José Matias Alves

In transformative times, when education and how students learn are being reshaped, listening to students’ voices is not only a diagnostic tool but also a compass. Given the importance of creating learning environments in which every student can and wants to learn, this study, grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, analyses students’ learning experiences and links them to schools’ ecological profiles. It examines the school’s effect and assesses how proximal classroom factors—teachers’ support, assessment experience, and emotional discomfort—and distal school-wide factors—school climate and relationships with peers—shape students’ self-reported learning experience. The study draws on survey data from 1012 students and uses ANOVA to identify differences among schools, alongside two separate SEM analyses to examine how proximal classroom-related and distal school-wide dimensions are associated with students’ learning experience. The quantitative approach was complemented by a content analysis of the schools’ evaluation reports to identify organizational attributes that may explain students’ feelings. The findings suggest that schools may be structurally similar, but students experience them differently; students’ learning experiences are more strongly shaped by assessment experiences and school climate. From an ecological perspective, the study identifies differentiated school profiles and offers guidance on designing interventions to improve well-being and promote students’ identification with the school.

Este artigo analisa os efeitos do modelo de financiamento educacional via Fundeb sobre a equidade federativa em contextos demográficos contrastantes, com base em um estudo comparativo entre os municípios cearenses de Caucaia (com retração populacional) e Eusébio (em expansão populacional). A pesquisa operacionalizou quatro indicadores principais: taxa de crescimento/redução de matrículas, relação Fundeb/recursos próprios, custo aluno-ano e densidade institucional da rede. Os dados referentes ao período de 2014 a 2024 revelam que Caucaia apresentou redução de 2,2% nas matrículas e maior dependência do Fundeb (relação 3,44), enquanto Eusébio registrou crescimento de 16,4% e menor dependência (relação 0,87). Fundamentado nos referenciais de Rawls (1999), Sen (2009) e Merton (1968), demonstra-se que o atual modelo, embora incorpore fatores de ponderação e mecanismos redistributivos introduzidos pela EC nº 108/2020 (VAAF, VAAT e VAAR), ao manter como eixo central o número de matrículas ponderadas, tende a produzir efeitos assimétricos em contextos demográficos distintos, com municípios em expansão apresentando ganhos relativos de escala e aqueles em retração enfrentando desafios de sustentabilidade financeira. Conclui-se pela urgência na implementação do Custo Aluno-Qualidade (CAQ) e na adoção de mecanismos redistributivos que considerem variáveis demográficas, fiscais e sociais, assegurando sustentabilidade financeira e justiça educacional em contextos de desigualdade.

At a time when governments, commentators, journalists, and teachers are debating what is best for education, it is crucial to listen to students and understand their hopes and fears about school. With this in mind, we invited students from 9th to 12th grades to write a free text responding to the question: “How do you see and feel about school if we associate it with two metaphors - School of Hell or School of Paradise?”. Methodologically, we adopted a qualitative research approach. For the analysis of the texts, the NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used, allowing the content to be coded into categories aligned with the research objectives. The results show that, despite progress in listening to students, further efforts are still needed to ensure their voices are truly valued.

Resumo Numa altura em que governos, comentadores, jornalistas e professores debatem o que é melhor para a educação, é crucial ouvir os alunos e compreender suas esperanças e receios em relação à escola. Com isso em mente, convidámos os alunos do 9o ao 12o ano a escrever um texto livre a responder à questão: “Como vê e sente a escola se a associarmos a duas metáforas - Escola do Inferno ou Escola do Paraíso?”. Metodologicamente, adotamos uma abordagem de investigação qualitativa. Para a análise dos textos foi utilizado o software de análise de dados qualitativos NVivo, que permitiu codificar o conteúdo em categorias alinhadas com os objetivos da investigação. Os resultados mostram que, apesar do progresso na audição dos alunos, ainda são necessários mais esforços para garantir que suas vozes sejam realmente valorizadas.

A consensus exists in transnational educational policy regarding the relevance of accountability and the contribution of school evaluation to education quality. This paper scrutinises the evaluation results of Portuguese schools provided by the Inspectorate services using a pairwise comparison between 194 schools evaluated in 2018-2020 and 2021-2023. Regarding the literature gap on the behaviour of accountability systems over time, this study can contribute to a reflection on justice and transparency in high-stakes systems. The findings suggest (i) that the external evaluation results drift following a directional evolutionary model, indicating progression concerning the self-evaluation, educational services, and results domains; (ii) the occurrence of standardisation and leadership legitimisation phenomenon; (iii) possible side effects in the schools' evaluation process, namely evasive behaviour, apparent and constructed realities, and evaluation distortion. In conclusion, to improve the quality of education, low-stakes accountability systems should be implemented to strengthen transparent schools' autonomy.

Academic failure and social inequalities are becoming more prevalent in schools. While knowledge has evolved and society has undergone significant transformation, schools have largely remained structured around a uniform model applied indiscriminately to all. In Portugal, efforts were made to initiate change through the conceptualisation and implementation of innovation plans to alter the prevailing grammar of schooling, prompting an inquiry into whether these initiatives yielded the intended outcomes. To this end, a case study was conducted in two such schools, aiming to capture the perspectives, ideas, and perceptions of various stakeholders: students and teachers through questionnaires, coordinating teachers via narrative accounts, and school leaders through semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal that the contexts of implementation, the scale of the initiative, and the number of schools involved significantly influence both practices and leadership outcomes. Nonetheless, despite these constraints, the innovation plans facilitated the emergence of more collaborative dynamics and the creation of more meaningful learning environments, wherein students assumed a more active role in their educational processes. The results further indicate that these innovation plans encountered obstacles rooted in entrenched professional and organisational cultures, which hindered profound changes in the structuring of teaching and learning practices.

Understanding students’ feelings about daily school life can be a tool for schools to enhance their learning experience and sense of belonging. Despite the abundant research on achievement and engagement, few studies jointly examine the effect of students’ over-age status considering the grade attended, gender, and school level within a multi-domain framework of student feelings. Even rarer are studies that examine how these variables interrelate to identify predictors of students’ feelings about the learning experience, the aim of this study. Then, adopting a quantitative research approach, data were collected through a 1012-participant survey to map the students’ feelings about school life. The data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, and linear regression statistics to identify causes and associations with the schooling experience. The findings indicate that students who did not disclose their gender or are over-age, considering the grade attended, exhibited less-positive feelings. Additionally, positive feelings decrease along the school path, and six predictors—assessment, school climate, teacher support, emotional discomfort, relationship with peers, and grade—explain the learning experience feelings, with relevance to their interaction effect. The findings highlight the need for coordinated school interventions that promote students’ positive feelings through inclusive, student-centred, and context-sensitive practices.

Over the past fifty years, schools have undergone significant changes in terms of technology and digitalization, as well as pedagogical, organizational, social, and cultural shifts, which have led to transformations in relationships between students and teachers, peers, and within the broader school environment. Dynamic contexts impose new challenges to teaching and learning, and emotions, feelings, and moods play a central role in this process. Understanding students’ relationships with the school can provide valuable insights into their engagement, well-being, and academic success. However, this problem remains under-evaluated in school practice due to the lack of simple tools that can capture students' emotional experiences in a regular and contextualized manner. This study aims to address this gap by developing a scale to evaluate middle and high school students' interactions with peers and teachers, perceptions of school climate, teaching and learning, and assessment. The study used a 31-item questionnaire, and a survey was conducted with students aged 10 to 19 years old. An exploratory factor analysis (N = 200) and a confirmatory factor analysis (N = 300) were performed to identify and validate a hypothetical construct that explains the observed variables. Then, using an exploratory design to examine the preliminary structure and psychometric properties of the Exploratory Students’ School Experience Scale (ESSES), the study reached two models. While one model exhibited good fit, the other model reflected a balance between statistical adequacy and conceptual parsimony, aiming to retain a structure that is both interpretable and psychometrically sound.

School leaders are responsible for shaping a collective vision for inclusion and fostering a school culture centered on social justice and well-being, ensuring every student feels valued and supported in their educational journey. Accordingly, the leadership's role is to mobilize and inspire purposeful, interdependent action through a shared vision that favors climates of innovation and inclusion and enhances teachers' agency and learning cultures within educational organizations. Hence, the research topic 'Leadership, Learning, Wellbeing, and Justice in Educational Organizations' aims to address existing research gaps by urging the reflection on leadership practices that effectively enhance well-being across multiple dimensions -personal, professional, organizational, and social -while contributing to a deeper understanding of their transformative potential within educational settings. Understanding how leaders' practices can be optimized and investigating educational leadership's demands, drivers, and challenges may enhance quality teaching and inclusive learning. Regarding these tenets, the following narrative encapsulates the main ideas on educational leadership evoked in the nine articles related to the present research topic.Institutions of China' highlights the existence of an important influential loop between teachers and principals. Principals' entrepreneurial leadership positively impacts teacher efficacy, enhanced teacher efficacy improves organizational effectiveness, and the resulting organizational improvements can motivate and inform principals to continue effective leadership practices, reinforcing the cycle. This dynamic emphasizes the interdependence of principals and teachers in fostering a thriving educational environment characterized by organizational effectiveness.Leadership that fosters and preserves the values and cultures in educational institutions is assembled in the article 'The Role of Transformational Leadership in Enhancing School Culture and Teaching Performance in Yemeni Public Schools'. This study shed light on the mechanisms to improve school culture and educational leadership to implement policies for better student outcomes. Fostering and preserving values and cultures can be ensured through leaders who adopt idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, and deep concern for ethical considerations and the social environment. Evidence supports the existence of loops in which transformational leadership directly affects teachers' performance and enhances their understanding of school culture, which, in turn, reinforces transformational leaders' capabilities.School cultures of improvement foster a shared commitment to continuous learning, creating an environment where students, teachers, and leaders strive for excellence. The article 'Examining the Status of School Improvement Program Implementation in Primary Schools: a Case Study in South Ethiopia Region' provides evidence that quality improvement packages designed to enhance the schools' management capacity, improvement, decision-making, and sustain a learning environment are unevenly developed in different schools. However, connections between program execution and educational outcomes shed light on systemic challenges inhibiting school effectiveness. Overall, the study supports a reflection on the complexities regarding implementing large-scale educational reforms and the importance of attending to local contexts and capacitybuilding needs when rolling out system-wide initiatives.Portuguese Public Schools'. The study addresses an important dimension of well-being in educational organizations, focusing on the leadership style. In opposition to despotic leadership, ethical leadership can foster intrinsic motivation and organizational commitment, ensuring a healthy and productive work environment for teachers.Despite the diversity of leadership styles, understanding their effects is pivotal, especially given the pressing need to construct new, inclusive educational environments. 'Challenges Posed to Leadership: Systematic Review Based on the Relationships Between Curricular Autonomy and Teachers' Well-being' is an article that systematizes demands, drivers, and challenges leaders face in promoting a school culture in a context of innovation and inclusion. Taking the Portuguese context as a starting point, it can be inferred that fostering an inclusive and innovative school culture requires leaders to adopt policies that value teacher well-being and promote opportunities for ongoing training. On the other hand, promoting an inclusive and innovative school culture presents multifaceted challenges for leaders, whose actions must focus on managing change, and inspiring and mobilizing all those involved. Loops between the macro-level and school levels can guarantee time and space for pedagogical reflection, and provide tools to help overcome bureaucratic barriers and promote a culture of constructive evaluation.The previous articles express the importance of an educational environment for students learning and improving teachers' practices mobilized by attentive leaders. In this regard, the article 'Fostering a Productive Educational Environment: The Roles of Leadership, Management Practices, and Teacher Motivation' adds that a principal's Leadership significantly enhances both teacher motivation and teacher performance, underscoring the critical role of effective leadership in inspiring and improving teacher performance. In contrast, school management practices were found to impact teacher performance significantly, but did not significantly affect teacher motivation, suggesting that management practices alone may be insufficient to boost motivation levels among teachers. The research provides valuable insights and guidance for educators and administrators aiming to foster a productive educational environment, with teacher motivation as a key...