1. Introduction
The importance of education to economic, social, and personal development has long been recognised, yet challenges remain globally in many aspects of educational provision. One of these aspects is lifelong learning, involving the provision of education to adults. This is most obviously relevant to the world of work, with changing technologies requiring new skills and capabilities, but remains also important for social cohesion, democratic participation and engagement, and to the advance of civilisation itself, as well as to personal development and wellbeing. This broader picture is well described and advocated by the Centenary Commission (Citation2019), available free of charge along with other related material via www.CentenaryCommission.org.
Adult Education and Lifelong Learning is delivered globally via a range of institutional arrangements, including through universities, national and local government, companies and other employers, trades unions, and a range of private providers, increasingly operating online. The books covered in this review article focus on the one hand on one of the most long-standing university providers, namely the University of Cambridge, and on the other hand a residential adult education college of the type which blossomed in the UK following the Second World War, but which have largely been in decline subsequently.
2. The university of cambridge’s provision of adult education
The Centenary Commission referred to above was so called as it issued its Report on adult education and lifelong learning exactly one hundred years following the path-breaking ‘Final Report’ from the UK Ministry of Reconstruction’s adult education committee in November 1919 (Ministry of Reconstruction Adult Education Committee Citation1919). That 1919 Report called on all universities to create departments for continuing education to provide adult education, based on the model already being pursued by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Thus, the book by Mark Freeman on Continuing Education and the University of Cambridge 1945–2010 was published to mark the 150th anniversary of the University’s first ‘university extension’ lectures in 1873. The reason the book focuses on the post-Second World War years is that previously published books had covered the earlier eras – see Draper (Citation1923) and Welch (Citation1973).
However, Mark Freeman does provide some of the historical detail necessary to appreciate what the post-Second World War developments were building upon. Such provision was initially referred to as ‘extramural’ to make the point that it was to provide education beyond the University’s walls. Having such ‘extramural’ departments, dedicated to serve learners beyond the University’s degree students, had the advantage of recognising that teaching adult learners requires different skills and techniques than teaching 18-year-old full-time degree students. But it had the disadvantage of these departments being rather detached from the central university. There have been attempts to overcome this detachment by ‘mainstreaming’ continuing education, by abolishing the separate departments, and relying on the individual disciplinary departments to undertake adult education alongside their other activities. The problem here is that the other ‘core’ activities tend to take precedence, with adult education and lifelong learning missing out, and often largely disappearing over time. So, an institution-wide structural arrangement is required, whether this is through a dedicated department or other alternatives which are sufficient to ensure that the delivery continues.
In the early days of the university extension movement, the target audience was working class men, who would not have had the opportunity for education otherwise, although as the lectures, classes and courses were generally available for anyone to attend or register for, the recruitment was much more diverse than just working class men, with the majority of students – for Cambridge, and nationally – being women, for whom university education was also not otherwise an option.
Chapter 1 of Freeman’s book covers the pre-World War Two history, with Chapter 2 moving onto post-World War Two, by which time the university extension movement was well organised and funded. The 1919 Final Report on Adult Education had urged all universities to establish extramural departments, and over time almost all UK universities did so. In the post-World War Two era, these received direct funding from Government, rather than relying on each university to decide to allocate funds to such activities.
Freeman notes that:
A key development in post-war adult education was the expansion of residential provision, and Cambridge would follow – albeit slowly at first – in this direction. The early twentieth century had seen the establishment of a number of ‘long-term residential colleges’ for adult education. Some of these, most notably Ruskin College in Oxford (founded in 1899), were associated with universities, whereas others – such as Coleg Harlech in North Wales – had some university involvement.
… the University of Cambridge acquired Madingley Hall - three miles west of the city – in 1948. This large sixteenth-century house, bought for £50,000, was considered a suitable site for residential courses, although it did not open until the 1951–2 academic year.
While of course Madingley Hall at Cambridge played a rather different role to the other residential colleges for adult education, which are discussed in the following section, they all had in common the importance of providing a place for focussed study. In the case of Madingley, perhaps not surprising given it was – and remains – part of the University of Cambridge, there was the following argument about selection:
A Residential College offers certain opportunities for adult education that are not provided by Tutorial or Sessional Classes. Study is continuous and free from the normal distractions of daily life. The best and keenest students of a subject may be selected and the work carried on at a level which, perhaps, only two or three students in a normal class would be interested.
While the selection point created some controversy, this was in any case secondary to the point about creating a place for focussed study.
Professor Freeman considers in Chapter 5 the pressures that emerged in the 1980s:
… the beginning of the end of the separate stream of funding that university adult education had enjoyed since 1924; the rise of quality assurance and the beginnings of a sustained government focus on accreditation; the emergence of research assessment related to university funding; and the seemingly inexorable spread of a ‘human capital’ approach to education …
And in Chapter 6 the 1990s:
At the beginning of the 1990s it was clear that fundamental changes in the culture of British universities were on their way. Many of these would centre on ‘access’ to higher education and ‘widening participation’ …
Professor Freeman describes the various ways in which the University of Cambridge responded to these pressures and opportunities, and concludes on ‘the distinctiveness of what universities could bring to adult education, compared to many other providers’:
In the mid-twentieth century this was often couched in the somewhat vague terms of ensuring ‘university standards’, both in teaching and in the expectations of students’ written work; and the process of accreditation from the 1990s onwards yoked these ‘standards’ to a more formal framework of quality assurance and to a nationwide system of credit accumulation and transfer. This late twentieth-century development was certainly controversial, but in the long term it could be seen as meeting demands that were emerging from at least the 1960s, and probably earlier, for the formal certification of student achievement in extramural classes. … Cambridge did … establish part-time Master’s programmes; and through its Certificates, Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas a route to conventional academic recognition was created for its extramural students.
3. Residential adult education colleges
This point about the importance of providing residential colleges for focussed adult education, referred to above, is explored by Dr Sharon Clancy in her excellent and fascinating book, described as follows in the Foreword by Sir Alan Tuckett (who served as Deputy Chair to the Centenary Commission, referred to above):
The colleges emerged in the 1940s to meet the need for adults to meet and study convivially away from the hustle and distraction of daily life. Their creation was in no small measure the result of the advocacy of Sir Richard Livingstone, whose small but extremely influential book, The Future of Education, made the case for investing in opportunities for adults from all walks of life to study communally. He argued that ‘there is nothing more important than adult education and the residential colleges are the most effective form of it’ (Livingstone Citation1941, 50–51). … As Sharon Clancy notes in this history of Attingham College and of its charismatic and larger-than-life Warden, George Trevelyan, a large number of country houses became available at a low cost, given the costs of maintenance and refurbishment, and many local authorities snapped them up.
Sharon describes the range of courses at Attingham which followed a national pattern in having a significant proportion of social and political studies in the early post-war years, giving way to a stronger concern with liberal arts, and courses making culture and making things in the 1950s and 1960s. She also captures clearly just how much influence a charismatic Warden can have on the college curriculum, highlighting Attingham’s distinctive (and expanded) courses on the spiritual. Whilst these took an emphatic turn to reflect Rudolf Steiner’s thinking and, later, New Age concerns, the College had at first aspirations reflected in many new post-war ventures where adults sought to imagine how to create a brighter future. …
What this book does, above all, is to remind us of the immense scope and political, social, and cultural value of residential adult education and of what we have lost. In this age of narrow utilitarian courses focused overwhelmingly on the world of work, the book reminds us of the need to reassert and refresh the role of learning for all, across the range of human interests, irrespective of people’s social status and their ability to pay, in an accessible, inclusive, enjoyable, and democratic space.
The author describes her book’s intention in studying the Shropshire Adult College as being to offer a lens on the history and policy agenda regarding residential adult education in the UK and internationally:
It considers what is meant by a democratising education and the tensions it creates in the face of privilege and paternalism whilst also celebrating its creativity, expansiveness, and humanity as a reflection on contemporary education. It does this in the face of ongoing and renewed political, ideological, and financial onslaughts on adult and community education and, in the wider education sector, a relentless marketisation and depoliticisation of learning as it narrows still further in its focus on economic and human capital.
As discussed above by Alan Tuckett, the particular Adult College analysed in this book was just one of a number of such colleges that were established at the end of the Second World War in the context of the creation of the Welfare State, with its commitment to full-employment, education, and health. Sharon Clancy describes this development as follows:
The creation of the colleges reflected the fervent drive during this period for social reform and a revitalised sense of citizenship. Education was vital to this process, as evidenced in the establishment of universal secondary school education by the 1944 Education Act and the inception of the wider support structures of the Welfare State.
Dr Sharon Clancy summarises the key arguments of her book as follows:
Chapter 1 gives an introduction to the College and its context in relation to the development of short-term residential adult education and the time this form of education emerged. It considers the nature of this education, the College’s geographical location and student reach, and how the College both reflected and differed from other adult residential colleges.
Chapter 2 examines development of the College and its pedagogical influences, particularly in relation to Trevelyan’s thinking and his deep engagement with the New Age, which influenced his conception of literature and the arts as engaging directly with the imagination, bringing the mind and spirit together, and creating meaning.
The emphasis in Chapter 3 is on the movement towards both the forms and types of adult education and, specifically, adult residential education. It focuses on an examination of the centrality of the residential element, its origins and history, the evolution of education for adults and the tension between education springing from self-directed action and that which was controlled by state architecture and mechanisms. It takes the long view, from the medieval period to the twentieth century.
Chapter 4 offers a theoretical analysis of the College as a historical institution through a historiographic lens and outlines the theories and approaches connected with adult education as both a response to and a creator of social change.
Chapter 5 explores the Shropshire Adult College as the English Country House and considers the development and establishment of the College, relationships with the Berwick family, public perceptions of the College at the time, and how its ethos evolved. It also examines the staffing infrastructure, the student profile, and how the college was networked and promoted.
Chapter 6 examines the influence of Attingham Hall, of ‘space and place’, on both staff and students from interview testimony and considers the impact of residence on learning as well as staff relationships and the impact of physical isolation. The chapter explores these phenomena during different periods of the college’s life.
Chapter 7 looks at the courses and their evolution, predicated on Trevelyan’s notion of ‘the English way of life’, and is based on a detailed thematic analysis of the course programmes from 1948 until the College closed in 1976, which provides insight into how the balance of the courses shifted, who led on the development of the courses, and how much the College was utilised by outside agencies.
As the role of the Warden was so crucial to the development and evolution of the colleges they led, Chapter 8 focuses on the development and evolution of Sir George Trevelyan’s thinking. Trevelyan was both a pioneer and a paradox, and the chapter explores the facets of his own life, his foundational experiences, and how these came together in his role as Warden.
Chapter 9 evaluates the impact of Trevelyan’s personal legacy on the college as well as his ongoing influence on international ecological and spiritual education. It also considers the important role adult residential education has played in the lives of students, not just at the College, but also in the [then] four remaining long term adult residential colleges from further research undertaken in 2017. The chapter makes the case for the future of this form of education as a counter to a limited focus on education for human capital and the economy.
Dr Sharon Clancy’s impressive book covers a whole range of issues of importance to adult education – and to the world of work, individual wellbeing, social cohesion, and democratic involvement and engagement. This includes the nature of the tutorial system, involving small group discussion and debate.
Dr Clancy also paints a fascinating picture of the College’s Warden, Trevelyan, an aristocrat who regarded education as foundational to civilisation itself, and important to the individual on a spiritual level. In terms of his approach to education, Trevelyan was influenced by Kurt Hahn, the German educationalist who founded the international 6th-Form (16–18 year olds) Atlantic College, which in turn launched the United World Colleges movement. Hahn suggested to Trevelyan that he visit Denmark and Sweden ‘to gain a greater understanding of the Folk High schools and their educational techniques’ (p. 25):
Trevelyan returned exhilarated by the vision of an education which was based on ‘enlivenment’ rather than instruction, with teachers speaking directly from the heart on subjects they found inspiring.
Clancy also includes an excellent discussion of the 1919 Report from the Ministry of Reconstruction’s Adult Education Committee, referred to above – see in particular pages 54–57, and also:
In 2018, a group of adult educators, recognising the historic importance of the 1919 Ministry of Reconstruction Adult Education Committee’s Final Report, set up the Adult Education 100 campaign. The campaign has sought to encourage a programme of activities, centred on the centenary of the 1919 Report, which would both recover and re-evaluate the twentieth-century history of adult education, and set out a vision for life-wide adult lifelong education for the twenty-first century in its report, Adult Education and Lifelong Learning for 21st Century Britain (2019). Of all the themes emerging from the Report, ‘Fostering community, democracy and dialogue’ caught people’s imaginations, practitioners and academics alike, and in 2020, a Research Circle on this theme began to meet and a series of online events with a global reach have taken place in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The events have examined the ‘grand narratives’ of the twenty-first century and remain focused, just as they were at the start of the twentieth century and throughout, on conflicts between materialism, idealism, individualism, and collectivism. (pp. 245–46)Footnote1
Dr Sharon Clancy is Chair of the Raymond Williams Foundation, so it is not surprising that her book draws well on his work and various contributions:
For Raymond Williams, the cultural theorist and adult educator, who spent so much of his own life writing and reflecting on education as a means of emancipation, education was political, ideological, and experiential. It was, on the one hand, about our human capacity to continue to learn, reflect, and critically examine the world around us beyond the school-room. Williams believed in adult education, in particular, as a means of fostering social justice, breaking down the divisions of inequality and creating ‘an educated and participating democracy’ (Williams Citation1961, 178). He saw education as transformational in its ability to raise consciousness, to shape minds, to bring disparate people together, and to offer new skills. He also saw it as a means of countering elitism and securing the future of a democratic society. His sense was that society and culture were not static but always in flux and that we must engage in a long revolution towards building a common democratic culture.
In this book, Dr Sharon Clancy does an excellent job at articulating her view ‘that we have a responsibility to renew and refresh’ the role of adult education ‘as an accessible, inclusive, and democratic space’ (p. 225).
4. Conclusion
Education is clearly essential to economic productivity, innovation and progress. It might be thought that having this on its side would be a guarantee that education would be well supported by governments, which invariably prioritise economic growth. Ironically, though, this benefit of education has been responsible for government policies that have actually damaged education, with politicians seeking to promote those aspects of education – the teaching of skills relevant to productive work – that they think will contribute to economic growth, biasing education away from all the other vital roles it plays for society and for individuals. Even more ironic is that this narrow-minded view is ultimately damaging to productivity and innovation, and to the successful operation of firms and other organisations. This is for a number of reasons, one of which is that to make the most of any technology at work, and in particular new technologies that come along, requires imagination and ingenuity, along with a motivation to contribute to the organisation and get the best outcomes. Focussing on a ‘skills’ agenda to the detriments of these other benefits from education – such as critical thinking, imagination and creativity – limits rather than enhances the capabilities of people at work to achieve their full potential, making the best of new technologies, and devising more innovative ways of undertaking tasks (that is, of ‘process innovation’).
This narrow approach of politicians and governments needs to be continually challenged, with the case made for education in all its aspects, across the disciplinary range, available to all members of society throughout their lifetimes. This is important for individual wellbeing and fulfilment, for social cohesion and development, for an engaged and healthy democracy, and for the advancement of civilisation itself. It is also the best approach for socially and environmentally sustainable growth.
Both of these books in different ways contribute powerfully to this important and urgent need, to make the case for education, and for citizens – who also make up the electorate, and the workforce – to have a say in what they learn, and where and how they learn it. Too often those decisions have been taken by others, and too often educational opportunities have been entirely lacking. It is vitally and urgently important that these failings are tackled and reversed. This is important not only for the world of work, but also for individual flourishing, social progress, and democratic renewal. These wider benefits should not have to be justified in economic terms, although neglect of these areas is in the long run likely to prove costly also in economic terms.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Dr Sharon Clancy was one of the Commissioners for The Centenary Commission on Adult Education.
References
- Centenary Commission. 2019. ‘A Permanent National Necessity’: Report from the Centenary Commission on Adult Education. UK: University of Nottingham. www.CentenaryCommission.org.
- Clancy, Sharon 2023. Sir George Trevelyan, Residential Adult Education and the New Age: ‘To Open the Immortal Eye’. London, UK:Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35955-2.
- Draper, William H. 1923. University Extension: A Survey of Fifty Years 1873-1923. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Livingstone, Richard 1941. The Future of Education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Ministry of Reconstruction Adult Education Committee. 1919. Final Report on Adult Education. Cmd 321. London, UK: HMSO.
- Tuckett, Alan 2023. “‘Foreword’ to Clancy.”
- Welch, Edwin 1973. The Peripatetic University: Cambridge’s Local Lectures 1873-1973. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Williams, Raymond 1961. An Open Letter to W.E.A. London, UK: Tutors, W.E.A.