This paper will focus on a theoretical analysis of adult literacy teacher training policies and provision in England, regarding their authorship (that is, who creates the policies? And who regulates the provision?), stakeholders, goals, measures, theoretical and conceptual underpinnings.

In order to achieve the aforesaid goal, literature from England was reviewed and documents such as syllabi, legislation and reports were analysed.

As stressed by the EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, “low literacy remains a taboo subject and thus largely invisible across Europe. In most Member States, there are no surveys or studies, so the scale of the issue simply does not show up”. This has led to an unawareness “of the gravity of the problem” and to “inaction”. Moreover, literacy is indispensable to the development of the human being, personally and culturally (wellbeing, self-confidence, better attitudes to learning, health, more fulfilling lives), socially and civicly (civic involvement, social inclusion, active and informed citizenship), professionally and economically (independence, better employment) (EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, 2012, p. 77). According to the OECD, “literacy is defined as a particular capacity and mode of behaviour: the ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities, at home, at work and in the community — to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential” (OECD, 2000, p. x).
Although “far more evidence on the link between teacher quality and learner gains emerges from the compulsory schooling sector” (Vorhaus, Litster, Frearson & Johnson, 2011, p. 73), research suggests that teacher quality is an important predictor of learner achievement (Cara & Coulon, 2008a; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Vorhaus, Litster, Frearson & Johnson, 2011). Among the most relevant dimensions to teacher quality, seem to be the “number of years’ experience teaching”, the “subject knowledge” and the teachers’ qualifications (Cara & Coulon, 2008b), the “relationship between teacher and learner” (Balatti, Black & Falk, 2007; MacLeod & Straw, 2010), but also teachers’ self-identity, sense of agency and ability to adapt to different contexts and to deal with change. However, there remains much to learn regarding the quality and training of adult literacy teachers.
The EU High Level Group, again, recommended raising “the professional profile of the adult literacy teacher by providing tailored initial and continuing pedagogical training, good career prospects and adequate remuneration” (EU High Level Group of Experts on Literacy, 2012, p. 93). Barber and Mourshed stressed that high-performing school systems consistently (i) “get the right people to become teachers”, due to the fact that “the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”, and (ii) “develop these people into effective instructors”, because “the only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction”. According to these authors, the third thing that matters most is to ensure that “the system is available to deliver the best possible instruction” (Barber & Mourshed, 2007, p. 13).
This study is the first methodological step of a broader research on adult literacy teacher training and adult literacy teacher quality both in England and in Portugal. The relevance of this project is justified by the fact that Europe is facing a great need for evidence and expertise in the adult literacy sector in general, and in the understanding of adult literacy teacher training and teacher quality in particular. The European Union has great need for cross country comparative research in these areas, as such research is needed to facilitate the development of effective policies, and to avoid the expenses and counter-productive development of ineffective ones.

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