Policies of accountability in Portugal

Abstract

This communication stems from the global/local method proposed by Pinar (2006) for analysing changes that have affected curricular development in Portugal in the globalised context. It is argued that the most evident effects of globalisation on current curricular changes relate to homogenisation and standardisation (Anderson-Levitt, 2008), intersected by key concepts, such as accountability, good practices, quality, efficiency, evaluation and testing, amongst others, even though heterogeneity of practices persists. In Portugal, the political agenda has suffered a two-fold pressure – on one side, from globalisation and transnationalisation and, on the other, the trend to Europeanise educational policies – leading to processes of curricular re-centralisation and a performance-oriented culture in schools (Ball, 2004). The concept of accountability is seen as one of the central aspects for understanding this, so this text uses a series of reflective questions, organised in three regulatory dimensions - political, institutional and pedagogical - to analyse the concept of accountability.