Читать книгу Learning in Adulthood - Sharan B. Merriam - Страница 47

Adults are busy people. Most spend at least 8 hours a day working and often as many hours attending to family, household, and community concerns. Why do literally millions of these adults enroll in adult education classes, seek instruction informally, or engage in independent learning projects? Teachers, counselors, administrators, and policymakers all have a keen interest in understanding why people do or do not participate in learning activities. One approach to answering this question is to ask people their reasons for participating, and this has been done as part of the national survey studies already cited. Another approach is to try to determine the underlying motivational orientations or barriers to participation of certain groups of learners. These approaches are discussed in the following section.