In 2001, the Currículo Nacional do Ensino Básico. Competências Essenciais [National Curriculum for Primary Education. Essential Competences] was published in Portugal. This document reorganizes basic level education from a curricular point of view. It is a fundamental reference document for curricular management in Portuguese schools and outlines guidelines for educational experiences as well as the essential competences, both general and specific, that students are to develop in each subject or subject area throughout their primary education.
Since its implementation until today, at initial teacher education level, working documents were produced by the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto reflecting the interpretation of the documents issued by the Ministry of Education. These documents were shared by students, future teachers and also supervisors in the training sessions.
This article aims to contextualize the National Curriculum for Primary Education in Portugal, Curriculum Guidelines for Geography, present guidelines for the initial training of Geography teachers at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, as well as to introduce the empirical study that aims to identify (re)interpretations carried out by teachers at schools within the scope of the National Curriculum for Primary Education and the Curriculum Guidelines for Geography.
The adopted stance, in light of Ball’s policy cycle, aims to analyze academic discourses and documents produced at initial teacher education level of the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (context of influence and text production) as well as the contexts of action carried out in schools by teachers (context of practice).