Supporting Schools in Times of Crisis: A Case of Partnerships and Networking with Schools by the Institute of Education at the University of Lisbon

This chapter examines the Institute of Education at the University of Lisbon (IE-ULisbon) and its engagement with schools during the current COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to supplement knowledge about responses to unanticipated crises impacting schools, factors influencing schools’ coping strategies, and IE-ULisbon’s actions in this unfolding context. Therefore, this case study follows two IE-ULisbon experiences with school clusters (totaling 1700 students and 160 teachers), meeting the challenges posed by the pandemic. Both examples relate to longer-term projects aiming to improve students’ learning through innovative practices and teachers’ capacity-building. However, the crisis instigated new difficulties for teachers, and researchers responded by empowering and enabling teachers to create learning environments to facilitate educational consistency and foster academic achievement.