Crossing borders: The school open to partnerships and new educational territories

Abstract

The study, which has a theoretical scope and refers to the Portuguese context, points to the importance of the relations between the school, the community and the autarchy (partnerships and consortiums) as paths for development and innovation. For this purpose, one must start from the real construction of practices of cooperation between local communities  and social and educational institutions, sharing common initiatives and projects with the school  (educational project). The constitution of educational territorial is a way of developing values keeping traditions, the environmental, cultural and artistic heritage, the promotion of resources and synergies. The article is structured in four points. The first one discusses the partnerships between the school and the local community, stressing the meaning of partnership and the role of consortiums in the Portuguese educational reality. The second point explains the interactive relation between partnership, participation and local power. The third point analyzes the logics and dynamics of partnership between education and school. The last point discusses the partnership between school and autarchy with a view to promoting the participation of the educational actors, the school and the community.

Key words: educational policy, school, school autonomy, educational community, educational territories, partnerships, consortiums.