The problem of an adult's personal development is very topical in present-day circumstances, as changes Europe has undergone result in the need for a personality to be competitive both in the educational space and the labour market. The technological and information progress requires a constant human's personality development, the development of skills and abilities to ensure a person's self-actualization in the rapidly changing world (Commission of the European Communities - A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning, 2000).
Having analyzed theoretical guidelines of the European Union, the conclusion was drawn that an adult person develops throughout the whole life cycle in different dimensions, which comprise “competitiveness and employability, social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development across Europe”. However, having analyzed the practical application of the guidelines through different political documents and plans (Commission of the European Communities “Adult learning: It is never too late to learn”, 2006; Commission of the European Communities ”It is always a good time to learn”, 2007; The Council of The European Union “Council conclusions of 22 May 2008 on adult learning”, 2008; European Commission ”Key competences for adult learning professionals”, 2010), a tendency towards a human work potential development and preparation for the labour market is more obvious. In turn, having analyzed the contribution of the leading European, Latvian and foreign scholars in the field of adult education – Knowles (1973), Jarvis (1983, 2004), Walklin (1990), Koke (Koķe) (1999), Lieginiece (Lieģeniece) (2002), Zmejev (Змеев) (2003) and others – it is revealed that adults is a much more complex group of people, who implement and develop their competences for both professional and personal goals.
Research object: adults' personal development.
Personal development is based on the correlation between abilities predetermined by cognitive-practical experience and its highest manifestation - creativity and the traits of a value-motivated sphere. (Piaget, 1960; Vygotsky (Выготский), 1983, 1991; Leontjev (Леонтьев), 1975; Ananjev (Ананьев), 2001).
Research goal: to design a non-formal education model and analyze its efficiency if applied to adults' personal development.
The non-formal education model (Fordham, 1993) for personal development is revealed in the humanistic conceptions (Huitt, 2009) based on the ideas, which are extensively outlined by such humanistic scholars as Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1961; Frankls, 1990; Cehlova (Čehlova), 2010. Up to present, this model has not been thoroughly worked out in the theory of andragogy.
