Educational Policies as an object of study and training in Educational Administration

The current Sísifo dossier, under the theme “Conhecimento, decis o política e ac o pública em educa o” [Knowledge, policy-making and public action in education], is the result of a joint reflection stemming from the overlapping of a training program and research project.With regard to the former, it was based on an advanced PhD program in Education Sciences, in the specialised area of Educational Administration, at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FPCE-UL). This course, the first of which took place in the academic year 2005/2006 (1), included 15 PhD students and was supervised by Jo o Barroso, Luís Miguel Carvalho, Madalena Fontoura and Natércio Afonso, all teachers in the above-mentioned Faculty. The course was organised around the theme “Conhecimento, decis o política e ac o pública em educa o” [Knowledge, policy-making and public action in education] and was geared towards supporting the dissertation projects the PhD students would have to elaborate from the 2nd year onwards, some of which are presented in this dossier.As regards the research, the project in question is a European research project, approved by the European Union under Priority 7 “Citizens and governance in a knowledge based society” and entitled “The role of knowledge in the construction and the regulation of health and education policy in Europe: convergences and specificities among nations and sectors” (KNOW&POL). The project was prepared during the academic year 2005/2006, launched in October 2006 and is expected to last five years. It covers 13 research teams from 8 countries (Germany, Belgium, France, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and Romania), distributed throughout the two study sectors (health and education) (2). The Portuguese team is coordinated by Jo o Barroso and includes teachers from the FPCE-UL who are participants in the supervision of the afore-mentioned PhD program, as well as the sporadic collaboration of other researchers, such as Professors Rui Canário and António Nóvoa. Since September 2007, a PhD scholarship holder, who is also enrolled in the above-mentioned program, has also been part of the team. It is a joint project between the Unidade de I&D de Ciências da Educa o [Educational Sciences R&D Unit of the University of Lisbon], and the FPCE-UL.