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I've been heartened by the discussion that has ensued as a result of my essay on a New Policy Approach for Our Education Work in the WEA following the discussion of it in Henry Tam's blog Question the Powerful.

I and other colleagues have been party to a range of discussions which see the debate and the actions that stem from it as part of a renewal of the WEA's social purpose. I was part of an inspiring discussion in the WEA's senior management team the other day where there was a clear direction towards ensuring that our courses had "bite" as well as interest, that they helped to leverage change in communities as well as individuals. I was told that there was also good discussion and appreciation of the examples of courses following the critical action approach at the Association Committee, the WEA's senior representative body.  There is growing feedback and interest within our wider membership and outside the WEA as other adult educators begin to discuss the ideas.

Henry Tam cited the example of R.H. Tawney, former WEA president and distinguished British Social and Economic Historian in his blog and it pushed me to go and re-read one of his pieces. I downloaded Tawney's Acquisitive Society  published in 1920 and I am struck by the quality of his analysis. It could have been written yesterday in the light of the most recent global banking crisis, rather than as it was nearly 100 years ago. He makes a cogent case for subverting economic interests to the needs of life and society and recognises the dangers of turning this the other way round. Try reading it yourself (Click the link above) to see why we need  serious analysis of our world if we are to articulate meaningful proposals for changing it.

Providing that analysis through adult education was a role that the WEA tried to develop through Tawney's teaching and leadership all those years ago. It is a role that we need to fulfill once again today.

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Comments

Mick Sheldon
Posts: 4

future of Adult Education in the WEA
Reply #4 on : Fri January 27, 2012, 16:47:31

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There is a synergy here between learning style, action learning, democracy in determining curriculum and involvement in organising learning. Practicing such political skills in the Branch should help students progress into skillful community activists. Interests shift from subjects to issues, thought to practice. Information turns to critical reflection. Or at least that is the theory. Does the WEA have the stomach for it? Hard to resist the funding.
Mick Sheldon

Diane Holmes
Posts: 4

Action Learning & Social Capital
Reply #3 on : Wed December 21, 2011, 15:11:04

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I have recently worked with a group of young adult learners who live in an area which could be desrcibed as Greg puts it, 'run down and desperate' as indeed they were as individuals, finding themselves on the fringes of education, unable to progress with their lives and seemingly locked in a prison of self doubt and low educational expectation. However, as they worked on their literacy and numeracy skills they were also developing a sense of shared values between themselves and me as their tutor and a mutual sense of trust (a second set of learning outcomes emerged by stealth!) A truly inspiring example of social capital emerging from extremely
challenging circumstances and something the WEA is uniquely placed to do. As far back as Alex de Tocqueville (1830) this concept has been linked to equality suggesting that in a true democracy all - even the 'manufacturing and trading classes' are likely to share the same ideals and as he said: ''The principle of equality does not destroy the imagination, but lowers its flight to the level of the earth.''

Jol Miskin
Posts: 4

Social Purpose and Tawney
Reply #2 on : Sun December 11, 2011, 18:18:28

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Like Andria this is certainly where we need to be. We are not merely an educational provider but rather are an educational movement and Tawney saw that as being a social movement. For me that is the task.
The Introduction to 'The Acquistive Society' includes this:
" There are times which are not ordinary, and in such times it is not enough to follow the road. It is necessary to know where it leads, and, if it leads nowhere, to follow another. The search for another involves reflection, which is uncongenial to the bustling people who describe themselves as practical, because they take things as they are and leave them as they are. But the practical thing for a traveler who is uncertain of his path is not to proceed with the utmost rapidity in the wrong direction: it is to consider how to find the right one."

How contemporary is that!
And WEA education can, rather should, help students along that alternative path.

Andria Birch
Posts: 4

action learning in the WEA
Reply #1 on : Fri December 09, 2011, 20:53:49

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It is truly refreshing to hear the discussions taking place at the moment in the WEA. The focus on equality issues and the need for the organisation to return to its radical roots, challenging social injustice via critical education, is music to my ears. Everything is political, including keeping your head down and saying nothing, (also known as collusion). I welcome and applaud colleagues for once again taking a stand and arguing for change both within the WEA and in wider society. Long may it continue!

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