Project “We Propose!” Territorial citizenship and curricular innovation in portuguese geographical education

Abstract

This paper considers the strengths of the project methodology for the construction of a more innovative, active and problematizing geographical education among Portuguese secondary students, through the critical reflection on the applicability of the Project “We Propose! / Nós Propomos!”, in the last five years. The methodological approach is based on a review of the national and international literature, a simplified content analysis of the last three curricular reforms in Portugal since the beginning of this century, and recourse to the explanation and interpretation of descriptive memories of the project. The scholarly significance of this study resides in the demonstration of how students are placed in contact with real-life geographers from the municipalities and local associations beyond the institutional and economic fabric of their surroundings and learn to value geographic knowledge and how geography can help in solving land use problems.