Adult Education

Professor Natália Alves

In the second half of the 20th century the whole planet witnessed an exponential growth of the educational offer and resources allocated to education and training activities for adults and young adults. This growth is both internal and external to the classic school systems and has diversified with respect to its areas and target-publics, as well as to the involved institutions and ways of regulation. Since the 1990s, education and training policies have occupied centre-stage in the political and social agenda. This centrality refers to the concept of lifelong learning, as a subordinated articulation between education and training policies and the economic and social imperatives. Deep changes have challenged the model of “welfare” societies which developed into “risk societies”, as part of the decline of the Nation State, in the context of dynamics of supranational economic integration.

This course is geared to the study of the articulation between Education, Training and Work, as regards youth and adults, and aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools allowing them to develop research projects that fall within one of the following six fields:

• Public policies and youth and adults’ education and training;
• Professional training policies and practices in companies;
• Dynamics of articulation between education, training and work: employment and integration into employment;
• Experiential learning: recognition, validation and certification;
• Popular education and social emancipation;
• Reorganization of the professional field of education and reconfiguration of the adult trainer’s work.

Holders of a Master’s degree in Educational Sciences or in Education or in other areas may apply, as long as their professional and scientific curriculum is appropriate to the theme of the course. Exceptionally, holders of a Bachelor’s degree or legal equivalent may also apply, if they have a particularly relevant academic or scientific curriculum that is recognised by the Instituto de Educação as attesting their capacity to carry out doctoral studies.

The main way to enter the doctorate is by applying for an open tender for a Doctoral Programme according to the field and specialty, with the indication of the number of places available. This invitation to tender will be advertised through a public notice and is subject to compliance with specific rules and forms.

In the doctoral areas where there is no call for tender, candidates must send an application to the Scientific Council of the Instituto de Educação of the Universidade de Lisboa, formalizing their candidacy. Only in exceptional and duly justified cases may an individual candidacy enter the doctorate in a specialty area in years when an open tender took place.