The Whole-School Approach and Transformative Learning: The Case of a Portuguese School

Abstract

In the 21st century, there has been an increase in political and academic orientations pointing to the need for school education to follow a transforming pedagogy that will enable it to fulfil its social contract. Along with this idea, there has also been a growing recognition that educational interventions should consider the school as a whole and the different agents that are part of it. With these ideas as a reference, a study was conducted using documentary analysis to identify how a Portuguese school considers these guidelines when planning and evaluating its activities. The school activity plan and the evaluation report were analysed using the whole school approach (WSA) analytical framework. The concepts of transformative pedagogy and the WSA impact how schools organise their activities and involve students in analyzing real-life situations, influencing processes in which students learn to make decisions that can contribute to sustainability.