Political education in an adult context

Abstract

A liberatory education projecting an alternative conception of reality is rare [Field J. 1988:232]. The adult education sector does not seem to have belied this statement. Evans (1987) states that the consensus view appeals to the vast majority of adult educators. He does not see adult educators being motivated by critical or radical concepts of education and society [Evans B. 1987:4]. Fieldhouse (1991) in his evaluation of adult education in Britain maintains that overall it conformed "to a rationalist and reformist consensus which kept 'extreme' influence at bay" [Fieldhouse J. 1991:136] . Adult education may therefore be an extension or a replica of the ci vie culture in the classroom which according to Tapper and Salter ( 19 7 8) extends a value consensus view among groups which may have been excluded from that consensus [Tapper T. and Salter B. 1978:3] Despite the truism of such statements voices that challenged the socially constructed view have emerged in the field of adult education. Even Evans (1987) gives a brief history of radical adult educators by referring to the contributions in early 20th century of Tawney and Cole and contemporaries such as Illich and Freire [Evans B. 1987:6-11]. The efforts of these educators consisted in helping adults comprehend the reified nature of knowledge and negate the objectivity which this knowledge may claim to have. Wexler et al (1987) contend that conditions and awareness towards these aims are apparent within a number of burgeoning movement. As examples of these burgeoning movement 2 they cite the popular education or mass intellectual movement which owes its origin to the 19th century initiatives of the British Owenites, the Chartist Movement and American Workers Party of 1820.