Crónica de uma morte não anunciada: a falta de professores profissionalizados no sistema público de educação

Abstract

The creation of teacher education courses is relatively recent in Portugal. The publication of the Fundamental Law on the Education System in 1986 established a teacher training system, the structure of which remained unchanged until 2007, when a master's degree became a statutory requirement for professional qualification. However, the needs of the education system in terms of teacher professionalisation, especially between the 1960s and 1980s, were never fully addressed. From the beginning of the 21st century, a decreasing number of students in the public education system, combined with the establishment of teacher education in higher education institutions, reinforced the perception that such courses offered limited career prospects. Demand for these courses fell substantially, and for a long time, no measures were implemented to anticipate the serious challenges that the impending retirement of teachers would pose to the public education system. Only recently has attention been paid to this problem for which there are no easy solutions. This paper provides a brief historical overview of this process and examines its underlying factors.