Contribution of local administrations to lifelong learning (SAMEK sample)

The aim of this research is to investigate the evaluations, and motivational orientations of the participants of the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality Art and Vocational Training Courses (SAMEK). The research was carried out with the participation of 465 persons, 444 women and 21 men. Personal information, opinions about the courses and the questionnaire consisting of the three-factor Motivational Orientation Scale were taken from the participants. The collected data was analyzed through SPSS software (22.0 for Windows). Descriptive statistics for the participants' demographic characteristics and views on participation in the courses were followed by independent samples t test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) when analyzing the scale scores. In the study, it was determined that the majority of the students were informed about these courses mostly by their friends, and the reason why they preferred the course is that the program had the desired training program and that they would contribute to their personal development, and that they had positive opinions about the course. It was also determined that the activity tendency of women, in terms of gender, and of bachelors, in terms of marital status, were significantly higher than those of the others and that the higher their education level is, the less their objective and activity tendencies are. It was also determined that age, type of profession and the level of income do not have a considerable effect on motivational tendencies. As a result of the research, it was determined that those who participated in the SAMEK courses had positive opinions on these courses and some demographic characteristics (gender, marital status, level of education etc.) effect the motivational tendencies of them. Keywords: Education, lifelong learning, adult education, local administration.