Trends and Issues in Adult Education Evaluation: The Latvia Case

Abstract

This article presents the results of an investigation conducted in Latvia within the scope of the European Union’s (EU) Evaluation for the Professional Development of Adult Education Staff (EduEval) project concerning the evaluation of adult education. The investigation started in 2014, with a methodology based on the review of current literature, analysis of statistic data and official documents, Web analysis, and a sampling based on semi-structured interviews. The results of this research show that in Latvia, adult education is generally connected to the business sector, and is considered a means by which to acquire useful skills for career progression or for retaining employment. The majority of adult educators acting within non-formal learning environments are self-taught professionals, and there are no officially consolidated policies for the evaluation of adult education. However, Latvian educators and researchers largely agree about the necessity of introducing quality control in the adult education process, and in recent years, much progress has been made to develop a framework for the evaluation of adult educators.