THE ISSUE OF QUALITY OF TRAINING: WHAT DO THE TRAINERS THINK? THE PLACE OF VALUES AND COMMITMENTS IN A PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION

Quality in adult continuing education and training is considered an important question in our society of knowledge. This question generally deals with the assessment of quality standards. Here we consider another axis: the representation of training quality, work done by trainers and adult educators. We analyse the structure and content of this "professional representation" using two methodologies: questionnaire and focus group. We found two central representational elements: 'trainer's competences', and 'definition of relevant objectives for training', and three peripheral representational elements, expressing different vocational values: 'technical adaptation for a job'; 'individual and social development'; 'quality of training's engineering'. These representational elements go beyond the normative framework for quality standards and point out the diversity of vocational values and the commitments of trainers and adult educators, vocational actors and authors.