The discussion held in this paper is the result of several researches made by the author recently on adult education public policies as well as of her participation in the Adult Learning Practitioners in Europe (ALPINE) project (2007-2008) coordinated by Research voor Beleid (The Netherlands) and funded by the European Commission. The analysis presented here stresses challenges faced by adult educators in Portugal in the frame of adult education public policy in observance. Among these challenges one may find the difficulties in building a profession, the dilemmas of continuing education, the increasing instrumentation and technification of adult educators' work.
Adult education; Public policies; Professional identities