Presentation

Following its first edition held in Lisbon in 2013, the III International Congress on Students Engagement in School: Perspectives in Psychology and Education – Inclusion and Diversity is an open forum to researchers, teachers and psychologists from all over the world, interested in debating issues of engagement and inclusion of students in school, and discussing theories, methods, practices, and psycho-educational implications.

The lack of engagement of students in school is a persistent and current problem that occurs on a large scale. The promotion of students’ engagement and rights can be seen as a factor of inclusion and appreciation of diversity in school, with beneficial repercussions on families and societies. In the current challenges of education, the need to implement conditions that promote students’ taste for being in school and learning arises, through processes of collaborative work between peers. Teacher’s training is a factor with a strong impact on classroom processes, on the quality of teaching and learning, making the levels of inclusion increase, both in school content and in social groups. Engaging students in school require for eliminating disparities and ensuring equal access to all levels of education and training, including people with disabilities or in situations of vulnerability.

The 3ICSES is part of the Education XXI line of the Institute of Education of the University of Lisbon and has several purposes as goals. The Congress has as its sub-theme Inclusion and Diversity in a school for all constitutes an opportunity to discuss theoretical or empirical research work with specialists and colleagues in the areas of Education, Psychology and related fields. Research lines of engagement and inclusion in school will guide the topics under analysis, summoning current and important concepts, linked not only to the aspects of the diversity of the students in the school, but also focusing on the psychosocial complexities of which the school is reflex. Engagement, inclusion and diversity are the focus, with openness to behavioral aspects in a school context, rooted in a wider society. Given the need to rethink educational institutions in the face of paradigm changes and the crisis of human achievement in today’s world, it is important to create opportunities for reflection on education, taking this congress as an object of study the engagement, inclusion and motivation in school.

The Congress considers the engagement of students in a school for all, valuing the study of their conceptualization and evaluation, the research of personal and contextual factors (teachers, architecture of school spaces, parents, family, society), as well as the teaching of specific contents (mathematics, languages, arts, science and technology, physical education) and their relation to academic performance at school and throughout life.

Conceptualizations and practices will be highlighted in order to reduce the rate of failure and drop out of school, and seek new lines of research that will promote education without social exclusion. The III Congress seeks to study how it is characterized, how it is evaluated, how it is developed and how it is promoted the engagement and inclusion of the students in the school; how their antecedents act and their repercussions arise, taking into account the complexity that marks the learning policies and teaching. It is also intended to disseminate research results, analyze educational contexts that promote school motivation, and equate new lines of research, valuing research contributions in Education, Psychology and related disciplinary areas.

In sum, it is the purpose of IIICIEAE to highlight conceptualizations and practices of reduction of failure rate and drop-out rate, looking for new lines of research that promote education without social exclusion, in an appreciation of the Education XXI line.

You are well come.

President of 3ICSES

Feliciano H. Veiga

Feliciano H Veiga is full Professor, coordinator of the Doctorate in Education, Educational Psychology, member of the Scientific Committee and president of the Ethics Committee of the Institute of Education, University of Lisbon. Veiga served as president of the “Ibero-Latin American Committee” of the International School Psychological Association. He has hundreds of national and international publications.