Migrant adults' reasons of non-participation in organized adult education activities

Abstract

In this study, migrant adults who migrated to İstanbul between 1985 and 2004, their non-formal and/or informal learning experiences, their reasons of non-participation in organized adult education activities and the relationship between migrants' characteristics and reasons of non-participation were investigated. The sample of the study constitute by 202 adults who were residents of Kağıthane's four neighborhoods. The data was collected by an interview using an instrument including Reasons for Non-participation Scale (RENOPAS) developed by Kirazoğlu (1996) and questions related with the demographic characteristics of the subjects. Some of the migrants defined their non-formal and/or informal learning experiences. These learning areas were categorized and named as job related learning, religious belief, skills related with women, socialization, city life, political awareness, Turkish language, learning on their own, and others. As a result of the factor analysis, the reasons of non-participation in educational activities of migrants (factors) were named as, low self-confidence, negative attitudes toward education, financial and communicational barriers, time constraints, family responsibility and familiarity with the courses, fear and hesitation regarding the environment, dissatisfaction from education, and unwillingness to participate. There were significant relationship between the factors related with the reasons of non-participation in adult education activities and migrants' demographic characteristics in different levels. There were significant differences on the factors related with gender, age, marital status, education level, occupation, house ownership, perceived financial status and SES, migration reasons, and learning experiences. Hovewer, there were no statistically significant differences on the factors related with the place of birth and migration time. Finding of the study indicate that migrant adults in İstanbul are deprived in different aspects and their needs are not satisfied properly by public adult education institutions. Hovewer, adults create their own learning areas by using different kind of sources.