançar as metas propostas; no que concerne ao campo da inovação, procurámos constatar se a escola procura novos caminhos, novas soluções, facto esse que motivará o seu reconhecimento pela excelência; por último as parcerias e projetos, ou seja verificar se a existência de parcerias cativas e outras formas de associação favorecem o projeto de autonomia da escola. No que concerne ao estudo empírico, optámos por uma metodologia que privilegiou o estudo qualitativo dos dados apurados. Após apresentação dos dados recolhidos, da respetiva análise e interpretação, emitimos as nossas conclusões, entre as quais o facto da avaliação externa ter sido um facto de mudança na vida dos dois agrupamentos. Quer seja como fator de mudança e motivação para o crescimento do agrupamento como um todo, quer seja como fator de união de um agrupamento, trazendo à luz do dia as virtudes e os constrangimentos, encontrando soluções e caminhos através de um projeto de autonomia que se tornou um símbolo de todos. ABSTRACT: This work of investigation had as a starting point whether the question "The autonomy of schools becomes or not a better value in the development of the school organization?" being in the central issue of this thesis - "The contribution of externa! evaluation in two school groups from Alentejo". ln this sense, some hypothesis were defined: concerning vision/strategy we dryed to verify if a strong leadership with defined and hierarchyed objectives demonstrating new ways of managing the curriculum makes the school more capable of reaching the pre-established goals; concerning motivation/commitment, if the school management assumes the process of decision and take responsibility for it, will this be a best value for the school, in order to achieve their goal; relating to innovation, we try to establish if the school demands new ways, new solutions, bringing recognition "par excellence"; finally partnerships and projects, which intends to verify if the existence of active partnerships and others forms of association, would benefit the autonomy of the school. ln what concerns the empirical study we decided to choose a methodology which benefited the qualitative of gathered data. After the presentation of the collected results, its analysis and interpretation, we came to the conclusion, among others, that the external evaluation had been a drive for change in the two school groups. Whether as a factor of change and motivation for the development of the whole group, as well as a factor of union, bringing up the virtues and the mistakes, finding solutions and new ways through a project of autonomy which became a reference for everyone.

Desenvolvimento e espiritualidade: Percursos de vida dos ministros ordenados da Igreja Católica

Este estudo procurou conhecer em que medida a espiritualidade se relaciona com o desenvolvimento ao longo da vida adulta. A amostra é constituída por, 4 Ministros ordenados da Igreja Católica, com idades compreendidas entre os 42 e 66 anos. A abordagem teórica foi conduzida em duas vertentes: 1) serviu-se das teorias de desenvolvimento e 2) incidiu sobre o estudo da espiritualidade e a forma como ela se relaciona com o desenvolvimento humano. Na parte metodológica, estudaram-se quatro histórias de vida, recolhidas inicialmente sob a forma escrita e depois completadas através de entrevistas abertas, que foram analisadas através da análise de conteúdo. Nos casos estudados verificou-se a presença da espiritualidade no percurso de vida e também que a mesma influenciou significativamente o seu desenvolvimento, onde os fatores comuns, que permitem relacionar a espiritualidade com desenvolvimento são visíveis e imprescindíveis para que o crescimento no sentido da vida plena aconteça com normalidade. ABSTRACT: This study intends to understand how spirituality is related to human development throughout adult life. The sample consists of four Catholic Ministers, with ages between 42 and 66 years old. The theoretical approach was conducted in two parts: 1) based on development theories and 2) focused on the study of spirituality and its relation with human development. ln the methodological part four life stories were studied, initially collected in written form and then completed by open interviews, analyzed through content analysis. ln the studied cases, spirituality was noticed in the life journey of ministers and it strongly affected its development. Moreover, common factors of association between spirituality and development are also visible and essential so that the path towards life fulfillment and full life happens normally.

Social representations about the Portuguese adolescent alcohol consumption

Alcohol is currently the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world and Portugal is the second country where such consumption is greater, registering a large increase in consumption by young people. Currently continue still, beliefs, myths and prejudices that because they are well rooted culturally serve as good reasons for drinking. This study sought therefore to identify the myths associated by adolescents to alcohol consumption. A questionnaire was developed for this purpose (74 items, α = 0.947) and applied to a sample of 1176 adolescents schooled between 14 and 18 years old, with a return rate of 42.6% (margin of error of 5% for a confidence level of 95%) in the district of Beja, Portugal, in 2012. The collected data were statistically analyzed using measures of association, factor analysis and linear regression. The results show that many myths are unknown among adolescents, verifying the presence of many questions, among which stands out: alcohol "warm", "thirst quenching", "gives strength", "facilitates digestion" "whet the appetite", "is a medicine", "is aphrodisiac", "facilitates social relations", among others. Age and sex are variables significantly affected the myths and objectives of alcohol consumption. These results clearly point to the need to be disassembled beliefs and wrong conceptions about the effects of alcohol consumption, particularly in the school environment, reducing the risk of the consequences and promoting adolescent health, preventing any future dependence on this psychoactive substance.

Trans-national cooperation: an asset in the Portuguese overseas trade. Foreigners operating in the Portuguese overseas trade, 1580-1590

This paper aims to discuss the role of foreign merchants, operating from Portugal, in the Portuguese overseas trade, during the first ten years of Iberian Union. The focus is not in products or routes, but in the mechanisms of association of such merchants. Iberian Union created a legal framework which prohibited the interference and trade of Portuguese agents in the Spanish Empire and vice-versa. Due to the imperialist wars of the Habsburgs, the Portuguese Empire also suffered from Dutch and English rivalry both in the Indic and in the Atlantic and also from the embargos of Dutch and English products and ships in Iberian ports. In such conjuncture, how did merchants related with each other? What was the impact of the political union of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in trading associations? The used data sources are the notarial contracts of Lisbon for the same period. The paper highlights the role of Castilian merchants in the Portuguese trade, but it also stresses that Iberian partnerships have prevailed before 1580. The role of other merchants, such as Flemish/Dutch, Germans, Italians and French, is also considered. The paper discusses how and why did these merchants join in trans-national partnerships and what was their role in the Portuguese trade network at the time.