ESREA Network on the History of Adult Education and Training in Europe
Conveners:
Francoise F. Laot
Maître de conférences
Faculté des sciences sociales et humaines
Université Paris Descartes
45 rue des Saints-Pères
75270 Paris cedex 0647, France
francoise.laot(at)paris5.sorbonne.fr
Kirsi Ahonen
Researcher
Department of History and Philosophy
FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland
kirsi.ahonen(at)uta.fi
Aims of the network:
The network “History of Adult Education and Training in Europe” is continuing and developing further the work of the network “Cross-cultural influences in the history of European adult education”, established in 1991 by Martha Friedenthal-Haase (Tübingen/Leipzig), Stuart Marriot (Leeds), and Barry J. Hake (Leiden). This network has mainly focused on the historical period 1880-1930 and on working-class and women’s movements challenging the provision of adult education by bourgeois and philanthropic organizations.
By 2006, the network had organized seven research seminars and published several books founding on these seminars. After the 2006 seminar in Paris, and the retirement of Barry Hake from his position at University of Leiden, Dr. Francoise F. Laot from Paris Descartes, Professor Anja Heikkinen and researcher Kirsi Ahonen from Tampere decided to suggest the revitalization of the network with new conveners and with an updated and more extensive title. The remodeled network is intended to provide wider perspectives for research on the history of adult education and the ways that history impacts today’s policies and practices, as well as a forum for scholars examining these topics.
The changes in the political and economic environment which have taken place since the establishment of the network in 1991 have made it obvious that it is impossible to study adult education without cross-cultural and comparative perspectives. Economic globalization and political transnationalization have stressed the significance of international influences in the practice and research of adult education. Therefore, the importance of continuing the valuable work of the earlier network is evident. In addition, to understand better the historical developments and the current situation founding on them, the comparative and cross-cultural perspectives need to be extended to encompass a wider time frame.
The significance of cultural and historical approach has also become more evident in the context of globalization and transnationalization. In these processes, it is important to take into account the cultural diversity of European adult education, which the discussions and publications of the network “Cross-cultural influences in the history European adult education” already have revealed. Historical research concerning the emergence and development of adult education in different cultural contexts and concepts relating these activities is a necessary basis for discussing the current state of adult education in Europe.
Furthermore, the changes in the state of adult education and in the research on adult education since the beginning of the 1990s underline the need for revaluing the approaches to historical study on adult education. The field of adult education has expanded and the boundaries between different forms of adult learning and adult education provision are blurred today. These recent developments offer new insights to the history of adult learning by encouraging scholars to perceive the richness and diversity of the field in earlier times as well. And the other way around, historical research helps us to understand the diversified field of current adult education which is the outcome of processes containing numerous initiatives, practices and institutions by different kinds of actors. It is necessary to analyze the ways in which different social groups have been, and still are, involved in educational activities as well as which kind of position in society and which kind of aspirations concerning adult education they have had.
For the above mentioned reasons, the remodeled network discusses the history of adult education and training in its different forms – popular/liberal, vocational, academic, staff development - and in a wide time frame. The network provides possibilities for communication between scholars representing different disciplines: education, history, sociology, information studies etc., and builds bridges between other existing networks e.g. in history of education. Especially welcome are researchers with interest in the making of adult education as a field and theory, and in the cultural formation of its conceptual landscape, in the way things are thought, told and written in particular historical and geographical contexts.
Activities of the network:
The network organizes seminars every second year alone or in co-operation with national networks and encourages participants to attend other national and international conferences.
Historical and cultural factors are commonly ignored in adult education policies, practices and mainstream research. They are also marginal in politics- and in market-driven research in EU-projects, in university departments and institutes. Therefore, the network supports participants to strengthen historical research on adult education in their home locations and the interplay with historical research and research on current state of adult education in general.
The network is using both ESREA¿s as well as other publication forums to disseminate and promote research discussion in history of adult education and training.
Next events:
