Höfundar: Hróbjartur Árnason and Halla Valgeirsdóttir.
The fact that adults chose to spend otherwise free time on participating in adult education courses used to fascinate researchers. But when lifelong learning was discovered to be a driving force for the economy, participation in learning activities became an adult’s obligation, and thus, those who stay away have become interesting. This paper adds a new point of view to the picture by adding the perspective of adult educators – people who have regular interactions with both non-participants and participants, and thus gives a different vantage point than prior research has given. The authors present the results of a qualitative study based on small focus group interviews with a total of 22 adult educators from eight lifelong learning centres in Iceland. According to their findings a large portion of non-participants with lower levels of formal eduation, express a longstanding desire to further their education but many stay away because of insecurity, distrust in their learning abilities and negative earlier experience of school. The results indicate that a substantial number of non-participants in Iceland stay away from organized learning because of prior bad experiences and a lack of self-esteem. These findings should encourage lifelong learning organizations to design and present their offerings in ways that take this insecurity into account.
Útgáfudagur: 31.12.2015
