The Good Pupil Configurations and Performativity in Primary School: Teachers' and Children's Perspectives

This paper presents the findings of a research project that aims to analyse the fabrication processes of school success and of the good pupil in primary schools in Portugal, taking into account the increasing emphasis placed on quality and academic excellence in educational systems. Although the impact of this performative agenda is relatively mitigated, several studies have clearly shown its effects on secondary education. However, research on primary school has been scarce in recent decades. Based on content analysis of interviews with teachers and children in three case studies conducted in primary schools with different geographical and social backgrounds, a comparison is made of their views on what constitutes a good pupil. The findings echo the performativity agenda and how it is distinctively integrated by teachers and children in the three contexts under analysis, pointing to a reconfiguration of the métier of primary school pupil.