A national qualifications framework (NQF) is an instrument used to classify a country's qualifications at different levels. Each level is defined by a set of learning outcomes expected at that level. NQFs can be useful tools in education and training reforms and are vital reference points for lifelong learning and comparing qualifications across…

This short description contributes to better understanding of vocational education and training (VET) in Portugal, by providing insight into its distinctive features and highlighting system developments and current challenges. VET in Portugal offers a wide range of programmes, flexible in type and duration. Promoting equal opportunities and…

This article discusses how biographical materials may be used in youth arts education projects to develop new methodologies and approaches that can stimulate artistic and social intervention in contemporary urban communities, thus changing the field of arts education policy at the community level. Through their creation of Artistic Society…

This book deals with the relevance of recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of non-formal and informal learning in education and training, the workplace and society. It examines RVA's strategic policy objectives and best practice features as well as the challenges faced and ways forward as reported by Member States. Special attention is…

This article focuses on evidence regarding cross-national patterns of participation in adult education and an interpretation of these patterns from an institutional and public policy perspective. The interpretation follows from the perspective that sustaining high and widely distributed levels of investment in the development and maintenance of…

This publication is the outcome of the international conference organized by UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), in collaboration with the Centre for Validation of Prior Learning at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, and in partnership with the French National Commission for UNESCO that was held in Hamburg in…

Analysis of Portuguese adult education policies from 1974-1999 showed that an early-70s radical period ended with establishment of capitalist neoliberal policies. There is a strong dichotomy between formal adult education and nonformal education offered by community organizations. Popular education is marginalized and the state's role in civil…

The first in a series of studies of lifelong learning, this paper discusses educational activities undertaken in Portugal after the fall of the dictatorship in 1974 and through 1976. Intended for educational planners and for those working in popular education, the study emphasizes original strategies and experiments, particulary those encouraging…

Strategies for overcoming exclusion through adult learning were identified through case studies of 19 initiatives in the following countries: Belgium; Mexico; the Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; and the United Kingdom. The study programs involved a diverse array of formal, nonformal, and informal public sector, community, and enterprise-based…