Contained in:
Book Chapter

Changing Conceptions of Social Purpose Higher Education: The Legacy of University Adult Education

  • Maria Slowey

Lalage Bown was an inspirational adult educator who worked tirelessly to bring university education to people of all ages and sectors of society. For her, this was not a one-way process of ‘knowledge transmission’ but rather a partnership to the mutual benefit of both higher education and society at large. In this chapter I illustrate one university’s engagement with its wider community though a social-historical account of the emergence of Glasgow University’s Department of Adult and Continuing Education – from which Lalage Bown retired as Director in 1992.The chapter then explores different interpretations of ‘university adult education’ in Britain and the wider European context – both conceptually and in practical terms. Finally, the question is posed as to whether the time may have passed for the values and ideals espoused by this tradition? Or whether, alternatively, they are interpreted anew through, for example, universities’ commitments to widening access, social responsibility, the Sustainable Development Goals and other forms of outreach and civic engagement?

  • Keywords:
  • Access,
  • Community Engagement,
  • Extra-mural,
  • Social Purpose,
  • University Adult Education,
+ Show More

Maria Slowey

Dublin City University, Ireland - ORCID: 0000-0002-5063-6491

  1. Barr, Jean. 2008. The Stranger Within: On the Idea of an Educated Public. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
  2. Bell, Robert E., and Malcolm Tight. 1993. Open Universities: A British Tradition?. Buckingham: Open University Press.
  3. Bown, Lalage. 1995. Learning, Liberty and Social Purpose: A Reminder of Our Radical Liberal Inheritance in Adult Education and Some thoughts on Its Future. Fifteenth Albert Mansbridge Memorial Lecture. Leeds: University of Leeds Press.
  4. Bown, Lalage. 2003. “Scenes from a Wandering Scholar.” Scottish Educational Review 35 (2): 148-53.
  5. Bown, Lalage, and Maria Slowey. 1998. “Educational Outreach.” Unpublished joint lecture. 11th Jubilee History Seminar Series: The University and the Wider World 1870-2001. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.
  6. Duke, Chris. 2008. “Trapped in a Local History: Why Did Extramural Fail to Engage in the Era of Engagement?” Journal of Adult and Continuing Education 14 (2): 213-32. DOI: 10.7227/JACE.14.2.8
  7. Evans, Karen, Lee, Wing O., Markowitsch, Jörg and Miriam Zukas, edited by. 2022. Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning. Cham: Springer.
  8. Fieldhouse, Roger, edited by. 1996. A History of Modern British Adult Education. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.
  9. Global Alliance of Age Friendly Universities. 2023. “Age Friendly University (AFU) Global Network.” <https://www.geron.org/programs-services/education-center/age-friendly-university-afu-global-network> (2023-07-01).
  10. Hamilton, Robert, and Maria Slowey. 2005. The Story of DACE: The Department of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Glasgow. Glasgow: Department of Adult and Continuing Education.
  11. Higher Education Authority. 2023. “Access Policy.” <https://hea.ie/policy/access-policy/> (2023-07-01).
  12. Jarvis, Peter. 2009. “Lifelong Learning: A Social Ambiguity.” In The Routledge International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, edited by Peter Jarvis, 9-18. London-New York: Routledge.
  13. Marginson, Simon. 2011. “Equity, Status and Freedom: A Note on Higher Education.” Cambridge Journal of Education 41 (1): 23-36. DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2010.549456
  14. Marginson, Simon, and Lili Yang. 2020. “Higher Education and Public Good in East and West.” Centre for Global Higher Education <https://www.researchcghe.org/publications/research-findings/higher-education-and-public-good-in-east-and-west/> (23-07-01).
  15. Osborne, Michael, and Edward Thomas, edited by. 2003. Lifelong Learning in a Changing Continent. Continuing Education in the Universities of Europe. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.
  16. Peters, Michael. 2001. Neoliberalism, Postmodernity and the Reform of Education in New Zealand. Auckland: University of Auckland Mcmillan Brown Lecture Series.
  17. Schuetze, Hans G., and Maria Slowey, edited by. 2012. Global Perspectives on Higher Education and Lifelong Learners. London-New York: Routledge.
  18. Scott, Drusilla. 1971. A.D. Lindsay: A Biography, with chapters by Tom Lindsay and Dorothy Emmet. Oxford: Blackwell.
  19. Scott, Peter. 2017. “Fair Access- co-option or transformation? Address to Forum for Access and Continuing Education.” Glasgow, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 28 June. <https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/speech-statement/2017/06/fair-access-co-option-or-transformation/documents/commissioners-address-forum-access-continuing-education-pdf/commissioners-address-forum-access-continuing-education-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/Commissioner%2527s%2Baddress%2Bto%2BForum%2Bfor%2BAccess%2Band%2BContinuing%2BEducation.pdf> (2023-07-01).
  20. Shearer, J.G.S. 1976. Town and Gown Together: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Extramural Teaching at the University of Glasgow. Glasgow: Department of Extramural and Adult Education, University of Glasgow.
  21. Slaughter, Sheila, and Gary Rhoades. 2004. Academic Capitalism and the New Economy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  22. Scholars at Risk. 2023. <https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/> (2023-07-01).
  23. Slowey, Maria. 2010. “University Adult Continuing Education: The Extra-Mural Tradition Revisited.” In International Encyclopedia of Education, edited by Penelope Peterson, Eva Baker, and Barry MacGaw, 183-90. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  24. Slowey, Maria. 2022. “Intersectionality: Implications for Research in the Field of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning.” In Third International Handbook of Lifelong Learning, edited by Karen Evans, Wing O. Lee, Jörg Markowitsch, and Miriam Zukas, 97-117. Cham: Springer.
  25. Slowey, Maria, and Tanya Zubrzycki. 2020. Living Longer - Working Longer? Ageing Population and New Workforce Dynamics in Ireland. Dublin: Dublin City University.
  26. Steele, Tom. 1997. The Emergence of Cultural Studies, 1945-65: Cultural Politics, Adult Education and the English Question. London: Lawrence and Wishart.
  27. Taylor, Rchard, Barr Jean, and Tom Steele. 2002. For a Radical Higher Education. After Postmodernism. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.
  28. THE Impact Rankings. 2023. <https://www.timeshighereducation.com/impactrankings> (2023-07-01).
  29. UNESCO. 2022. Higher Education Figures at a Glance. <https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/f_unesco1015_brochure_web_en.pdf> (2023-07-01).
  30. Universities of Sanctuary. 2023. <https://www.iua.ie/ouruniversities/universities-of-sanctuary/> (2023-07-01).
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 41-54
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2023 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Changing Conceptions of Social Purpose Higher Education: The Legacy of University Adult Education

Authors

Maria Slowey

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0253-4.08

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Adult Education and Social Justice: International Perspectives

Editors

Maria Slowey, Heribert Hinzen, Michael Omolewa, Michael Osborne

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

324

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0253-4

ISBN Print

979-12-215-0252-7

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0253-4

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0254-1

Series Title

Studies on Adult Learning and Education

Series ISSN

2704-596X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5781

111

Fulltext
downloads

123

Views

Export Citation

1,348

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,262

Book Chapters

3,790,127

Fulltext
downloads

4,421

Authors

from 924 Research Institutions

of 65 Nations

65

scientific boards

from 348 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,248

Referees

from 380 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations