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This paper addresses the ways through which new philanthropy in education is being enacted in Portugal, focusing on one of its significant imaginaries: social inclusion. We analyse EPIS (Entrepreneurs for Social Inclusion), a top association dedicated to corporate philanthropy with a growing presence in the education system. Drawing on Popkewitz's concept of fabrication, it examines EPIS' programmes and deliverables as technologies that constitute social inclusion as an object of policy, knowledge and practice, targeting students (transforming "at-risk" students into entrepreneurs), teachers and schools (transforming their cultures to become performance-oriented), and the relationship between State and non-State actors (fostering the State's adoption of a rule-following role, dependent on knowledge generated by non-State actors). This paper suggests that new philanthropies' social inclusion imaginary enacts a system of reason that promulgates results-oriented and evidence-based approaches to educational policy and knowledge.

This paper presents a systematic framework of the most needed Vocational Education and Training (VET) reforms in The Azores, a Portuguese outermost region. Our report is based on a participatory research approach involving the perspectives of five different groups of stakeholders. Our data was collected in 18 virtual world-café sessions (n = 164 participants--58 trainees; 21 trainers; 42 institutional representatives; 21 unemployed people registered at local public employment agencies; and 22 businesspersons; M age = 45.20; 60.37 women). Based on content analysis, we identified three main priorities to restructure vocational training policies: (a) VET perception and valorization, comprising strategies to disseminate a more positive social representation of VET in the region; (b) horizontal coordination between stakeholders, including effective ways of coordinating and sharing information; and (c) vertical coordination in terms of VET improvements of "curricula," funding models, and investments in the sector's human capital. Our correspondence analysis did not show significant differences regarding the prevalence of the three priorities across the five groups of stakeholders. We interpret and contextualize our results according to relevant publicly available data about the region, and an integrated governance lens to inform policy design in outermost territories.

This article examines the political and the media discourses concerning the Portuguese governmental program responsible for delivering a laptop named "Magalhães" to all primary school children. The analysis is based on the official documents related to the launch and development of the initiative as well as the press coverage of this topic. The main purpose is to recognize the dominant public discourses and to find out what the media select for the debate in the public sphere. This analysis was done with a particular focus on the critical media literacy framework. The results reveal that the press highlighted the negative aspects of that program and that this framing could have a strong impact on how it was accepted and understood by the public opinion. Analysis also reveals that the governmental initiative was predominantly driven by technological objectives, in particular the access to technology, rather than media literacy objectives.

The research dimension of higher education programmes is usually discussed in association with doctoral studies. Against a background of scarce literature investigating research in a Master's degree, this article aims to analyse the place of research in Master's qualifications, first, as envisaged by official European and national documents acting as reference frameworks for degree design (i.e. qualification frameworks) and, second, in its practical manifestations in Master of Science (MSc) degrees in Physics in three national contexts (England, Portugal and Denmark). It highlights different understandings of the importance and roles assigned to research in Master's degrees by national policy actors in the three countries. Simultaneously, it argues that research is an essential component of MSc degrees in Physics, perceived as a gateway to a Physics research profession on account of disciplinary specificity. Research translates into a number of concrete practices, of which the Master's thesis is the main manifestation, with, however, variation in the purpose of research (instrumental or an end in itself). The article discusses implications of these different understandings and expressions of research in Master's programmes for the comparability of higher education degrees and ensuing recognition and student mobility in the European Higher Education Area, as envisaged by the Bologna process reforms. It is suggested that similar studies could be performed in other disciplines to make up for the gap in evidence and scholarship on the research dimension of Master's programmes and their degree of convergence. (Contains 1 note.)

This article analyses the ways in which notions of student diversity and student voice are defined in five European countries, two terms directly related to notions of inclusion. In so doing, it examines links between the two terms, noting that, often, they are used in international research without acknowledging the ways that they are defined within particular national contexts. Using literature and policy documents from five countries (i.e. Austria, Denmark, England, Portugal and Spain), the article highlights similarities as well as differences in the various contexts. Through the analysis of these texts, the paper concludes that diversity is conceptualised in five ways, although there is occasionally overlap of different conceptualisations in some of the countries. Meanwhile, the term 'student voice' is a term that is not used in some of the countries' policies. Instead, other terms that relate to student voice, such as 'participation', are used. The paper discusses the implications of these varied understandings for the promotion of the inclusion of all students in schools.

This paper examines the design of school buildings in the last decade of the Portuguese dictatorship (1964-1974) and its relationship with the country's educational policies, geared towards the objectives of industrialisation and economic growth. It also considers the economic constraints placed on the building of schools, the technical and constructive innovations that were to be noted, and the more human-centred approach that was adopted by architecture. The links established with international non-governmental organisations are examined. The paper's central argument is that, during the 1960s, Portugal enjoyed favourable conditions for the planning and design of schools, based on the pursuit of educational and social objectives through the implementation of a pragmatic, rational and meaningful architecture. Nevertheless, political, economic and demographic constraints, and in particular the large number of schools that needed to be built, jeopardised the architectural research that was initiated at this time, preventing it from going any further by subverting the original educational models and turning them into strictly economic models over the following decades (1970s-1990s). The result was the design of school buildings that were misunderstood by teachers and society at large and which proved to be unsuitable for the Portuguese reality of the 1960s.

This paper presents an analysis of the examination of Portugal's education policy conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1987 as well as of its role in the legitimation of a new vocationalism. In particular, the focus is on the key recommendation put forward in the examiners' report regarding the investment in the initial professional qualification of young people and its relation with the creation, in 1988, of a new administrative body within the Portuguese Ministry of Education tasked with coordinating the system of non-higher education in the area of technological, artistic and professional education, responsible for launching the professional schools in 1989, and also the technology courses at secondary-school level in 1993. The results of our analysis suggest that it was this examination by the OECD that effectively paved the way for the renascence of professional education in Portugal, but now rethought and redefined as a socially regulated, extended and grounded form of "vocationalism."

This paper aims to evaluate and discuss the digital competence of academics at universities, to identify challenges and define recommendations for policy. This study was conducted through collaboration between the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and Metared of the Universia Foundation, surveying 30,407 participants who present the perceptions of their own digital competence levels. These self-reflections took place in universities in seven countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Portugal, and used the Check-In tool, which consists of 22 questions based on the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators--or 'DigCompEdu' framework. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed, followed by a qualitative evaluation. Almost 70% of the academics have an average intermediate level of competence when the data is aggregated, with results varying in each DigCompEdu area according to the specific question asked. There is no significant difference between young and senior academics, as well as between men and women. The results present a discussion of whether the age and gender of educators and their work environment have an impact on their digital competence level, and at the same time highlights the areas in which educators perceive themselves to be most and least competent. It shows how the amount of institutional support that is offered affects the academics' perceptions of their level of digital competence. On the basis of the results, recommendations are presented for higher-education institutions, with the aim of supporting the professional development of their academics.

This paper focuses on the national, institutional and pedagogical responses as a result of the closure of schools and universities in March 2020 in Portugal. It includes a brief description and analysis of the initiatives and responses to the crisis as well as the difficulties, the challenges and the opportunities. The paper concludes with the discussion of the implications for teaching and teacher education in such uncertain times, particularly in regard to the role of practice as well as issues of mentoring within the context of a practicum as a 'real practice' versus 'an ideal(ised) practice'.

This paper aims to discuss recent changes in Portugal's education policy. Portugal offers an interesting scenario to study the different ways the economic crisis has brought new opportunities to strengthen the privatization agenda. We specifically focus on media coverage and the contractualization of education services with private schools through 'association contracts'. In the 1980s the Portuguese State through these contracts financed private schools to operate in areas where the public offering was insufficient, thereby ensuring the public access to education and preventing marginalization. Nowadays, however, these contracts are seen as an ideological banner both for and against education privatization. We present an empirical study based on documental analysis of 180 news articles published in the Portuguese media on the changes in the contractualization of education services. The results show two main audiences sustaining distinct societal projects, comprised of a variety of actors, who are either for or against 'association contracts'. The actors justify their positions based on their understanding of the State's role in providing education, the policies involving the right to education and decreasing inequalities.

This paper addresses the homogeneous/heterogeneous dilemma regarding formal arrangements of university central governance structures. Most topical studies argue that these structures are becoming homogeneous across countries and prove it by adopting purposive sampling techniques. Yet, other scholars stress heterogeneity within countries. This paper aims to clarify this dilemma through a multi-level analysis that simultaneously considers three levels of embeddedness (i.e., supranational, national and institutional), by employing a policy translation perspective, which can accommodate both homogeneity and heterogeneity. The national sample comprises three countries (the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy). The institutional sample is comprehensive and encompasses all public universities within each country. The study discloses heterogeneity in how countries responded to supranational policy pressures as well as heterogeneous responses at the institutional level even when unitary laws are applied. Relying on these findings, we stress the importance of adopting comprehensive (rather than purposive) sampling to infer about international and/or national homogeneity because studies that generalise results based on one/few case studies per country could be biased by the sample selection criteria. In addition, the research implications of our analysis on steering-at-a-distance and on the relation between the grade of cogency of the national laws and homogeneous/heterogeneous reform outcomes are discussed.

Doctoral education has grown substantially, resulting in a larger and diverse pool of graduates for research. Simultaneously, gender balance in research has become a growing concern, particularly in Europe. Based on the Portuguese case, this paper discusses whether the increase in the pool of graduate talent, considered to be comprised of doctoral graduates, has resulted in a gender balance across different disciplines. The analysis of the evolution of doctoral theses completed by men and women from 1970 to 2016 suggests that, while gender balance has been achieved in terms of participation in doctoral education, horizontal segregation in disciplines persists. A more gender-balanced pool of graduate talent for research across disciplines seems to require more action from Portuguese policymakers and universities, particularly in terms of the implementation of gender equality measures. This is also true for countries where gender equality in doctoral education is a challenge.

This paper examines a large dataset of questionnaire responses (n = 5,321) of international students who have studied abroad (mainly via the Erasmus+ programme). Their acculturation experiences with campus discrimination (an acculturative stressor), academic support (a mediator of acculturation) and academic satisfaction (an outcome of acculturation) are analyzed and compared among five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal). The measures of acculturation experiences are verified by principal component analysis, which yields three components: campus discrimination, academic support, and academic satisfaction. The components are used as aggregate indexes for ranking the five major destination countries in Europe based on students' experiences. A country-by-country comparison suggests that experiences from study abroad are most positive in Germany

This paper is an approach to the construction of a European educational space (Nóvoa & Lawn, 2002), which is due to new modes of regulation in education. The policy under consideration is the institutional evaluation of schools carried out by the Portuguese General Inspectorate of Education. The aim is to explore how concepts and policies get "contaminated" by the European models (Barroso, 2003, 2006) and understanding how the regulation is outlined by the Inspectorates in some European countries, including Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. This paper owes to the phenomena associated to "travelling policies" (Alexiadou & Jones, 2001), to "policy transfer" (Dolowitz et al, 2000; Stone, 2001), and to "policy borrowing" (Halpin & Troyna, 1995; Steiner-Khamsi, 2004). The authors' perspective on the influences of the international movement of policies is free from simplistic and deterministic logics (Lingard & Rizvi, 2000), advocating that the internationalization of ideas come along with national reflections on how these ideas are materialized (Popkewitz, 1996). At the local/regional levels, the regulation of educational systems can be characterized as a growing "multi-regulation"--that comes from a growing number of sources and a variety of tools (assessment, monitoring and sharing best practices)--which mingle with modes that exist in a more traditional, bureaucratic regulation (Afonso & Costa, 2010). Thus, each country has its own overview about the structures, and effects of globalization, which do not occur simultaneously, nor in the same way in the different "nation states" (Lingard & Rizvi, 2000). A bibliography is provided.

This paper discusses how the "emergence" and assumption of the knowledge society as an ideological integration in the European Union (EU) and in the European Research Area (ERA), along with Managerialism and Neoliberalism influences, resulted in precarious and insecure employment relations in the Portuguese scientific system. The knowledge society as a policy idea and discourse has been encouraging the European states to design political initiatives to foster Innovation and Research to promote economic prosperity and social advancement. As a result of Europeanisation policies aiming at fostering Science and Technology (S&T), there has been a significant increase in the number of PhD graduates. Drawing on a quantitative study based on the data analysis of secondary data, this study shows how the design of knowledge society policies transformed a higher education and research system and induced an increasing number of doctorates, leading, along with managerialism and neoliberalism to the Uberisation of their working conditions. These doctorates have been mainly integrated into the higher education system with short-term contracts to develop tasks within research projects. This association with research projects along with their precarious working conditions turned them into invisible workers inside Higher Education Institutions (HEI), questioning the sustainability of the system.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether there is an adjustment between the Portuguese higher education supply and the needs of the labour market. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study is performed, using a quantitative approach, relating the job offers for graduates registered at the employment centres and the number of graduates by higher education institutions (HEIs) in Portugal, at an aggregate level and NUT II regions, by areas of education and training, over the 2003-2018 period. To understand how job offers and graduates are correlated, bilateral Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated. Findings: The results show that, in large groups of educational areas, exists a match between the higher education supply and the labour market needs, with an emphasis on the fields of "social sciences, business and law", "engineering, manufacturing and construction" and "health and welfare". However, at a more disaggregated level, a mismatch in the sub-areas of "teacher training and education science" and "computing" was found since labour market needs are much greater than graduates by HEIs and the two variables are moving in opposite directions. Practical implications: The study has revealed important aspects that the educational policy should take into account in order to create the conditions for a gradual adjustment to the labour market needs. Also, the results demonstrate that some measures should be taken in short/medium term to avoid problems in the medium/long term. Originality/value: One implication of this empirical study was the elaboration of a correspondence table to standardise the data analysis units from two different sources. As this correspondence did not exist prior to this study, this output is a relevant contribution to the research field. Another important contribution is the demonstration of a mismatch in some educational sub-areas that deserves special attention from educational policymakers.

Purpose: This paper aims to find out what conditions are needed to enhance higher education curricula towards employability from the perspective of different stakeholders in the graduate labour market. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study was developed, using a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews with higher education institutions (HEIs) and labour market players, in the north region of Portugal. The data were analysed through content and descrip\tive analysis with NVivo. Findings: The results show a set of constraints that hinder the match of higher education curricula with employability, namely, (1) the weak connection between HEIs and employers and (2) the curricular structure, which is characterised by a heavy theoretical component and a weak approach to the soft skills required by the current labour market. Possible solutions, with implications for educational policy, are given throughout the study. Research limitations/implications: The geographical scope and the nature of the study suggest that some precautions are required when generalising results. However, the literature on other areas in Portugal strengthens the findings and compensates for the sample's limitations. Originality/value: This study combines the perspectives of the different individual stakeholders involved which, when taken as a whole, provide some recommendations for tailored curricula towards employability. Other studies in Portugal address each of these issues individually, without a connection between all the different perspectives.

Purpose: This paper aims to determine, from key actors' perspective, how sustainability has been integrated into the policies and strategies of higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly Portuguese public universities, within the framework of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD) 2005-2014. Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured exploratory interviews were conducted after gathering a sample of 15 key actors in decision-making processes who designed and implemented Portuguese education for sustainable development (ESD). Seven interviews with the key actors were undertaken and analyzed, leading to other plans, policies and programs that were not publicly accessible. Findings: The main findings are the lack of commitment from governmental institutions to implementing ESD at the university level and how few documents are partially linked to sustainable development, according to the key actors' opinions. Nevertheless, Portuguese universities' autonomy and their social responsibility have lead them to develop several initiatives and policies toward ESD. Research limitations/implications: Convenience sample does not allow results to be generalized to all Portuguese HEIs. Future investigation will be undertaken, including the analysis of plans, policies and strategies at university level, and a questionnaire survey will be applied to those responsible for implementing sustainability in Portuguese universities. Practical implications: This study provides findings, conclusions and recommendations that ultimately motivate HEIs to achieve sustainable development and to be more effective in integrating sustainability into their policies and strategies. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by reflecting the lack of integration of policies and strategies in HEIs in a southern European country (Portugal), within the framework and goals of the UN DESD 2005-2014, and by explaining similar patterns probably existing in other countries.

This paper focuses on the tensions and paradoxes in teaching. At present time, teacher education has the obligation to prepare teachers for diverse student populations, living in a highly varied context. This situation creates several competing expectations of the meaning of teacher education. For instance, preparing for professional autonomy in a world of externally imposed educational policy. The tension between achieving immediate results and success in external exams versus the need to prepare students in an era of migration and growing multiculturalism in school contexts is addressed. It is argued that a common knowledge base is a necessary response to growing multiculturalism while simultaneously leaving space in the curriculum for multicultural aspects of the student population. These double requirements have implications for teacher education which are discussed in the last section of the paper.

"Creative Little Scientists" was a 30-month (2011-2014) EU/FP7-funded research project focusing on the synergies between early years science and mathematics education and the development of children's creativity, in response to increasing interest in these areas in European educational policy. Using a variety of methods, including desk research, a teacher survey and classroom-based fieldwork, the research provided insights into whether and how children's creativity is fostered and appropriate learning outcomes, including children's interest, emerge. Based on these and ongoing collaboration and dialogue with participants and other stakeholders the project proposed recommendations for policy and teacher education. This paper presents these recommendations and the research on which they were based. Throughout the study, mixed methods were employed, combining quantitative approaches used in surveys of policy and teachers' views based on a list of factors, alongside qualitative approaches employed in case studies of classroom practice. A strong conceptual framework developed at the start of the project guided data collection and analysis, as well as the presentation of findings and the development of policy recommendations, thus ensuring the latter's strong and consistent relationship with the relevant theoretical knowledge, the comparative research, analysis of classroom practices and the production of guidelines for teacher education.

According to recommendations of the UN Secretary General's Global Education First Initiative, countries and regions require a number of structural changes if they are to implement educational policies and practice based on global citizenship education, and to promote respect and responsibility across cultures. In this paper, we present the first results of a three-year project to compare existing educational policies, strategies and school curricula in ten European Union (EU) countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Portugal, UK) to ascertain the current level of such structural changes. Through a comparative policy analysis, we investigated whether, to what extent, and how global citizenship education is integrated within primary school curricula. The article focuses on national governmental agencies--specifically two main bodies in each country, the ministries of foreign affairs and education--and their political discourses. We argue that the gap between the two traditions, with separate approaches, purposes, concepts and bureaucracies, represents a strategic political challenge for the introduction of global citizenship education in primary schools.

The subject of computer science (CS) and computer science education (CSE) has relatively recently arisen as a subject for inclusion within the compulsory school curriculum. Up to this present time, a major focus of technologies in the school curriculum has in many countries been on applications of existing technologies into subject practice (both software such as office applications, and hardware such as robots and sensors). Through uses of these applications, information and communications technologies (ICT) have focused on activities to support subject and topic learning (across wide age and subject ranges). Very recently, discussions for including computers in the curriculum have shifted to a much greater focus on computing and CS, more concerned with uses of and development of programming, together with fundamental principles of problem-solving and creativity. This paper takes a policy analysis approach; it considers evidence of current implementation of CSE in school curricula, the six main arguments for wider-scale introduction of the subject, the implications for researchers, schools, teachers and learners, the state of current discussions in a range of countries, and evidence of outcomes of CSE in compulsory curricula. The paper concludes by raising key questions for the future from a policy analysis perspective.

This paper explores the governance of education, focusing on the terrain of practices. The analysis articulates the centrality of public authorities, such as the state--by discussing the mandate and the governance arrangement--with the approach of the policy cycle, by taking into account the "context of practices." In the context of the development of public adult education and training policy in Portugal in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the paper discusses the movement towards an instrumental extension of the governance circle through agency distribution by public and private, civic, cultural, charity and commercial entities. Based on the testimonies of the heads of these entities, the text discusses their appropriations and reactions concerning the meaning of the policy at hand and its relationship with the state, along with the terms for contracting educational services, as well as the mandate and scope of educational activities. On the one hand, empirical data suggest that concerns regarding governability support the subordination of the agents contracted and nurture the state's evasion from its commitments to the population's rights and demands; on the other hand, several testimonies evoke contestation and interstitial practices that try to enlarge the scope of the community's embeddedness in socio-educational and pedagogical interventions.

The purpose of this paper, which is part of a three-year EU Erasmus+-funded study titled 'Distributed Evaluation and Planning in Schools' (DEAPS), is to provide an analysis of policies, structures, processes, supports and barriers that exist to enable or inhibit the involvement of students and parents in school evaluation in four European countries (Belgium, Ireland, Portugal and Turkey). Document analysis was used for this study and some 348 peer-reviewed articles, and 28 national and transnational policy documents were included in the analysis. Based on this review it would be reasonable to suggest that the student/parent voice agenda around evaluation in schools remains, by and large, aspirational. It is extolled in policy but in practice is mainly tokenistic with very little evidence of impact on the work of schools. In light of this, it is argued that government and school-level policies and strategies need to be reconsidered to enhance students' and parents' engagement in school evaluation. As a first step, significant further empirical research on the limitations on and conditions necessary for stakeholder voice in education is required.

The paper presents an analysis of the impact of European and international educational and economic policies on the process of the faculty performance assessment in a national context. An empirical study was conducted at a school of education in a public research university in Portugal, with the purpose of identifying academics' perceptions about the assessment process. To that end, 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics from a public university using a phenomenological approach. The results indicate that academics find the assessment process to be both necessary and relevant; however, they also highlight its contradictions within the stated goals. Teaching assessment in higher education is perceived as strongly influenced by neoliberalism and performativity; it is considered a legal imposition, bureaucratic, mostly quantitative, and bearing uncertain consequences. In their view, any assessment process should include professional development along with accountability aims.

In this paper, we draw on a conceptual framework of five key categories of risk to Early Leaving (EL) to analyse and compare 'Structural Factors' (SF) and 'Institutional Factors' (IF) of risk in a region in England and in Portugal. We draw on data from an EU-funded project, which explored risks and support strategies to EL across five European countries. Our two-country comparison involved analysis of 59 semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 209 educational stakeholders across 18 educational settings. We discuss key similarities and differences across the data, reflecting on plausible factors these are attributed to. SF was the most discussed risk category in England but not in Portugal, albeit largely for the same reason: that they are difficult to address, relating to rigid and entrenched educational systems and policies, socio-economic disadvantage and inequalities. Educators were cognisant of how SF hinders educational institutions and stakeholders from addressing EL, given the lack of freedom and flexibility they engender. Young people focused more on how the IF of schooling are impacting EL. We explore the implications of our findings for EL risk and offer recommendations that will be of interest to a range of educational stakeholders, including policymakers, educators and employers.

Purpose: The paper presents and analyses quantitative data on student perceptions about the employability of the first degree, and their trajectory choices on graduation. The purpose of this paper is to assess the value of the first degree as a positional good in Portugal, further to the degree's reduced duration after the implementation of the Bologna Process. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 828 students responded to an online survey administered between September 2013 and February 2014. Students came from 17 institutions, public and private, universities and polytechnics, across the country. Differences in student perceptions were analysed by higher education sector, study level and gender through descriptive statistics. Findings: The majority of surveyed students, across sectors, study level and gender, assessed as negative the impact of the implementation of the Bologna reforms on the employability of the first degree. This had implications for students' intended choices on graduation, as the majority consider enroling in a master degree (except for polytechnic students). Additionally, a large proportion of students felt unprepared to enter the labour market after the first degree. Research limitations/implications: The size and distribution of the sample pose limitations for the generalisation of results to the student population. Practical implications: The findings suggest that enrolments in master degrees are likely to keep rising, a valuable piece of information for institutions and policy-makers responsible for regulating higher education in Portugal. Originality/value: Opinions about the value of the first degree have generally been based on qualitative research or anecdotal evidence. This study brings a quantitative perspective on the first degree's value for different groups of students.

Courses in Portuguese for Speakers of Other Languages, in particular for adult immigrants, have been steadily expanding in Portugal over the last 15 years. These programmes aim to promote educational and labour market integration, access to Portuguese nationality, and cognitive development. This paper argues that official Portuguese learning policies have mainly targeted a population with an immigrant background that fails to represent the full range of adult immigrants' needs. In particular, less educated adult immigrants' educational needs have been persistently neglected. Considering that, hitherto, approximately 9% of trainees have been adult immigrants with little or no schooling, this group has not received sufficient attention in policy measures, nor has it been fully accommodated in institutional terms. As a starting point, the paper identifies the place of adult immigrant literacy in international and national discussions. Subsequently, it discusses the main official programmes offering Portuguese for Speakers of Other Languages to adult immigrants. The data from the main programmes were backed up by fieldwork, in particular interviews carried out with teachers and public officials which highlight the main barriers and strategies impacting on this group. Finally, we argue that programmes should consider tailor-made solutions, given the counterproductive heterogeneity of classes and the arbitrariness of informal procedures.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an exploratory study that investigates Portuguese academics' conceptions concerning the temporal properties of e-learning, in the context of traditional Higher Education Institutions. Design/methodology/approach: Grounded Theory methodology was used to systematically analyse data collected in semi-structured interviews with 62 academics. Data analysis followed the constant comparative method and its three-staged coding approach: open, axial and selective coding. Data collection and analysis developed until theoretical saturation was reached. Findings: Emergent academics' conceptions concerning the temporal properties of e-learning indicate the existence of unregulated and unaccounted for dynamics, which are a direct consequence of transitioning from campus-based lecturing to teaching online using the affordances of virtual learning environments. This transition produces disruptions to established workload metrics and work patterns, as well as conflicts with dominant modes of instructional delivery that are not synchronised with the demands of online interaction and immediacy. Originality/value: This paper is valuable to e-learning strategists and administrators. An understanding of the temporal properties of e-learning as perceived by academics provides actionable knowledge that is directly applicable to the design of suitable work arrangements, normative frameworks and e-learning practices that address perceived time-related barriers. To mitigate the time-related conflicts and disruptions identified in the study the authors suggest the establishment of university-wide norms of virtual presence and the implementation of temporal protocols to sustain the productive engagement between instructors and learners.

This paper begins by reviewing European language education policies in higher education and relating these to the bottom-up language provision practices currently applied in higher education institutions. The paper then focuses on a case study at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) that sets out to identify students' social representations concerning: (i) the importance of integrating foreign language courses into their degree/master/PhD programmes and (ii) the languages they consider to be more important in their academic training and the reasons for this. The findings indicate that the vast majority of responding students consider the integration of language courses in the curricula to be relevant from a doubly pragmatic perspective. Firstly, English is seen as a pathway to employability, mobility and the accessibility of knowledge, while other foreign languages (Spanish, French and German) are viewed as "differentiating assets" in the professional marketplace.