EDU 525 Week 5: Adult Education in the American Experience

Slide
No
Topic Narration
1 Introduction Welcome to Perspective on Adult Education. In this lesson,
we will examine adult education in the American experience
Please go to slide number 2.
2 Obectives !pon completion o" this lesson, #ou will be able to$
Interpret the role o" polic# in the development o" adult
education.
!se technolog# and in"ormation resources to research issues
in adult education
Please go to slide number %.
% &upporting
'opic
&peci"icall#, we will discuss the "ollowing topics in this
lecture$
Earl# educators(
)ooperative Extension )enter(
Earl# education "inancial support(
)arnegie *oundation(
Women+s )lubs( and
'he depression and education.
Please go to slide number ,.
, Earl# Education At the end o" civil war, educative institutions and learning
opportunities "or adults were dominant themes. 'hree national
s#stems di""used -nowledge and culture through organi.ed
adult education activities$ public lecture movement,
hautau!ua "n#titution and univer#it$ exten#ion
/ecturing began as a movement in the late 1011+s. /ecture
bureau managers such as 2edpath had a -een sense o" what
audiences wanted, and the# recogni.ed that onl# through a
variet# o" events, including entertaining, could the lecture
l#ceum survive. 3e organi.ed the 4oston /#ceum 4ureau as a
boo-ing o""ice "or lecturers.
%ublic lecture movement bridged the gap between the
cultural and intellectual li"e connecting adults with public
issues. /ecture became a power"ul tool "or re"ormers, who
used rhetoric to express their discontent and ma-e their voices
heard in a s#stem that had ignored them.
'he second t#pe o" organi.ed adult education activities are
)hautau5ua Institutions& hautau!ua "nnovation# is one o"
the most innovative ventures that became popular "or adults
education. *irst, it began as a two6wee- summer institute "or
&unda# school teachers b# 7ohn 8incent and /ewis 9iller,
and then it expanded and diversi"ied the program to create a
liberal college experience "or adults.

hautau!ua "n#titution# provides liberal college experience
"or adults. In addition, it became an educational and cultural
center "or the middle6class o""ering respite "rom dail# duties, a
chance "or re"reshment, "or intellectual stimulation, and to
ac5uire moralit# and spiritualit#.
'he )hautau5ua idea spread and independent )hautau5uas
were "ounded b# religious leaders, businessmen, and
educators. hautau!ua 'iterac$ and Scienti(ic ircle, is
one that provides a s#stematic plan "or stud# through home
reading, "eaturing a boo- club and stud# circles in local
communities.
'he third organi.ed adult education activities are universit#
extensions. Univer#it$ exten#ion# which are also called a
short course lecture courses or correspondence studies were
developed as a separate "ield o" educational activit# in
universities. It o""ers lecture courses, o""6campus universit#
courses, correspondence studies, and librar# extension.
Extension began to develop as a separate "ield o" educational
activities in universities. In 100:, the !niversit# o" Wisconsin
developed the short course and the "armer+s institute, as well
as programs "or mechanics, lecture courses and a summer
school "or teachers. )erbert *axter Adam# ; inspired the
"irst American lecture program based on the English model.
Please go to slide number :.
: )ooperative
Extension
)enter
A"ter the civil war, the expansion o" common schooling had
raised the educational level and reading was now popular.
9odern museums were established in this period. Educating
the masses through obect displa# and world "airs became
popular as a new "orm o" mass learning and entertainment.
9aga.ines expanded in numbers during this period.
9aga.ines had become a school o" literature, but o" science,
art and politics as well. In 10<1s, the new ten6cent maga.ine
served a public watchdog "unction, creating a mass audience
"or general maga.ines b# virtues o" writing st#le, illustration
and coverage o" "oreign and domestic events.
%ublic librarie# gained public acceptance. 9elvil =ewel#+s
gave public libraries visibilit#, a -nowledge classi"ication
s#stem and a voice. /ibrarians clearl# believed in the
librar#+s educational purpose and shared responsibilit# with
the public school "or the education o" the people.
In the late nineteenth and earl# twentieth centuries, museums
provided a new institutional "orm "or displa#ing and teaching
the vastl# extended -nowledge about the material world and
"or restoring a sense o" historical communit#. 9useums
in"luenced public taste, increasing -nowledge, expanding
experience and shaped pre"erence.
World +air# was another "orm "or educational purposes.
Exhibits were used to create a power"ul social institution that
gathered huge crowds to be entered and educated.
Please go to slide >.
> Women+s )lub Americans searched "or new understanding and the means to
control the conse5uences o" industriali.ation, urbani.ation and
mass immigration. ?roups whose spheres o" activities had
been restricted, such as women, industrial wor-ers, "armers,
A"rican Americans and @ative Americana, created alterative
-nowledge and educative organi.ations to brea- "ree "rom
these constraints.
9embers o" the New England Womans Club of Boston were
mainl# re"ormers whose wor- in social movements had given
them an alternative vision o" American and the s-ills to
enlarge women+s sphere o" activities.
*eminist 7ournalist Jane Cunningham Croly organi.ed &orosis
in which women engaged in improving societ#, but without
the militanc# o" the su""ragist.
*rom the 10A1s through the 10<1s, women organi.ed literac#
clubs, man# inspired b# &orosis, the @ew England Women+s
)lub, or the A##ociation (or the Advancement o( Women or
AAW& 'he clubs emphasi.ed cultural appreciation and were
called colleges or universities, but did the# not have college
standards. 'he women+s clubs counteracted the isolation o"
women con"ined to homes, and created a sisterhood "ree o"
male dominance, and taught women respect "or their own
domain.
Pleases go to slide A
A Earl# Education
*inancial
&upport
'he "ederal government was drawn into adult education.
&hortl# be"ore World War I, the government created ongoing
programs "or adults in agricultural, vocational and home
economic education. 'he government supported
Americanization programs to ma-e immigrants more "ull#
connected to the American wa# o" li"e.
/et+s discuss some o" the educational programs that supported
the war e""ort .
The Ne, Deal is an intervention that engages segments o" the
adult population in a s#stematic stud# "or the "irst time. It
supported the war e""ort b# welcoming education, particularl#
adult education as an energi.ing "orce.
Emer-enc$ Education Divi#ion is a program crated b#
3arr# 3op-ins excluding "ederal support "or local public
education programs. 'he program addressed the two areas o"
education neglected b# the public schools$ nurser# school
education and adult education.
ivilian on#ervation orp# or .. enrolled unmarried
#outh between the ages o" eighteen and twent#6"ive. 2obert
*echner, a civilian, was appointed administrator o" the
program. *echner believed that through the disciplines o"
hard wor-, obedience and cleanliness the educational program
could be used to help man# become literate, gain a high
school diploma and continue on to college. It provided
civilian ob s-ills and provided a second chance in education.
3owever, the )6)6) program was developed exclusivel# "or
males.
3ilda &mith urged the administration to create a similar camp
"or unemplo#ed women and the She.#he.#he camp was
created in 1<%%. &mith based the residential program on her
wor-er+s education model and described the program as a
social laborator# in which it hoped that the girls will ac5uire
the s-ills, pose, a -nowledge o" resources and experience in
sel"6government and domestic procedures. 'he program did
not have the "ull support o" @ew =eal administrators and the
reduced relie" "unds in 1<%A provided a reason to disband the
camp.
Aubre# Williams a social wor-er and minister, brought an
understanding o" relie" and education that was a bit di""erent.
The National /outh Admini#tration 0N&/&A&1& 3e wanted to
help those at the bottom and through the state directors, he
-ept the operation close to the local communities. 3e enrolled
blac- students and hired blac- sta"". )ommunit# proects,
resident centers and vocational training were developed "or
out6o"6school #outh. People earned minimum wages, produce
goods and learned s-ills trans"erable to the private sector.
Tenne##ee 2alle$ Authorit$ or '686A leaders recogni.ed the
value o" education in reshaping the 'ennessee 8alle# because
people needed to learn how to change their environment. 'his
program recogni.ed that wor-ers and "amilies need s-ills and
-nowledge to be more sel"6su""icient.
Please go to slide 0
0 )hec- Bour
!nderstanding
< )arnegie
*oundation
Andre, arne-ie organi.ed the )arnegie )orporation in
1<11 "or the general purpose o" promoting and di""using
-nowledge amount people. In the 1<21s, the arne-ie
orporation o( Ne, /ork initiated a maor campaign on
behal" o" adult education.
)enr$ %ritchett and Elihu Tott identi"ied urgent national
problems that could be addressed through education. 'he#
believed that the general public needed to be in"ormed that a
Cpublic intelligenceD must be developed.
+rederick 3eppel was appointed to begin a new program o"
adult education. 3e published, The Way Out, a collection o"
essa#s b# representatives o" the Wor-er+s Education
association. 'hese essa#s called "or an experiment in liberal
education that o""ered advice stud# to the wor-ing class, a
-ind o" adult education the# believe would result in social
stabilit#.
Please go to &lide 11
11 =epression and
Education
The Depre##ion undermined the population+s belie" in
capitalism, raising issues that elicited education and
communit# organi.ing strategies.
In 1<%, the School o( Social Science was established in &an
*rancisco. 'he school was regarded as a national experiment
in adult education to see how the control o" the cit#+s cultural
li"e, traditionall# dominated b# a "ew "amilies, could be
broadened and how class divisions could be addressed.
'he school tried to assist citi.ens under the social and
economic situation and plan intelligence response to the
changes in the economic s#stem that the "ounders believe
would soon occur. 'o accomplish this goal, the school
adapted the boo- discussion group "ormat to engage the
participants in a stud#. Participants developed the critical
thin-ing s-ills the# needed to per"orm the duties o" citi.ens,
but also struggled toward mental maturit#. 'he school drew
upon ever# "ield o" -nowledge dealing with societ#+s concerns
in order to help students translate -nowledge into intelligence.
Women were now entering the industrial wor- "orce in greater
numbers and created their own organi.ations "or education.
The /4A5# "ndu#trial Department was a program that
reach more wor-ing woman than the educational e""orts o"
an# other contemporar# organi.ation. 'he department
"ocused attention on the wor-ing conditions o" women and
extended its wor- in the south among blac- women.
Please go to &lide 11
11 &ummar# We have now reached the end o" this lesson. /et+s ta-e a loo-
at what we+ve covered.
In this lecture, we examined how American Association o"
Adult Education, with generous support "rom the )arnegie
)orporation, advanced the ideas o" adult education as a new
education domain, creating awareness among leaders in man#
"ields o" endeavor and within the public at large about the
importance o" continuing learning.
4e"ore World War I, such educational and cultural institutions
as universit# general extension and cooperative extensions,
public schools, libraries museums, and exhibitions had began
to "orm a national s#stem o" "ormal and in"ormal learning "or
adults.
We also discussed about Americans+ search "or new
understanding and the means to control the conse5uences o"
industriali.ation, urbani.ation and mass immigration b#
creating alterative -nowledge and educative organi.ations to
brea- "ree "rom di""erent constraints.
*inall#, we discussed how the =epression evo-ed the stud# o"
social problems and political education in the context o"
communit# organi.ing.
'his completes this lesson.