Portuguese AECED Data: Embodied learning for democracy

This dataset originates from the Portuguese cases of the international AECED (Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy) project, which explores how aesthetic-bodily-embodied (ABE) pedagogical approaches can support democratic education across different educational levels. The Portuguese data includes two main contexts: Adult and Professional Learning Education (2 cases) and Early years and Primary Education (2 cases). In tall 4 cases, data was gathered through participatory action research (PAR) teachers and educators of institutions all over the country. This data were gathered trhough the results of a 50-hour online continuing education course conducted on the Moodle platform of the Open University (UAb) between April and June 2024. The course was developed as part of the European project AECED (Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy-as-becoming), with educators and teachers from pre-school, primary and vocational education in Portugal. Based on an approach centred on Aesthetic and Embodied Learning for Democracy (AELD) and anchored in Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology, the course fostered spaces for co-research, critical reflection and pedagogical innovation. The analysis of qualitative data—from forums, reflective journals, interviews, and pedagogical proposals—revealed transformations in the development of democratic practices and in the valorisation of the body and sensoriality as dimensions of knowledge. Despite the technical and institutional challenges of eLearning, the course fostered the construction of democratic and collaborative learning communities. The dataset reflects a transformative and sensitive investigative practice that addresses the challenges of democratic education, combining the production of contextualized knowledge with formative action. Following the ethical standards of Horizon 2020, all data were anonymized to ensure the privacy of participating teachers, capturing perceptions about teacher agency, school culture, and the development of democratic education in digital learning environments.