Women’s life stories and learning across social movements in 1920’s and
1960’s in Portugal
Margarida Louro Felgueiras & Maria José
Magalhães
University of Oporto, Portugal
In order to
contribute to the knowledge about women’s adult education and learning in
Portugal, a research based in life stories and biographies of women in 1920’s
and 1960’s has been conducted. The aim of this paper is to present the findings
of the research in progress around the ways social movements as union movement
and feminist movement were social sites for learning relating action and
knowledge. Based in oral sources, but also in written ones, it is intended to
show the active participation of women in social movements in behalf of
education, in the beginning of the Xxth century and how educational processes take place in
organizations, events and publications of union and feminist movements. Using
auto/biographies, we expect to highlight the cultural and historical context
for adult education through life course, interwoven experiences and
subjectivities and knowledge for and about action. In addition, it is intended
to analyse educational and cultural processes to the formation of the subject,
in this case, feminine subject in 1920’s and 1960’s.Although Portuguese
specificity will be emphasize, the research articulates the inter-influences of
union and feminist movements across Europe and other parts of the world.
An
Overview of the Development of Adult Education and Training in Japan: Its
Original Features and Western Impacts
Naoko Suzuki
University of Tokushima, Japan
History of Japanese adult education can be
traced back to Edo Era (1603-1868), though it had not been taken as ‘adult
education’ or ‘education (especially designed) for adults’ in those days. In Japan, the distinction between teaching
children and teaching adults had long been blurred and not so many people had
been aware of the importance of the latter and the specific need to fulfil its
own requirements. Yet, there had been
certain educational opportunities for adults depending on the social class to
which they belonged. For instance, there
had been approximately 20,000 temple schools called ‘terakoya’ across the
country to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic for local
ordinary people who needed such skills in their business and daily lives.
It was from the
Meiji Era (1868-1912), the period of modernisation, that the central government
started to introduce a formal system to support all activities provided outside
schools for youth and adults that was called ‘social education’ (if literally
translated). During this period, government
delegates were dispatched to Western countries to learn about what ‘adult
education’ were like, resulting in the creation of various types of
institutions such as libraries, museums etc. Up until the end of the Second World War, ‘social education’ had been
mainly introduced to improve ordinary people’s daily lives for particular
purposes. Moreover, during the war
years, there was a tendency that ‘social education’ had been temporarily used
as a means of indoctrination.
Since the end of the world war second, following the American
occupation, the whole system of education in Japan was forced to democratise
its character. A number of educational
laws were enacted during the post-war period, including the Social Education
Law (1949), which made ‘social
education’ a
legal right for all the citizens. Since then, ‘social education’ has grown
rapidly, putting more emphasis on human rights. Together with the emergence of the notion of ‘lifelong education’ in the
late 1960s, the provision of ‘social education’ and ‘lifelong learning’ has
been developed to support a diverse range of activities, whilst directed by
strong government’s control.
Illustrating an
overview of the development of ‘adult education and training’ in the Japanese
context, this paper intends to clarify some distinctive features and intrinsic
factors affecting the development of ‘social education’ originating in Japan,
while arguing the degree of response to Western impacts which were found for
certain time periods in its educational history.
Exact/applied
sciences in history and gendering transformations on adult learning: Towards an
anti-sexist vocational course”
Kostas Kokogiannis
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece
The present
paper initially describes the historical maintenance (or even amplification) of
the biased mentality that “wants” women to be cognitively and practically
inferior to men concerning the exact/applied sciences since gender had been strictly related with the
segregation of the knowledge into “scientific” and “not scientific”
knowledge and, more particularly, since the 19th century
had lent to the science the prestige of a unique institutional vehicle that
would provide reliable and objective knowledge – as the impersonal, objective
and reliable feature of the knowledge had been identified with the “masculine”
approach of the research. Certainly, the last decades, feminist researchers have
strongly criticized the “masculine” bias of the meaning of rationalism,
which “enraptures” the ideology of science.
Obviously, the above identification with the objective knowledge (as social
construction, which demarcated the female learning) affected women’s life
course and career causing a resultant asymmetry in comparison with men, as long
as the professional needs and the equal right of women to employment and recruitment system have not been taken into
consideration fair and square ever since – to all appearances. Moreover, the studies
orientations and choices of women at the post-secondary and higher education
level followed the gendering bias of learning, seeing that the practices of the
adult education amplified the discrimination of learning. On the side, in societies (as ours) that
legalised the allocation of the social opportunities and the power - on the
strength of the individualism and the voluntarism - the individuals “freely” followed
decisions, which reproduced the social class effectively. Thus, for example,
women (supposedly of their own accord) chose to become hairdressers,
secretaries, nurses and schoolteachers, instead of being motor mechanics,
directors in the industry or professors of a university. In parallel, as
concerns Greece,
the Institutes of Vocational Training (IVT), the Technological Educational
Foundations (TEF) and many Departments of Universities (whose curricula rest on
technical studies) were prepared to accept more men than women for the
practical specialities reproducing consequently a self-fulfilled prophecy of
the superiority / inferiority within gender relations. In effect, the meaning
of the superiority and inferiority constitutes a fragmentary valuation that
presupposes a scale of cultural values.
Thus, the last forty years in Europe and mainly
in Greece, the women’s participation in programs of professional training that organized
by the public or private institutes concerns more specialities of the office,
as typing, telex, handling of computer or paramedical specialities (midwife,
nurse, assistant of radiologist or microbiologist) than practical specialities.
All the same, five parameters seem to be included in a complete theory on
women’s professional development and also to be a catalyst for every woman’s
professional course separately: a) Education – Training b) Formation of
employment occasions c) Marriage d)
Pregnancy, children e) Age
Units of the paper
4 Exact/Applied Sciences in history
4 Exact/Applied Sciences and
gendering transformations on adult learning
4 Educational and vocational choices of women
4 Towards a personal and vocational development of women
Kasimati, K. (1991) Research on the social features of employment: Vocational choices Athens: National
Centre of Social Researches
Kostakis, A. G. (1990) The Occupational Choices of Greek Women: An Empirical Analysis of the
Contribution of Information and Socioeconomic Variables Athens: CPER
Larwood, L. & Gutek, B. A. (1987) “Working Toward a Theory of
Women’s Career Development” in Women’s
Career Development, Gutek, B. A. & Larwood, L. (Eds) Beverly Hills, CA:
Sage
Olson, J. E. & Frieze, I.
H. (1986) “Income determinations for
women in business” in Stromberg, A. H., Larwood, L. & Gutek, B. A (Eds) Women and Work: An annual Review (Vol.
2), Beverly Hills, CA: Sage
Sidiropoulou-Dimakakou, D. (1995) “Differences in gender
vocational choices” in Educational
Issues, 36: 106-11
The policy of Social promotion in France in the sixties through the
filmed interview of 3 couples
Françoise
F. Laot
University of Paris
Descartes, France
This paper will show how the study of a film
allows re-visiting the history of an adult education policy. It is based on the
analysis of a documentary film, “Retour à l’école?” (Return to school?)
shot in a university centre for adults in Nancy
in 1966. Adults, participating in evening courses in the framework of the
policy of social promotion implemented in France since 1959, are interviewed
in different locations: in their working place, in a classroom or at home. They
are invited to express the way they live their experience as adult “returning
to school”. Three of them are filmed at home with their “spouse” and she is
also asked to express her opinion about her husband’s plan to get a diploma by
participating in a programme of PST (Promotion supérieure du travail) at
the University.
Research on this film is conducted
at several levels: through archives (considering the film as the production of
several institutions and questioning the aims of such a production); and
through a discourse analysis.
It appears that the film puts in
pictures a peculiar discourse about adult learning shaped by the first research
works on adult pedagogy. Those works were then encouraged and financed at the
State level. They put in light the specific role played by women as “spouses”
in the failure or success of their husband’s studies.
What notably shows this analysis is
that the policy of social promotion was not thought for women. Mothers or not,
workers or not, they were totally forgotten, not considered as potential
“pupils” of PST programmes, although, in the same years, they were, numerous,
entering the labour market. This need to be replaced in the context of profound
changes that were occurring in the status of women and in the French
mentalities concerning women at work. One year after the film shooting, in
1967, the official discourse radically changed: women would become part of
audience considered as priority in social promotion policy.
After the 1968 May-events in France, women
would register, more and more numerous, in PST programmes. It is interesting to
see how those changes occurred.
The first Meta-Archive on the History of Adult
Education in Germany
– A transferable Online-service for historical Research
Klaus Heuer
Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung
Leibniz-Zentrum für Lebenslanges Lernen, Bonn,
Germany
The presentation will
inform the scientific community about the approach of our institute (DIE, Bonn) to support
historical research in adult education by putting together and structuring as
much information as possible from already existing literature, documentation
systems and other repositories of resources in archives about persons and
institutions. The aim of the presentation is to depict a transferable example,
how historical research can be broadened, stimulated and strengthened.
To do so the presentation
will:
- outline very roughly the status of historical
research and its limitations (example is the book by “Knowledge is power. The
Rise and Fall of Popular Education Movements in Europe 1848-1939” by Thomas
Steele, Oxford,
2007)
- discuss the classical attempts of archiving
resources and its failure (example is the attempt of our institute to build up
a kind of national archive of adult education)
- show
how the general situation of archiving in Germany changes (public laws, open
access)
- describe the concept of the Meta-Archive
(visibility of resources instead of property of resources)
- present the different options of our
data-base, its search-tools and other support-tools which are included in the Meta-Archive
- show
research-themes which can be generated with the database (focusing roundabout
the conference theme)
- last but not least outline possibilities of a
comparative approach of archiving and sharing historical resources on a
European level (digitalizing and translation of main resources, bibliography of
English written literature).
The speech will be
supported by a power-point-presentation.
People as the key to the Nordic tradition of adult education
(folkeoplysning)
Ove
Korsgaard
Aarhus
Universitet, Denmark
The keyword
in the Nordic tradition of adult education is 'people'. But the term 'people'
is a very complex one. It is used in at least four different ways: people as a
household category, a political category, a cultural category and a social
category. Therefore, the term 'people's enlightenment' (folkeoplysning) has
been defined as different ways to create empowered citizens, to provide
enlightenment on the people's culture, and to educate the under-enlightened and
marginalised. 'Folkeoplysning' is not, by definition, based on a specific
interpretation of the concept 'people'. On the contrary, the concept
constitutes a battlefield on which different interests attempt to leave their
own imprint. The normative question is: What kind of 'folkeoplysning' is
required in light of immigration and the European integration process?
Vocational Education and Training in the Swedish Folk High School,
1868-1940.
Fay Lundh Nilsson &
Anders Nilsson
Lund University, Sweden
The Folk
High School (FHS) in Sweden has comprised not only civil education but also
vocational training already from its initial years in the late 1860s’. Although
civil education has always, rhetorically, been considered the raison d’etre of
this type of school, courses in vocational education have been among the most
popular with the young adults that constitute the core of students. In this
paper, we focus on the vocational parts of the FHS of which surprisingly little
is known. The paper is based on completely new calculations of the volume of
vocational training in the FHS 1868-1940, where each course in every single school
has been classified as general, vocational, or mixed. In the next step, the
number of hours taught in the vocational courses as well as the vocational
component in the mixed courses has been calculated. To calculate the volume,
the hours taught have been multiplied by the number of students in each course.
It is a unique data base that will be used in various types of analysis. In the
first part of the paper, we present the sources, method of calculation, and
preliminary empirical results. In the second part, we discuss the quantitative
development of vocational training in FHS in relation to the fundamental
structural economic and social change that the Swedish society underwent from
1860 to 1940. The FHS were started in a thoroughly agricultural environment but
subsequently the Swedish society went through rapid industrialisation and
exhibited an impressive economic growth. In the paper we investigate how, and
to what extent, vocational training in the FHS responded to such challenges.
Oscillating
between models - Swedish vocational education and training 1900-1960
Anders Nilsson, Lund University, Sweden
Vocational education and training (VET) can be organised in several
different ways. In the literature it is common to systematise these into three
separate models, where not only the VET system but also labour market
institutions are taken into consideration. Very briefly, the models are
characterised as market-driven (‘British’), state-centred (‘French’), and
dominated by the social partners (‘German’), respectively (Greinert 1999). It
is furthermore an ‘established fact’ that the development of these models is
path-dependant, i.e. once a model has been established in a country it tends to
become permanent (Thelen 2004). From that perspective it is illuminating to
investigate the development in Sweden
from about 1900 to 1960. Up to about 1920, the VET system was organised
according to the ‘British’ system, but reforms in 1918/21 brought about a
change in the direction of the ‘French’ model. The reform, however, was only
half-hearted and a lot of critique was directed towards it. From the late
1930s’, the social partners took the initiative but surprisingly a ‘German’
model was never instituted. Instead, a state-financed system expanded rapidly
in the 1950s’, leading to a more or less ‘French’ VET model in the early
1960s’. In the paper, the development is presented in some detail and some
questions are posed: why did Sweden
seemingly embark upon the ‘British’ path during the rapid industrialisation from
the 1890s’ onwards, when other countries on a similar level of economic
development either took a ‘German’ or a ‘French’ path? Why was an
apprenticeship system never re-instituted in Sweden, as it was in most of our
neighbouring countries? The social partners were very much ‘in control’ of VET
issues in the 1940s’ and 1950s’; why did they permit a state-centred model,
where their influence diminished, to emerge about 1960? A few tentative answers
are discussed in the final section of the paper, but it should be pointed out
that they are, at this stage of research, still speculative.
Emergence of the vocational
form of education: case Finland
Anja
Heikkinen
University
of Tampere, Finland
The
intention of my presentation is to question, whether the typical and dominant
ways of interpreting and explaining similarities and differences of vocational
education between different contexts make sense. Histories and “models” are
advocating certain approaches, factors and conceptions of VET, enable certain
policies and support certain actors beyond some others. (cf. Greinert 2004,
Heikkinen 2004.)
I will highlight the emergence of vocational education as a distinctive
form of education in Finland since late 19th century until 1960s. In
the Finnish context, separation from Sweden was decisive for formation of
“indigenous” solutions of vocational education. The political, industrial,
social and educational aspects were interwoven in the search of potential
national independence. On the one hand, the promotion of rural industries was
crucial in all aspects. On the other hand, the guild and apprenticeship
tradition was marginal and did not provide any basis for development of
technical and commercial education. Vocational aspects were also central in the
folk enlightenment activities (co-operative movement, folk high schools, folk
school etc.) In late 19th century a system of state departments,
units and state-related associations was formed, which deliberately aimed at
promotion of national industries and economies, as part of emerging
nation-state society.
Despite different tensions and oppositions, this system continued, and
in fact started to flourish, till 1960s. Political, industrial, social and
educational change took towards comprehensive modernization and welfare-statism
took place rapidly. However, political (social democratic) attempts to
integrate academic, vocational and popular education traditions and
institutions failed.
Greinert,
Wolf-Dietrich. 2004. European
vocational training 'systems' - some thoughts
on the theoretical context of their historical development. European
Journal of Vocational Training 2004/II. 18-25.
Heikkinen, Anja. 2004. Models, paradigms or cultures of vocational education. European
Journal of Vocational Training 2004/II. 32-44.
Establishing an Academic
Discipline: The Case of Adult Education in Finnish Universities
Rainer Aaltonen, Anja Heikkinen & Jukka Tuomisto
University of Tampere, Finland
According
to the traditional way of thinking there are three formal, prevailing and necessary
conditions for an academic discipline to become established: 1. a chair of
professorship in the field of study; 2. a scientific society for the learned
community; and 3. a scientific periodical or journal for publication of the
research. In this paper we firstly will delineate how, in relation to adult
education, these conditions were met in one Finnish university during the first
half of the twentieth century. Secondly, we will describe how the expanding
field of adult education, e.g. a huge growth of participants especially in
vocational training, brought along with
it more professorships in other universities and how the repeated attempts to
start a scientific journal were accomplished on the latter part of the century.
Thirdly, we will reflect on the transformation of the discipline in the turn of
the 21st century.
The expansion and changes in disciplinary status of adult education are
discussed in the interrelated contexts of academy, economy and politics.
The Finnish folk high school system started
in Finland
in 1889 so the movement celebrates its 120th anniversary this year.
Anna Halme
University of Turku, Finland
The first Finnish folk high school was founded in Kangasala, southern Finland by teacher Sofia Hagman who had traveled
in Denmark
on her study trip and got acquainted with this very youth education idea. She
wanted adopt it in Finland.
The folk high school institution was not, however, a new phenomenon in Finland then
though. As early as in the late 1860’s opinions had occurred that the new
Danish popular education system could offer an answer to problematic issues
about the distressed position of the Finnish population engaged in agriculture.
Sofia Hagman
addressed her folk high school to female pupils only and its policy was to teach
mainly practical subjects such as housekeeping and handicrafts. The functioning
of this institute was, however, short-lived and the question if it actually
could be regarded as a folk high school at all has been a controversial issue
in the Finnish discussion about the Finnish folk high school tradition.
From then on the
folk high school education in Finland
was to be meant for male and female pupils equally. The principal object was
boys and girls of the rural population to whom the future was going to take
place on the Finnish countryside continuing the work of their parents,
and who had passed the folk
school age. However, Lahti
folk high school for example, founded in 1893 and located in urban
surroundings, also paid attention to the youth of the population working on the
industrial and service branches. For time being there was a folk high school in
every province of
Finland.
The curriculum of a
Finnish folk high school included civics and humanist subjects as well as the
mentioned subjects of practice, housekeeping, gardening and handicrafts. The situation in which the adopting of the
folk high school took place in Finland
affected greatly the content of the policy of it: the extensive failure of
crops and a catastrophic famine in the late 1860’s, the Finnish national ethos,
autonomy, own currency, stamp, municipal government system and finally, since
1890’s, the Russification efforts towards Finnish government. Since the 1870’s the Grand Duchy of Finland formed
a coherent trade area because of its rapidly developed wood processing industry
and exports of milk products for example to St. Petersburg. These items form
the context to the need of civilizing the young people of the Finnish nation.
Thanks to the right of using the Finnish language as an official language since
year 1863 the information about this new education movement spread rapidly.
According to the nationalistic idea the people of the Grand Duchy of Finland
was to be unified with the aid of Finnish language and culture. One native language
and participation of the population in Finnish civilization would make Finland firm
enough in struggle for its national existence.
In regard to the
population engaged in the agricultural source of livelihood the most natural
way of contributing in building the nation was to stay in its position. As the
industrializing process made people to make up their minds of moving to cities
or industrial locations, the government and also the actives among the popular
education circles worried about the threat of desertion of the Finnish
countryside and the reducing of Finnish agriculture. To protect the
self-sufficiency in producting the food-stuffs meant that a great deal of
education and attitude was required. Agriculture was to be considered an occupation. A Farmer was to take an
attitude that agriculture demanded the same kind of determination and
reflecting about ones professional identity as any other occupation.
Agriculture asked equal professional developing for the new occupations. It
demanded struggling towards the unpredictable Finnish force of nature and
extensive knowledge and preparedness considering the development that was going
on on the branch of the agricultural production.
The population
engaged in the agriculture was the key to the economical independence and
wealth of the Finnish nation. It needed skills and theoretic knowledge
considering the modernization of the agricultural working methods and
equipment. Making the farm productive inquired versatile functioning to which
all the members of the family could attend. Thus agriculture was considered to
be a civic duty. The traditional way of life and culture was about to change
into an occupation. Finnish agriculture was a versatile whole but all its parts
needed modernization.
The Finnish folk high
school system differed from agricultural institutes because of its point of
view. It raised civilization by using the aspects of the primary production as
an instrument and identified professionalism to civic duty. Finnish farmers, especially the pheasants
were forced to work in the terms of the international market economy in the
case they wished to survive. The folk high school institution strove to
indicate to the pupils the ways agriculture was linked to a modern society. The
skills that were learned at home were not sufficient any more. The practice was
to be based on wider theoretical knowledge than before. The development in
science and the consciousness in regard to health and hygienic matters resulted
in different kinds of doctrines that were meant to outline the many aspects of
housekeeping and agriculture, for example. Proper preservation of the groceries
and cleaning of kitchen were essential parts of housekeeping and the animal
husbandry inquired special attention in the agriculture. Systematic
book-keeping helped the farmer to figure out the whole and taught him and the
mistress of the house care, preciseness, rationalism and systematicness.
One major part of
the modern agriculture, if folk high school movement was conserned, was active
participation in several kinds of agricultural associations. The
domestic-economically focused Martha organization was addressed to mistresses
of the houses only and farmers club to men, but the cooperative movement was
suitable to women and men equally. Children
could attend agricultural clubs organized often by the folk school teacher of
the region. Through contacts to others one learned the values of the community,
went through the socialization process, could exchange useful information and
get new skills. For example, in Lahti
folk high school several associations were organized among the pupils and
teachers every term. The idea of organizing associations was that the pupils
could start such an activity at home too.
The teachers needed
resources to be able to train the youth in taking the traditional source of
living from the professional point of view They achieved it wandering in the
countryside under summer holidays observing the external appearance of the
landscape and working methods to make sure that the folk high school education
would prove appropriate and useful.
On the Margins of the Educational System:
Institutions, Students and Social Context in Finnish and Swedish Adult
Education
Kirsi Ahonen
University of Tampere, Finland
Many of those educational institutions and practices that are today
labelled as adult education originally emerged to compensate for the
inadequacies of the existing educational system. Accordingly, in most cases
their students were not just any adults or young people who had passed the
primary school age but, in particular, people without access to further
education, or sometimes even to elementary instruction. Long in the 20th
century the economic conditions of the majority or the limited scope of
secondary and higher education available, or both of these, kept the young
engaged in paid work or housework. Meanwhile, some of their age mates
representing another social class, domicile or sex attended secondary or even
university education. Therefore, with respect to further education, young
workers and farmers and their like stood on an equal footing with their older
companions whose opportunities for learning were conditioned by their
employment.
While these new forms of education and training emerged on the margins
of the educational system to provide outsiders opportunities for studies and
development, they occupied a position on the margins in other ways, too. They
were located in the middle ground between traditional education, working life
and civic life and this was manifested by the arrangements as well as by the
contents of education. Learning had to be adapted to the rhythms of
agricultural, industrial or craftsman’s work and the contents should include
practical, theoretical as well as civic dimensions. Furthermore, these studies
seldom provided any formal qualifications comparable to those received at
schools.
In this paper, I shall discuss some institutions and practices of
Finnish and Swedish adult education, especially from the viewpoint of students.
Which kind of people these institutions were aimed at, which kind of students
they actually gathered and, which kind of social factors shaped the
developments? I shall examine these questions by presenting examples ranging in
time from the end of the 19th century to the 1990s and including
cases in liberal, vocational and university adult education. These examples
point out that this kind of education and training operating outside or on the
margins of the school system provided opportunities for new groups: younger and
older workers, rural population and women. Moreover, these institutions often
attracted fairly young people, and sometimes were actually intended for them.
The cases also show how the age structure of students changed in the course of
time, and how institutions aimed at the young turned to a great extent into
adult educational institutions and, sometimes the other way round.
