Made in the EU
Dual Europeanisation and the rhetorical construction of adult education (2000-2022)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.5442Keywords:
adult education, European education policy, Europeanisation, participation in education, lifelong education and learningAbstract
This paper addresses the processes involved in the Europeanisation of adult education, with a particular focus on the limitations of EU policies aimed at increasing adult participation in education and learning. Mobilising relational, multidimensional Europeanisation perspectives as tools for understanding, the research is methodologically supported by the analysis and discussion of documentary and statistical data. The Portuguese case study illustrates the emergence of dual Europeanisation processes in education through national policy options, trajectories and outcomes. This study offers new insights into the role of national contexts in influencing the evolution of European policies. It elucidates the ways in which EU guidelines are either absorbed or accommodated, as well as instances of transformation, inertia or retrenchment in the pursuit of European targets for adult participation in education across member states. This analysis sheds light on shortcomings of outcomes achieved in about two decades of (rhetorical?) construction of European adult education policy.
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