The Rise and Fall of the Private Sector in Teacher Preparation in Portugal

• In Event: Teacher Education, Inc.: Attempts at Privatizing Teacher Preparation Systems Around the World

Abstract

Contemporary teacher preparation in Portugal can be divided into two different historical moments: BB (Before Bologna) and AB (After Bologna). BB there was a boom in the private offer of teacher preparation programs to K-12 schools, following the restoration of democracy in 1974. With the need to open up schools for all, there was a sudden demand for thousands of new teachers on short notice; that could only be achieved by lowering the standards of access to the profession and the academic and professional qualification of the teaching staff (Formosinho & Machado, 2012, pp. 29-39).

The 1990s in Portugal witnessed the emergence of neoliberal educational policies that enforced the adaptation of higher education to market mechanisms, as there was a clear “state monopoly” (Paraskeva, 2010, p. 61). Fueled by the flow of millions of euros from the European Union, under a widespread deregulation scenario, suddenly there was a plethora of new institutions in the private sector that were expected to give a significant contribution to improving the educational qualifications of a population lagging far behind its European counterparts. By that time, teacher preparation took place in a bachelor program of 4 or 5 years.

AB, teacher preparation was condensed into one and a half to two years, following a 1st cycle of studies of 3 to 4 years. This resulted in severe downsizing of the higher education institutions, programs and teaching staff, in the legitimization of revised funding policies (cf. Paraskeva, 2012, p. 63), and created tensions due to the resulting battles for survival on the job (Moreira & Vieira, 2012, p. 97), while opening the door for the corporatization of higher education (Giroux, 2015).

The economic and financial austerity that resulted from the country’s bailout from the IMF, the Central European Bank and the European Commission, associated with high unemployment among teachers and declining demographics, caused a strong retraction in the hiring of teachers by the main employer – the State. Public institutions were severely affected, but private ones took the greatest toll. With the demand of a Master in Teaching qualification, the private institutions, the majority of which were not investing in the qualification of their staff, could not cope with the demands of quality imposed by the Assessment and Accreditation Board. In addition, teacher candidates had less money and chose to apply for cheaper, but more prestigious, public teacher education programs.

Thus, contrary to policy movements in the USA, Brazil or Chile (see Zeichner, 2013), and aligned with what happened in England, teacher preparation in Portugal currently does not favor the private sector. In spite of being bankrupt (Paraskeva, 2012), a public good continuously under menace (Sousa Santos, 2004) for the continuing disinvestment on people and on the system itself (Silva, 2009), public higher education in Portugal is surviving and regaining a place once hotly disputed with the private sector.

The conclusions sketched in this proposal will be substantiated by statistical data, document analysis from varied sources such as official organizations and relevant literature review.

Authors

• Maria Alfredo Moreira, Minho University

• Manuel António Silva, University of Minho