Analysis of Social and Educational Policies

Code:

E500

Acronym:

APSE

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Sociology of Education

Instance: 2025/2026 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://sigarra.up.pt/fpceup/pt/ucurr_geral.ficha_uc_view?pv_ocorrencia_id=406221
Responsible unit:	Education Sciences
Course/CS Responsible:	First degree in Educational Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LCED	44	Official Curricular Structure	3	-	6	57	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The subject Social and Educational Policy Analysis aims to provide an approach to these policies centred on their analysis and deconstruction, to enable an understanding of the "policy cycle", from the level of elaboration to that of implementation. These political levels (ideology, agenda, decision-making process, elaboration and implementation) are, at the same time, references for the development of the programme and its subject.


Objectives:
- To present and discuss the main theoretical perspectives on the development and implementation of social and educational policies;
- To identify methodologies and their characteristics used to study social and educational policies;
- To identify and begin to develop a sociological approach to social and educational policies.
- To conceptualise educational and social policies as projects for social change and the management of such change;
- To introduce and reinforce procedures for the sociological analysis of educational and social policies that allow critical reflection on the conceptions and management of social change that underlie them.

Learning outcomes and competences

Competences:

- understand the processes and contexts in which educational and social policies are designed and implemented;
- identify the different actors and agents involved;
- analyse and deconstruct educational and social policy documents.

Learning outcomes: 

- relate the elaboration and implementation of educational and social policies with processes of socio-economic development and social change;
- identify (with the support of analytical models/methodologies) the different actors and agents involved in the political process and the potential influence they may have on the elaboration, development and evaluation of projects in educational contexts.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. The framework of education and social policy analysis

1.1. State, welfare State and social policy: concepts, goals, objectives, instruments and critical views

1.2 Key dimensions and premises of educational policies

1.3. The global context and education and social policy

2. Sociological dimensions of policy analysis

2.1. The processes of decision, development and implementation of policies

2.2. The production of ideology, the agenda setting and the decision-making

 

3. The analysis of education and social policies

3.1. "The policy cycle approach" of Bowe, Ball and Gold

3.2. “The construction and deconstruction of educational policy documents”, according John Codd

3.3 Education, training, protection and social development policies in Portugal

Mandatory literature

Magalhães António M. MAgalhães 570; Reconfigurações. ISBN: 972-8562-20-9
Magalhães António M.; A^diferença somos nós. ISBN: 972-36-0761-1
ULL; Journal of education policy. ISBN: 0268-0939
CODD, John A.; "The Construction and Deconstruction of Educational Policy Documents", Journal of Education Policy, 3, 3, 235-247, Taylor & Francis, 1988. ISBN: 0268-0939
DALE, Roger ; “Specifying globalization effects on national policy: a focus on the mechanisms”, in Journal of Education Policy, 1999, Vol. 14, nº 1, pp. 1-17, Taylor & Francis, 1999. ISBN: 0268-0939
DALE, Roger ; “Globalização e Educação: Demonstrando uma ‘Cultura Educational Mundial Comum’ ou ‘Localizando Uma Agenda para a Educação Globalmente Estruturada’?", Educação, Sociedade & Culturas, 16., Afrontamento, 2000. ISBN: 0872-7643
Ball Stephen J.; Networks, new governance and education. ISBN: 978-1-84742-979-7
Mainardes, J.; Abordagem do ciclo de políticas: uma contribuição para a análise de políticas sociais e educacionais
Cortesão Luíza 340; Na girândola de significados. ISBN: 978-972-8082-91-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

This subject is theoretical-practical.
The teaching-learning methodologies are:
- Face to face activities: exposition; debate, team work, tutorial meetings, presentation of team work and assessment.
- Autonomous work: deconstructing educational and/or social policy documents, preparing assignments.

keywords

Social sciences > Political sciences > Public policy > Social policy
Social sciences > Educational sciences

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	40,00
Teste	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	105,00
Frequência das aulas	57,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

The students must attend at least 75% of the planned classes at the beginning of the semester.

Calculation formula of final grade

Bearing in mind that assessment should provide an indication of the achievement level of the learning objectives and competences that are intended to be attained, as well as being a learning tool, assessment will be made through two instruments at different times for students who fulfil the attendance requirements:

- an analysis of an educational and/or social policy selected from a set suggested by the teacher and relevant to the areas of professionalisation of the degree in Educational Sciences. This work will be carried out in a small group, during autonomous work time, with a tutorial support session by the teacher, and presented and debated in the classroom. The aim of this assessment component is to mobilise the contents of the program;

- a written analysis and commentary on an educational and/or social policy, with consultation. This written analysis will be done during the assessment period in the school calendar and aims, in addition to the above, to encourage in-depth thinking, to promote reflection on the scientific programme as a whole and to demonstrate the competences and learning outcomes.

Students who don't fulfil the attendance requirements will take an exam, without consultation, with a final weighting of 100%. Students who fulfil the attendance requirements may also choose this option.


The final classification is calculated as follows:

a) for students who fulfil the attendance requirements:

- the analysis of the policy in a small group and its presentation (to be held during the semester, on a date to be agreed between the teacher and the students) will have a weighting of 40% in the final grade, being assessed the pertinence of the analysis, the rigour of the analysis, the mobilisation and articulation of content and the debate generated;

- the written analysis and commentary (to be held at the end of the semester in the assessment period) will have a weighting of 60% in the final grade, and will be assessed on its structure, focus of analysis, relevance, mobilisation and articulation of content and analytical and critical reflection.

Each of these two moments will be graded on a scale of 0 to 20, with the weightings already mentioned in the final grade.

A final mark of 10 or more is required to pass the course, with a minimum of 8 marks in each of the components.

b) for students who don't fulfil the attendance requirements: a final exam, without consultation, with a weighting of 100 per cent in the final grade.

 

 The final grade is expressed on a scale of 0 to 20, and a final grade of 10 or more is required to pass the subject.



Appeal procedure:
In the event of failure (classification of less than 8 in one of the components, or final classification of less than 10), students must take a final exam without consultation in the appeal period stipulated in the school calendar, with a weighting of 100% in the final classification, expressed on a scale of 0 to 20.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

The students legally authorised to not attending the sessions will deliver two reports on the bibliography about theme 1 and another on about theme 2, besides the review and analysis refered to above.

Classification improvement

Students wishing to improve their final classification, and those who have failed, will take a written exam without consultation on the contents of the course, in the appeal period stipulated in the school calendar. The exam to improve the classification replaces the classifications obtained in the two assessment components and has a weighting of 100 per cent in the final classification.