Workers ’ Educational Association Research Articles

Women in the world of adult education 1920–1945

ABSTRACT This article uncovers the important participation by women in adult education between 1920 and 1945 in Yorkshire. It contributes to the current historiography by using statistical evidence, not previously used, to quantify and analyse the numbers of women and men students participating in adult education. Regional statistics collected by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) in Yorkshire and the University of Leeds, show that the number of women students matched and sometimes outnumbered male students attending adult education classes before and during the Second World War. The evidence reinforces the hypothesis that when male students were not present (as in war time) to attend adult education, women students readily filled those student places. This hypothesis indicates that a paradox existed in the world of adult education whereby in theory equal opportunities existed for men and women to access adult education, but structural barriers remained in place that limited the ability of women to attend classes. The article argues that structural barriers were a distinctive element in making adult education realistically accessible to women following their enfranchisement in 1918 and 1928 as equal citizens. It encourages a rethinking of the relationship between gender, educational opportunities and citizenship in the early twentieth century.

Raymond Williams, cultura e extensão universitária

Este artigo faz um recorte dentro da extensa obra de Raymond Williams para abordar suas experiências intelectuais ligadas à cultura e à extensão universitária. Trata-se de discutir textos do autor pouco conhecidos pelo público brasileiro, majoritariamente produzidos entre 1946 e 1961, dentro de um projeto de extensão entre a Universidade de Oxford e a Workers’ Educational Association (WEA). Para tais experiências de ensino, Williams se valia da literatura e do cinema, numa clivagem sociológica que pode ser percebida em diversas obras do autor, como Cultura e Sociedade, datada de 1958, realizada concomitantemente a essa experiência. Trata-se, assim, de explorar um aspecto particular e pouco discutido de Williams, que é relação entre cultura, universidade e os trabalhos de extensão, tentando pensar as possíveis contribuições do autor para esse debate, ontem e hoje.

The experience of adult education: Workers’ Educational Association tutorial class logbooks as sources

ABSTRACT This article seeks to understand how adult students perceived education as disseminated by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA). Evidence will be presented from sources not commonly studied, namely WEA student logbooks of tutorial classes. Adult students attending WEA tutorial classes in the 1920s and 1930s recorded their own personal, real-time experiences of education in the logbooks on a weekly basis. The logbooks offer a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the tutorial class, the WEA’s gold standard in education. They show how students perceived the topics being taught, related this to their wider lives, and expressed the immediate impacts that this education was having on them. This paper highlights the value of WEA logbooks, intriguing artefacts in themselves, as underused primary sources in the history of adult education. It will suggest ways using the information contained in the logbooks for future histories of education.

‘The Great Debate’: Welfarism, Objectivity, and Cold War Ideology in the Workers’ Educational Association

During the early 1950s, much of the debate within the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) concerned the direction of the organization. Sidney G. Raybould, director of the Leeds extramural department, argued that ‘university standards’ should apply to extramural work. His views were adopted at the 1951 Annual WEA Conference, when it was decided that more university-style tutorial classes should be organized. Several tutors saw this move as elitist and out of touch with working people: they claimed that above all the role of the WEA was to create a social movement capable of increasing political awareness among its members. The internal discussions seemed to pull the WEA in two different directions, one supporting implementation of ‘university standards’ and another against this. R.D. Waller, an extramural director, called this the ‘Great Debate’. The clash of opinions caused frustration in several adult educators who felt that the role of the WEA was seriously weakened. This article tries to reassess the history of the debate.

Developing the Politics of the Trade Union Movement: Popular Workers’ Education in South Yorkshire, UK, 1955 to 1985

AbstractDrawing on evidence from research interviews, workers’ memoirs, oral histories, and a range of secondary sources, the development of popular workers’ education is traced over a thirty year period, 1955 to 1985, and is rooted in the proletarian culture of South Yorkshire, UK. The period is seen as an historical conjuncture of Left social movements (trade unions, the Communist and Labour parties, tenants’ movements, movements of working-class women, and emerging autonomous black movements) in a context of trade union militancy and New Left politics. The Sheffield University extramural department, the South Yorkshire Workers' Educational Association (WEA), and the public intellectuals they employ as tutors and organizers are embedded in the politics and actions of the labor movement in the region, some becoming Labour MPs. They develop distinctive programs of trade union day release courses and labor movement organizations (Institute for Workers' Control, Conference of Socialist Economists, Society for the Study of Labour History). Workers involved in the process of popular workers' education become organic intellectuals having key roles in local and national politics, in the steel and miners' strikes of the 1980s, and in the formation of Northern College. The article draws on the language and insights of Raymond Williams and Antonio Gramsci through the lens of social movement theory and the praxis of popular education.

Invisible students, impossible dreams – By Liz Atkins

British Journal of Educational TechnologyVolume 41, Issue 2 p. E28-E28 Invisible students, impossible dreams – By Liz Atkins Inge Martin, Inge Martin Librarian: Workers' Educational Association (WEA), Burnhams Branch, UKingmar.ccat@btinternet.comSearch for more papers by this author Inge Martin, Inge Martin Librarian: Workers' Educational Association (WEA), Burnhams Branch, UKingmar.ccat@btinternet.comSearch for more papers by this author First published: 10 February 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01060_1.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume41, Issue2March 2010Pages E28-E28 RelatedInformation

Dr Grumpy will see you now …

My mother-in-law has just received a jury summons, which was forwarded to my wife by the old lady's care home, my wife having held her power of attorney for some years and now being engaged in managing her probate. It is rather sweet to think that our modern, technologically-empowered state still thinks 94-year-old ladies, even live ones, might potentially be useful. When I was young and naive enough to give Workers Educational Association pre-retirement lectures I used to point out the curious fact that we don't just live to be parents, we live to be grandparents. It might have been different, I used to say, but it isn't, and there must be a reason. Evolution of course weeds out any characteristics which confer disadvantage to the species and if it were not an advantage for us to live beyond our immediate child-bearing years, we …

Union Learning: Canadian Labour Education in the Twentieth Century

With over 100,000 Canadian workers participating annually in educational programs conducted by unions or labour organisations, union-based education is the most significant non-vocational education available in Canada. This monograph is an historical account of labour education in English Canada, beginning with the founding of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) in 1918 to the turn of the 21st century. It covers the rise and decline of WEA, the development of labour education, including the programs of individual unions and the Labour College of Canada, the educational structures established by labour organisations, and the involvement of university and college in labour education. The chapters are: Introduction; Building a movement: 1918-1946; From a movement to a system: 1947-1955; Consolidating the system: 1956-1972; New issues and old structures: 1973-1985; Rebuilding a movement: 1986-2000; Conclusion.

Workers' Education in Australia and Canada: A Comparative Approach to Labour's Cultural History

This essay investigates the formal and informal educational pursuits of the labour movements and working-class communities of Australia and Canada. It suggests that worker education in the two countries was conducted by similar institutions, notably by branches of England's Workers Educational Association (WEA) but within very different cultural contexts. By juxtaposing these two national cases we demonstrate that labour's reliance on such community-wide institutions was mediated by the relationship between the labour movements and informal networks of working class interaction, on the one hand, and the body politic, on the other. Australia's prominent labour movement and strong tradition of public working class interaction enabled community-wide educational activities to be challenged. In Canada, by contrast, the collaborative nature of adult education and the tools courses taught by unions represented a different consensus about the nature of class identity and the place of unions in national politics.

Workers' Education in Australia and Canada: A Comparative Approach to Labour's Cultural History

This essay investigates the formal and informal educational pursuits of the labour movements and working-class communities of Australia and Canada. It suggests that worker education in the two countries was conducted by similar institutions, notably by branches of England's Workers Educational Association (WEA) but within very different cultural contexts. By juxtaposing these two national cases we demonstrate that labour's reliance on such community-wide institutions was mediated by the relationship between the labour movements and informal networks of working class interaction, on the one hand, and the body politic, on the other. Australia's prominent labour movement and strong tradition of public working class interaction enabled community-wide educational activities to be challenged. In Canada, by contrast, the collaborative nature of adult education and the tools courses taught by unions represented a different consensus about the nature of class identity and the place of unions in national politics.

BIR Bulletin

Professor Stephen Lillicrap first joined the Institute's Council in 1979 as a scientific member with a background in radiation physics. His enthusiasm for physics was first kindled by attending evening courses, whilst at school, run by the Workers Educational Association where, in a run-down lecture room with bare floorboards, the wonders of nuclear physics were unveiled and he was “hooked”.

"A Link between Labour and Learning": The Workers Educational Association in Ontario, 1917-1951

This paper traces the rise and fall in Ontario of the Workers Educational Association (WEA), a voluntary association whose main purpose was to organize inexpensive, non-credit night classes taught by university professors for the working class. The Association was an offshoot of the British WEA. ln Ontario the main impetus for establishing an Association in 1918 came from members of Toronto's intellectual elite. One of their aims was to teach labour people responsible behaviour at a time when the labour movement seemed to be gaining influence and becoming more radical. Working-class people within the WEA proved less malleable than the academics had hoped, and the Association soon became a workers' organization, largely controlled by some of its working-class members. It offered many liberal arts courses and, in the late 1930s and 1940s, developed innovative labour education and research programmes which proved of lasting benefit to the labour movement. Although continually threatened by the University of Toronto administration, the WEA failed in the 1950s because certain labour leaders, using Cold War tactics, opposed a labour educational institution that they could not control. Aucune resume disponible.

Cartographic Drawing Instruments — The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

It was the experience of the present writer in June 1973 to not only complete a two year period of research into Australian cartographic history but to deliver talks upon this theme to the N.S.W. Workers Educational Association and to the Australian Institute of Cartographers (N.S.W. Division). Further, with the assistance of generous grants from corporate bodies and private organizations, it has been possible to publish this research, albeit as a limited number of copies for distribution to certain libraries in Australia and overseas, The interest shown by those who attended the talks and supported the publication made clear the need to expand upon the theme so that a more complete understanding may become available to practising cartographers seeking to broaden their knowledge and to students engaging in geography or history dissertations.

Recent adult education in Great Britain

The four major forces in British adult education are the Ministry of Education, the universities, the Workers' Educational Association (W.E.A.), and the Local Education Authorities (L.E.A/s). Traditionally their relations have been regarded as a partnership. The Ministry provides grants to Districts of the W.E.A. and to University Extra-Mural De? partments. L.E.A.'s also make grants and are required to operate schemes for further education which allow for the provision of classes by the universities and the W.E.A. The W.E.A. is linked to the universities by the fact that the most advanced types of courses it organizes, university tutorial and sessional classes, may be provided only by universities. To administer the body of work which results each university has a joint committee which includes representatives of the W.E.A. Although there is this network of co-operative relations the universities and the W.E.A. also arrange courses and classes independently of each other. In the case of the universities these are described as 'University Extension' and may consist of anything from short courses of two or three lectures to classes which last for three years. Likewise the W.E.A. may arrange one-year, terminal and informal courses without reference to the universities. The L.E.A.'s are able to provide anything they think desirable; the limits to what they do are determined partly by their enterprise and partly by the need to take into account the activities of the universities and the W.E.A.

Utilization of Leisure

AT a subsequent meeting of the Engineers' Study Group on July 30, Mr. M. M. Bruce, secretary of the London Council of Social Service (7 Bayley Street, W.C.2) outlined the results of a survey undertaken in co-operation with other bodies (L.C.C. Education Department, Y.M.C.A., Young Communist League, trade unions, co-operative societies, Workers Educational Association) to determine how young people between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five years spend their leisure. Some 5,000 answers—an admittedly insufficient sample—were received, which gave an indication of the wide variety of interests. The largest proportion of predilections expressed for any one type of recreation goes, with young men to outdoor sports (11 per cent) and with girls to dancing (30 per cent). The influence of the cinema was very evident in the choice of girls' fashions and hair-dressing styles. A tendency away from organized sports (football, etc.) towards the more individual type (rambles) was also noticeable. The investigation is being continued by a smaller committee, which is looking further into these particular aspects. The survey acquires a particular significance in view of the fact that the Government will, in the autumn, begin a campaign to improve both the physical and the mental abilities of the people of Great Britain.

Prof. A. E. Trueman

THE chair of geology in the University of Glasgow, rendered vacant through the resignation of Prof. E. B. Bailey on his appointment as director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, is to be filled by Prof. A. E. Trueman of the University of Bristol. Prof. Trueman was educated at High Pavement School and University College, Nottingham, and he received the degree of D.Sc. in geology from the University of London in 1918. He was appointed assistant lecturer in geology at Cardiff in 1917, and head of the Department of Geology in University College, Swansea, in 1920. In 1933 he succeeded Prof. S. H. Reynolds as Chaning Wills professor of geology in the University of Bristol. Prof. Trueman is best known by his researches in problems of Coal Measures Geology. In particular, he has taken an important part in the zoning of the Coal Measures of South Wales by means of non-marine lamelli-branchs, and in their correlation with other areas. He has also co-operated in research work carried out on dust from coal mines, in connexion with its bearing on the problem of silicosis among miners. In addition to his purely scientific work, Prof. Trueman has interested himself especially in the Workers Educational Association and other university extension activities. He is also a member of a committee appointed at Blackpool last year by Section C of the British Association to study the position of geology in the present educational system.

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:The History of Political Thought By Raymond G. GettellInternational Law By Charles G. FenwicThe History of the Tory Party By Keith FeilinApproaches to World Problems By the Earl OF Birkenhead, General T. H. Bliss, and P. H. Kerr.The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empire By L. C. A. KnowleSome Problems in Oklahoma Finance By Frederick F. Blachly and Miriam E. OatmanJamee Connolly BY Demond RyanIndustrial Conflict, and the Way Out By the Rt. Hon. G. N. BarnesThe Function of Statistical Method in Scientific Investigation By G. Udny Yule, C.B.E., M.A., F.R.SThe Labour Movement in a Government Industry A Study of Employee Orgadtion in the Postal Service. By Sterling Denhard Spero, M.D.The Relation of Wealth to Welfare By William A. RobsonThe Story of the Workers Educational Association 1903–1924 By T. W. Price. Introduction by R. H. TawneyLes CEuvres Sociales des Industries mi tallurgiquee par Robert Pino