“Making new horizons possible”: The impacts of dialogic policies in Portugal promoting teacher's trainer's education based on scientific evidence of social impact

When analysing teacher training or the training of those in charge of continuous teacher education, the focus is at best on the transfer of knowledge (whether the recipients have incorporated what they have learned into their practice) and rarely on the impact this training has had on the ultimate recipients, the students. This article analyses the social impact that training based on the scientific evidence identified by the INCLUD-ED project has had on a group of 36 teacher trainers selected by the Directorate General of Education in Portugal. The article presents evidence of the positive outcomes of dialogic teacher training, emphasising the self-reported significant improvements in trainers' professional practices and the broader social impact identified by them on students, families, and communities. The conclusions reinforce the need for teacher education to be grounded in scientific evidence of social impact, demonstrating that such training can foster educational and social transformation.