50 years of inservice education and training of teachers in Portugal (INSET) between autonomy of intentions and heteronomy of actions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to carry out a very brief critical assessment of INSET: Inservice education and training of teachers in Portugal, in the context of the 50 years since the 25th of April Revolution, in 1974. Through both extrinsic factors and deliberate choice, the approach taken to achieve this aim is limited in three key ways: firstly, given that such an assessment is clearly inspired by historical interest, it will essentially follow a diachronic logic focused on public policies, and in particular their normative role, with key milestones being the publications of Decree-Law no. 249/92 of 9 November and Decree-Law no. 22/2014 of 11 February; secondly, and as a consequence of the first limitation, this assessment will be restricted to the formal aspect of teacher education recognised by the regulatory institute, the Scientific-Pedagogical Council for Continuing Teacher Training (Conselho Científico-Pedagógico da Formação Contínua de Professores), thereby excluding the high-impact informal training carried out by a wide range of agents, which is always very important; thirdly, while it is true that the INSET system has always included a diverse range of training bodies, what the established trends show, however, is a direct association between INSET and School Association Training Centres (CFAE), so that any assessment made in this area is also necessarily an assessment of these training bodies.