EDUCATING THE ADULT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 47, 20 November 1918, Page 3

EDUCATING THE ADULT

» ■ v RECONSTRUCTION PROPOSALS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY \ A White Taper was issued recently diving the interim report of the Committee on Adult Education, of which the Hosier '■$ Balliol is chairman, presented to Dr. Addison, tha Minister of Reconstruction, tt presents a warm jilea for a generous reconstruction of many of the. conditions of daily work and life in order to provide :he worker, man and woman alike, with fuller opportunities for satisfying the human craving for that "education" which is "a permanent need—the need for knowledge, for self-expression, for the satisfaction of intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual needs, and a fuller life." The report be-gins by showing how some men and women fight against all manner of obstacles to satisfy this craving; how students of finite lowly positions in life have sacrificed their time, their very limited leisure, their wages, holidays, and even their meal times find sleep in quest of the treasure, knowledge. The committee, which is representative of employers, workers, and educationists, have' obtained the views of

I men and women, both students mid | tutors, in all branches of non-vocational adult education throughout the country, ' and the evidence obtained shows that 1 the industrial , and social conditions of to-day are only too often of such a character as to form insuperable obstacles to adult education. A Legal Eight-Hour Day. A number of thuso industrial obstacles are dealt with in detail; excessive h.virs of labour, overtime, the "shift" system, nml night work nro considered from the point oi view of the worker who would also be a student, showing how fatigue and irregularity unfit him for taking advantage of edticir.jnul opportunities.. It is illogical, says the report at this point, to attempt ( to coiin-idei economic conditions purelj; from the point of view of their influence, on adult education, and apart from the other just claims "of the individual to opportunities for a fuller life. We are aware that many complicated considerations must be taken into account. But we arc convinced that ion-; hours and irregular hours of labour, night work, an.l tha "shift" system deprive those who suffer from tlieni of the freedom that all men prize, and the community of the- full service of its Vitusims. / The loss, both to the individual and to soc.ety, from conditions which thwart the desire for seM-expres-sion it is impossible to calculate. The view that the community must suiter economic loss as a result of a shortening ■uf working 'hours is not one to which modern economic scienco lends tiny continuation, and it lias indeed received an impressive practical'refutation from investigations made by the Ministry of Munitions during' the present jvar. In order, therefore, that people may ' have better opportunities of' devoting themselves to interests outside the daily round of toil, the committee recommend a reduction of the working day. They think that the maximum legal working day should not bo more than eight hours, 'and in certain heavy and exhaustive kinds of work even eight hours appears to them too 'long. Also that overtime should be more closely regulated and reduced to.a minimum, and that there should bo special consideration for workers whose hjmrs of labour are irregular; further, that regular night work, except where absolutely essential, should be prohibited by law. Effects of Monotony. Tho report goes on to analyse the oftects of monotonous work, ana to'recommend that alternative forms of employment should be encouraged to counteract its depressing mental cflect. "The nioro industry becomes a matter of machinery the more necessary it becomes to humanise tho working of the industrial system." Pointing to tho fatiguo not only of the muscles but of tho nerves whicli affects heavy manual workers, the com-

luitteo say that, excessive labour regularly pursued "undoubtedly degrades those ivbo follow it," and recommend that particularly exhausting- ■• occupations should be., scheduled anil more closely regulated by law, and that, wherever possible, mechanical devices should be induced so that these heavy, degrading forms of labour should be altogether superseded.

Tha report touches upon the evil effects of unemployment aiid its worries as an obstnole to mind-culture on the part of the worker. No less real an obstacle is the fear of unemployment, and tho committee recommend steps to guarantee the worker a reasonable security of livelihood either by some reorganisation of industry to minimiso fluctuations in the volume of production or by some extension of the principle of insurance. Holidays With Pay,. The need for holidays is strongly urged. In many parts oi the country holidays are Urn exception rather than the cute; in fact, the industrial worker as a general rule, says the report, does not have "holidays," mil "periods of unemployment." That is to say, if he' is allowed to take a holiday lie loses his wages for the period. Tho committee be.lievjb -jthat a reasonable holiday without stoppage of pay would have a beneficial eil'ecL upon tho national lifo, and they think it important that tho present custom among salaried workers of payment during holidays should be extended to wage earners and incorporated in the Factory Act. They thiuk it equally important thai; the weekly half-holiday should be. extended by law to agricultural workers,'and that Sunday workers should bo given a week-day "off" in compensation. y The inaction upon human personality of the conditions of industrial life and of what the committee call "the Industrial Background" are discussed intimately. Though the modern industrial system has sdved the problem of supplying the'material needs of the World's population and largely removed the gross evils of a century ago, when vast masses of tho working population lived in abject misery, nevertheless the subtle mental influences of industrial life—as well as its physical influences—are often, says the report,.' anti-social in their effects. The age of mechanical development, with the growth of large firms as units and of central controlled administration, has effectually degraded the worker until he has become a "mere cog in.., the machine." The degradation of hiiman beings to the position of mere "hands," and the treatment of labour as a commodity to be bought and sold have created a revolt in the minds of a largo soc- ; Hon of the community. The conditions '■ of industrial life have only too often i.outraged human personality. I Foeling of Inferiority. j It is pointed ouit that there is un- .' dotihledly a growing feeling of dissatis- | faction on the part of workpeople with I what they regard as their position of inferiority "due to a forced submission to undesirable conditions and to tho subjection of the worker both to the machine and to the will of others who are vested with an authority in which the workers have no share. One of the most insistent demands made by the rising generation of workers is for what is called "Industrial Control." The subordination of workers to an industrial policy and to regulations for which they avo not themselves responsible they regard as unjustifiable because it is inconsistent with the.rights and obligations which ought to be inherent in membership of any organised group within society. They believe that "industrial democracy" is as essential to individual freedom as "political democracy." •

"It is not possible in our view," adds the report, "to nceept the suggestion that the exigencies of industrial efficiency are of such paramount importance that the development of personality must inevitably and rightly he subordinated to them. Industry exists for man, not man for industry.'and if it,be true, as it is, that modoi'ii industrial conditions have often tended to deprive the worker of the education which ho previously derived from the intrinsic interest offered by his work, " tliat fact makes R doubly important to supplement their deficiencies by a humane and generous educational policy. Adult education, and, indeed, good citizenship depend in no small degree upon

a new orientation of our industrial outlook and activity." Woman and Her House. The report goes on to discuss the impediments against lue development ot mlel.ectual interests which are presented by certain socinl condiiions. 'lhe Jirsl one dealt with is housing. Evidence submitted to the committee was unammojib in condemning existing bousing conditions. These tho committee regard us worse for the woman than for tluviiaji. "With tho extension of the franchise to some six millions of women, it is to be expected that in future women should lake a larger interest in public all airs and that they will turn to a greater extent than in the past to the .acquisition of knowledgo to lit themselves tor thennew responsibilities." To many women under present conditions it will not be possible to find time for these new interests. The diniculties of their many and exacting duties arc "aggravated by cramped, ill-arranged bouses, built wnliott; thought cf convenience, and irnocent of labour-saving devices. A comprehensive schime of housing reform is til vital importance to women, mil upon u will depend in no sir,;"l measure the extent, to which thev will be. able to play their part in public affairs, and to develop intellectual and social interests. The committee consider it important, therefore, thf.t such a housing reform should bo hurried forward, and that ivomcn; who are the persons most concerned, should be included in Hie lionsin?, town planning, public i.callh, and other committed: dealing with this question. Hall for Every Village. The report makes a special plea for reconstruction in the conditions of village life and work. For titer, rural population there ais very special disabilitiesisolation of the individual, class prejudice, long hours, rare holidays, low wages, besides lack of opportunities for social life and for intellectual development. In some cases there is even opposition to their provision. "In Hie majority of cases, where we started rural groups" (says one witness, speaking of a southern county), "Hie principal farmer in the neighbourhood attempted to upset it liy going down and protesting in por.ion." A large number of villages are without any meeting place under public control. The village institutes are few and are usually under private control, not alwavs of an enlightened kind. Church and chapel building are by no means always available for secular purposes. Good village libraries are few rnd far between. The committee recommend the nrovision of a hall under public control in every village, adijing that the general question-of accV.JLidation for educational purposes will be considered in a further report. Inspiration of the War. ' The report concludes with a striking appeal for closer consideration of the lot of the worker and of tho handicaps by which his development is hindered or prevented. "Pew," it says, "can fail to feel the force of inspiration and experience which is being born of the war or to recognise the strength of the new hope with which the people are looking forward to tho future. The nation ardently desires tp order its life in aocordance with those principles of freedom and justice which led so many oi its best sons into the field of battle. . . .

"A new cm Ims como upon us. • We cannot stand still. ,We cannot return to the old ways, the old abuses, the old stupidities. As with our international relations, so with the relations of classes and individuals insido our own nation. If they do not henceforth get better they must needs get worse, and that means moving towards an abyss. It is in our power to make the new era ono of such progress as to repay us even for the immeasurable cost, the price in life lost, in manhood crippled, and in homes desolated. ... To allow this 6pirit to die away unused would bo n waste compared with which the material waste of the war would be a little thing. It would be a national sin, unpardonable in the eyes of posterity. . . . Wo havo •awakened to the splendid qualities that were latent in our people, the rank and file of tho common people, who before the war woro often adjudged to be. decadent, to havo lost their patriotism, their religious faith, and their response, to leadership; we wero liven told they •were physically degenerate. Now wo see what potentialities lie in this people and what a charge lies on us to give these powers full play. . . . W6- owe it to our dead that they shall not have died in vain, but that their sacrifice shall prove'to have created a hotter England for the future generation."

The report is available from H.M. Stationery Office, Imperial House, Kingsway, London.