The profile of the adult learner and the factors that promote participation in Civil Academy

Abstract: Nowadays, lifelong education is considered the key to employability, economic growth, personal development, social stability, even democracy. Though many countries worldwide support this trend, in Greece lifelong learning and especially General Adult Education is not widely appealing. However, a Civil Society Organization, Civil Academy, providing General Adult Education courses is increasing its popularity throughout Greece. In order to explore this raising participation trend this paper explores the profiles of the adult learners enrolled in Drama, in one of the Civil Academies, and the factors that motivate their participation in lifelong learning; it also explores the ways in which these profiles and motives fit into renowned theories of participation in Adult Education. These issues were approached by a quantitative research strategy and a self-completion questionnaire was chosen as an instrument whilst data analysis was carried out with the use of a statistical package. As a result, it appears that the profile of the Civil Academy participant resembles the general profile of the adult learner in Greece in most of its constituents. The findings of the survey are conclusive that participants are mostly motivated by inner higher-level needs, socialization factors and their great appreciation of the value of further education. They also provide insights into participation in Civil Academy and have implication not only for Civil Academy Board and educators but also for future development of strategies that could increase participation in General Adult Education.