Curriculum development in a Community of Practice - Principles implemented in Project IPEC

The literature has recognized the complexity of the process of a curriculum development (CD) and a desirable interaction between practice and research in education. Portuguese Project IPEC sought to promote such intersection by a Community of Practice (CoP) via online involving science teachers and researchers working together to develop curriculum modules. In this paper the guiding principles of CD explored by one of such groups and their alignment with the theoretical directions are discussed. A case study was conducted by direct observation (measured by an online platform) and a non-participating documental analysis, both subject to content analysis. We could find that the CoP implemented several early literature principles of Curriculum Theory and Development, i.e. i) decentralized responsibility; ii) flexible and differentiated; iii) reflective; iv) a context approach regarding Science-Technology-Society-Environment (CTSA); v) integrated; and vi) including interactive phases. Thus an instrument for the empirical validation of early DC emerging from the literature has been explored. Also we observed that teachers and researchers involved in the CoP allowed a better link between theory and practice during CD.