Research/Report
Author(s): Jen Vanek, World Education, a division of JSI Research and Training Institute; Jill Castek, University of Arizona; Kathy Harris, Portland State University; Gloria E. Jacobs, Independent Researcher
Persona profiles humanize learners and illustrate that adult education programs benefit when educators appreciate learners’ challenges and competing priorities in their lives. Showing how persona profiles were developed offers researchers and adult educators’ insight into learner experiences, revealing who adult learners are, what assets they bring, and the goals they set for themselves. This paper introduces an empirical methodological approach for capturing learner experience. We demonstrate how developing composite profiles called personae (plural of persona) can help adult educators understand their learners’ motivations and challenges.