Adult Education and Union Education: Aspects of English Canadian Cultural History in the 20th Century

Abstract

THE UNION MOVEMENT IN CANADA is under siege in the 1990s, according to its leaders. The attitude of the community toward unions is said to be negative. Understanding of the purposes served by unions, let alone sympathy for or even interest in the broader social goals of the movement is said to be at an all-tune low. How did Canada reach such a state? This paper addresses such questions within the context of the adult education movement and of union-sponsored educational and communication activities. In doing so, it defines adult education as the study of intentional forms of education (rather than the education of adults, which would encompass all of life itself), and, thus, examines formal attempts to transmit knowledge and skills and attitudes in a variety of sites. It also examines union-run activities in education as well as a few of the movement's attempts to establish a communications and public relations program. By sketching three identifiable aspects of recent Canadian labour history,