Building a knowledge and learning society in Portugal - Adult students in technological schools and higher education institutions

Chapter in Merrill, Barbara (ed.) (2009) Learning to Change? The Role of Identity and Learning Careers in Adult Education. Hamburg: Peter Lang Publishers. URL: http://www.peterlang.com/ index.cfm?vID=58279&vLang=E&vHR=1&vUR=2&vUUR=1

This chapter introduces a case study of adult students in Portugal. It was developed by the Portuguese partner of the PRILHE (Promoting Reflective Independent Learning in HE) project consortium. This was a project funded by the European Commission Socrates Adult Education Programme (113869-CP-1-2004-1-UK- GRUNDTVIG-G1PP). In Portugal, adults may choose Higher Education Institutions[1] (HEI) or Technological Schools (TS) to pursue their education. The case study shows that there are similarities and differences between students from TS and Universities, mostly related with the approaches students have to learning and the way teachers take into consideration these approaches. It seems that TS have “best practices” that could usefully be implemented by other institutions. The chapter is organised as follows: first, we contextualize LLL development as an element within the political objective of creation of a knowledge economy, especially in the context of the European Union's Lisbon Agenda, linking education with employment. The different access routes non-traditional adult students can take to access Universities in the Portuguese higher education (HE) system are then briefly described. The PRILHE project, its main objectives, the participant institutions in the consortium, and the methodology used to gather and analyse data are briefly explained. Finally, the results of the Portuguese case within this project are presented and discus