Public Policies for Adult Education in Portugal - innovations and challenges

ABSTRACT The low level of education of the Portuguese population has been a difficult problem to solve. This is partly justified due to limited, fragmented and intermittent public adult education policies. However, in the last two decades, an investment has been made in this domain and a high number of adults with low level of education have been mobilized. The article aims to analyze the elements of innovation and the challenges of the integrated measures in adult education policies in Portugal over the last two decades. The empirical data derived from a qualitative research, using several data collection tools - legal documents, statistics, and semi-structured interviews, with managers, educators and adults, as well as biographical interviews with certified adults. The research results reveal the innovation and complexity inherent the structures responsible for diagnosing and monitoring adults, the adult education and training courses, and the process of recognition, validation, and certification of non-prior learning. These policy measures present elements of innovation that consists in the guidance and monitoring of adults, in valuing their experience and in pedagogical work methods suitable for adults. The research results showed the innovation and complexity of the adult education policies, for example, the valorisation of the adult experience in alternative to the traditional scholar model. However, these elements of innovation included important challenges for coordinators and adult educators, confirming the importance of investing in training and monitoring of these professionals.