This research aimed at analyzing theoretical-methodological dimensions of theses and dissertations on educational policies for Youth and Adult Education (EJA in its Portuguese acronym), developed in Brazil in Graduate Programs in Education, from 2009 to 2019, available at Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD also in its Portuguese acronym). On a specific level, we chose: analyzing the configuration of the State, social policies and educational policies for EJA in the neoliberal context; analyzing aspects of the historical process of research in education in Brazil, as well as the institutionalization process of educational policy as an investigation field, identifying the place that research on EJA policies have occupied in this process; diagnosing, from the initial mapping of the selected scientific production set, characteristics such as: year of completion, geographic location of the origin institutions, title and objectives; and finally, analyzing theoretical aspects (used authors), as well as the methodological dimensions that permeate these investigative works. The research methodology involved the survey of scientific production (theses and dissertations) available in the BDTD and published in between 2009 and 2019. As a method, we are based on Dialectical Historical Materialism (DHM). This was a bibliographic study with a quali-quantitative approach. As main conclusions, we point out: regarding to the institutionalization process and consolidation of the academic field on educational policies, research specifically dealing with EJA policies has little representation; there are few theses and dissertations on EJA policies, when we consider the our research spatiotemporal frame, which satisfactorily articulate theoretical and methodological elements in the texts; epistemological weaknesses present in research on educational policies, denounced in the literature, are also realities of research that analyze policies for EJA. Therefore, in addition to the need to continue the analysis of education policies themselves, there is a need to strengthen discussions on theoretical-methodological aspects, processes, effects, as well as the role of scholars of educational policies themselves, to guarantee the continuity of the consolidation process in this field of research.
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