Adult Education In Modern Society

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31114, 18 July 1966, Page 17

Adult Education In Modern Society

“It most always be a great disappointment to the true educationalist, that so many who hare access to the opportunities provided until the age of 15 seem to be so anxious to make a complete break with education and resent the idea that somebody is trying to educate them,” Mr A. A. DingwaU. national president of the New Zealand Workers’ Educational Association, told the annual meeting on Saturday.

I “Why is It that during the, years of formal education so jnany young people fail to 1 develop an appetite for education that will help to keep ,them continually aware of i the intellectual and cultural I potential there is within 1 each growing personality andj ithat eduction is one of the, ■ chief instruments which will {ensure that our growth is!; disciplined in such a way that in the process we cant become better citizens?” Mr' Dingwall asked. Mr Dingwall, who was speaking on “Looking For * ward in Adult Education,” said that a political demoo i racy such as ours was depen- ; dent for its growth and de-1 velopment on the quality of 1 iits citizenship as well as its 1 leadership, but the new | < I conditions created by the i affluent society in which we lived had tended to make it ' possible for the individual I and family unit to be so fully < occupied with their own < affairs that the fact that they i were building a political ' democracy did not receive < the consideration it deserved. 1 One of the chief functions ' of adult education was to i open lines of communication among various groups within i the community, and particu- < larly between the specialist < and the layman. i

i “The growth of knowledge over the last decade has been .so great and so rapid that the layman often feels It is quite useless trying to catch up. This problem of communication is as massive as the i increase in the stores of .knowledge. It exists not only between the specialist and the layman but also between many of the specialist groups which perform tbeir {studies and research without any reference one to the other. | “I believe that if we do not deal with this problem of communication we may be guilty of failing this generation and that we will And that the society we inherited has been moving away quietly from under our feet,” he said. Mr Dingwall said that the W.EJK. should be looking forward to the establishment of conditions in which adult education was not regarded as something done by people who wanted a hobby or who did not know how to enjoy themselves by watching television or following amusements. Adult education should be accepted as a part of the continuing educational process necessary in our modern society.