On behalf of the Organising Committee, I cordially invite you to the International Cross-Curricular Teaching, to be held at the University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal, from 28 to 29 June 2018.

The theme of the conference Cross-Curricular Teaching: Curriculum Flexibility and innovation enables the discussion of Cross-curricular teaching is partially stated in national curricula. Even though the concept is mentioned, national curricula are still subject-based and the definition and orientations about cross-curricular teaching are unclear. The situation is evolving, several reforms/curricular reorganizations have been made, for instance in 2017 in the basic school in Portugal in order to institutionalise interdisciplinarity practices and curriculum flexibility. Therefore, cross-curricular activities are diverse in Europe, inside the same country, and even in the same school. It varies according to the level of teachers' motivation and involvement and their attitude towards the approach. It is often seen as something optional because of the lack of time. So cross-curricular teaching in practice can be: interdisciplinary projects, co-planning, co-teaching, shared themes between subjects, extra-curricular activities. This scenario suggests many questions and comments about traditional subject-based teaching, school pedagogical autonomy and the professional beliefs of teachers. What would be the core motivation to implement cross-curricular teaching since the grading system is linked to subjects? Could a grading system based on competences be the answer?

During the Crosscut 2018 conference there will be opportunities to discuss Portuguese schools' outputs, key issues related to the curriculum flexibility focusing particularly on the dimensions of policy, professionalism and innovation practices. This international conference will bring together a number of experts from universities, policy makers, researchers, teacher trainers, training Centers, teachers and all those interested in teacher education policy, curriculum flexibility and innovation.

The University of Minho is a public university which was founded in 1973, UMinho is currently one of the most important and prestigious HE in Portugal. It is renowned for the competence and quality of its faculty and for the level of excellence in research as well as the wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses offered and the remarkable degree of interaction with other institutions and society in general. UMINHO offers 39 cycle degrees, 13 integrated MSc, around 150 MSc programs and over 50 PhD programs (several international programs involving prestigious international partners such as MIT, CMU, Harvard, KUL, etc.…).. The campus of Gualtar, in Braga, and Azurém, in Guimarães, cover a student population of over 19000, plus 1200 teaching staff and almost 800 technical and administration staff making UMinho one of the biggest HE in Portugal. All our 11 Schools are quite comprehensive and are a reference for their academic and scientific quality a national and an international level. All courses and degrees are evaluated and accredited by the correspondent official bodies. Internationalisation is an institutional priority and it has a long and sound-based experience in participating in several EU programs.

The Institute of Education (IE) is a new teaching and research unit of the University of Minho (UMinho) created in 2009 with the merger of the Institute of Child Studies (IEC) and the Institute of Education and Psychology (IEP), concerning its Educational component. According to its Statutes, IE's mission is to develop projects on education, research (CIEC and CIEd, Research Centers) and interaction with society in the broad area of Education, thus contributing to the development and well-being of individuals, groups, education organisations and society.