W.E.A.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 11 April 1925, Page 10

W.E.A.

He that will not reason is a bigot, he that cannot reason is a fool, and he that does not reason is a slave.” —Sir W. Drummond.

The Cambridge essays on adult education form a series of essays designed “to bring before the public some of the principal subjects which were dealt with in the report of the .Committee on Adult Education, 1919.” The editor, the Vice-Master of Trinity College, stresses the- importance of adult education. “Whether we look to our international obligations, or to the mutual relations of that Commonwealth of Nations, which is the new and lasting form of the British Empire, or to our charge of less developed races within the Commonwealth, or to the ‘ reorganisation of internal conditions of cla,ss relations at home and abroad, it must be obvious to the most casual observer that a high level of knowledge and character must be secured, if the foreign democracy is not to break down under the burden of its responsibilities.

in addition to the very stimulating introduction by tiie editor, the boon contains nine essays on different”'aspects of adult education by leading authorities, and is a mine of information in methods and achievements of this phase of education. The conclusion of the article by Dr. Cranage on “Tne Purpose and Meaning of A quit Education” indicates the spirit of the movement. The meaning of adult education,” then, is the combined effort to learn by those past school age, whether busily employed or not in earning their livelihood; its purpose is to produce and sustain the healthy mind in the healthy body. It can go on' daily b,> thought, by observation, by reacting', by making, and it lias special value ir pursued rn common with others. Life will be infinitely richer for it; sympathy will be quickened, selfishness will shrink false pride yvill He subdued. The thing is worth doing; let us do it!”

“The Way Out. —Comprises essays on the meaning of purpose of adult education by members of the British Institute of Adult Education. The writers of the essays, jvlio include Viscount Haldane, A. E. Zimmerp, H. J. Laski, A. Mansbridge and Viscount Grey, all maintain a very high standard in the presentation of their topics, hut Laski’s “Knowledge q$ a Civic Discipline might very advantageously be reprinted in every paper in tins Dominion. It is impossible to summerise such an article, but one or two short quotations will induce many to read the whole.

“The political importance of adult education lies in the fact that it is the one plane of discussion upon which social order can he made instinct with good will. For where men understand the delicate complexity of civilisation they will be careful of its mechanisms and its traditions. It is where they are ignorant of, and careless Nbout,” tire long effort that has gone into its building that they are prepared in blind anger to destroy. Education and peace are .necessary correlatives; and universal siifferage is ultimately incompatible with social peace save as education sweeps the electorate within its ambit.”

“We are being asked to justify a complex and delicate civilisation to men who, in the nature of things, cannot realise either how tenuous are the bonds which support it, or how arduous the effort- that has gone into its building. They see only that they have been asked to die for it; they, demand to know what quality it can' bring to the substance of their lives. It is by educating them to a critical appreciation of its import- that we shall be better able at once to maintain its existence and to enrich its future.”

The publishers rightly describe (he story of the W.E.A. (by T. W. Price, with an introduction by R. H. Tawney) as “an illuminating account of how a small association formed twenty-one years ago to foster working-class education has become to-day a vast organisation, actively co-operating with the whole Labour movement, and exercising a very real influence on the universities and education authorities throughout the country.” No one can read this story without being impressed by two facts; first, the real huger that there is for things intellectual and aesthetic among that portion of the population that has been cut off from them by the conditions of its life. “What is significant,” says Tawney, “in the recent development of adult education, .is the recognition by ever wider sections of the working-class movement that if it is to solve its own problems, mobilise its own forces, and create a social order more in conformity with the same deliberation arid persistanee which it has brought to the improvement of their economic position.”

The movement revives our faith in what can be done by a small body of men and women if they are fired by the enthusiasm that a great ideal gives. “The Guild House, a Co-operative Centre for Adult Education,” issued by the British Institute of Adult Education, is- the report of a committee set up by that institute to investigate the general problems of centres for cooperation in adult education'. The report deals with adult education, especially in its communal aspects that' are most clearly seen in the sixty-odd settlements that are to be found "in Great Britain. The chief claim of the committee is: “Our concern is not merely with the quality and efficiency of the provision made, bill with the quality of the life and thought achieved. Geographical sectionalism is bad; social sectionalism is worse; but intellectual sectionalism is fatal.” The committee urges, therefore, that there should be a. common meeting ground for the bodies concerned in adult education. The committee recommends the name of Guild House for this centre. It will supply for all those interested in adult education what the guild house of mediaeva] times did for the craftsmen, “The Guild House, then, should provide comfortable and adequate accommodation for all its activities in a building which is, by preference, simple in its design and decoration. It ought to suggest- the imiversjty rather than the school, the club and not the committee room. If it is bare and dull it can fulfil its own educative function. 011 the other hand, if it is elaborate it will repel many of those for whose use it is primarily intended. Its purpose- is to serve as the common home and hearth of alb those in the community who care for books, nictures, and music for fine handicraft, for group study arid informal discussion. In addition to whatever number of small, comfortably-furnished classrooms may be required, a common room, or lounge, with facilities for obtaining well-served light refreshment;, is indispensable. A library (on the open access principle), arid a hall for public lectures, concerts, and dramatic performances, are in the highest degree desirable. In many epmmqriiti.es members of tutorial classes cannot always find at home the quiet needed for reading and essay writing; a library

>vhere they can do their work in comfort- is a real boon.” ' It is this type of centre that the W E.A. ought to have in view. Anyone able and willing, to stimulate adult education could not set aside money for a better purpose.