Travelling, not arriving : an intellectual journey

Abstract

The most important moment of my life was, without doubt, the Carnation Revolution—the Portuguese Revolution of 1974 that brought an end to a long dictatorship and the colonial war in Africa. I was 19 years old and, for my generation, this is the landmark moment of our lives. As a student, I was deeply involved in the political movements against the regime. My way of thinking and acting is strongly related to this history. In terms of education and culture, Portugal was a very conservative and backward country. Our main commitment was the fight against illiteracy and the promotion of a democratic culture. Freedom is the central dimension of my life. Democratization and social progress are fundamental features in my approach to educational issues. The tradition of the movements of popular education, which was particularly active during the First Portuguese Republic (1910–1926), was very important to build my identity as an educator. The influence of Paulo Freire, namely through his concept of ‘conscientization’, as well as other perspectives on adult education were also very influential. Later, these influences were deepened through my historical research, to which I have devoted much of my academic career. In a sense, as Daniel Hameline, supervisor of my first doctoral thesis, wrote in the preface of the book: the activist met the historian, he became a historian. ‘Professor Nóvoa retains something of the enthusiasm of the activist he was. And remains. The detour to History, and the effort to write it, helped the militant to accentuate his perplexity. Such is a healthy sign for activism, especially in pedagogy, because one becomes better able to resist dogmatism and blindness’. Popular education and history naturally led on to the study of educational innovation and the role played by teachers. In my intellectual trajectory, history is cross-referenced with comparison (comparative studies). Education policies, particularly in Europe, have emerged as an important theme in my work. Outside the University I have always kept a link with groups, movements and associations that promote social rights and the democratization of education and culture. I was the chief adviser for Education of the President of the Republic, Jorge Sampaio, in his first term beginning in 1996 (Jorge Sampaio is currently the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations High Representative). Within the University, I took on several missions, all of which were committed to institutional change. At the beginning of the century, I took office at the highest level, first as Vice-president (2002–2006) and since 2006 as President of the University of Lisbon. Today, critical thinking about the future of higher education, fighting against its commercialization and academic capitalism, the protection of the Arts and Humanities and the defence of education as a public good are a fundamental concern of mine. To sum up, I have looked back at my journey to ally academic life with social and political involvement, with professional intervention among educators and teachers, and institutional action, particularly in my work as President of the University.