According to the website of the Department for Continuing Education of Oxford University, (https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/) in 1919, the Ministry of Reconstruction’s adult education committee published a report which argued that the continuing education of adults was very important to welfare and security.
One hundred years later, in 2019, a Centenary Commission was created with the aim of emphasizing its continuing importance for an educated populace and also for finding solutions to challenges that adult education faces nowadays. That Commission is part of a broader ‘Adult Education 100’ Campaign and it is composed by such patrons as Baroness Joan Bakewell, Mary Beard, Michael Sheen and Ruby Wax.
At the first meeting on January 10th, which took place at Balliol College in Oxford, the Centenary Commission would “consider the educational provision required in the face of longer lives, changing work, and global challenges.” Professor Jonathan Michie, Director of the Department for Continuing Education and co-secretary of the Commission said: “There is a national – indeed global – consensus that lifelong learning is increasingly required: for the world of work, alongside machine learning and robotics; for a population living longer; and for an electorate facing new and complex challenges.” Among the members of the Commission, there are people representing the University of Oxford and the University of Nottingham, the WEA - Workers’ Educational Association, the Co-Operative College and the Raymond Williams Foundation.
A report will be published by the Commission in November 2019. This report will mark the centenary of the Final Report on Adult Education of the Ministry of Reconstruction. The original report established a basis for British adult education during the 20th century and the centenary of this report is an opportunity to think about the current needs and possibilities of adult education and for the next century.
The challenges that are faced nowadays are strangely similar to the ones that were faced in 1919. The 1919 report considered it essential that citizens should be able to reflect critically about political claims, so that populist demagogues would not deceive them. Currently, electoral issues are more complex. The report also pointed out that technologies and industries were increasing in numbers and that skills training alone would not be enough for the future needs of the nation.
The 1919 population faced great challenges, the main one being to avoid another slide into war. This risk remains, besides having, today, the threat of the climate change. The Centenary Commission is part of a more extensive Adult Education 100’ Campaign that has as patrons:
1st: Baroness Joan Bakewell, President of Birkbeck College, University of London;
2nd: Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge;
3rd: Lalage Bown, Professor Emeritus, Adult & Continuing Education; University Glasgow University;
4th: Andy Haldane, Chief Economist from the Bank of England;
5th: Mel Lenehan, Principal and CEO - Chief Executive Officer from Fircroft College;
6th: John Sentamu, Archbishop of York;
7th: Michael Sheen, Actor;
8th: Ruby Wax, Mental Health Campaigner.
“The Centenary Commission will address the need for, and role of, adult education in relation to:”
Andy Haldane commented that: “Never has the need for life-long learning been greater, given longer lifespans and a greater volatility in career paths. At present universities do not appear to be meeting these needs. The future university may need to be a very different creature than in the past. It may need to cater for multiple entry points along the age distribution, rather than focusing on the young.”
Previously and currently
In 1917, the Ministry of Reconstruction that was established under the wartime coalition government of Lloyd George had the responsibility to monitor the rebuilding of “the national life on a better and more durable foundation.” The committee of adult education was chaired by the Master of Balliol College, Oxford, A. L. Smith.
The 19 members of the committee were leading public figures who were part of the business world, trade unions, religions and academia or from the field of adult education, key figures like the historian R. H. Tawney and also the creator of the WEA Albert Mansbridge. The 1919 Report afforded to adult education a template that persisted during most of 20th century. This template had as its aim to build a civil society that was democratic and tolerant.
According to the website, in the last three decades, various opportunities for and institutions of adult education were lost. The ones that remain, are focused on, especially, instructing young adults about job skills. To the members of the Centenary Commission “democratic, inclusive values, and social justice – enhancing people’s lives as a whole – need to be at the heart of educational provision.”
In conclusion, “this broader approach to adult education may be more appropriate for the unknown industries and jobs of the future”, where many of the skilled professions that exist today will be replaced by robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. That will make creativity, empathy and imagination vital, hereafter, in the world of work.
By: Luisa Carolina
