History of Adult Education
ICS 213
Intro. to Adult Education
Received Tradition
• English culture prevailed
• Indentured servants = ½ of post 1630
immigrants to the thirteen colonies
• Desire for a skilled male work force with high
literacy rates
• Puritan concerns for schooling and literacy.
• Illiteracy had to be addressed – 1/3 of males,
most females, blacks, & Native Americans were
illiterate
Independence & Expansion
• In 1776, the Articles of the Confederation
Interpreted the people as meaning free
white, male citizens
• The federal government worked with
missionary groups to assimilate the Native
Americans into American society. Schools
promoted agriculture, stock raising, and
conversion to Christianity.
Independence & Expansion
• In the 1800s, textile mills provided
educational training opportunities for
women. Education became part of a
broader movement. Women became
literate and taught Sunday School.
• Education became a central part of a
broader women’s rights movement which
developed after 1840.
Independence & Expansion
• In the mid 1800s, farmers studied crops in
a farmers institute
• Clerks studied bookkeeping in a
mercantile library association
• Presentation were made a libraries
concerning foreign travel, literature, and
social issues such as slavery.
Independence & Expansion
• In 1800s, government funded education
reinforced nationalism, the status quo, and
the expansion of the middle class.
• Lyceums developed in 1830s
• Chautauqua developed in late 1800s.
• Abolitionists, feminists, and socialists
developed alternative educational
programs to promote their activities.
Independence & Expansion
• In 1900s, university education became centers
of national expansion that spread new research
findings across society via university extension.
• Cooperative Extension agents mobilized
industrial agriculture to replace agrarian
agricultures.
• Migrants were indoctrinated to the American way
via evening schools, churches, factories, and
private organizations.
• Independent educational organization like the
YMCA developed to meet the educational and
recreational needs of urban industrial workers.
The Emergence of an Independent
Society
• In early 1900s, women, migrant laborers,
and small farmers envisioned an
alternative America in which they were
granted increasing power.
• Education became a way of learning our
way out of traditional American thinking.
Dominant Movements in Adult Ed.
• The economic depression of 1929 provide
new learner needs to be met by Adult Ed.
• Carnegie Corporation provided funding for
expansive adult education activity
• Eduard C. Lindeman advance adult
education as social education which
gained its greatest power when united with
social action.
Post-World War II Adult Education
• The GI Bill (1944) – subsidized higher
education and vocational training for over
two million veterans
• Community Colleges developed
• Education was seen as a tool for retraining
American workers [Johnson – War on
poverty / Nixon – Community Action
program / Reagan – Job Training
Partnership Act].
Diverse Visions for Adult Education
• Minority groups viewed Adult Education as
a tool in the fight for social change and
political and economic justice
• Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and the Highlander Folk
School founded by Myles Horton
• National Organization for Women
• The American Indian Movement
• The National Farm Workers Association
Diverse Visions for Adult Education
• Liberal Educators viewed Adult Education
as a tool to improve the quality of life
• The Great Books Program of Robert
Hutchins and Mortimer Adler
• The Ford Foundation’s Fund for Adult
Education
• The Association of University Evening
Colleges
Diverse Visions for Adult Education
• Business and government leaders viewed Adult
Education as a tool to effectively manage
human resources [Human Resource
Organization and Development]
• Educating all workers [GED]
• Making American workers more competitive in
the global workplace [HROD]
• Strengthening America dominance in the global
economy
Diverse Visions for Adult Education
• Theological Training Programs applied
adult learning principles of Agricultural
extension. The result was TEE –
Theological Education by Extension.
• Training programs developed to Teach
Speakers of Other Languages English –
TESOL, ESL – English as Second
Language, and EFL – English as foreign
language.