Summary
A holistic view of education, based on the relevancy of the multidimentionality of the student, community participation and the recognition of the educational potential of the territories, prompts new forms of regulation, organization and of carrying out pedagogical work, (re)introducing unifying concepts such as that of Educational Territory. The edification of this educational construct, assumed as a cohesive, organic and multidimensional unit, would require a balanced and fluid tripartite relationship between the components of Territory-School-Community (TSC) and a competent multifaced and multilevel structure that would materialize it.
The present work aimed to consider the viability of this edification in a municipality of central interior Portugal, to envision actors, actions and processes, to measure the perceptions, and to reflect on the forms of institution, management and regulation of this educational construct. To achieve these objectives, a descriptive study was carried out, based on a mixed methodology that crossed data collected in interviews to different, internal and external, actors, with that obtained through questionnaire surveys applied to teachers of the collegiate bodies, guardians and students, and with observations gathered in the realized activities.
The results reveal openness towards the ideology of Educational Territory and the recognition of the importance of the articulation between the institutions that would promote it. They also point to some resistance, apparently associated to insecurities in the face of change and a conservative vision of education, which conditions innovative pedagogical practices. The viability of this Educational Territory appears to require a conceptual re-centring, since, having the local heritage as the central nucleus of the action, it would be possible to enhance synergies and to maximize the detected progression margin, channelling it to the enrichment of student learning.