Public policies for the teaching of Portuguese in Portugal: the voice of those who implement and those who research

Abstract

In response to unsatisfactory results obtained by Portuguese students at theentrance of the current twenty-first century, Portugal experienced a contextof intense educational reform with regard to the teaching of Portuguese. Thusarose in 2006, the National Program for Education of Portuguese, for teachersof the 1st cycle of basic education (CEB) in order to improve the levels ofcomprehension and oral and written expression and reading comprehension inall schools of the 1st CEB. Focusing on this model and the respective dynamiccontinuing education which is the basis of this program, we propose, yet thistext, highlight the implications of that initial training, presenting the resultsof an investigation that we believe can contribute to future experiences oflanguage applied in the context of phonological awareness and learning toread (soon also in orthographic dimension) and help prevent difficulties indeveloping reading skills.