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RESUMO Este artigo aborda as políticas públicas de educação de adultos em Portugal desde 1974, a partir de três lógicas: a lógica democrática-emancipatória; a de modernização e de controlo estatal; e a lógica da gestão de recursos humanos. Essas lógicas são tratadas em articulação com os desenvolvimentos e as principais características das políticas públicas de educação de adultos nos últimos 40 anos, destacando-se a influência da União Europeia no que se refere à ênfase atribuída à tendência vocacionalista e de gestão de recursos humanos.

The consolidation of the welfare state in Europe after World War II allowed for the development of adult education programmes aimed at social inclusion, economic growth and democratic citizenship. Lifelong education, proposed by UNESCO (1970s), allowed countries to build adult education policies combining the needs of economic growth and increasing democratic social demands, based on adults' emancipation. In the last two decades, the European Union (EU) orientation for lifelong learning has stressed the formation of education and training to prepare workers to be more productive, and the creation of partnership (public/private) provision, according to managerial rules and procedures. These two distinct political approaches have influenced the evolution of adult education in Portugal. In this paper we argue that the civil society organisations (CSOs) of Portugal today are trapped within a set of technical procedures that have been established in the name of lifelong learning and that EU programmes have made it very difficult for CSOs to escape national state control. This situation impedes innovative and alternative attempts to promote social emancipation.

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The discussion in this article is based on recent research carried out by the author recently on adult education public policies and her participation in the Adult Learning Practitioners in Europe (ALPINE) project coordinated by Research voor Beleid (The Netherlands) and funded by the European Commission. The analysis presented here stresses the challenges faced by adult educators in Portugal in the last decades and the concerns about the emerging professionalisation process that started in the framework of observed adult education and training public policy.

This paper focuses on three Southern European countries, Italy, Portugal and Spain, to explore examples of projects that provide signposts for a critical popular education that contributes to an ongoing democratic process -one whereby citizens are developed as social actors and members of a collectivity rather than simply passive producers/consumers. This approach would serve as an alternative to the traditional 'top-down' and current hegemonic economy-oriented discourses. In so doing, the paper seeks to redress an imbalance in the English language adult education and learning literature that often overlooks alternative discourses to the mainstream on and from this part of the world.

This paper focuses on recognition of prior learning as part of a national policy based on European Union guidelines for lifelong learning, and it explains how recognition of prior learning has been perceived since it was implemented in Portugal in 2000. Data discussed are the result of a mixed method research project that surveyed adult learners, some of whom were interviewed, who successfully completed the recognition of prior learning process from 2007 to 2011 in a new opportunities centre. Adult educators, and workplace representatives from the companies in which these adults in the recognition of prior learning process were working, were also part of the survey. A theme-based content analysis was done on the resulting data. Findings revealed tension between the goals of economic and human resource management and the change experienced by these adult learners in their professional status. Based on these results, the closing remarks to this article highlight the tensions caused by the failure of the goals of the policy to which recognition of prior learning was central, and the personal and social changes referred to by learners. Important educational changes were achieved although they were undermined by the adult education policy and European Union guidelines.

ResumoDevido ao caráter descontínuo e fragmentado das políticas de educação de adultos em Portugal, desde 1974 até os dias de hoje, registrou-se a emergência de vários perfis profissionais que não permitiram o reconhecimento dos mesmos. Todavia, desde 1999, no âmbito da adoção da política de educação e formação de adultos, surgiram novos profissionais. Estes passaram a levar a cabo tarefas de educação para a conformidade e para a competitividade, desvalorizando outras de educação crítica. Este texto foi incluído no projeto ALPINE (2007)(2008). Tendo como técnicas de coleta de dados a análise documental e a entrevista efetuada com profissionais da educação de adultos, esta pesquisa permitiu a discussão de alguns desafios com os quais os educadores de adultos se confrontavam, nomeadamente as dificuldades de construção de uma profissão, os dilemas da formação contínua e a crescente formalização e tecnicização do trabalho realizado. Palavras-chave: Educação de adultos. Políticas públicas. Identidades profissionais.