Catarina Casais, 1997, Porto. Visual Arts teacher at middle school and high school in Portugal. Researcher in the field of Arts Education. She has a degree in Theatre – Costume Design from the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (ESMAE – P. Porto), a master’s degree in Drawing from the Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto (FBAUP) and a master’s degree in Teaching Visual Arts from the Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP). She is currently studying for a PhD in Art Education at FBAUP and is a resident artist at Atelier Sem Forma. She participates as a researcher in the groups ID_CAI – IDENTIDADES_Colectivo de Acção/Investigação at i2ADS and enREDE – Rede Internacional de Investigação em Artes, Educação Artística e Arte/Educação, where she works on decolonial and anti-discriminatory issues in Art Education.

Theses title
Politics of Estrangement: Practices of Resistance and Revitalization of Teacher Agency

FCT reference
2024.00945.BD

Abstract
The project “Politics of Estrangement: Practices of Resistance and Revitalization of Teacher Agency” seeks to examine the disintegration of teacher solidarity both within and outside the school environment, using an aesthetics of protest as demonstrated in nationwide teacher movements. The project will critically investigate the distinction between teaching as a class and as a profession, analyzing how the legislative frameworks and operational structures of schools may impose constraints on teachers’ work and collegial relationships within the educational community. In response, the study will explore potential paths for resistance against these limitations, along with the development of a policy that challenges the normalization of teacher identity, particularly in the context of visual arts education. Ultimately, the goal is to understand how teacher solidarity—inside and beyond the school—can be strengthened as a collective force, fostering social transformation through arts education as a political stance that broadens and revitalizes teacher agency.

Supervision
Catarina Almeida (supervision) and Samuel Guimarães (co-supervision)

More info

• 371B-E0A2-4EF4