formador

Formador is a noun used in Portuguese to designate a person who forms others through education or training. It commonly refers to an instructor, trainer, facilitator, or coach responsible for developing learners’ knowledge, skills, and competences. The term is widely used in corporate training, vocational education, and adult education.

Responsibilities of a formador include assessing learning needs, designing curricula and training materials, delivering and facilitating sessions, and evaluating outcomes. They may work in companies, training institutes, universities, or non‑governmental organizations, and can specialize in specific domains such as technical skills, soft skills, or compliance training.

In many contexts there is a role known as formador de formadores (trainer of trainers), whose task is to prepare other formadores to design and deliver effective training programs and to assess learners at different levels.

Essential skills include subject‑matter expertise, instructional design and pedagogy, communication and facilitation, mentoring, assessment, and the use of information and communications technologies. Knowledge of adult learning principles (andragogy) is often emphasized, and formal qualifications in education, pedagogy, or the relevant field are common prerequisites.

Etymology traces formador to formar 'to shape' with the agent suffix ‑dor. The term is common in Lusophone countries such as Portugal and Brazil, and has cognates in Spanish (formador) with a similar meaning of trainer or educator.