brochura_2019_versaofinal_en

Research Centre on
Child Studies (CIEC)

“Empowering the future, [email protected]
today.” www.ciec-uminho.org
facebook.com/ciecuminho
University of Minho ciecum.wordpress.com
Institute of Education (00 351) 253.60.12.12
Campus de Gualtar (00 351) 253.60.12.69
4710-057 Braga, Portugal 41° 33’ 32.16” N
8° 23’ 54.06” W

CIEC - UM at a Glance:

CIEC main objective is to promote high level research and the
gathering of scientific knowledge and skills to contribute to the
improvement of children’s wellbeing, development and learning.

The financial crisis in Portugal has imposed austerity on citizens
and children are a vulnerable group. CIEC hopes its rather unique,
holistic approach to the study of child welfare, education and
health contribute to address the difficulties faced by children,
through relevant research.

Our overall vision is as follows:

» To conduct research using a holistic approach to the study of
the child and to develop researchers’ capability in this field;

» To contribute to policies and practical issues relating to children,
especially those affected by social deprivation,

» Training and supporting professionals who work with children:
educators, teachers, nurses and others from educational, health
and social services.

The center is organized in two groups:

Children’s contexts, their everyday life and well-being (G1)
Children’s learning and development (G2)

Graça S. Carvalho Pedro Palhares
CIEC Director CIEC Deputy Director

CIEC research is structured into ve thematic strands (TS): Teresa Vilaça
Group 1 Coordinator
Children’s Social Practices and their Contexts (TS1)
Child Health and Environment and Physical Education (TS2)
Childhood Professionals (TS3)
Pedagogic Resources for Children (TS4)
Cultural Productions for Children (TS5)

In 2017, CIEC members number was over 250 elements, as can be
seen in the chart on the next page. Phd Students number reaches
123 elements, being more than 40% of them from abroad, a total
that can emphasizes CIEC vocation for internationalization.

Since 2018, CIEC direction is managed by Professor Graça S.
Carvalho, aided by the Deputy Director, Professor Pedro Palhares.

Fernanda L. Viana
Group 2 Coordinator

Poverty, child labour and intergenerational relationships, some other keywords of this thematic strand.

Children’s Social Practices
and their Contexts (TS1)

This Thematic Strand develops an interdisciplinary orientation
about the study of childhood (as generational category), about
children as social actors in relation to their life contexts (such as
family, school, peer groups, urban space, leisure institutions, host
and socio-educational support) and about their social practices
(such as intra-family interactions, everyday learning, peer
interactions, interactions in the virtual network, etc..), through
Childhood Sociology, Developmental Psychology, Family Law
and Children and Education Sciences.

The Thematic Strand falls predominantly within the designated
“social childhood studies” that have been widely developed,
especially from the beginning of the XXI century. This new
international area of research aims to assign a new meaning to
the research on the childhood, rescuing it from adultocentric and
paternalistic perspectives. Although this theoretical movement
is very close to the social conception of childhood based on
children’s rights, this research field has an epistemological
autonomy as it guides towards new research questions, supports
innovative research methodologies applied to childhood and it
is organised in theoretical streams relatively well consolidated,
which proposes new constructs and approaches to the social
worlds of childhood.

Some of its axes are expressed operationally in research projects
that are running now and/or will be launched, mobilizing local
resources and competing for external funding, mainly focusing
on the following themes:

» Child poverty and the renewal of the social crisis of childhood
due to the national and global economic and financial crisis;

» The child in the context of intergenerational relationships:
social relationships of children with other children, adults and
seniors,

» The child and the city: political, representations and social
practices.

Some TS2 main concepts beyo

Child Health, Environment
and Physical Education (TS2)

This thematic strand aims to produce, develop and disseminate
scientific research in two axes:

Axis 1: Child Health and Environment

Axis 2: Physical Education and Recreation Leisure

In addition to their specific focus of research, both areas
contribute to a holistic approach of the child development
and well-being in motor, cognitive, social, psychological,
philosophical dimensions.

More specifically, this thematic strand intends to characterize
the present situation of children’s wellbeing and to find ways
to improve it. It is of special concern the present impact of the
National/European financial crisis in children’s development and
wellbeing.

The major themes of research of the axis on “Child Health and
Environment” focus on healthy food, healthy development,
healthy sexuality, prevention of adolescents’ pregnancy and
prevention of health risks, such as drugs abuse and road
safety.

The axis on “Physical Education and Leisure” intends to
understand and describe the impact on children’s health and
safety of their lifestyle, their physical activity and motor
development, bullying, and their safety at school as well as
in outdoor children’s play areas and sports equipment.

Studying children’s playing activities are of paramount relevance
but deepening the knowledge about sports and what can be
transferred to knowledge about children is also regarded as a
main target. Because teachers and other professionals working
with children are involved in these processes, their training is
also of great interest.

ond child health, environment and physical education: bullying, healthy sexuality and child nutrition education.

Childhood professionals such as teachers, psychologists, social workers, nurses or facilitators are the focus of TS3

Childhood Professionals (TS3)

This Thematic Strand focuses upon the training and education
of all professionals working with children as well as issues of
professionalism, professional identity, professional development,
change and pedagogical practice. The innovation and relevance
of this strand relates to the multi-disciplinary and multi-
perspective approach taking into account not only the political,
cultural, social and economic environment but also the working
conditions, the structures and cultures of the contexts in which
those professionals work. In addition, the development of this
strand includes the perspective of the professionals working
with children as well as children’s own perspective, particularly
in regard to the so-called caring professions such as nurses,
teachers, facilitators, support staff, social workers, etc.

In particular, this strand aims to look at the ways in which
the various professionals working with children understand
their work, their professional identities and their professional
development. Its goal also includes the analysis of the ways in
which current challenges in the Portuguese society, as a result of
the economic and financial crisis, have been affecting them and
their work.

Thus, this strand encompasses a number of sub-themes that
will be developed under different strategic research projects:
professional learning and development; professional
identities; professional knowledge; professional learning
communities; professional educational practice in di erent
contexts; liaison between professional workers, families,
local community institutions and organisations; leadership
in caring and educational contexts and the analysis of the
multi-disciplinary teams working with children (psychologists,
social workers, nurses, facilitators, etc).

A mixed-method perspective will be adopted in order to capture
the complexity, dynamic and diversity of the issues underpinning
the research projects within this strand. It also includes a cross-
disciplinary focus including the articulation and joint work with
researchers more involved in other strands as well as international
networks in which the CIEC researchers are involved.

Pedagogic Resources
for Children (TS4)

This thematic strand aims to produce, develop and disseminate
scientific research in two axes:

Axis 1: the creation of pedagogical resources to support teaching
and learning

Axis 2: the development of tools for monitoring children’s
development and learning while providing the teacher with
information on the learning process

More specifically, this thematic strand intends to design and
create diversified innovative pedagogical resources either in
digital (software, computer game, internet, learning
platforms) or analogical formats (toys, textbooks, tutorials,
skill tests), framed by the children´s needs and the curricular
guidelines.

Once designed and implemented, the pedagogical resources
will be tested in real classrooms and made available to the
whole educational sciences community.

The use of technology applied in education is the agship of TS4.

Literature for children and young people is one of the main streams of TS5.

Cultural Productions
for Children (TS5)

This Thematic Strand focuses attention on cultural productions
designed for children and about children. In an interdisciplinary
and transdisciplinary approach it seeks to questioning children’s
places and gestures not only in the Portuguese and Lusophone
literature and their large cultural context, but also in the wider
framework of European art and culture.

It brings together several complementary perspectives (literary
studies, discourse analysis, artistic studies) to understand and
analyse in depth the cultural productions designed for children
and about them. One of TS5 goals is to extend and strengthen
the national and international networks (such as “Las Literatures
Infantiles y Juveniles del Marco Iberico e Iberoamericano” (LIJMI),
“Rede Internacional de Universidades Leitoras” (Riul), “International
Network of Universities Readers”, “Creative Connections”),
mobilizing human resources and raising funding for research
projects in defined study fields.

Developed around strategic projects, articulated with each other,
and driven on the study of cultural productions for children
and about them, this strand focus mainly on the following topics:

» Childhood images in children’s literature;

» Utopias and dystopias in children’s literature;

» Classic and contemporary revisiting of canons;

» Children’s literature and reader education;

» Ecoliteracy promotion through children’s & young adult’s literature;

» Discourse of science popularization for children,

» Popular festivals, economy, society and culture.

TERNATIONALIZATION

INProjects

CIEC participated in 50 international and 41 national projects
between 2013 and 2017. The majority of the international projects
were European (37), but there were also partnerships with other countries,
specially with Brazil.
In the same period, CIEC was the coordinator of almost half of CIEC
national funded projects. The Portuguese national funding agency
for science, research and technology (FCT) is the motor of a considerable
number of the national projects, however there has been a trend to work
with municipalities and with other important agencies in the national context,
such as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

PhD Supervision and Training

In 2017 CIEC had a total of 123 PhD students, more than 40% of them from
abroad. Brazil has been the most representative nationality, but there are
also students from other lusophone coutries, such as Angola, Mozambique,
East Timor or Cape Vert, as well as studentes from China, Islamic Republic of
Iran, Spain or Venezuela.
CIEC develops continuous efforts to encourage not only students, but all
members to publish internationally. Since 2015 CIEC has organized every year
a workshop on “Writing Academic English”, guided by a scientific english
language specialist.

Publications

The number of CIEC international publications from 2013 to 2017 increased
significantly. For example, a total of 264 book chapters and 534 papers in
journals were published.
Of the total papers in this period 105 of them are indexed in Web of Science
(WoS-ISI), 118 in SCOPUS, 190 in SJR/SCIMAGO, while 350 were listed in the
brazilian QUALIS.

Conferences

CIEC members presented 1416 communications in international events
between 2013 and 2017. A considerable growth of over 60% was experimented
after 2015.

Thematic Networks

Making contacts with colleagues of current international networks is
an important tool to build consortia and materialize new projects. CIEC
researchers are members in more than 40 thematic international networks,
such as “AISLF – Comité de Recherche en Sociologie de l’Enfance”, “SHE –

Schools for Health in Europe “, “ISATT –
International Study Association on Teachers and
Teaching”, “ETEN – European Teacher Education

Network”, “Mathematics Education
Thematic Interest Group“ and the “LIJMI
- Las Literatures Infantiles y Juveniles del
Marco Iberico e Iberoamericano”, among
many others.

A BRIDGE TO

Impact Case Studies

2015: Creation of Anti-Bullying Association 2016: Anti-Smoking “Vaccine”

CIEC research works with upmost social impact are selected as “impact case studies” and are
disclosed at the CIEC institutional web-page. The main scientific publications on the case study and
highlights in the media are displayed in each case study.

The first case study was the “Anti-Bullying Association”, delivered in 2015. Paulo Costa, a CIEC PhD
student developing his research in bullying under Professor Beatriz Pereira supervision, founded this
association and has mobilized several social agents: the City Mayor, the Braga Archbishop and, more
importantly, students. Today, the association facebook page has an impressive 20 thousand friends.

In 2016, the Anti-Smoking “Vaccine” was selected due to the importance of this educative
programme applied to students of primary education of the Braga region. It has been developed
by Professor José Precioso, aiming to fight against one of the most nocive adictive behaviours
among youngsters.

Science Communication
and Society Change

The dialogue with society is crucial to show the Some TV news with CIEC members
impact of the academic research on people’ lives.
Besides the Univeristy of Minho communication
services, CIEC also uses the social media to be in
direct touch with society.

These combined policies, between 2013 and 2017, resulted in a total of 176 news in all kinds
of medias, 34 broadcasted in televisions, 24 in radios, 97 published in newspapers, 21 in
news websites or other platforms. In the same period, CIEC facebook community became
one of the largest of the University of MInho, with almost 12 thousand people linked to it,
an important audience to communicate with.

The dynamism of this relation goes far beyond a simple one-way communication
channel. In the recently created “Scienti c Community on Child Studies”, PhD students

SOCIETY

2017: Internationalisation: Health Education and 2018: Literary Education and Children’s Literature
Health Promotion

The international acknowledgment on Health Education was the focus in 2017. With an
extensive portfolio on this topic in countries like France, Germany, Romania, Greece, Cyprus,
Israel and Brazil, the work of the CIEC Director, Professor Graça S. Carvalho, was awarded
with the honorary degree of “Doctor Honoris Causa” granted by the University Claude
Bernard Lyon-1.

The research work developed by Professors Sara Reis and Fernando Azevedo was chosen to
the 2018 study case, as both have gathered influent research on children’s literature and
literary education. They also have substantial influence on children’s libraries nationwide,
namely the National Plan for Reading (“PNL - Plano Nacional de Leitura”).

of the CIEC doctoral programme accepted the chalenge of improving communication: they
feed themselves this virtual community with reports of their activities, helping to approach
general public to these important academic agents.

Another relevant achievement is the CIEC participation in the FCT newly created ProChild
CoLAB. This structure, integrating several Portuguese universities and important social and
economic agents, is a national laboratory that aims to promote an effective social change
by placing children at the center of research and innovation, relying on a multidisciplinary
and multilevel approach, breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting children’s rights and
well-being.

PhoChild CoLab Web-Site Scienti c Community on Child Studies

More about us!

CIEC is the only research institution at nationwide level dedicated just for the child studies in
Portugal.

You can visit us personally in the Institute of Education of University of Minho, but you will
also find all information about us in our website - where data about our members, projects
or publications are available in a “virtual showcase”; in our blog - the members meeting point
to get tunned about our main news; or in the exchange of ideias with the 12 thousand CIEC
”friends” on our Facebook Community, one of the largest in University of Minho.

Find CIEC addresses and contacts in the
front cover of this brochure.

Above: The Institution of Education building
and some images of classes at music lab,
science education lab, sports hall and some
artistic creations in our plastic arts lab.

© CIEC, Dec-2018