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Adult education in Sweden: Its administration and organization with implications for adult education in California

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Adult education in Sweden: Its administration and organization with implications for adult education in California

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Content ADULT EDUCATION IN'SWEDEN: ITS ADMINISTRATION
AND ORGANIZATION WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR
ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
A Dissertation
Presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Olaf Herman Tegner
January 1958
UMI Number: DP24062
All rights reserved
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UMT
Dissertation Ruhhsh-tg
UMI DP24062
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T h is dissertation, w ritte n by
OLAF H E R M A N TEGNER
under the d ire ctio n o f his G uidance C o m m itte e ,
and a pp ro ve d by a ll its m em bers, has been p re
sented to and accepted by the F a c u lty o f the
G raduate S chool, in p a r tia l fu lfillm e n t o f re
quirem ents f o r the degree o f
D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
Dean
G uidance C om m ittee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED . . 1
Introduction . ............................ 1
Purpose of the S t u d y .................. 2
Significance of the Problem............ * . 5
Definition of Swedish Adult Education . . . 7
Procedure and Sources of Data......... 8
Review of the literature in the United
States ................................ 9
Review of the literature in Sweden . . . 9
Interviews and visits ................... 10
Organization of the Report............ 13
* II. A BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SWEDISH ADULT
EDUCATION WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR
AREAS OP THE PROGRAM.................. 16
The Land and the People................ 16
Background of Swedish Adult Education . . . 21
The Folk High School................... . . 21 4 .
The Study Circle...................... 26
The Popular Lectures ..................... 30
The Peoples Libraries ..................... 33
III. 'THE FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS.................... 37
What is the Folk High School? ^ . _ ._._ __37_
CHAPTER PAGE
Aim and Structure of the Folk High School . l j . 0
Types of Folk High Schools............ ip3
Plan of Study in the Folk High School . . . l j . 6
How the Folk High Schools Are Financed . . 50
The Organization and Administration of the
Folk High Schools................. 53
IV. THE STUDY CIRCLES . 57
What is a Study Circle?................ 57
Aim and Structure of the Study Circle . . . 5$
Types of Study Circles................ 61
Plan of Study in the Study Circles .... 67
How the Study Circles Are Financed .... 72
The Organization and Administration of
the Study Circles.................... 77
V. THE POPULAR LECTURES.................... 8l
What Are the Popular Lectures?........ 8l
Aim and Structure of the Popular Lectures . 82
Knowledge through intercourse with
educators........................... 83
Systematic education after completion
of regular school.................. 85
Education equivalent to the folk
high school......................... 87
iv
CHAPTER PAGE
An attempt t.o reach all of the people . . 88
Develop interest in further education . , 89
Types of Popular Lectures................. 90
Plan of Study of the Popular Lectures . . . 93
How the Popular Lectures Are Financed . . . 95
Grants for lectures................. 96
Travelling expenses for lecturers .... 97
The Organization and Administration of
the Popular Lectures ................... 97
VI. THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES...........................101
What Are the Peoples Libraries? ...........101
Types of Peoples Libraries............ * . 103
The general public library ....... 103
The central and provincial libraries . . 103
Special types of libraries............... 105>
The study circle library ............... 105
How the Peoples Libraries Are Financed . . 107
The Organization and Administration of
the Peoples Libraries ................... 109
VII. A BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF ADULT
EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA......................112
VIII. ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION OF ADULT
EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA.......... 136
CHAPTER PAGE
State Philosophy............................ 136
Legal Provisions . . . ......................136
Administrative Code Provisions ........... 137
State Supervision of Adult Education . . * 138
Local Administration.................... 139
The separate evening high school , . . . lipO
Separate evening junior colleges .... lipl
Classes for adults ..... ...... ll } . 2
Special day and evening classes in
elementary schools................. . l ij . 2
Approval of Classes....................... 1 iplp
Graduation Requirements......................l l j - 5 >
IX. FINANCING ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA . . . lip8
State Philosophy.........................l!^8
State Aid for Adult Education............l5l
Basic a i d .................................. 15>2
Equalization a i d ..........................153
Local District Support for Adult Education ±5k
Special Funds for Vocational Classes . , . 155
Tuition Charges ............................ 155
X. SELECTION OF TEACHERS FOR ADULT EDUCATION
IN CALIFORNIA................................ 157
The Adult School Teacher ................. 157
vi
CHAPTER PACE
Sources of Teachers......................160
Legal Provisions for Credentials ..... l61j.
Types of Credentials for Teachers of Adults 165
XI. THE 'CURRICULUM FOR ADULT EDUCATION IN
CALIFORNIA.............................. 167
State Philosophy........................167
Objectives of the Program............... 168
Planning the Curriculum................. 169
Legal Provisions . ........................170
Schools taught in the English language . 170
Classes for adults deficient in English . 170
Classes in citizenship ........... 171
Instruction required for graduation
in evening schools, ........ ..... 171
Administrative Code Provisions ........... 171
Evening school and. classes. . for adults . . 172
Forum series.......................... 173
Lecture series........................17^-
Crafts..................... 175>
Trade or industrial subjects......... 175
Range of Offering........................ 176
Business education ....................... 176
History-civic education ................ 177
CHAPTER PAGE
Industrial arts........ . ................. 177
Language and speech a r t s ................. 177
Music and fine arts.................... . 1?8
Science and mathematics....................178
Health and physical education classes • . 178
Ilomemaking education and homemaking
arts and crafts classes................. 179
XII. IMPLICATIONS PROM SWEDISH ADULT EDUCATION
APPLICABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA 182
Introduction ................... ..... 182
Administration and Organization............. 187
The folk high schools......................188
The study circles .. . . . . . . . . . . 188
The popular lectures .......... 192
The state supported temperance lectures . 193
The peoples libraries .................... 196
Methods of Finance..........................197
State subsidies and grants............... 198
County council grants .................... 203
Student f e e s .............................. 205
Private donations ......................... 206
Contributions from the national
popular movements .......... ..... 207
CHAPTER PAGE
Contributions from trade unions........... 207
National lotteries ..................... 208
Curriculum................ ................. 209
Philosophy of curriculum in Swedish
adult education.......................... 209
The folk high schools . . ..................211
The study circles.......................... 213
The popular lectures . ....................216
Selection of Teachers 2l8
The folk high school.................. . 219
The study circles..........................221
The popular lectures .......... 22lf
XIII. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . 226
The Problem and the Procedures ...... 226
Statement of the problem.............. . 226
Significance of the problem............... 226
Procedures and sources of d a t a ........... 226
Findings.....................................227
Adult education in Sweden.............. 227
Adult education in California............. 230
Conclusions.............. ' 233
Administration and organization........... 23k
Methods of finance . 235
CHAPTER PAG-E
Curriculum................................ 236
Selection of teachers .................... 238
Recommendations.............................. 239
Basic concepts............................ 2lf0
Administration and supervision ..... 2i jJ L
Methods of finance ......................2 l \ 2 .
Curriculum........................... 2i }- 3
Selection of teachers 2 l \ i \ .
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................... 2 L } - 6
APPENDIX A. Polk High Schools in Sweden.............2514-
APPENDIX B. Organization of Elementary and
Secondary Schools in- Sweden........... 257
APPENDIX C. National Associations for Study
*
Circle Activities .... ........... 259
APPENDIX D. Subjects Studied in the Swedish
Study Circles, 1953-19514--........... 261
APPENDIX E. The California State Committee on
Adult Education ............ 266
APPENDIX P. Pertinent Provisions of the California
Education Code Relating to the
Administration and>Organization of
Adult Education •• .• •• •• • •• 306
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED
I, INTRODUCTION
Democracy and adult education are in reality only
two manifestations of one and the same thing. In
Sweden, at all events, they are inseparably connected
with each other; they have been mutually conditioned,
they are both inspired by the same ideal of human
values, and they have grown from the same soil. During
the decades in which democracy has established itself
in Sweden, adult education has also come into its own
and taken root. It would be difficult to say which
of the two came first. In some cases adult education
has followed up and rounded off a democratic advance,
in other cases, it has paved the way for such an
advance.
Any evaluation of adult education in Scandinavia
must be made against a backdrop of certain historical
and sociological factors peculiar to these countries.
The factors might be listed as follows: (1) the people
of these countries are intensely patriotic and.highly
individualistic; (2) government is decentralized, and
the community is the focal point of societal strength;
(3) any program of adult education which would thrive
in such an environment, must, of necessity be not only
for the people, but by the people; ( ! ( . ) adult education
was conceived at a time in history when the common
people of these countries were getting their political
rights by legislative enactment. With such roots adult
education has been a genuine and powerful factor in the
development of Scandinavian democracy.^
^Social Welfare in Sweden, Published by the Royal
Swedish Commission, 1939. Reprinted in part by special
permission from the May, 1938, issue of The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Sciences,
Section V, p,
Vol
^**Adult Education in Scandinavia,1 * Adult Education
. 5> No. 1, Autumn, 1954-, -p. 21. -----
Adult education as an integral part of Swedish
education has grown rapidly during the past half century.
Many words of praise have been heaped upon it for its role
in equalizing educational opportunity in Sweden; in raising
the standard of living; in bringing about the rise of
democracy and increasing political participation; and in
positively improving the life and culture of the people.
Very little has been written about the actual organization
of this program, and what, if any, implications it may have
for the organization and administration of adult education
in the United States.
II.. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The first purpose of this study was to analyze the
organization and administration of adult education in
Sweden through an investigation of the four major areas of
adult education. Each of the four areas was analyzed in
the following manner:
1. The Folk High Schools
A. What is the Folk High School?
B. What constitutes the aim and goal of the
Folk High Schools?
C. What types of Folk High Schools are now
in existence?
3
D. What is the plan of study in the Folk
High Schools?
E. How are the Folk High Schools financed?
F. What is the organization of the Folk High
Schools?
G-* What is the administration of the Folk
High Schools?
2. The Study Circles
A. What is the Study Circle?
B. What constitutes the aim and goal of the
Study '•Circles?
C* What types of Study Circles are now in
existence?
D. What is the plan of study in the Study
Circles?
E. How are the Study Circles financed?
F. What is the organization of the Study
Circle s?
G-. What is the administration of the Study
* Circles?
3- The Popular Lectures
A. What are the Popular Lectures?
B* What constitutes the aim and goal of the
Popular Lectures?
C. What types of Popular Lectures are now in
existence?
D. What is the plan of study of the Popular
Lectures?
E. How are the Popular Lectures financed?
F. What is the organization of the Popular
Lectures?
G-. What is the administration of the Popular
/
Lectures?
I } . . The Peoples Libraries
A. What are the Peoples Libraries?
B. What types of Peoples Libraries are now
in existence?
C. How are the Peoples Libraries financed?
D. What is the administration of the Peoples
Libraries?
E. What is the organization of the Peoples
Libraries?
The second purpose of the study was to present a
historical review of adult education in California for the
purpose of laying the groundwork for Part III, which
attempts to analyze various aspects of the adult education
program in California at the present time.
The third purpose of the study was to analyze the
organization*and administration of adult education in
California in certain selected areas. An attempt was made
by critical analysis to determine what implications from
the adult education program are applicable to the adult
education program in California.
The selected areas of adult education in California
were:
1. Administration and organization
2. Finance
Selection of teachers
ip. Curriculum
III. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM
Alexander Caswell Ellis has this to say about adult
education.
Adult education should: (1) make up for defects of
early education; (2) develop late maturing interests
and capacities as those come to functional maturity;
(3) help develop broader appreciation and tastes, so
as to refine and multiply our sources of pleasure; (Ip)
help understand, adjust and readjust to the ever chang
ing physical, social-civic, economic, and spiritual
environment in which we must live; (3) help develop
better mental attitudes and better techniques of think
ing and study; and (6) develop a truer sense of
relative values and to interpret our life experiences
into a wholesome philosophy of life.3
^A. Caswell Ellis, ffIntroduction,1 1 Department of
Superintendance Official Report, 1933? pp.232-53*
6
The above statement seems to be intimately connected
with the aims of adult education in Sweden. The groups of
people who have been extended the right of franchise and
who have been admitted to participation in the government
of the community have felt the need for better intellectual
equipment to enable them to bear their new powers and
responsibilities.
When the subject of adult education is discussed in
Sweden, one has in mind the free and voluntary education
of the people. Adult education is not only free in the
sense that those interested may avail themselves of the
services of the various organizations and institutions, but
also in the sense that those same organizations and insti
tutions are composed of members whose services are likewise
voluntary and without remuneration. This fact is sometimes
referred to in this way: tfAdult education shall be organized
by the people and for the people.H^* The educational activ
ities organized by the communities, social institutions or
schools, are not considered in Sweden to be a component
part of adult education, nor include vocational training
for adults, agricultural information, or various programs
arranged by employers for training their personnel.
^4-Ragnar Lund and Harry Ohlsson, Adult Education in
Sweden (Copenhagen: Det Danske Forlag, 1^50), p. bCh
7
In no other part of the world is there so much
widespread participation in adult education as in Sweden,
where it is estimated that more than half of the population
is active in some form of organized adult education,^ It
is characteristic of Sweden that much of this activity is
initiated by the people themselves and not handed to them
as a form of educational philanthropy.
Adult education has become firmly established in
Swedish national life during the last few decades, A free
democracy must be maintained by knowledge, together with a
sense of responsibility for solving problems which concern
all the citizens. Discerning men and women in Sweden have
always been aware of this fact. As early as 1868, Adolf
Hedin, a prominent Swedish liberal politician, declared:
To those who complain of the dangers of democracy
and who are so terrified of these dangers, we can
recommend only one means to avoid these dangers. This
means is infallible, and its name is Popular Educa
tion.6
IV. DEFINITION OP SWEDISH ADULT EDUCATION
The Swedish term for adult education is l f l folk-
bildningsarbete.f , Adult education, which refers to
^Interview in August, 1955, with Sven-Arne Stahre,
Head of the Swedish ABP (Workers Educational Association),
°Social Welfare in Sweden, op. cit., p, 6.
8
instruction or to study arranged for and carried on by
adult persons, does not adequately translate the Swedish
term. Folkbildningsarbete conveys a much larger meaning.
In the first place, t f bildningf ! implies cultivation, .not
merely the pursuit of an intellectual study. In the second
place, ”folkbildning? f to the Swedish people, implies a
study which is primarily designed to meet the needs of the
entire population. There was a time in Sweden when educa
tion was available only to the upper classes and adult
education as such was what was donated to the masses by
the rich, folkbildningsarbete” means then the cultivation
of knowledge and .the formation of character for all the
people.
V. PROCEDURE AND SOURCES OF DATA
Interest In the free and voluntary adult education
movement *in Sweden was first aroused when the writer spent
about thirty days in Sweden during 195>i|-. A number of
visits were made to folk high schools and study circles,
as well as interviews with Mr. Ernst Michanek, the Social
Secretary of Sweden, and Dr. Sven Blomquist, of the
University of Stockholm.
The data for this investigation were procured from
the following sources:
Review of the Literature in the United States
The literature in the United States on education in
Sweden was found to be extremely limited. Furthermore,
the literature available is chiefly concerned with Swedish
public education, and makes only brief mention of the free
and voluntary education movement. Most textbooks, as well
as educational journals, describe the various facets of
Swedish adult education, rather than attempting to explain
its organization and administration.
As part of this study, the literature has been
examined at a number of university libraries, as well as
in the main public libraries of Los Angeles, Chicago and
Hew York. The available literature of the Swedish American
Foundation in Hew York has also been examined.
Review of the Literature in Sweden
Part of this investigation, including a six weeks
visit in Sweden during 1955jwas an attempt to find written
material describing the adult education movement. . Most of
the literature in Sweden is in pamphlet form and tends to
describe the various phases of adult education, rather than
to give an organized picture of it. The one exception is
the brief description written by Mr. Ragnar Lund, present
head of the Adult Division, of the Swedish Board of
Education. This description was made in a volume describing
10
adult education in all of Scandinavia, which was written
as an educational report in 1950 for UNESCO. During the
summer of 19559 the following Scandinavian libraries were
visited and the literature examined:
1.
Stockholm State Library
2. University of Stockholm Library
3.
Gothenburg State Library
Ip.
Gothenburg University Library
5.
Lund State Library
6. Lund University Library
7.
Uppsala State Library
8. Uppsala University Library
9.
Karlstad State Library
10. Orebro State Library
11.
Helsingborg State Library
12. Oslo (Norway) State Library
13-
t
Copenhagen (Denmark) State Library
Main City Library of London
In addition to the above mentioned libraries, the
literature was examined at Swedish ABF (Workers* Education
al Association) Library in Stockholm, and the library of
the Swedish Institute in Stockholm.
Interviews and Visits
Interviews were held with Mr, Ragnar Lund, present
head of the Adult Education Division, of the Swedish Board
of Education, and Mr. Arthur Ohlsson, head of the Swedish
Correspondence School. Both of these men were very help
ful in explaining the various areas of the free and
voluntary education movement, and made valuable suggestions
as to other men to be contacted and libraries to be visited.
The most valuable contact made was with Mr. Sven-
Arne Stahre, head of the Swedish ABF (Workers* Educational
Association). In a number of visits with him, as well as
the privilege of attending an educational conference with
him at Sanga-Saby, the Farmers School for Cooperative
Education, much valuable information was obtained.
A great deal of information was also obtained from
Dr. Sven Blomquist, of the University of Stockholm; Mr.
Ernst Michanek, the Social Secretary of Sweden; and Dr.
Haakon Tornebohm, of the University of G-othenburg. Through
the cooperation of these men, it was possible to gain entry
Into the universities at Bund and Uppsala, as well as to
the various libraries mentioned earlier in this section.
The opportunity also presented Itself to visit the
offices of UNESCO in Paris, where Dr. Sven-Arne Stahre is
now the head of the adult education division. Dr. Stahre
was very cooperative, and discussed with the writer many
of the problems encountered In Part I of this study.
It was deemed significant that all the men
12
interviewed agreed that there were no specific studies, as
such* concerning adult education in Sweden, and that the
project had to be pieced together from various sources of
information. All of the men interviewed were cooperative
and felt that the study was worthwhile.
In regard to the study of the organization and
administration of adult education in California, a number
of the outstanding leaders in the field were interviewed.
One of the most helpful interviews in reference to
the overall approach to the study of adult education in
California was with Dr. R. Bruce Walter, Chief Deputy
Superintendent of Los Angeles County; Dr. Reuben Palm,
Director of Secondary Education, Los Angeles County; and
Mr. Robert N. Troutman, Consultant in Secondary Education,
Los Angeles County.
Advice as to the direction of the study was also
received from Mr, E. Manfred Evans, Assistant Superinten
dent in charge of Adult Education, Los Angeles City Schools;
and Mr. Robert K. Lloyde, Principal of the Centinela
Evening Adult School.
The study also included two visits to the Department
of Adult Education in Sacramento, California, and inter
views with Mr. Milton Babitz, and Mr. Lawrence Koehler,.
Consultants in Adult Education. Mr. Babitz was especially
13
helpful in the search for certain materials needed regard
ing adult education in California.
A number of interviews were also held with Mr.
Theodore R. Maurer, Principal of the Downey Evening High
School, including visits to a number of classes in the
Downey Adult School program.
VI, ORGANIZATION OP THE REPORT
Part I of this study deals with an analysis of the
organization and administration of adult education in
Sweden and includes the first six chapters of the disserta
tion.
Chapter I includes a statement of the problem, its
significance and purpose. It also includes a definition
of Swedish Adult Education, and the procedures and sources
of data, as well as explaining the research methodology of
the study.
Chapter II, , f A Brief Historical Review of Swedish
Adult Education with an Analysis of the Major Areas of the
Problem,, f presents the backgrounds of the adult education
movement in Sweden, and traces the early history of the
four major areas of the adult education movement in Sweden.
Chapter III, , f The Polk High Schools"; Chapter IV,
"The Study Circles"; Chapter V, "The Popular Lectures"; and
Ik
Chapter VI, ftThe Peoples Libraries,” present a detailed
examination of the composition of these four major areas
of adult education in Sweden.
Part II of this study deals with the background of
adult education in California, and Chapter VII, ”A Brief
Historical Review of Adult Education in California,” traces
the history of the movement, including some of the early
leaders, the more important legislation pertaining to adult
education, and the status of adult education in California
at the present time.
Part III of this study deals with an analysis of
adult education in California from the standpoint of (1)
administration and organization, (2) finance, (3) selection
of teachers, and ( I f . ) curriculum.
Chapter VIII, "Administration and Organization of
Adult Education in California,” deals with the legal basis
for adulteducation in California, and illustrates the
administration of adult education from both the state and
local level.
Chapter IX, "Financing Adult Education in California”
explains how the adult education program is being financed
at the present time, showing the financial role played by
both the state and the local districts.
Chapter X, "Selection of Teachers for Adult Education
15
in California,1 1 discusses the type of teacher needed in
adult education, the sources of teachers, and the cre
dentials needed in the adult program.
Chapter XI, ”The Curriculum for Adult Education in
California,” deals with the program objectives, how it is
planned, legal and administrative code provisions, and
the curricular offering in California.
Chapter XII, "Implications from Swedish Adult
Education Applicable to Adult Education in California,”
attempts to show by critical analysis the implications
which may be drawn from the adult education program in
Sweden applicable to the adult education program of
California. The four major areas of the Swedish program
are analyzed in the light of the four problem areas of
the adult education program in California.
Chapter XIII, ffSummary, Conclusions, and
Recommendations,1 1 presents a summary of the findings,
the conclusions, and^ the recommendations of the study.
CHAPTER II
A.BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SWEDISH ADULT
EDUCATION WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR
AREAS OF THE PROGRAM
I. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
The Swedish people have participated more extensive
ly in the material, cultural and political progress of
their country during the past few decades than peoples
of most other countries. If recognition is to be given
for these social advancements, that credit would be due
a number of political parties and organizations, the
natural aptitude of the Swedes themselves, and to the
great progress they have made in self-education. The
results thus far achieved have brought the country to a
favorable position among the nations of Europe.**"
The people of Sweden once cultivated the arts of
war. Their Viking ships rode the coastal waters of the
Baltic and the North Sea, and even the eastern shores of
the Atlantic knew the fury of these fighting men of the
North. Some of them carved domains out of the lands later
- ^Social Sweden, Published by the Social Welfare
Board, Stockholm, Sweden, 1939, p. l l| .
17
known as Russia, while others brought their trading ships
into the Black Sea* Some became soldiers under the Eastern
Roman emperors at Constantinople.
Centuries later the military genius of Gustavus
Adolphus and his generals laid the foundation for con
quests which for a brief time made Sweden one of the great
powers of Europe, until the disastrous campaigns of
Charles XII, originally defensive, failed to preserve this
empire. The century of external readjustment and internal
strife which followed was ended by a war with Napoleon1 s
ally, Russia, and the loss of Finland, or roughly a third
of the empire. Since then the Swedes have enjoyed unin
terrupted internal and external peace for more than ll j. 0
years.
A new Sweden has emerged since then. During the
last century and a quarter it has become a nation which
lives on the principles of peace. A deeply rooted love
i
of independence and freedom has created a democratic system
of government second to none in the world. The spread of
universal education, the rise of the common man to power,
and the growth of a firm belief in the right of all to
live free from the burdens of want and ill-health, have
found expression in social reforms which have aroused
admiration far beyond the boundaries of Sweden.
18
Although the last two world wars seriously dislo
cated the Swedish .economy and the life of the people, the
Swedes were able to keep intact and develop their social
and political organization.
The industrial revolution, which occurred in
Sweden during the second half of the 19th century,
brought about an important change in the social structure.
As a consequence of the prolonged peace and stable econom
ic conditions, this social conversion took place in a
peaceful manner, and the Swedes have been able to base
their modern system of government on ancient democratic
traditions.
Since the dawn of history, the Swedes have enjoyed
a freer and more independent position than anywhere else,
2
with the possible exception of Switzerland. Since the
Middle Ages, the peasant proprietors have been represented
on the national Diet and by constitutional reforms of the
last century, their influence on national affairs con
tinued. to increase.
The stubborn struggle of the common people against
the supremacy of the privileged classes has resulted in a
number of partial reforms due to the progress of liberal
%ocial Sx-jeden, op. cit., p. 8.
19
political ideas. The struggle never assumed any revolu
tionary aspects, but not until the end of the first world
war were the last vestiges of resistance broken. The
final breakthrough of modern democracy in Sweden can
therefore be regarded as beginning in 1918.
Prom this it may be seen that Sweden, in addition
to economic progress and external peace, has also enjoyed,
the advantage of having been able to erect a modern
structure of democratic government without violent up
heavals. In the formal sense, the present form of
government is still based on the Constitution of 1809*
However, by successive amendments and new constitutional
practices, the substance of the constitutional law has
been changed to conform with the modern conception of
democratic government, based on freedom of.the press,
freedom of expression, freedom of association, common
■3
franchise, parliamentarism, and local self-government.
The rise and growth during the past century of
extensive popular movements or organizations with ideal
istic, political or economic aims, or with a view to
^Det Fria Qch Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet (Free
and Voluntary Adult Education), Statens offentliga
Utredningar, 19^4-6; 68, Ecklesiastikdepartmentet.
(Stockholm, Sweden: K. I*. Beckmans Boktryckeri), pp.
22—2.E>•
20
promoting the interests of trades and professions have
from an ideological point of view also contributed to the
firm establishment and further development of the tra
ditionally Swedish democratic attitude toward the problems
of government, public welfare and public education.
The political ascendancy of the people has been a
slow but steady climb* The struggle between employers
and workers has been extensive. Along with its political
struggle, the working class has built up a trade union
movement which has great scope and power, and has proved
itself very capable of vigorously asserting the interests
of the people*
Thus it is seen that Swedish society is interwoven
with organizations of widely divergent and frequently
contrary aims. Like many other modern countries, Sweden
is confronted with the necessity of incorporating many
organizations in the constitutional structure of demo
cratic government. By the workers1 determined efforts
to assert themselves socially and politically, class
distinctions in Swedish society have been considerably
reduced during the past fifty years. Social welfare
legislation, the expansion of social services, and adult
education have been the principal links in this develop-
raent.-
21
II. BACKGROUND OF SWEDISH ADULT EDUCATION
The modest beginnings of an adult education move
ment in Sweden can be traced to the 18th century when
public libraries were established by private initiative
in a number of towns, and at the end of the century, in
a few rural communities. In the 1830* s a more organized
library movement appeared. Educational circles flourished
briefly among the craftsmen of the 1814: 01 s and 1850*3.
The activities of these early study circles mainly cen
tered on lectures and library work.
However, in its modern sense, adult education began
in the l860*s in connection with the rise of the farming
class to political power. The movement, which was largely
directed toward satisfying the educational needs of the
rural population, centered in the folk high schools, which
were founded on the Danish prototype. The libraries also
underwent a rapid growth, and owing largely to the efforts
of the elementary school inspectors, libraries were
established in more than half of the Swedish parishes
during this decade.
After 1880, the rapid growth of industrialization
gave a new character to adult education. The efforts were
now focused mainly on the urban industrial workers, and
the movement became filled with the radical currents
22
typical of the cultural life of the times. The initiative
for the new adult education movement was in part taken by
representatives of the educated classes, but the worker*s
organizations were also able to provide some of the
necessary leadership. An educational pioneering work of
outstanding importance during these decades was performed
by the temperance organizations, which are still among the
leaders in the field.
The educational activities of the labor movement
were consolidated in 1912 with the founding of the Workers
Educational Association (Arbetarnas Bildningsforbuhd,
ABF).^ Today most political, religious, and trade union
organizations or movements maintain their own independent
educational activities, although coordination is fur
nished by special agencies on the national level.
Public aid to adult education was first authorized
by a provision in the Public Elementary Act of I8I 4.2 order
ing the local clergy to encourage the establishment of
parish libraries. The libraries legislation of 1912
increased the state grants to public libraries and also
4ABF * S Stalining I Arbetarrorelsen Och Samhallet
(The Position of the WorlFers Educational Association and
Its Relation to the Community). Published by the Workers
Educational Association (Stockholm, Sweden: AB
Willhelmssons Boktryckeri, 19i+9), p. 7.
23
extended aid to school and study circle libraries.
Since 19i-|-7, under certain conditions, state grants are
made for some specified costs of study circle activities.
Subsidies are also available from local and provincial
authorities.
If closer consideration is given to the facts of
modern Swedish adult education, it is found that all
branches of the activity, i.e., the folk high schools,
the study circles, the popular lectures and the peoples
libraries, have developed simultaneously with the emergence
of formerly retarded groups of the population and their
claim for a share in the benefits of the community. The
origin and development of modern adult education in Sweden
is thus intimately connected with the changes in economic,
social, and political conditions which have affected the
Swedish social system since the beginning of the nineteenth
century. As has already been pointed out, the different
branches of adult education have thus developed parallel
with the progressive democratization of the Swedish social
system; and the big national popular movements which have
become powerful driving forces not only socially and
politically but also educationally. The new demands
which have arisen have required new methods of study,
which have been created by the movements themselves.
As stated earlier, the work of adult education in
Sweden has in essence developed under four different
branches, which grew out one after another and did not
until later times begin to enter into cooperation with
each other. These four branches are the folk high schools,
the study circles, the popular lectures, and the peoples
libraries.
III. THE POLK HIGH SCHOOL
The Swedish folk high schools were introduced into
Sweden around 1863, about the period of their most rapid
£
growth in Denmark. They were not the outgrowth in
Sweden of any great national suffering nor response to
any general aspiration. They were a practical method of
educating the peasantry and preparing them for the equal
suffrage they acquired in 1866.
Although many of the early leaders were profoundly
stirred by the spiritual ideal of the Danish schools, and
the schools were given in consequence a more religious
character than was at first intended, the philosophy of
Grundtvig never made a deep impression on Swedish thought.
In the i8601s Sweden was mainly a country of
farmers like Denmark, and had already for a decade or more
^Olive D. Campbell, The Danish Folk School (New
York: Cornell University Press,19/ 4 . 8), p. 61.
had a national school in every commune, with compulsory
education for the child between six and twelve. In the
year i860, the farmers obtained considerably increased
influence in public concerns. Communal self-government
was introduced, by which the inhabitants of a commune
obtained the right of determining its own affairs, partly
in assemblies of all the inhabitants entitled to vote
and partly to the communal committees which were attached
to these assemblies. At the same time, the composition
of the national representation was changed. It had
previously consisted of four estates: the Nobility, the
Priests, the Burghers, and the Farmers, all having the
same privileges. Thus the farmers, although they con
stituted the majority of the population, did not have the
great political influence possessed by the other estates.
By the Reform of l86f>, the Riksdag was divided into two
chambers with equal power, and in the second chamber, the
Z
farmers soon took a leading position.0 On the accomplish*
ment of these changes in the constitution and government
of the country, the farmers felt the need of acquiring a
better general education. In combination with a tradi
tional interest in education which had existed in many
z
°B. J. Hovde, The Scandinavian Countries (Ithaca,
New York: Cornell University Press, 19l{-8), p. 511.
26
quarters among the free and independent Swedish farmers
for many years, the idea of the Danish Folk High School
took hold and soon became a reality.
It was one of the leaders of the country party,
Ola Andersson, who was the first to bring forward pro
posals for the institution of a folk high school, and in
the following year, 1868, the People1 s High School of
Hvilan came into being in the neighborhood of Malmo. The
first President of the folk high school at Hvilan was Dr,
Leonard Holmstrom, who later became a great leader in
the movement to establish folk high schools throughout
Sweden, From 1868 to 1880, twenty-three schools were
founded. From 1880 to 1900, this number had increased
to twenty-nine; it had risen to fifty-two by 1922, and
currently (1955) there are seventy-one folk high schools
7
in Sweden,
IV. THE STUDY CIRCLE
The educational product known as the study circle
has actually undergone two distinct phases in Sweden.
The first idea of the study circle, which arrived in
?Gustaf Sivgard, Skolor Och Utbildningsvagar
(Schools and Ways of Knowledge) (Stockholm, Sweden; K. L.
Beckmans Boktryckeri, 195k-)» PP* 189-90.
27
Sweden during the middle of the 19th century, was short
lived, but it was replaced by a modern study circle around
the turn of the 20th century, which has become a strong
factor in Swedish education.
The first study circle was probably formed in
Stockholm in lQl\$ by a senior journeyman of the Tailor1 s
Guild, a journeyman tailor and poor-house physician,
Johan Elliman. The first meeting of the circle was
attended by a senior journeyman tailor, four journeyman .
tailors, a journeyman goldsmith, a lieutenant, a soldier,
a school teacher, a student, a grocer, and a doctor of
medicine. It was Johan Elliman, the founder of the group,
who gave the name 1 1 study circle1 1 to the meeting of these
men. The aim was education and the pupils literally
gathered around the teacher in a circle to learn. In the
regulations of the circle the aim was stated in the fol
lowing way:
To provide a possibility for male persons in the
capital [Stockholm], otherwise assiduously following
urban pursuits, to enjoy profitable instruction, and
according to our means to acquire a collection of ~
books which the members may borrow for a small fee.
The little group wrote to the Governor of
Stockholm and had itself registered as a corporation
®Det Pria Och Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet, op.
ext., p. 16.
28
aiming to impart knowledge which might be useful for
members of the community and arouse interest in the
nnobler occupations in leisure hours.t f < ^
The study circle soon became something of a public
institution, holding its annual meetings in the Stockholm
Stock Exchange, with an attendance of up to a thousand
persons, and it even received a number of contributions
from the King. The activities of the circle were very
comprehensive, including lectures, tours, art exhibitions,
and musical evenings. The example of the Stockholm study
circle was followed by other cities of Sweden, the most
prominent being the G-othenburg study circle which was
formed in l8l j _ 7.
Unfortunately, this intensive form of study was
short-lived, and the Stockholm study circle was disbanded
in 1861, and most of the others disappeared shortly
afterwards.
The idea for the study circle was reborn when the
Good Templars Order (I.O.G.T.) first seriously took up
the idea of creating a general popular educational organ
ization for its members. From 1895 to 1902, experiments
were carried on in the form of elementary evening school
^Hagnar Lund and Harry Ohlsson, Adult Education in
Sweden (Copenhagen: Det Danske Forlag, 1950), pp.' 12* 13.
29
courses in the usual school subjects and on the temperance
questions. It was from this idea that the idea of the
new study circle came about. Oscar Olsson, one of the
evening school teachers in the city of Lund, offered a
suggestion for an entirely new organization of popular
education, which was approved in the spring of 1902, first
by the District Lodge at Skane, and afterwards by the
Grand Lodge of Sweden.
The foundations were thus laid for the modern study
circle movement in Lund in September of the same year.
From the very beginning the new educational organ
ization aimed consciously at being a general popular
movement. Although it began as a temperance organization,
it never had any intention of limiting its activities to
enlightenment on the temperance questions or even on
social questions in general.
Its purpose was to become an organization for
general culture, for the development of personality as
well as of a sense of civic responsibility. The spirit
of the movement can be summed up by a statement of its
founder, Oscar Olsson, in the following words:
-^Oscar Olsson, Folkbildning Och Sjalvuppforstran
(Adult Education and Self Culture) (Stockholm, Sweden:
Arbetarnas Bildningsforbunds Skriftserie, 1923), pp*
61-62.
30
Without the living force which is Infused Into the
special social and educational idea by its connection
with the vision of a life as a whole, the general
educational and social interest, the danger always
threatens of that devastating sectarianism, that
small-minded narrowness, which weakens that mainspring
of life.il
Although the structural organization of the study
circle has changed considerably since 1902, the basic
purpose of the study circle has not changed. The study
circle still represents the meeting of a group of inter-
ested people, who come together voluntarily to discuss
common problems for the betterment of their society.
V. POPULAR LECTURES
The first public lectures of popular education
appear to have been organized in connection with the folk
high schools. The 1880* s saw the beginning of the modern
temperance movements, which developed their propaganda by
means of lectures which came to be of great importance
in arousing the interest of the masses on general ques
tions. A movement began at the same .time for providing
lectures with no other object than that of supplying in
formation on subjects of general education.
The Workers1 Institute of Stockholm (Stockholms
11Ibid., p. 63
31
Arbetarinstitut) took the lead in this respect. This
organization was founded in the year i860 on the initia
tive of Dr* Anton Nystrom, and its aim was:
To stand outside all political agitation, and be
concerned with general scientific and humanistic
culture. The education which was there imparted was
to stand in agreement with the culture of the day;
free investigation was to be its foundation, and its
aim was to be a sound development based on order,^
The institute sought to develop independent and
reasoned opinions, together with reverence for the
seriousness of life, thus combating drunkenness, etc. It
sought further to promote a peaceful solution of the great
questions of the day, as well as to forestall the conflicts
and crises arising among the people.
The institute, however, had to overcome serious
opposition. This came in the main from conservative
circles, although it was also met with in the ranks of
the workers themselves. A collection of funds had made
it possible to open the institute, but when the Stockholm
Corporation refused an application for a grant of money,
personal support from a young labor leader, Hjalmar
Branting, enabled it to carry on its activities. In
1885, a government grant was made, and since 1895, the
institute has also been receiving a subsidy from the
^ f , The Stockholm Workers* Institute,” The World
Association for Adult Education, Bulletin XIV, November,
1922., pp.. 6-7.
Stockholm City Corporation.
The work of the Workers* Institute has from the
beginning taken the form of lectures and courses, and
through their collaboration a number of prominent
scientists have made a comprehensive and valuable con
tribution to Swedish adult education. Anton Nystrom was
succeeded by Professor Knut Kjellberg, one of the most
prominent leaders of the idea of adult education in
Sweden.
Study circles and labor unions have both found the
lecture to be a highly effective tool, and have founded a
number of lecturing societies. About one hundred such
societies had been established before the year 1900.
The increasing number of lecturing societies and
of lectures delivered at folk high schools and workers
institutes, together with the desire to contribute to the
work of popular education, gave rise to the need for
centers to which applications could be submitted, and
which could act as mediators between lecturers and
audiences. A proposal was sent to the university town
of Lund, and in 1898 there was formed the Lund Center for
Popular Scientific Lectures.
The Lund Center was taken as the model for the West
Sweden Educational Association in Gothenburg, which was
33
founded in 1901, and for the Central Association for
Popular Lectures (later named the Adult Educational
Association) in Stockholm, which was established in 1902,
VI. THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES
The oldest branch of adult education in Sweden is
the libraries. It would seem that the first parish
library intended for the public was in the parish of
Lekeryd, near the town of Huskvarna. The library was
first mentioned in 1800.^
Interest in the public library (folkbibliotek) in
Sweden has always gone hand in hand with the increasing
interest in elementary education* In the 1830* s there
was founded a Society for the Diffusion of Useful
Knowledge (Sallskapet for Uyttiga Kunskapers Sprindande),
which began to publish reading matter for the people in
I83I 4 - , and during the following decade, parish libraries
were founded in 38 out of the l \ 2 . pastorates of the
diocese.^
The establishment of parish libraries was expressly
•^kimcL and Ohlsson, oj). cit., pp. 9-10.
llptrphe Library Law of 1912,” The World Association
for Adult Education, Bulletin XV, February, 1923* PP.
^10.
laid down in the Elementary School Regulations of I8I 4 . 2.
In 1868, there were 1,1^37 such libraries in Sweden. In
the report of the committee which led to the Elementary
School Statutes of 181^2, emphasis was laid on the founda
tion of parish libraries, which are referred to as a
necessary development of school instruction.^^ The clause
in the regulations giving the clergy the duty of encour
aging the foundation of parish libraries became, however,
a dead letter, and interest in the public library died
away during the following years. The powerful development
of parish libraries reflects the advance of the peasant
class to political influence, culminating in the Repre
sentation Reform of 1866, which gave the rural population
possibilities to exercise political influence. The parish
libraries illustrate an example of the relation between
educational work and social and political developments,
although this connection has not always had this simple
form of cause and effect. The reason that interest in
the peoples libraries declined was because they were so
localized in the rural areas, and the fact that the
libraries could not keep pace with the times with respect
to the acquisition of new books.
35
During the first, decade of the 20th century,
interest in public libraries become more general, partly
because the development took place in certain of the
larger towns and partly because some of the lecture
associations provided themselves with libraries. Another
extremely important factor was the advance of the labor
movement and other broad modern movements.
In 1905* the Riksdag passed the Library Law, which
provided for the first time that the public library be
entitled to assistance from the state. Although the
assistance was quite small, it matched the money of the
local authorities for the purchase of new books.
Many of the larger towns, which now began to
acquire libraries of some size, did not generally seek
assistance from the state. The oldest and largest was
the Dickson Library in Gothenburg, which was founded as
1 f .
a result of a donation.*1 * A new law was passed in 1912
which created new and better conditions for the libraries.
The study circle movement, which was developing at this
time, created a new type of library, the study circle
libraries, which in general are small libraries for the
-^%jolk Och Skolbibliotek (Peoples and School
Libraries), Bulletin of the State Ecklesiastickdeparte-
mentet (Stockholm, Sweden, 191-1-9), pp. 9-10.
study circles. They have become of very great importance
because they are connected with and cooperate with another
form of study, but they are not exclusively intended for
the study circle members, but are open to the general
public•
The library regulations now in force were deter
mined in 1930, when state grants were further improved,
and central libraries were established in each county.
The object of the central library organization is at
present being extended and has already shown itself to be
of great importance in the counties where this work has
begun.
CHAPTER III
THE POLK HIGH SCHOOLS
I. WHAT IS THE FOLK HIGH SCHOOL?
The folk high school is a characteristic institution
of Scandinavia. Its development in Sweden may be seen in
clear relation to important social changes* As previously
noted in Chapter II, many political reforms in the late
19th century advanced the farmers to greater influence in
the communal administration in the Riksdag (Swedish
Parliament). These developments demanded greater insights
of the new persons in authority, and from this need was
born the first folk high schools. Although the folk high
schools were originally a Danish idea, they were soon
transplanted in Sweden. It is to be noted, however, that
the folk high schools in Sweden have follox^ed independent
lines, quite different from the Danish pattern. For
example, there has been a closer association with the
universities in Sweden than has been seen in Denmark. The
Swedish folk high schools have also had more success in
accomplishing the idea of becoming a citizens school for
all the people without emphasis on sect with respect to
social, religious or political groups.
From the_beginning, the organization of the folk
high schools has not been stereotyped. Some have been
founded by local associations of guarantors on the
individual initiative of one or two enthusiasts, others
by County Councils, and at the beginning a few were
privately owned. This is no longer the case and each folk
high school now has its Board of Governors, elected from
various sources including generally some Council and State
representatives, which is responsible for the finances of
the school, its staffing and the allocation of scholar
ships. The Principal has a very free hand in the operation
and administration of the folk high school and consequently
• i
assumes full responsibility.
At first the folk high schools had only the winter
months for their sessions, but this proved insufficient
for a thorough course of instruction and in order to
cater to those who would and could extend their study,
second-year courses were arranged, and in some cases a
general course with emphasis on the social sciences was
arranged, while in other cases agricultural courses were
arranged. Thus the agricultural folk high schools came
into being, sharing the same principal and buildings as
the folk high schools. In places this latter arrangement
proved unworkable and a better scheme seemed to be for a
• * - F . Margaret Forster, School for Life (London:
Bafer and Bafer Limited, 19WT1 pp7 23-2lj^
39
two-year course with the practical work in the intervening
summer. Technical schools and independent agricultural
schools grew in that way from the folk high schools and
each benefited in the end from the creation of the other.
Students now frequently go from a course at the folk high
school to a vocational, technical, or agricultural school.
The Swedish folk high schools today operate gener
ally upon courses for both male and female students from
October to April. In addition to this, the majority of
the schools also arrange special summer course for
women. The folk high schools are situated in the rural
areas and are owned and operated by the County Councils,
or by special societies of the popular movements.
Most of the schools are boarding schools where the
students live together and have their meals together.
As the students live with the teachers, they spend a
great deal of time together, even after school hours. A
Swedish folk high school forms a community of its own
where both the external and internal conditions make it
a citizens school in which the students are educated in
good citizenship, cooperation, and adaptation to life.
The folk high schools often become centers for the
cultural life of the surrounding community. Many times
the initiative of the folk high schools has resulted in
movement schools, or traveling folk high school courses,
which are now found in practically all of the counties.
Such courses are like a folk high school in miniature,
because of the continuous instruction, and the fact that
a folk high school teacher conducts the course.
II. AIM AND STRUCTURE OP THE
FOLK HIGH SCHOOL
The People*s Folk High School is a teaching insti
tution whose aim is that adult young men and women
may receive a general civic education in which essen
tial weight is to be laid on rousing them to personal
thought and moral force, on instruction in humanistic
and scientific subjects, with the special object of
giving the pupils a knowledge of their own country,
its historic development and the present conditions
of society in it, its moral and material resources,
with the further object of communicating to them the
knowledge which will help them towards vigorous and
effective work on the tasks which await them in
life.2
Although the above statement was made in 1922, it
still constitutes the purpose of the Swedish folk high
school. The folk high school aims at being a school
giving young adults civic education ftin which essential
importance shall be laid upon teaching which inspires and
n:The Peoples High School,1 1 The World Assoelation
for Adult Education, Bulletin XIV, November, 1922, p. 3*
1+1
fosters personal thinking and integrity of character.113
The seven or eight thousand students who annually attend
the Swedish folk high schools, most of them in the most
receptive years of their lives, 18 to 25> receive impulses
which deeply impress their personal development. Accord
ing to Sven-Arne Stahre, many of the best of the now
active leaders in the peoples cultural and political
movements have received their training and direction in
a folk high school.^*
Prom the very first beginning of the folk high
schools, their essential purpose was strongly emphasized
to be the development of personality and the civic sense,
although even more than in Denmark, stress was laid on
education in practical subjects, i.e., elementary instruc
tion in mathematics, Swedish, instruction in agriculture,
and so forth.
The folk high schools aim at the development of
democracy in many ways. Their aim is citizenship, itfhich
is extremely important in the development of a democratic
state. In teaching citizenship, the schools attempt to
^Gunnar Hirdman, Kulturell Demokrati (Cultural
Democracy) (Stockholm, Sweden: Arbetarnas Bildningsforbund
Och Tidens Forlag, 1950), p. 12.
^-Interview in August, 1955* with Sven-Arne Stahre,
Head of the Swedish ABP (Workers Educational Association).
k2
instill in the students the need for political participa
tion on both the local and national level*
The sense of cooperativeness is strong in the aim
of the folk high school# The actual living together at
the school, the friendly feeling between the teachers and
the students, and the free exchange of ideas between
representatives of the different political parties, all
develop within the student the idea of democratic living.
The folk high school is a sort of neutral proving ground
for the presentation of different ideas and viewpoints
of Swedish life; a sort of discussion arena where the
exchange of ideas is very dynamic.
There is also a theoretical side to the aim of the
folk high school in the development of a democratic people.
In many of the schools actual courses in democracy and its
meanings have been installed.
Prom the standpoint of the national and the local
ideal, the folk high schools work in many ways. For
those who want to get a strong feeling of nationalism
among-Swedish young people, there are many paths to take.
The folk high schools deal with such subjects as Swedish
literature, Swedish history, Swedish geography, and related
subjects which deal with the community in which the school
is located.
k3
Northern nationalism has also been a characteristic
of the folk high school in Sweden. During recent years,
there has been a great deal of coordination between the
various folk high schools, which has resulted in a series
of study tours for both teachers and students to the other
countries of Scandinavia with visits to their folk high
schools. In these extension courses, language and
literature are the main subjects taught in a concentrated
£
attempt to promote Scandinavian culture in general.
III. TYPES OF FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS
In the beginning, the folk high schools were
almost exclusively peasant schools, and rather a long
time elapsed before the folk high school was linked up
with the educational efforts of the workingman. The start
came with the Brunnsvik School in Dalarna. Without the
intention of its founders, this school has become a special
folk high school for industrial workers, and it has re
tained this character. The Brunnsvik folk high school
works in close conjunction with the Workers Educational
Association (ABF), and the educational organs of the labor
union movement. Subsequently, workers have in increasing
^Interview in August, 1955, with Ernst Michanek,
Social Secretary of Sweden,
kb T ^r
numbers found their way to other folk high schools as
well, which has made possible the opportunity of farming
youth and industrial youth to work together at these
schools*
Certain folk high schools work in intimate connec
tion with idealistic and religious movements. Brunnsvik
has already been mentioned. At Brunnsvik there is also
a special school for the trade-union movement.^
The second school of this kind was started by the
temperance movement in 1908, when the National Order of
Templars founded Wendelsberg. This school has become
perhaps the most characteristic of this type, as it is
both owned and directed by a popular movement.
The folk high school at Sigtuna is connected with
religious and ecclesiastical movements. Jakobsberg is
very close to the cooperative movement, which also runs
a special school, Var G-ard, for the training of staffs
and officers of the cooperative movement.
The Birkigarden folk high school in Stockholm
occupies a special place in that it is the only folk high
school to be located in a large city. This factor has
^Social Welfare in Sweden, Published by the Royal
Swedish Commfs*sion, 193T7 Reprinted in part by special
permission from the May, 1938, issue of The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, V, p. 17.
also influenced its activity, in that Birkigarden has
become a center for many of the social efforts of the
city of Stockholm. The school at Birkigarden, which was
started-in 1918, with the Workers Educational Association
of Stockholm as an associate partner, was an urban coun
terpart to Brunnsvik.^
Other schools started by the national movements
have followed in quick succession. Viskadalen, Marieborg
and Jara are all firmly a part of the labor movement. The
school at Jara owed its origin directly to ABP initiative.
The order of G-ood Templars has now established its
school at Tollare, while the Swedish handicrafts and small
industries organizations direct the folk high school in
o
Ostra G-revie.
The folk high schools, which were established in
19ij-8 all more or less under the auspices of one or another
of the national movements, are, besides the above mentioned
Jara school, a school for Lapps in Jokkmokk, and a school
in Jungalv with a Scandinavian program. The folk high
school of the Lapps, however, is in part to be regarded as
7lbid., p . 19.
Qpet Fria Och Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet (Free
and Voluntary Adult Education) Statens Off©ntliga
Utredningar, 19^6;68, Ecklesiastikdepartmentet. (Stockholm,
Sweden: K. L. Beckmans Boktryckeri), pp. 13-lil*
a country school.
For a good many years, there were people in Sweden
who feared that these schools sponsored by the national
popular movements would become extreme party and sectarian
schools, but this does not seem to have been the case.
They have as a rule become first and foremost folk high
schools, and many of them have helped to inspire and
further the development of the folk high school movement.
They have incorporated new groups of the population into
the world of the folk high school, and parallel with the
democratic development of the nation, they have them
selves tended to encourage the establishment of more
schools•
At the present time (1955)? there are seventy-one
folk high schools in Sweden. The schools and their
location are listed in Appendix A.
IV. FLAN OF STUDY IN THE FOLK HIGH SCHOOL
Instruction in the Swedish folk high school is based
largely upon the lecture method, which is augmented with
the textbook, the study circle and a great deal of dis
cussion. In the, statute dealing with the folk high schools,
the purpose of the schools is stated to be
. . . to impart to young adults general and civic
education, the main stress being put upon a stimulating
k-7
instruction calculated to promote and further
individual thinking and moral strength, and which
ensures that the pupils shall be made familiar with
their local conditions and traditions, and with
their country, its historical development and
present social conditions, its spiritual resources,
and material r e s o u r c e s ,9
The spoken word, man* s oldest means of communication,
holds an extremely important place in all the work of
instruction in the folk high schools.
Since the year 1919, the folk high school educa
tional activities have been subject to certain state
regulations. The present Polk High School Act, which
was passed in 19^ 4 - 2, is, however, based on traditions
developed by the folk high schools themselves*
According to this law, certain subjects are
compulsory in the first year*s course, namely, Swedish
language and literature, history, civic^ geography,
mathematics, natural science and hygiene, singing and
gymnastics. In addition to these compulsory subjects,
courses in bookkeeping and drawing are offered to male
students, while textile crafts for girls are available,
and in some schools, domestic science* However, the
optional part of the course varies widely at different
schools to stress current issues and interests. It is
also quite usual for a folk high school to offer a number
Margaret Forster, op. cit., p. 36.
kQ
of courses which stress the historical, geographical, and
political aspects of the community in which the school is
located.
At most schools the main course, which may be
either co-educational or restricted to male students, is
held during the winter and lasts from 21 to 2l\. weeks,
while the summer courses of from 12 to 16 weeks admits
only women or may be co-educational. Other schools give
a second-year course with more comprehensive instruction
in the subjects studied in the first year, in addition to
some foreign language. About ten schools offer a third-
year course. The second and third year courses for girls
are usually organized as housewives1 schools.
Since most schools are boarding schools, there is
at all times a strong social contact between teachers and
students, an aspect of folk high school life which has
always been regarded as one of the most valuable features
of the system.
To begin with, the folk high schools were open
only to male students but summer courses were soon
initiated for female students. The schools began to try
out a second year1s course in 190^, and in the middle of
the 1920*s, experiments were made with an official third
year1s course. The majority of the folk high schools now
have during the winter a first-year course and a main
second-year course for both male and female students, and
during the summer, independent courses for women. At
three schools there is a section intended primarily for
those desiring to apply for enrollment at the various
social institutes. During the past several years,
state-aided continuation courses lasting from four to
twelve weeks have been arranged.1 Here the studies are
concentrated around a small group of subjects.
The folk high schools build upon courses of the
elementary school and are usually examination free. A
description of the Swedish Public School System is shown
in Appendix B. The folk high schools do not aim at any
direct preparation for any occupation. They attract
young people from all social groups and occupations and
become something of a home for them. The general atmos
phere, as previously stated, is one of comradeship, work
and freedom. The frequent discussions, where people
holding different opinions may speak their minds with
complete freedom, make the folk high schools somewhat of
a laboratory of democracy. If the students learn nothing
else, they certainly learn tolerance and understanding.***^
The folk high schools have become important meeting
10Interview in July, 1955# with Dr. Haakon
Tornebohm, of the University of G-othenburg.
5o
places for the work of adult education in other respects.
All sorts of conferences and courses are held in them, and
it is from here that a great number of other adult
educational courses are arranged.
There are no hard and fast rules governing methods
of instruction. Because of this fact, the schools offer
wide possibilities for free study. Methods of instruction
vary considerably, but the lecture method plays a promi
nent role in the work. In methodology, they often place
great emphasis on the study circle, which centers in
books. Their curriculum, while including many liberal-
humanistic courses, places more emphasis on social,
scientific, and practical subjects than is seen, for
example, in the Danish folk high school.
V. HOW THE POLK HIGH SCHOOLS ARE FINANCED ^
' s
Annual state subsidies are given to the folk high
schools partly as fixed grants or as supplementary grants
determined by the number of pupils, partly as increment to
the teachers for years of service, cost of living bonus,
and so forth. These grants are conditional upon the
regulations being observed and entail the right of in
spection. They are awarded only to folk high schools
which are doing work which is generally educative and not
entirely vocational.
A number of folk high schools depend upon County
Council grants to meet the cost of repairs, cleaning,
heating and light, etc. Some County Councils own the
premises or make extra grants toward new buildings and
facilities. The Swedish folk high school is an integral
part of the community and public sentiment has always
supported the program in a very large degree. Pupils1
fees, which are kept as low as possible, do little to
relieve the financial burden of the folk high schools.
The state also gives financial help in the form
of scholarships to students who need them. According to
the Swedish law, applications for scholarships are con
sidered by the Board of Education, which requires a
signed statement of the full financial circumstances of
the applicant and his parents. To each folk high school
is assigned a certain amount of money to be distributed
among these pupils whom the Board considers to be in need
of assistance* The distribution remains in the hands of
the principal and staff of each folk high school.
Scholarships are also awarded by many of the County
Councils, several private groups, and by the folk high
schools themselves, with the result that many students
can attend the courses for a very small cost.
52
The rest of the financial burden is met by grants
from neighboring municipalities, the pupils’ fees,
private donations, the Swedish Workers’ Educational
Association (ABP), religious associations, trade unions,
and other groups, depending upon the character of the
particular..folk high school.
In certain cases a considerable amount of money
has come to the folk high schools by means of lotteries.
In Sweden, it is usual to have government-controlled
lotteries for public institutions or buildings.^ Money
raised through the controlled lotteries is usually
designated for some particular building project, rather
than to assist the folk high schools in meeting current
expenses.
The state aid is a contribution to the running
expenses of the folk high schools, intended among other
things, to cover all the costs of teachers’ salaries.
Statistics show, however, that state aid covers only 90
per cent of the salaries of the teachers.-^ During the
year 195^-55, the government budgeted 11,500,000 Swedish
^Interview in August, 1955, with Ernst Michanek,
Social Secretary of Sweden.
12statisties furnished in mimeographed form by the
Kungliga Skoloverstyrelsen (Royal Board of Education).
53
crowns for the folk high schools. (The current rate of
exchange is 5*1& Swedish crowns to the American dollar.)
To pupils at folk high schools the government provides
scholarships of varying amounts up to a maximum of 105
crowns per month of study according to the individual need.
About two-thirds of all the pupils are in receipt of
scholarships of varying amounts. During the year 195ij--55,
3,100,000 Swedish crowns were paid out in government
scholarships.^3
A number of the national organizations, such as the
trade-union movement and the co-operative union, also make
financial grants for scholarships at the folk high schools.
VI. THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
OF THE FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS
Four years after the foundation of the first Swedish
folk high school (1872), the state granted financial help
to the schools then in existence, and until 1912 this
brought with it no state control. Now there is a special
inspector for the folk high school, and all are required to
conform to the regulations set forth in the Swedish law.^
These statutes lay down the aim and purpose of the
folk high schools, a general curriculum, the condition for
13Ibid. Margaret Forster, loc. cit.
5k
the admission of pupils and for the award of scholarships
to them, the personnel and work of the governing bodies,
the qualifications of the teaching staffs, their pay and
pensions, and a few minimum requirements regarding
accommodations, which are conditional upon the grants
specified for the courses.
The regulations state that in the first year*s
course a number of subjects are obligatory, namely,
Swedish with Swedish literature, history and sociology,
geography, mathematics, natural science, hygiene, singing
and gymnastics, and in addition, bookkeeping and drawing
for men, handwork and some domestic science courses for
women. Nothing is fixed in regard to the syllabus or
methods of teaching.
Courses may be for men and women, jointly or
separately, but the length of the terms is prescribed;
for the main course at least 20 to 2li weeks, for inde
pendent women*s courses at least 13 to 16 weeks, with a
three-day holiday at Easter. The minimum total teaching
hours in the first-year course is fixed at 30 hours a
week and in the second-year courses, 2lj- hours a week. In
special cases, such as work on the land, the course may
be shortened with the approval of the central educational
authorities.
55
The governing body of the folk high school consists
of at least five people and the principal of the school
is to be the secretary to the Board of Governors* The
folk high school department head has the right to take
part in discussions relating to his department at the
meetings of the Board of Governors* In accordance with
the regulations, the Board of Governors appoints and
dismisses the principal and members of the staff, fills
vacancies on the teaching faculty, and at the suggestion
of the principal, admits and expels students, awards
scholarships, and draws up the annual accounts. The
chairman of the Board of Governors is charged with the
responsibility of observing the external and internal
activities of the school, so that he will at all times
know its needs and understand its work.
The minimum age for male students is eighteen
years and for the female students sixteen, and the
standard of entry for the first year is the elementary
school, and for the second-year school, the first year or
its equivalent.
Principalships and teaching appointments are open
equally to both men and women. The regulations lay stress
upon suitability, age and character. It is now required
that teachers of theoretical subjects shall have at least
the university degree of Fil. Mag. (filosofie magister),
which is about the equivalent of the master1s degree in
the United States.
Practically entire freedom is left to the folk
high schools in matters of internal organization, details
of curriculum, internal life and discipline, methods of
teaching, and standards proposed and obtained.
CHAPTER IV
THE STUDY CIRCLES
I, WHAT IS A STUDY CIRCLE?
As the name implies, the Swedish study circle is a
circle of interested people generally consisting of from
ten to twenty members. As such, it seems to be of Swedish
origin, and is certainly an original and unique part of
adult education in Sweden. Strangely enough, the study
circle has had difficulty in becoming a success in other
countries of Europe. It has taken root in Sweden, and
seems to need Swedish soil to keep it alive.
Group studies have long been a characteristic part
of the free and voluntary adult education movement in
Sweden. As explained in Chapter II, the Swedish study
circle has had two distinct phases of development. The
first, which was founded in 1&U5 by Johan Elliman, was
short-lived and passed out of existence approximately
twenty years after it was conceived. The second phase,
which was reborn as part of the Good Templar (I.O.G.T.)
movement, took hold in Sweden and has developed into the
educational institution it is today.
Gunnar Hirdman, one of the early leaders in the
study circle movement, has expressed his idea of the study
58
circle as follows:
The study circle is the fundamental principle of
mutual help and cooperation applied in the sphere of
mind improvement and education. It requires of each
according to his capacity and gives to each according
to his need. Every member should know that studies
mean exertion, but that cooperation makes the exertion
less, the reward greater, and gives Into the bargain
enjoyment, pleasure and stimulation in comradeship.
The word comradeship is found In every Swedish
definition of the study circle. It is the coming together
of interested people for the purpose of discussing a given
subject, together with a plan drawn up in advance for a
proper attack on the problem. The people meeting in the
study circle have voluntarily come together for the
informal study of a subject which they have.chosen them
selves.
II. AIM AND STRUCTURE OP THE STUDY CIRCLE
The study circle stands for education and fellow
ship in daily life, with students and teachers united in
a common cause. In most cases, It is the men and women
from the practical walks of life who have chosen this way
to seek knowledge and mental recreation. They feel a
mutual need for learning and wish to experience the
^Sven-Arne Stahre, Studiecirkelledaren (The Study
Circle Leader)(Stockholm, Sweden: Nordisk Rotogravyr,
195W, P. 36.
communion of study.
According to the Swedish Statute of 19k-7, the study
circle received this official definition: t!By study circle
is meant in this section a circle of comrades (assembled)
for common theoretical and practical studies on a given
subject according to a plan drawn up beforehand.1 1 ^
This is why it is so essential that all the members
be compatible. There is no leader in the theoretical
sense, as the leader must be considered a comrade among
comrades.
The distinctive feature of the study circle from
the very beginning has been the individual, personal
activity of the members themselves. The authority is
the text book, and from this comes free, independent
study and discussion by the participants. The essential
aim here is that the great figures of mankind, as repre
sented by their books, should be the teachers of the
circles. They should be able to make themselves felt
either by reading aloud of their works at the circle
meetings or by the presentation of their thoughts by
some member who has made himself more acquainted with the
^Gustaf Svigard, Skolor Qch Utbildningsvagar (The
School and Paths of Education) (Stockholm, Sweden: K. L.
Beckmans Boktryckeri, 1952-1-)» 19^4-.
60
author1s works than other participants* In many ways,
the Swedish study circle is typical of the Great Books
movement in the United States, especially with reference
to aim and structure.
The Swedish study circles are seats of culture in
the people* s movements and should give these movements
power in their practical organization.
There seems to be no definite structure for the
study circle. Every circle is theoretically an entity
in itself with special aptitudes, possibilities and
requirements. Many of them meet in special circle rooms,
while others may meet in restaurants, homes of the circle
members, in hospitals, on ships, or wherever interested
people have the opportunity of meeting together.3
All study circles must have some kind of leadership,
and according to definition must have the participation of
all the membership. The leader usually arranges the
meeting so that someone reads the minutes of the previous
meeting, someone leads the discussion, and everyone has
if
the opportunity of preparing some phase of the program.
The point of departure of all the study circles is
the written word, and one of the most important habits
3lnterview in August, 1955, with Sven Blomquist, of
the University of Stockholm.
61
developed in the circle, is that of intelligent reading.
Whatever the problem to be discussed may be, there is
always a written source from which the circle members
may prepare themselves# The meetings themselves become
a lesson in cooperation and democracy, where people
present different experiences and viewpoints for the
purpose of reaching a common goal#
Thus the aim and structure of the study circle
explains the chief reason for its popularity. When
thousands of men and women meet almost every evening
during the winter months of their own free will, and
usually after a hard day* s work, to study together, they
must recognize that the end result must be very rewarding.
III. TYPES OP STUDY CIRCLES
There are many different types of study circles,
and if one attempts to separate them into different
groups, one can find many points of departure. One will
find, however, that most of the different forms present
more confusion than clarity, because the methods of
operation and form are so interchangeable that distinct
types of circles are difficult to define.
One thing is very important as far as the character
of the study circle is concerned. One can differentiate
62
between study circles with leaders and--study circles
without leaders. A study circle with a leader implies
an academically trained person who, because of his
educational background, can lead a circle in the study
of a particular subject. He can handle his subject in
any way he desires, but the students must have access to
literary material about the subject, either in the form
of text books, study plans or material he gives them. As
the leader, however, he establishes the plan of study
and the methodology of the study. In spite of his leader'
ship, he really acts as one of the comrades of the circle
and seeks to make all action as democratic as possible.
Study circles, which do not have leaders, have a
circle appointed discussion leader instead. He is a
person selected by the group for the purpose of taking
care of the details of the organization. The basic
difference between the discussion leader and the trained
leader is, as stated above, that the trained leader is
a sort of executive secretary in charge of organization.
In most of the cases, the difference between the
two leaders is quite pedantic. Oftentimes the discussion
leader is much better versed in general education and the
63
needs of the group than is the academic specialist.
The original type of modern Swedish study circles
were without a teacher. The members usually worked with
out any definite plan of study, and just gathered together
to read and talk about books. Reading circles were formed
when the members were not satisfied with merely passing
on books to one another, but gathered to discuss the
contents of certain books. In many cases, these meetings
took the form of a social evening, with games, singing,
and refreshments as part of the program.
The modern reviewing and discussion circles which
are so prevalent in Sweden today are a direct development
of this movement. The reviewing circle aims for the most
part at giving a systematic survey of a certain subject.
For this purpose the study associations supply a variety
of plans for study and text books often go along with the
study plans.
The method of the reviewing circle is found in a
somewhat modified form in the discussion circle. Here the
members do not follow a long-term plan, but the subject is
usually decided upon from meeting to meeting. Important
topics of the day, as well as other topics of interest to
^Interview in August, 1955, with Sven-Arne Stahre,
Head of the Swedish ABF (Workers Educational Association).
6 1 * .
th© members, become the subjects for the discussion.
The courses sponsored by correspondence schools
for study circles have proved to be especially appropriate
for circles which do not have ready access to qualified
teachers. The qualified teachers at the correspondence
school give further advice and instruction. In some other
study circles, the use of textbooks is customary. For
some time, the educational associations have issued study
guides in order to facilitate the work of study circles.
These study guides may be used exclusively on one textbook
or may be taken from several.
A recent trend has been the establishment of youth
study circles with members drawn from the lip to 18 age
group. By designing this course to meet the needs of
young people, it is hoped to bring large numbers of new
recruits to participate in the activities of the study
circle.
The university circle is a special type. The
course usually comprises two year* s study under a uni
versity professor. The object is to bring participants
in adult education in contact with research work.
The university circle is a form of work in the
movement for voluntary adult education that is better
adapted than most other forms of work for personal
contributions by university men. Contact with scientific
research and real knowledge of a subject as presented by
a competent instructor is a great advantage for a student
seriously interested in study, and the university circle
is an important instrument for the deepening of such
educational activity. The subjects studied most at the
university circles are psychology, economics, economic
geography, religion, sociology, industrial economy, art,
literature and music.
Another form of study circle may be considered a
sort of passive listening group. These groups work in
connection with series of lectures broadcast by the
Swedish Broadcasting Corporation. The lectures are
supplemented by suggestions for reading and study-letters,
so that the listeners* group may be considerd a combined
£
lecturing and correspondence study circle.
.As stated earlier in this section, it is difficult
to draw a clear line of demarcation between the different
types of study circles. The methods frequently overlap
and sometimes different methods of work are used in one
and the same study circle.
The type of study circle chosen is dependent upon
^Interview in August, 1955* with Ernst Michanek,
Social Secretary of Sweden.
the conditions of the district, the subjects to be
studied, the availability of leaders and materials, and
of chief importance, the opinion of the members of the
circle itself*
The great majority of study circles belong to one
or another of the big national associations for study-
circle activities.
In order to be approved as such by the Board of
Education, it is required that an association shall
have at least 10,000 members, shall have as its main
function the carrying on of educational work of
nation-wide character, and it shall have expended
during the previous year at least 2,000 Swedish crowns
for adult educational work. The studies must,
moreover, be under the supervision of a director of
studies appointed by the association whose competence
for the pogt has been approved by the Board of
Education.6
There are at the present time in Sweden 13 national
study circle associations, which are approved by the Board
of Education. These national associations are listed in
Appendix G.
The majority of these associations are members of
a national alliance (Samverkande Bildningsforbunden).
They organize courses and lectures in addition to their
study circle activities, while most of them also carry on
/ L
Ragnar Lund, Scandinavian Adult Education
(Stockholm, Sweden: Kooperativa Forbundets Bokforlag,
1952), pp. 262-63.
67
library work. Study circles are used by other types of
organizations as well, such as women's clubs, etc. The
armed services have also adopted this system as a part of
their educational program.
IV. PLAN OP STUDY IN THE STUDY CIRCLES
At first, the study circle was a special feature
of the labor and temperance movements, but it has now
become so widespread that it is an important element in
all of the popular movements. Quite obviously, the choice
of subject matter in the different study associations is
affected by the national movements in which they have
their roots. Thus the history of the labor movement and
trade union procedures are studied more in the Workers
Educational Association than elsewhere, questions of
temperance are popular in the temperance organizations,
religious subjects in the Christian educational societies,
and agricultural problems within the Swedish Young Farmers
Association.
There are, however, certain combinations of sub
jects which are studied by all groups, and which in a
striking way dominate Swedish study circle activities.
Among these subjects are foreign languages, trade-union
procedures, economic and industrial problems, social
68
questions, citizenship, singing, music and literature.
One can generally see in the study plan of the Swedish
circles two distinguishing lines, one dealing with civic
problems and trade unions, and the other dealing with the
humanitie s.
In addition to the above mentioned subjects, there
are the so-called general school subjects. Until the
recent Swedish School Reform Act of 195>0, many of the
participants in the study circles felt that they had not
completed a satisfactory basic education, and wanted a
continuance of required school subjects. One of the
reasons behind the School Reform Act was to bring about a
readjustment in the choice of subjects by the study
circles leading from school to life. Leaders of the
study circle movement are extremely anxious that the
study circles become citizenship schools, with emphasis
7
upon the study of vital social and human problems.
During the past years, many new subjects have been
included in the programs of the circles. The first
circles occupied themselves a great deal with literary
subjects and studies and discussions of ideals. When the
?Ingemar During, editor, The Swedish School Reform,
1950 (Uppsala, Sweden: Appelbergs Boktryckeri'aktiebolag.
T95T), pp. II4 --I6.
69
national organizations took definite form, new subjects
wer© taken up, subjects which were more practical, and
more closely connected with the social life of the day.
The new circles interested themselves in such matters as
social problems, local government, economics, socialism,
and labor unions. More elementary subjects were taken
up, such as bookkeeping, mathematics, the study of Swedish,
and foreign languages. Among the foreign languages,
English has become very popular and maintains its position
well in competition with the others.
The change in the choice of subjects has implied
a shifting from the original idea of the circle. The
teacher has come to play an increasingly greater part in
the study circle, although many circles still work on the
original idea. Circles with' teachers are to be found
especially in elementary subjects, and such subjects as
Swedish and foreign languages.
This shift in the choice of subjects should be seen
against the background of the overall transition of the
Swedish community. The process of democratization has
brought to the people the need for leadership and re
sponsibility for the welfare of their nation. Quite
naturally then, the selection of subject matter changes
quite frequently with the tenure of the times.
70
Many people in Sweden today still raise the
question of what is studied in the sttidy circle, and the
general consensus of the people is that much of the study
is the completion of elementary work rather than topics
of current interest. The following table shows the basic
curriculum of the study circles and the popularity of each
subject on a percentage basis:
Languages..............................20.3
A r t ............................ 20.0
Community Problems...................18.8
Economics.............................11.0
Philosophy and Psychology ...... 5.1
Technology ........................3* 1 4 -
Mathematics ........................ . 2.6
Religion.......... 2.6
Literature ...........................2.1j-
Gymnastics and Sports..................1*5
Medicine and Hygiene..................1.0
Nature Study ........................ 0.5
Geography............................ 0. Ip
Home Education........................ 0.3
History ................. 0.2
General and Current Events ......... 0.2
Books and Library Methods..............0.1
Other Subjects........................ 9*6
100.o^8
Appendix D, showing the subjects studied in the
study circles from 1953 to 195^ illustrates the great
variety of subjects offered in this branch of Swedish
adult education.
^Manniskan Qch Nutiden (Man Today), A report of
ABFf s Culture Committee presented to the Social Democratic
Party Congress in 1952. (Stockholm, Sweden: Tidens Forlag,
1952), pp. 176-77..
71
For many years in Sweden, it was said that certain
study circles confined themselves too much to the teaching
of the basic subjects which should have been learned in the
basic nine-year compulsory school. This charge, however,
has been true only when the circle participants themselves
have wanted it, and when they have requested it, it has
been in the form of a refresher course only. The people
often recognize their limitations and use the study circle
to reorient themselves before taking advanced subjects.
The one exception seems to be language and mathematics,
which certainly need, to be studied even after graduation
from the regular compulsory school. The greatest impor
tance is still placed on economic subjects and those
within the area of. the humanities.
There has been much discussion in Sweden during
the last decade on the inclusion of hobbies in the study
circle. For many years, it was considered a waste of time
for adults to occupy themselves in this way, but the idea
of the development of a hobby as intellectual recreation
now seems to be taking hold in Sweden. As yet, the Board
of Education has opposed state aid for the so-called hobby
circles, but many people believe state aid will be
72
available for this type of circle in the near future.^
V. HOW THE STUDY CIRCLES ARE FINANCED
For the operation of study circles state support
is available to the national association of study circles
for distribution to its circles, and also for free and
voluntary circles which are not members of the national
association* State support is also available to the
national associations for the organization and adminis
tration of their circles.
To be eligible for state support, a study circle
must adhere to the state definition of a study circle.
National associations which wish to have state support
must be approved by the National Board of Education, and
meet the qualifications listed earlier in this chapter.
State support is also available for the so-called
independent study circles, youth circles and university
circles. The independent study circle is considered a
circle which teaches basic educational courses, or courses
of general character building nature, and is not a member
of a national popular movement.
The youth circle is considered a circle for young
people between the ages of 1I 4 . and 18, which teaches basic
subjects especially designed and taught to meet the needs
^Interview in August, 1955 with Sven Blomquist of
the University of Stockholm.
73
of this age group. The university circle is considered a
circle which is led or directed by a university trained
teacher, who is academically qualified for this position,
G-rants for study circles amount to at most half of
the expenses, but I 4 . crowns per hour for teacher1 s fees,
at most 1.50 crowns per hour for group leader* s fees, and
at most 7 crowns to each member for the costs of s tudy
material such as syllabi and textbooks. Moreover, study
circles may receive grants for at most two lectures per
year.
For youth circles (members aged II4 . to 18 years), at
most 75 cent of the cost for teacher* s fees are met by
the state, but at most 6 Swedish crowns; for group leaders
at most 2 crowns; for study material at most half of the
expenses, but not more than 7 crowns per member. The study
period must cover at least 20 hours divided among at least
10 meetings, and at least 5 participants must be present
at each of the meetings.
The university circles were the first study circles
in Sweden to receive state aid. Beginning in 1920, two
circles were arranged as an experiment in Stockholm and
Malmo and each were given state aid. In 192lj-, the Riksdag
granted a special subsidy for an extension of their
activities. During the first few years, state aid was
Ik
granted only for circles sponsored by the lecturing center
at Uppsala University and the Lund Center for Scientific
Lectures; but at the same time as the grants were increased,
the right to state aid was extended to university circles
with the Stockholm and Gothenburg Universities as centers.
Because of the war, the government withdrew this aid in
1939.
Siuce 19i{-73 the Riksdag has voted 30,000 Swedish
crowns to help meet the costs of arranging university
circles, and these funds have been placed at the disposal
of the Board of Education. One of the stipulations con
nected with the grants is that the circles shall be directed
by university teachers or other qualified teachers with
academic degrees. Furthermore, the studies are to extend
over two years and must include at least 2k double hours
per year. The number of participants attending each
meeting must be at least 10.
According to the decision of the government, a
university circle may receive government aid toward meeting
the costs of teacher* s fees at the rate of at most 60
Swedish crowns per double hour, while the allowance of
help to pay for plans of study and textbooks amounts to at
most half the costs, with a maximum of 10 crowns per head.
In addition to this, travelling and boarding expenses may
75
"be paid out to the teachers. In 1955* the university study
circles received a total grant of lj.0,000 Swedish crowns.
In addition to the above mentioned aid paid by the
state for the study circle movement, the Swedish govern
ment (also in 1955)? made the following financial pro
visions for the furtherence of the study circle movement:
Grants for training of study leaders that
have not been organized through the
national associations for study circle
activities (certain special courses) . • 18,000
Grants for new forms of instruction
within the framework of adult
educational work ........................ 10,000
Grants for educational propaganda in the
country districts ........................ 20,000
Grants for the publication of periodicals
connected with adult education .......... 21,000
Grants for private studies by
correspondence .......................... 7,000
Grants for training of local teachers in
the voluntary musical education ......... 12,000
Grants for adult educational work among
seamen to Seamen1 s Committee in the
Swedish Church ............................ 5,000
Grants for adult educational work among
seamen to Workers1 Educational
Association ..... .................... 30,000
Grants for adult educational work among
fishermen................................... 7,500
-^Statistics furnished in mimeographed form by the
Kungliga Skolversytrelsen (Royal Board of Education).
76
Grants for adult educational work among
the Lapps.....................'.....
5 , oooi : l
For some time study circle activities have been
organized chiefly by the different national associations
for study circle activities, which in the majority of the
cases are connected with the different popular movements.
National associations for study circle activities may be
approved, if they meet certain requirements, by the Board
of Education. They then receive grants to meet the
central administration costs, fees for instructors and
district study leaders, the publication of texts,for
studies, educational propaganda and the arranging of
courses for training of study leaders. The total grant
in 1955 amounted to 1,955*000 Swedish crowns.
Added to the above mentioned financial provisions
are the following:
Grants for adult educational work at
Contributions for temperance propaganda consists
of grants to the Central Association for Temperance
Instruction and grants for the temperance propaganda of
the different temperance organizations. The total grant
settlements + 50,000
Grants for adult educational work for
study-homes .......................... 75, 00012
l:LIbId. -^Ibid.
77
in 1955 amounted to the following:
Grants to the Central Association for
Temperance Instruction to meet the
costs of lecturing, instruction and
administration......... * ............. 735? 000
Grants for the propaganda activities of
different temperance organizations . . 1,13^,OOO1- '
The Central Association for Temperance Instruction
exists chiefly to spread a knowledge of the effects of
alcohol.
VI. THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
OF THE STUDY CIRCLES
The study circle Is the most plastic of all the
organizations for popular education. It adapts itself to
local needs and takes precisely the form which the members
wish. If they prefer to have discussions on subjects
fixed at the next meeting, then that is what happens;
if they wish to work systematically for a year or longer
and then enlarge their knowledge of a particular subject,
that can be done equally well. If there is in the study
circle some well-read expert leader, that is excellent.
If not, the members struggle with their books in their own
self-education and help each other as well as they can.
13ibid
78
The main thing is that they hold fast to the conversational
tone and to the atmosphere of comradeship.
Any interested group of people can form an inde
pendent study circle and if they adhere to the state
definition they may be eligible for state aid. They are
allowed to retain their independent nature, however, and
conduct their meetings in any way they wish.
The organization of a study circle as an integral
part of one of the popular movements is also a compara
tively simple matter. A number of members of one of the
popular movements resolve to form a study circle, choose
officers, and apply for a grant from the local section and
from the national organization, to which they send communi
cations regarding their activities at the end of the year.
The central organization of the national movements
is also quite simple in structure. It consists of a study
committee with a national study leader, who attends to the
%
work of organization in addition to his ordinary occupation
and in return for a small fee. The national movement also
pays a secretary, whose duty it is to attend to practically
all current business.^ The reason that it is possible to
^ABF* s St alining I_ Arbetarrorelsen Och Samhallet
(The Position of the Worker s’ * Edu cat i onal A s s o elation and
Its Relation to the Community). Published by the Workers*
Educational Association. (Stockholm, Sweden: AB
Willelmssons Boktryckeri, 19l|9), pp. 6-7#
79
keep together so extensive an organization in this simple
manner depends upon the initiative, energy and devotion to
duty of the many district leaders working under the
national study leader. Much of the credit for the success
of the study circle is due chiefly to these district
leaders.
The youth circle is an arm of the popular move
ments, and works directly under their supervision. They
have assigned teachers who organize them and administer
their procedure. They usually act as preliminary circles
for the more advanced circles.
The university circle is always organized and
directed by a university trained leader. It is much more
demanding than the ordinary type of circle. It is a sort,
of graduate school within the realm of the study circle,
and the methods demand a great deal from both the teachers
and the participants. The latter must be prepared to make
very considerable contributions of their own, both regard
ing oral and written reports made by themselves. As the
studies extend over a period of two years, they have
proved themselves more systematic and comprehensive than
any other type of study circle.
The study circle is that type of organization
through which the adult educational movements reach the
broadest masses of the people. It is the foundation
organization for almost all the phases of adult education
in collective form. Without a broad study circle movement,
it would be almost impossible to keep the great interest
which is manifested in Sweden for adult education.
Libraries and the spread of books, for example, would
never have received the impetus it has without the
interest which has been aroused in the various study
circles. Appendix B gives the reader a good idea of the
scope of the study circle movement. It represents the 13
national popular movements which are part of the national
association.
In the fiscal year 1950-51? the total number of
study circles was 3i|.,000, with about 535,000 partici
pants.^ In the year 1955? it was estimated that there
were approximately 3®?000 study circles, with approximately
600>Q00 participants.*^
• ^Social Sweden, Published by the Social Welfare
Board, Stockholm, Sweden, 1939? p. 387.
Interview in August, 1955? with Sven-Arne Stahre,
Head of the Swedish ABP (Workers1 Educational Association).
CHAPTER V
THE POPULAR LECTURES
I. WHAT ARE THE POPULAR LECTURES?
The spoken word has always had an extremely
important place in the work of adult education in Sweden.
One of the oldest means of communication, it is basic to
the folk high school, the study circle, and to the popular
lecture movement.
The term 1 1 popular lecture” is somewhat difficult
to define. In Sweden, it literally means a talk or a
series of talks, on a subject of general interest to the
people. It implies free and voluntary education in the
sense that the lectures must always be given free of
charge and are open to the general public.
In the beginning of the movement, the chief purpose
of the popular lectures was to supply information on the
question of temperance. As the idea gained popularity,
however, topics of general interest took their place in
the crusade against the evils of alcoholism. Since that
time, the general raising of the culture of the people has
been the cardinal motif, and today, the popular lectures
include almost every possible subject a group of people
could be interested in.
82
As will be discussed later in this chapter, the
lectures have also changed considerably in structure and
form. In the beginning, they were typical of the old-
fashioned oratorical harangues in which an enthusiastic
speaker extolled the virtues of a given subject. In
Sweden today, however, the popular lectures have reached
the stage of a well-administered study circle. Today1s
popular lectures imply a sharing of knowledge, general
discussion, and systematic assistance from the lecturer
to aid the listener in further perusal of a given topic.
II. AIM AND STRUCTURE OP THE
POPULAR LECTURES
As discussed in Chapter II, the original aim of the
popular lectures in Sweden was to afford scientific, human
istic and aesthetic training to interested persons who for
one reason or another had not received any education after
leaving elementary school. It was an attempt to present
to the people a system of broad, general education, with
out limiting itself to any particular branch of vocational
training. The lectures, as first conceived in Sweden,
were to assist the people in thinking for themselves with
respect to life and its seriousness. They were opening a
new horizon anchored in a humanistic attitude to life,
83
and which asserted the rights, freedom and worth of every
individual.
Since the inception of the lecture movement in
Sweden, these basic aims have not changed, but in many
ways they have broadened in scope. Although it is
difficult to list a specific set of aims today, there
seem to be five underlying reasons why the lecture
movement has achieved its present success. These reasons
and their implications are discussed below.
Knowledge Through Intercourse with Educators
One of the essential aims of the popular lectures
has been an attempt to bring the general public and the
so-called educator together. On the surface, this does
not seem to present a great problem, but the general
attitude toward education in Sweden is considerably
different than it is, for example, in the United States.
The teaching profession in Sweden has always been looked
upon with a sort of awe. It has represented men and
women who have achieved something very special in life.
This does not imply that the teaching profession in the
United States is not an honored one, but it does not
seem to have the dignity that it does in many parts of
Europe. Members of the teaching profession in Sweden
have for centuries developed a select station in life.
8 I j .
An artificial barrier has seemingly been formed between
the educated and the uneducated, and it has developed a
tradition which has been difficult to break down* Hence,
the broad masses of the people have tended to disasso
ciate themselves with people in the educational field
after they have finished their formal educational
training.
Sweden1s system of popular lectures have had a
great deal of success in breaking this barrier down.
Through the presentation of down-to-earth lectures on
subjects which have appealed to the general public, the
people and the representatives of formal education have
been brought closer together.
Perhaps another word of definition is needed at
this time with regard to the word lecture. In the United
States many people are prone to think of a lecture as a
rather dry version of the teacher giving and the student
merely receiving. This has not been the case with the
popular lecture movement in Sweden. On the other hand,
the Swedish lecturers have become quite expert in the
dialectic method of discussion. The lecturer assumes the
role of a rather dynamic discussion leader and invites
full participation from his audience. He acts as a guide
and leads the people through a positive learning
85
situation. By an orderly presentation of his topic in
simple language, followed by frequent summations and
illustrations, he has been able to introduce an atmos
phere somewhat typical to that of the Swedish study
circle*
One of the prime aims of the lecturer has been to
bring himself down to the level of his audience and thus
create an extremely democratic situation. With this
hitherto difficult barrier broken down, it is felt that a
great deal of learning can be brought about. Literally
using the five steps of Herbart, the lecturer can, in a
carefully organized series of lectures, make great
progress and the popular lectures have proved that much
purposeful education can be gained through the popular
lectures.
Systematic Education after Completion
of Regular School
Swedish children usually begin school at the age of
seven. Compulsory school attendance is seven years,
but local school authorities have permissive powers to
extend it to eight years upon approval of the government.
Especially have the urban school districts availed them
selves of this opportunity, and today l\2 . per cent of the
urban school children attend schools with eight years*
86
compulsory attendance. In rural schools, the equivalent
figure is 2 per cent, and for the entire country it is
1? per cent. Pupils who do not proceed to the secondary
schools nor have the opportunity of attending the eight
years of elementary school are required to attend a so-
called continuation school upon completion of the seventh
year,^
The 1950 School Reform Act provided for a nine-year
compulsory school attendance based on a unitary system
of education, the detailed organization of which would be
dependent on the outcome of trials to be conducted during
the fifties. According to present estimates, however,
the various factors affecting the educational reform will
not be brought into balance until about I960,
The adult educational movement in Sweden has felt
for many years that some systematic education is needed
for the great bulk of the people who terminate their
education after their compulsory years of attendance are
over,- One of the best solutions to the problem has been
the folk high school and the study circle, but a great
many people have not as yet taken advantage of either, of
• * ~Social Sweden, Published by the Social Welfare
Board (Stockholm, Sweden: 1939), pp. 352-fSlj.,
2Ibid., p. 356.
8?
these institutions. The popular lectures have to a large
extent furnished a solution to this problem. Both the
independent lectures and the various lecture associations
have graduated programs for the people.
Education Equivalent to the Folk High Schools
The popular lectures are an extremely valuable
element in the movement for voluntary popular education
in Sweden. They are of especially great importance for
the cultural life of the country districts. They origin
ated with the folk high school. When the young people in
the country districts were unable to get to the school,
the school went out into the country districts through
the system of popular lectures. Special associations
within the lecture movement have been formed to meet
this specific need of those interested people who, be
cause of their inability to leave their job, or because
of the geographical distance to a folk high school, have
been unable to attend. The chief aim here has been to
stimulate the participants to continue their studies
independently and, like all other educational work, to
point the way to an interest in books.
An educational course of this type is often a
great and unifying event in a country district. Different
interested groups are for some weeks before the beginning
88
of a course united in educational propaganda, and then
brought together in common study through the popular
lectures. The series of lectures imparts not only knowledge
but also new impressions and changed views, often result
ing in the participants taking advantage of the study
circle or the people1s libraries.
An Attempt to Beach All the People
The popular lecture movement has probably been more
successful in its attempt to reach all of the people than
any of the other four major areas of Swedish adult educa
tion. There seem to be two main reasons for this. First,
there is the very great variety of subjects covered by
the popular lecture movement, and secondly, the great
number of lecturers who are available all over the country.
The lectures, as a rule, do not possess any great
attraction to the general public. Those attending them
are chiefly persons who are really interested in the sub
ject. Thus, the average lecture audience in Sweden is
3
perhaps about fifty persons.
The most recent catalog (1955) published by the
National Board of Education lists over 150 pages of
3jnterview in August, 1955? with Sven-Arne Stahre,
Head of the Swedish ABF (Workers Educational Association).
89
lecturers and topics which are available at the present
time# These topics range from archeology to zoology.^*
The lecturers are teachers from the universities,
various technical schools and institutes, the folk high
schools, candidates for higher degrees, and sometimes
working class students who have qualified themselves by
intensive study or travel. It is not -uncommon for many
of these lecturers to travel to the remotest areas of
the country for a series of lectures. Wherever you
happen to be in Sweden, you can consult the local news
paper or the local library announcements for regularly
scheduled lectures.
Develop Interest in Further Education
As previously stated, one of the prime aims of the
popular lecture movement is to inspire the people to
further their own education. By giving the people a
broad general education with special emphasis on the
humanities, the popular lectures open many new horizons
of culture for the general public.
They are also arranged in such a way that when a
particular interest is aroused, the audience is assisted
^Skoloverstyrelsens Forelasningskatalog, 1955 (The
Board of Education Lecture Catalog, 1955)• (Uppsala,
Sweden: Appelbergs Boktryckeri, AB, 1955).
90
in pursuing the topic further through reading lists,
correspondence courses and group studies.
III. TYPES OP POPULAR LECTURES
There are two types of popular lectures in Sweden.
The first of these is the independent lectures, which is
the first form of lecture, activity to be introduced in
Sweden. Although it achieved considerable success, it
never reached the popularity of the lecturing institutes
and lecturing associations so well known today. One of
the main reasons for the limited success of the independ
ent lectures arose from the fact that many people con
sidered them too narrow in scope.^ They imparted
knowledge only on specific subjects and hence interested
only a small audience. It was felt by many that they
should embrace broader activities and should include
subjects designated by the people themselves. The
participants in the independent lectures are specialists
in some particular cultural area who do not necessarily
represent one of the lecturing associations. They are
listed in the governments annual lecture catalog, and
^Gunnar Hirdman, Synpunkter Och Meningar (Points of
View and Definitions) (Stockholm, Sweden: Tryckeriaktiebo-
laget Tiden, 1939), pp. 66-6?.
91
are available upon request of any interested group. They
receive their remuneration from both the government and
the sponsoring group.
The other type of popular lectures is that which
originates from the various lecturing institutes and
associations. The lecture method of imparting knowledge
has been taken over by adult education from academic
education through the popular science lecture movement
maintained- by lecture societies, by workingmen1s insti
tutes, and to a certain extent by other adult educational
organizations.
The arrangement of lectures, as noted in Chapter II,
can be traced back to the i8601s, when it appeared in
connection with the folk high school, but the first
modern lecture institutes came into being in 1880 with
the Stockholm Working Mens Institutes. On account of a
great deal of opposition to this organization, a number
of battles were started as to the value of this institute.
The attention of the entire country was drawn to its
activity, and the circumstance possibly led to the organ
ization of similar activities in other cities.
It was difficult, however, for the work carried
on by this and other workingmen1 s institutes to attain
any considerable scope because of the regulations
92
associated with the grants they received from the state,
such as, ,flectures should be arranged in series of well-
adapted courses.’ 1^ Many institutes found it extremely
difficult to arrange such series. This condition, how
ever, has gradually been abolished and the number of
lecture societies has increased.?
In addition to the lecture societies, the Workers
Educational Association and other national popular move
ments also arrange comprehensive lecture activities in
the form of general series of lectures. Centralforbundet
For Nykterhetsundersvisning (The Central Association for
Temperance Teaching) organizes lectures on the liquor
question and social problems, while other lectures are
arranged through the four authorized central bureaus.
Lecture societies are organized in county associations,
and these in turn are united in Forelasningsforbundens
Riksorganisation (The Rational Federation of Lecture
Associations). The lecturing activity is under the
control and inspection of the Central Board erf Education,
^Social Welfare in Sweden, Published by the Royal
Swedish Commission, 1939, Reprinted in part by special
permission from the May, 1938, issue of The Annals of
the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences,
Section V., pp. 9-10.
Tlbid., p. 12.
93
and only those lecturers who have been approved by this
group may be engaged by the lecture societies.
IV. PLAN OP STUDY OP THE POPULAR LECTURES
There is no organized plan of study for the popular
lectures as such, although many individuals and groups
make it a point to prepare themselves on a particular
subject which may interest them. It is quite common for
the students of the folk high school or the study .circle
to spend a great deal of time in making themselves
acquainted with a particular subject so they might re
ceive a greater benefit from the lecture itself. It is
also quite ordinary for those who have a particular
interest to invite' certain lecturers to meet with their
group for a series of meetings to assist them in organ
izing their material, and obtaining information as to the
aim and direction of their own particular group.
In addition to the lecture itself, it is the usual
procedure for the lecturer, either beforehand or during
the lecture, to supply a bibliography for further study.
It is not unusual for the lecturer to arrange a display
of books and pamphlets at the end of the lecture. In
formation regarding correspondence courses in the same
field is also made available to the audience.
9k
It has been noted during the past few decades that
audio-visual education has made great strides in the
popular lecture movement. Many of the lecturers illus
trate their programs with slides and film. In the subjects
dealing with the natural sciences, it is quite common for
many lecturers to conduct a number of experiments during
the course of the lecture.
As a general rule, all of the lecturers answer
questions following the formal presentation of the program.
In many instances, forums or discussions follow the pro
gram, or the lecturer will follow up his presentation by
speaking to small discussion groups or helping them to
organize group studies.
Prom the very outset the subjects undertaken at
the lectures concentrated on a few special subjects, the
commonest among them being on civic matters and local
traditions, or citizenship and ethics. The courses also
often include instruction on elementary subjects such as
the Swedish language and mathematics. The lectures form
as it were the backbone of the courses, but they are sup
plemented with discussions, a reading of the literature
belonging to the subject and work in study circles. As
mentioned previously, their prime function is to stimulate
the participants to continue their studies independently
95
and, like all other phases of Swedish adult education, to
point the way to interest in books*
V. HOW THE POPULAR LECTURES ARE FINANCED
For the arrangement of independent lectures,
government grants are made to lecturing institutes,
lecture associations and lecturing centers. ^Lecturing
institutes are allowed a government grant of at most 25
Swedish crowns for each .lecture up to 10 lectures arranged
in the course of one budget year, and of at most 10
Swedish crowns for every lecture above this number
arranged during the same budget year. Within one and the
same district the state allox^ance can only be paid out
to one lecturing institute, and among the conditions are
that the municipalities or private individuals shall
contribute an equal amount of that paid by the state.
In addition to this, the lectures shall be open to
everyone, and the subjects for the lectures shall be
chosen from the lecturing catalog issued by the Board of
Education, or otherwise approved in advance by the Board
of Education.^
^Det Fria Och Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet
(Free and' Voluntary Adult Education) (Stockholm, Sweden:
Folkuniversitefcets Forlag, 19^4-9) 9 PP* 88-89#
96
A considerable amount of money is also furnished
by the state each year to meet the.costs of lecturing
and instruction to promote the cause of temperance. This
money is to be spent for instruction and studies on
questions of temperance and alcoholic consumption, and
related educational materials.
For longer adult educational courses and the
courses of special education (education equivalent to
the folk high schools), the government allowance is lj-00
Swedish crowns for a 30 hour course, with an addition of
at most 10 crowns for extra hours up to 60 hours. For a
course of a special subject it is at most 15 Swedish
crowns per hour of instruction. Lecturers' at longer
adult educational courses are entitled to reimbursement
for travelling expenses for courses which include at
least 10 lecturing hours.^
An example of state aid for the popular lecture
movement may be seen by noting the government grants made
in 1955 for this phase of adult education.
Grants for Lectures
The total of 81j.0,500 Swedish crowns was allocated
in 1955 in the following way:
9Ibid., p. 90.
Central bureaus for lecturing activities . 112,000
Lecturing associations . . * ................3i | _ ,5>00
Local lecturing institutes ........ 360,900
Lectures in connection with locally
organized studies ............. ..... 250,000
Lectures in connection with central
educational courses . . . ............. . 20,000
Lectures in the defense forces ........... 28,800
Lectures in districts without local
lecturing institutes ...................... 30,000
Scholarships for lecturing conferences
organized by the Board of Education . . . Ij.,300
81+0, ^oo15
Traveling Expenses for Lecturers
The state meets the traveling expenses for
lecturers when they visit local lecturing institutes
and adult educational courses. The cost for the year
1955 amounted to 2l(-5>000 Swedish crowns. ^
V/I.^ THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
OP THE POPULAR LECTURES
Popular lectures are usually promoted by local
1 n
Statistics furnished in mimeographed form by
the Kungliga Skoloverstyrelsen (Royal Board of Education).
l:LIbid.
98
lecturing institutes, but at places lacking such
organization they are arranged by the national educa
tional associations. The local institutes of a certain
region, usually corresponding to the provinces, are
united in a lecturing association, the principal function
of which is to engage in lecturing activities. The
regional associations are joined in a national organiza
tion, with central offices in Stockholm, Gothenburg,
and Lund.
The Lund Center for Popular Scientific Lectures,
the Adult Educational Association in Stockholm, and
the West Swedish Adult Educational Association in
Gothenburg are the centers approved by the Board of
Education for mediation of independent popular scientific
lectures. It is the business of these centers to supply
institutes and societies with lecturers and educational
material, as well as with advice and information on
12
questions connected with it.
Besides the above mentioned lecturing activities,
a great number of lectures are held annually at societies
and associations of every kind. Among the organizations
and institutions engaged in this activity may be mentioned
12Ragnar Lund, Scandinavian Adult Education (Stock
holm, Sweden: Kooperativa Forbundets Bokforlag, 1952),
pp. Z k l - k B . . - . . . . _ _
the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, the trade unions,
the Cooperative Wholesale Society, the Retailers Institute,
the Bureau of Industrial Information, the Northern
Society, the National Defense Association, Association
for Savings Propaganda, Institute for Foreign Affairs,
the Society for the Preservation of Folk Culture, the
National Federation of Swedish Housewives1 Association,
and political parties and youth organizations.1^
The adult educational associations were founded in
connection with the ambulatory folk high school courses.
For the organization and administration of the latter,
unions have been brought together to form educational
associations, which for the most part are intended to
serve other educational interests as well as the adult
educational courses. The organization, methods of work
and position in the adult educational movement of the
educational associations vary greatly in different parts
of the country, but all the educational organizations of
a district are affiliated with them. In arranging courses
the adult educational associations must cooperate with the
educational organizations of the district. This coopera
tion is generally organized through the formation of local
13xbid., p. 250.
100
committees in which, all the interested local societies
are represented. At the present time, there are 32 adult
educational associations or unions for folk high school
courses.
The Adult Educational Association in Stockholm was
formed in 1903 by the union of the Society for People* s
Libraries and Reading Rooms and the Central Union for
Popular Scientific Lectures.^*
The Adult Educational Association received its
present constitution in 1 9 affiliated to it are the
local adult educational associations, the National
Federation of Lecturing Associations and the centers for
popular scientific lectures. The association functions as
such a center, and also has the task of promoting coopera
tion between the different institutions of the movement
for adult education. The association has a special com
mittee for courses, which promotes activity in the local
adult educational associations and a committee for lectures
which stimulates lecturing activity by interesting suitable
people to make contributions to this form of educational
work. The committee for lectures also reports on applica
tions submitted to the association for authorization as
lecturers.^
l^Ragnar Lund, op. cit., p. 37. ^Ibid., p. 38.
CHAPTER VI
THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES
I. WHAT ARE THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES?
As previously discussed in Chapter II, the oldest
branch of the free and voluntary adult education movement
in Sweden is the libraries.
Beginning with the first parish libraries es
tablished around the turn of the 19th century, the idea
of the peoples libraries has grown hand in hand with the
rise of elementary education. The growth of the early
parish libraries provides an excellent example of the
close relationship between educational work and social
and political development.***
In the early years of the 20th century, this
interest became more general and national legislation
provided for the first time that public libraries should
receive some assistance from the state. The rise of the
popular educational movements at about the same time in
history created the birth of the study circle libraries,
which soon found their place in the improvement of the
IttThe Library Law of 1912*1 , 1 The World Association
for Adult Education, Bulletin XV, February, 1923*
pp. 9-10.
102
welfare and culture of the people.
Further national legislation in 1930 saw the
establishment of the first central-libraries x^ith state
assistance, and the people1s library movement has had a
rapid growth since that time.
Peoples libraries in Sweden are of two kinds, those
which are owned by the community and those which are
owned by the various educational associations, the so-
called study circle libraries. Two-thirds of all Swedish
communities have municipal libraries. In cities and
larger towns, libraries often have branches and special
departments for children. Full-time library staffs are
now employed in most of the Swedish communities. Study
circle libraries developed xrtien the popular movements
began to be active In education, and they have made a
significant contribution to this work. In recent years,
a tendency has developed within certain organizations to
turn over the study circle library to the municipal
libraries with the result that the former have somewhat
decreased in number. The activities of the libraries,
which will be discussed later in this chapter, also
extend to hospitals, prisons, to both branches of the
armed forces, and to Swedish communities abroad.
Library work is organized partly by the communes,
103
partly by private societies, and partly as study circle
libraries by local chapters of the national educational
associations.
In 1955, all but two Swedish provinces had a
central library* The principal function of the central
libraries (beside being a regular public library for
their city) is to supplement the work of local libraries
in their respective areas, by the free and direct lending
of books required for study, by the dispatching of various
so-called travelling libraries, and by assisting local
libraries in modern library practice*
II. TYPES OF PEOPLES LIBRARIES
The General Public Library
The public libraries In Sweden are supported and
operated by the municipalities and by the different
educational organizations* These educational organiza
tions, which manage the so-called study circle libraries,
have of recent years restricted their activities, and
have tended more and more to leave the management of
their libraries to already existing municipal libraries
or use them as the foundation for new municipal libraries.
The Central and Provincial Libraries
There are two types of national public libraries
10k
in Sweden: the so-called central library and the
provincial library. The main objective of both of these
libraries is to supplement the work of the local munici
pal libraries, and to inspect them in regard to adminis
tration and organization. Only one central or provincial
library can be in each province. At the present time
there are twenty central libraries in Sweden, located in
the following cities:
1.
Boras
2. Dicksonska folkbiblioteket, Gothenburg
3.
Eskilstuna
k . Falun
5.
Gavle
6. Halmstad
7.
Harnosand
8. Jamtland Lans Bibliotek, Ostersund
9.
Jonkoping
10. Kalmar
11.
Karlskrona
12. Karlstad
13.
Kristianstad
l i - J - . Lidingo
15.
Lulea
16. Malmo
17.
Umea
18. Uppsala
19.
Visby
20. Orebro^
The txtfo provincial libraries are located at Skara
and Linkoping.-^
2Gustaf Svigard, Skolor Och Utbildningsvagar (The
School and Paths of Education) (Stockholm, Sweden: K. L.
Beckmans Boktryckeri, 1 9 » PP. 197-98.
kb id.
Special Types of Libraries
There are a number of special types of public
libraries in Sweden which are somewhat institutional in
character. They include the following:
1. Prison libraries
2. Armed forces libraries
3* Merchant Marine libraries
1 ^ - . Hospital libraries
5. Libraries for Swedish parishes abroad
These libraries are supported entirely by the state
and are administered through the central libraries.
A special public library is maintained in the far
north of.Sweden, where a large part of the population
speak only the Finnish language. This library, known as
the Tornedalen Library, keeps the local population in
touch with Swedish literature.
The Study Circle Library
In spite of the intention of the state to promote
general efficiency by concentrating grants in aid of a
single library in an area, the popular library movement
was influential enough to make out a strong case for the
maintenance of study circle libraries, without which the
educational work of the circles would be severely handi
capped. It- was felt that, although a fine central library
106
was necessary for the general use of the inhabitants of
the commune, libraries ought also to exist in every place
where people assemble regularly for the purpose of pro
moting public interests. The result was that, although
the association libraries were not allowed to receive
direct state aid, national unions of study circles should
be eligible for grants, provided their membership num
bered at least 20,000 and the annual expenditure on books
amounted to at least 6,000 Swedish crowns.^-
It was directed that the aid should take the form
of bound books supplied through a study circle book agency
to an amount corresponding to half the national union1s
expenditure during the preceding year on books, binding,
and printing of catalogs, etc., although grants to single
study circles would be limited. In addition these
libraries were to be subject to inspection by library
inspectors•
At the present time, the following national
associations receive state aid for this purpose:
1* ABF (The Workers Educational Association)
2. I0G-T (The Good Templars Educational Association)
^Folk Och Skolbibliotek (Peoples and School
Libraries) , Bulletin of the State Ecklesiastickdepartmentet,
Stockholm, Sweden, 191+9, pp. 9-10.
107
3. JI3F (The Young Farmers Association)
i { - . NTO (The National Order of Templars Association)
5* SBF (Swedish Blue Ribbon Educational
Association)
6* SKS (The Swedish Ecclesiastical Educational
Association)
7* SLS (The Swedish Rural Educational Association)
The quality of the literature in the study circle
libraries has usually been superior to that of the general
public libraries. Dissatisfaction has arisen from the
fact that, although study circle libraries are accessible
to the public, and in many parts of the country they are
the only accessible libraries, the state contribution is
q
much less than that made to the communal libraries.
III. HOW THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES ARE FINANCED
In 1905, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) voted aid
to the library movement for the first time. By 1912* the
amounts had increased considerably and it was decided
that grants should go to study circle libraries as well
as to public libraries and school libraries. To the type
of library receiving state aid was also added many of the
special types of libraries, including prisons and
^Interview in August, 1955* with Ernst Michanek,
Social Secretary of Sweden._
108
hospitals* This was done in 1920. In 1930, the state aid
to libraries was reorganized and put on a more favorable
basis. The maximum amount of state aid in 1955 to the
public library of a municipality (municipal and similar
public libraries and study circle libraries affiliated
with the national educational associations) was 10,000
Swedish crowns per year* Every subsidy is made in a
certain proportion to the amount drawn from other sources
(50 to 100 per cent). For the large libraries to qualify
for the maximum state subsidy it was required that the
library shall have a reading room available with a satis
factory collection of reference books, and that the
library be managed by a trained librarian, 1fwho shall
possess the necessary qualifications.
A particularly important innovation in the 1930
regulations was the state decision to gradually establish
central libraries in all of the provinces of Sweden. The
central library grants amounted to 30,000 Swedish crowns
over and above the sum otherwise received and was made to
those central libraries which undertook within their
respective provinces to supplement the work.of local
^Det Fria Qch Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet
(Free anX Voluntary Adult Education) Statens Offentliga
Utredningar, 19l±6, Ecklesiastikdepartementet.
(Stockholm, Sweden: K. L. Beckmans Boktryckeri), p. 80.
libraries .by direct loans free of charge of books needed
for study, and by sending out travelling libraries wherever
needed.
For the year 1955* the following sums (Swedish
crowns) were allocated by the government to the peoples
libraries s
8*58 8,5oo7
IV. THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
OF THE PEOPLES LIBRARIES
The central direction of all public library affairs
is in the hands of two state library experts (biblioteks-
konsulenterna), who devote all of their time and working
capacity to this task. They attend to all the business
of the department connected with this work, examine the
library reports sent in, and check the book lists from
the state supported public libraries. They also supply
advice and information, publish state catalogs, and
Public libraries, study circles, schools,
hospitals, military and seamen1s
libraries.......................... . .7* 783,100
6L}.0,000
165*14-00
County (central) libraries
Other library expense . .
^Statistics furnished in mimeographed form by the
Kungliga Skoloverstyrelsen (Royal Board of Education).
110
conduct training courses for librarians.
Libraries may purchase any books with their own
funds except those of immoral content.
Apart from the difficulty of an objective inter
pretation and application of this rule--which before
the time of the library experts led to a measure of
censorship that gave offence and sometimes aroused
general ridicule--it gives no guarantee whatever
against general inferiority in the book stock of a
library, for which reason it might well be replaced
by more suitable rules for the maintenance of a
satisfactory level of the book supply in these
exceptional cases where some intervention may be
required.8
Books supplied by the state are to be chosen from
a catalog compiled by the library experts, to which yearly
additions are made. The state catalog is an excellent
aid for the librarian with reference to choice of books,
as the character of the contents of most of them is
indicated by short notices written by specialists in the
branch of the literature concerned.
At the present time there are about 8,200 state-
supported public libraries in Sweden. Of these about
1,350 are the peoples libraries, about 5*000 are the
peoples study circle libraries, and about 1,750 are school
libraries. These libraries together own more than seven
®Det Fria Qch Frivilliga Bildningsarbetet I Sverige
(The Free and"Voluntary Adult Education in Swedehj
Bulletin of Folkuniversitetets Forlag (Stockholm, Sweden;
1924-9), p. 10.
million volumes* The number of loans amount to about
ljj.5 millions a year.^ During the latter years, the
lending frequency has been growing rapidly, and the
number of borrowers is around 1,1{.00,000 a year (about
one-fifth of the population). As a borrower often borrows
books for the whole family, there is certainly justice in
presuming that every book borrowed is read by at least
two persons and, this being the case, it can be assumed
that between one-third and one-half of the country1s
inhabitants avail themselves of the educational facil
ities provided by the public libraries.
^Social Welfare in Sweden, Published by the Royal
Swedish Commission, 1939* Reprinted in part by special
permission from the May, 1938, issue of The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Sciences,
Section V, pp. 11-12.
CHAPTER VII
A BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW OF ADULT
EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
America, is convinced that education is for all.
The idea that every community should provide for the
continuing education of adults is rapidly being
accepted. Personal, job, and civic competence for
all is the aim in our advancing society. As we live
together in this new and vigorous nation, we hold to
the philosophy that each one individually must move
forward; we must personally achieve greater things;
we must collectively resolve the problems in an
atomic age. As a nation, we must hasten to bring
literacy in all its respects to, the doorsteps of all
free men in this great America.
Public adult education in California can’be traced
back historically over one hundred years, to the days
when California citizens first achieved political state
hood. Although the first years of adult education repre
sented almost entirely elementary and remedial work, the
movement has evolved steadily to the comprehensive program
in effect today.
The first adult program, known as the evening
school, was opened by the San Francisco Board of Education
in 1856 in the basement of St. Mary’s Cathedral in San
Francisco. Four volunteers constituted the first faculty
■^Manfred E. Evans, Chairman, Editorial Committee,
in “Introduction,1 1 Public School Adult Education, National
Association of Public School Educators, 1956, p7 8.
113
until regular teachers could be obtained. These men were
James Denman, John Swett, John Hannill, and Ahira Holmes,
the latter holding the position of evening school prin
cipal. ^
During the first thirty years of evening school
classes, the program was almost entirely limited to
Northern California. Following the initial,beginning in
San Francisco in 1856, an evening school program was
initiated in Sacramento in 1872, in Oakland in 1880, and
in San Jose in 1883*^
The first classes were oriented in part toward
adolescents, and the 1 1 proper1 1 spheres of instruction were
the ordinary vocational and academic curricula of the day
schools. Students were expected to attend five evenings
per week, and the method of instruction was largely one
of ” study and recite.11^*
Adult education in Southern California began in
1885 when William Mellick-was paid a salary by the Board
^John Swett, History of the Public School System
of California (San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and Company,
I B W , P. 93.
^California State Department of Education,
Development of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXII,
No~ 6 (Sacramento: C alif ornia State Printing Office, June,
1953), P. k-
^California State Department of Education, Beginning
of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXXIII, No. ^ (Sac
ramento: California State Printing Office, August, 1954), P«i*
114.
of Education for teaching an evening class. Because it
was against the law to conduct classes in a public school
building after ip:00 p.m., Mr. Mellick conducted his first
classes in an old abandoned building. Although the growth
of the evening school program in Los Angeles was steady,
enrollment did not rise significantly until after 1905?.
In 1905 the Los Angeles superintendent of schools,
James A. Foshay, recommended that the ffhigher branches1 1
be taught in the night school. He wrote, r,Perhaps it would
be well to have what might be termed Night High School,
especially for such branches as English, Stenography,
Typewriting, Mathematics, Bookkeeping, and Mechanical
Drawing.1 1 ^
In 1906 the Board of Education took over a private
institution, College Settlement, which became the nucleus
of the Americanization centers. Mrs. Amanda Chase, one of
its first teachers, later became CaliforniaT s first f *home
teacher .,,D
The first separate evening high school in Los
Angeles, established in 1907, took the German continuation
^Development of Adult Education in California, op.
cit., p. ST.
6j. Wilson Getsinger, ffThe History of Adult Educa
tion in the Public Schools of California*1 (unpublished
Doctor1 s dissertation, Stanford University, 19i|-8).-
school as its model, with part-time instruction provided
for adolescents who had dropped out of school. Courses
were for vocational business training (e.g., mechanical
drawing, patternmaking, bookkeeping) or the completion of
high school requirements (e.g., United States history,
arithmetic, etc.). In this early form adult education
was linked to elementary and secondary education by its
program. Some of the first evening schools were actually
called boys* or girls* schools, with enrollment concen
trated in pupils from twelve to sixteen years of age. The
evening school did not develop a distinctive program
related to older adults until the advent of World War I,
when the Americanization and citizenship classes (immigrant
education) and vocational education for adults became more
apparent. These two sources provided the evening school
with program elements distinctively related to an adult
clientele.
Prom 1856 until 1902 evening schools were almost
all organized in connection with elementary schools. But
during this period many subjects not taught in elementary
schools were being taught in evening schools. Laws and
court decisions were to play an important part in the
subjects taught in evening schools.
In 1879 the State Constitution included the
116
following provision:
The public school system shall include- day and
evening elementary schools and such day and evening
secondary schools, technical schools, normal schools
or teachers colleges as may be established by legis
lation or by municipal or district authority.'
However, all state support for high schools was withdrawn
by another provision of the same constitution.
In 1902 the Constitution was amended to provide
state support for high schools; and although the amount
was small, it was enough to encourage the formation of
new high schools in many places. High schools had been
aided by the union high school district law, passed in
1891* This amendment and legislation were important in
their indirect effect on evening schools, which were about
to emerge as evening high schools.
Even more important in the development of evening
schools was a decision of the State Supreme Court in 1907.
Humboldt Evening School, established in 1896-97 by the
San Francisco Board of Education, had given high school
work from the start. When state support for high schools
was reestablished, the Board claimed that Humboldt was a
regularly established high school and entitled to state
support. Edward Hyatt, the Superintendent of Fublic
^Constitution of the State of California, 1879.
117
Instruction, took an opposite view and refused to grant
state funds for its support. The Board of Education of
that city and the County of San Francisco brought suit,
and the matter was finally determined by a decision of
the Supreme Court on December 6, 1907# This decision had
the effect of establishing the rights of evening schools
to exist as separate legal entities and to share in state
appropriations,
The effects of this decision and the subsequent
legislation are seen in the steadily increasing number of
evening high schools established after 1907# In Los
Angeles the evening high school, which was established
in 1907 and discontinued in 1908 for lack of funds, was
reestablished in 1909, and from it have grown the present
2hr evening schools in this city.
Thus the first important steps had been taken in
establishing a legal basis for adult education in the
public schools of California. The next decade was to
bring added legislation, many new evening high schools,
and greatly increased public interest in public education.
During the years immediately preceding and follow
ing World War I, Americanization and citizenship classes
became linked with the growth of adult education in
California. With this strong national urgency behind it,
118
immigrant education played an important role in the
evolution of evening school functions. At the same time,
with increasing participation of adults in vocational
and academic courses, these too became approved means of
growth.
A further impetus to Americanization was given by
Mrs. S. Gibson, a member of the California Commission of
Immigration and Housing, which had been established in
1913. Mrs. Gibson proposed and secured the passage by
the State Legislature of the Home Teacher Act, which
provided that school boards might employ f,home teachers’ 1
whose duty it was to work in the homes, instructing both
children and adults in sanitation, nutrition, clothing,
preparation for school, the fundamental principles of the
American system of government, and the rights and duties
o
of citizenship.
For a long time, very little happened as a result
of this legislation. In Los Angeles, Mrs. Amanda
Chase was appointed the first home teacher. A short
time later, Mrs. Ruby Baughman was appointed super
visor of immigrant education in Los Angeles. In San
Francisco the Council of Jewish Women paid the salary
of the first home teacher, Rebecca Jacobs, as a
philanthropic work, and also as a demonstration of the
possibilities. Oakland was another center of early
work, but the movement gained headway slowly until
1920.9
®California Statutes, 1915, p. if-6.
9Getsinger, op. cit., p. 8l.
This period also saw the passage of a number of
legislative acts which further established adult education
as an integral part of public education in California.
The more important of these legislative measures included:
The Civic Center Act ...........1913
The County School Fund Act .... 1915
The Special Day and Evening Classes
Act .............................1917
The Part Time Compulsory
Education A c t ....................1919
The Civic Center Act authorized the use of school
properties for meetings for public discussion of educa
tional, political, and economic problems.
The County School Fund Act provided that each
county was required to set up a county high school fund
which high school districts were reimbursed with in the
amount of §60 per unit of average daily attendance. This
was in addition to the §30 per unit of average daily
attendance which the districts received from the state
11
high school fund. This method has been since discon
tinued, as the county costs have now been shifted to the
1QCalifornia Statutes, 1913? P* $3*
3-3-California Statutes, 1915? PP* llj.01, liq-Olp.
120
state,
The Special Day and Evening Classes Act authorized
the establishment in high school districts of special day
and evening classes for persons not in attendance in the
day, full time, school.
The Part Time Compulsory Education Act provided
for continuation education, requiring each high school
where fifty or more persons over fourteen and under
eighteen years of age resided, who had not completed 'high
school, and were not in full time attendance in a regular
high school, to maintain special part time classes for
11
such students,
By 1920, adult education in California found itself
on a firmer basis than ever before. The program was now
supported by state and county funds, and special day and
evening classes were in operation.
An example of the rapid growth of the adult movement
may be seen in the biennial report for 1908 by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction of California when
he reported: f,There are seven night schools in California,
with 109 teachers and 8,215 students,” and the later
report of E. R. Snyder, first commissioner of vocational
- ^California Statutes, 1917* pp. 1382-83.
-^California Statutes, 1919, .p., lOi+7.
121
education, in 1920, when he stated: uThere are 33 evening
high schools and 108 day high schools maintaining special
day and evening classes, with a total enrolment of
7k, 000.n1^
Thus, from the early evening schools for the young
emerged schools for adults centered on vocational train
ing, Americanization and remedial academic education. All
three areas, however, did not suffice to relate the
evening school to major segments of the general public.
When the restrictive national immigration came about in
the early 1920* s, it was clear that Americanization was
not a permanent base for the schools, and these tendencies
provided an incentive for the evening school to seek new
purposes and new programs.
During this decade, adult agencies began to emerge
at local, state, and national levels; the common identi
fication became known after 1926 as the adult education
* 1 c'
movement, ^
In 192k the Department of Immigrant Education of
the National Education Association became the Department
^Development of Adult Education in California, op.
cit., p. TH
•^Burton H. Clark, Adult Education in Transition,
(Berkeley, California: University of California Press,
1955 b P*
of Adult Education* The United States Office of Education
took on an adult education specialist the following year.
The American Association for Adult Education, initiated by
Frederick Keppel of the Carnegie Corporation and supported
by Carnegie Funds was set up in 1926. The A.A.A.E.
included both school and non-school agencies that were in
any way related to the education of adults (e.g.,
16
libraries, museums, settlement houses).
In 1919, Mrs. Ethel Richardson was appointed as
the Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction in
charge of Americanization. Under her supervision, a
number of training courses throughout the state were con
ducted, and standards for certificating teachers for
Americanization work were soon established and the re
quired courses offered by the state colleges and the
University of California. Organizations, publications,
teaching materials, and teacher training conferences
multiplied during this period, and adult education enrol
ment grew from a few thousands to more than a quarter of
a million.
A Bureau of Parent Education was set up in the
State Department of Education in 1926 under a grant from
1^> Ibid., p. 50
123
the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation with Herbert R.
Stolz as Director. In 1928 Gertrude Laws and John Dale
were added to the staff. In 1927 the State Board of
Education established lecture permits and authorized
school districts to employ any person who held a lecture
permit to give as many as four lectures during a school
term.
The Division of Adult Education was formed in
the reorganization of the State Department of Education
in 19279 and Mrs, Ethel Richardson Allen became its first
chief
Probably the most important piece of legislation
during the period which affected adult education was the
passage of a bill in 1921 by which governing boards of
school districts operating high schools were required to
establish Americanization classes if they were requested
to do so by 25 or more persons. The Boards could set
them up for smaller groups if they wished. The county
clerk was required to furnish the names of applicants
for citizenship to schools conducting Americanization
*| Q
classes,
-^Beginning of Adult Education in California, op.
cit., p. 8.
• ^California Statutes, 1921, pp. 7^4-2—i 4_ 3•
12k
In addition, the legislature provided for state
bonuses for classes for adults, which were designated
f 1 special day and evening classes.t f These bonuses were
computed on the basis of $120 for each of the first ten
units of a.d.a., $80 for each of the next ten, and $60
for each of the third ten. In addition to these amounts
of money the district received approximately $90 per unit
of a.d.a. from state and county funds. Although the State
Board of Education encouraged school districts to employ
full-time directors of adult education, only the larger
ones did so.*^
The decade of the thirties proved a severe test to
public adult education in California. Adult education
came under attack and many of the evening schools were
temporarily closed, budgets were cut, classes consoli
dated, the year shortened for evening schools and high
attendance standards enforced.
The economic depression which affected the entire
nation made itself felt in California1s adult education
program. The program was accused of containing many
courses which were not of educational value. Critics
felt that tax monies should not be expended upon a program
^Development of Adult Education in California,
op. cit., p. 9$.
that did not confine its curriculum to purely academic
subjects. In the year 1933 alone, sixteen bills were
defeated before they could be made into law.
George C. Mann, who had been appointed chief of
the Division of Adult Education in 1931}-, answered most of
the criticisms, showing that much of the difficulty was
due to a lack of understanding, but there were many
weaknesses in the public adult education program that
should be corrected. The State Board of Education, on
George MannT s recommendation, adopted the regulation that
each class in adult education must have an educational
purpose and that the class period should be devoted to
PO
instruction.
Adult education was given a further boost in 1933
when the federal government through the State Emergency
Belief Administration established a program of adult
education in California. Designed primarily to provide
employment for teachers who had been unable to secure
positions, the program included vocational training
classes, literacy classes, parent and workers1 projects,
nursery schools, and general adult education programs.
^^Beginning of Adult Education in California,
op. cit., p. 11.
126
Other measures during the 1930* s which gave further
impetus to public adult education were the Federal Forum
Projects, the CCC, the Smith-Hughes Act, the Smith-Lever
Act, and the assumption of the parent education program
by the State Department of Education in 1931*
In 19IpO, California had a population of about eight
million, of whom perhaps five million were adult. Roughly
10 per cent of these adults attended some public school
class during the year 1939-ij-O. These figures evidence the
widespread demand of the adult for educational oppor-
pn
tunity.
In 1939 and 19^-0 important laws were passed that
recognized adult education as a form of education co
ordinated with, but independent of, elementary and
secondary education. Additional laws and regulations of
1 9 recognized that the principal responsibilities of
adult education were directly related to the continuing
educational needs and current problems of adults rather
than the continuation of the earlier concept of remedial
p p
education. ^
21Ibid., p. 13.
^^Califomia State Department of Education, Hand-
book for Teachers of Adults, Vol. XX, No. 1± (Sacramento:
California State Printing Office, May, 1951), p. 1.
127
World War II, with its enormous problem of training
personnel, called upon all the resources of adult educa
tion to help meet its need. Under the supervision of the
State Department of Education, the adult education program
Installed numerous defense training programs. In order to
meet the national emergency, California adult schools
almost completely changed their objectives during the
war years, and responded to the Immediate demands of the
national defense program.
During the war years many changes were made In
regulations and legislation pertaining to adult education,
the most important changes being made in 194-1 and 194-5*
In 19ifl, separate evening junior colleges were
authorized. If an evening school met all requirements,
It could qualify as both a high school and a junior
college. Legislation gave authority to hold national
defense training classes on Saturdays, and provided for
2 3
acceptance of federal aid.
Following severe criticism in 194-4- from members of
the State^ Legislature with reference to some adult schools
collecting state aid and federal aid for the same classes,
the 194-5 legislature adopted the following legislation:
23C al if ornia Statutes, 194-1* P. 2807*
128
School boards are authorized to maintain classes
for adults with the approval of the State Department
of Education in the fields of civic, vocational,
literacy, health, homemaking, technical, and general
education. The classes may be open at such hours of
the day or evening for such length of time and such
period of the year as the board may determine; and
boards may establish qualifications for admission to
such classes.
The State Department of Education shall establish
standards of attendance, curriculum, administration,
and counseling service, as a basis for apportionment
of state funds.
Governing Boards shall have the authority to pro
vide for granting appropriate credits, certificates,
diplomas, or other recognition of skill or accom
plishment in such classes which such districts are
otherwise authorized to grant. Classes for adults
may be held in connection with the day or evening
high schools and day or evening junior colleges.
Average daily attendance is computed by dividing
the total number of hours of attendance during the
entire school year by. three to obtain days of
attendance, and dividing the result by 17$ to obtain
units of a.d.a.
Tuition of not to exceed six dollars per term may
be charged adults, except in classes in English,
citizenship for foreigners, and classes in elementary
subjects. [This tuition charge was later changed to
read, ,fnot to exceed actual cost.113
An allocation of twenty dollars for each of the
first ifO ■units of a.d.a. is allowed for administra
tive purposes to each district maintaining such
classes.2*4-
There was also a provision that the amount of state
support should not exceed 8$ per cent of the current
^California Statutes, 19li$, p. 1367.
129
expenditures for adult classes, but this was found
unworkable, and the State Legislature removed this pro
vision in 191-1-7 •
Another legislative act at this time (19^-7) helped
establish the fact that adult education is a separate
major division of education in California. This act
stated that "evening high schools and evening junior
colleges may consist of classes for adults.11^ Also in
19i|7j the state adopted a new plan for state support of
schools on a partial equalization basis, thus varying the
amounts of money which are allocated to school districts
offering an adult education program.
During the past decade adult education in California
has continued to grow, meeting the needs of an ever-
increasing population. Many new special programs have
been introduced, including parent education (revised),
horaemaking education, counseling and guidance, distribu
tive education and music appreciation. Numerous con
ference and teacher training institutes are held regularly
dealing with organization and techniques.
Probably the best of these conference programs has
been the Santa Barbara Workshops, ..which have won an
^California Statutes, 191+7* p. 1001.
130
established position in the California Public School
Education Program. Started in 191+9 as an experiment in
professional training for administrators and teachers of
adult education, it has grown steadily in popularity and
in the support which it has inspired throughout the state.
Each workshop since 19lp9 has seen an increase in the
varieties of subjects, studies, the number of sponsors,
the number of persons enrolled and productivity in terms
of section reports. As public school adult education
programs have learned to broaden the boundaries of the
public school to include all parts of the community, so
have the Santa Barbara Workshops broadened to include
more public and private organizations and agencies inter
ested in the education of adults.
Co-operating with the Bureau of Adult Education in
the program of the Santa Barbara Workshops are the
California Association of Adult Education Administrators,
the California Council for Adult Education, the California
Congress of Parents and Teachers, the Field Development
Committee of the Adult Education Association of the United
States, and University Extension, University of California
at G-oleta. In addition the newly organized California
State Committee on Adult Education now meets with the
131
26
Santa Barbara Workshop.
Special mention should be made of two of these
organizations which have contributed largely to the
advancement of adult education in California. They are
the California Council for Adult Education and the
California State Committee on Adult Education.
The California Council for Adult Education, which
was organized in 1 9 Is the organization of teachers,
administrators, and members of lay organizations who have
an active interest in education for citizenship, family
life education, vocational education, and education which
will create a better life environment for this and suc
ceeding generations. It has done much to develop a
professional attitude among adult education workers in
the state and has gained recognition for the professional
rights of teachers and school administrators, and in
providing to those who are directly interested in adult
education opportunity for professional advancement.
The California State Committee on Adult Education
is a voluntary non-governmental organization of agencies
that are interested in statewide adult education.
^Bureau of Adult Education,HSanta Barbara Workshop
in Adult Education, Report and Proceedings}* G-oleta,
California, July 19-28, 1958. (Mimeographed^
1 3 2
For many years, leaders of adult education in
California have felt the need for the development of a
committee on adult education at the state level, made up
of representatives of all statewide agencies and groups,
for the purpose of acting in an advisory capacity to the
Bureau of Adult Education.
The idea was crystal!zed at the Santa Barbara
Workshop in Adult Education in the summer of 195^1- In a
meeting convened by Dr. George C. Mann, former Chief of
the Bureau of Adult Education, it was decided to attempt
to formulate such a group of co-equal, peer-level type of
organization. The group agreed that an agency was needed
whose function would increase the amount of interagency
cooperation in California, as well as coordinate offerings,
lessen duplication, publicize, interpret, and lend sup
port to adult education. A subcommittee was appointed
and later reported the functions of the proposed State
Committee on Adult Education. On the basis of this
report, plans were made for the organization of a State
Committee, and invitations were sent to between 3 5 and
l j . 0 agencies that were conducting major adult education
programs in the State to send representatives to an
133
organization meeting in Sacramento.^
In December of 1 9 representatives of 38 state
and regional organizations met and established the
California State Committee on Adult Education. The
Committee was established to survey and study the various
needs and activities in the state, to exchange ideas, and
to confer from time to time upon their several and common
concerns.
The first undertaking of the committee was to bring
together a cooperatively produced inventory of adult
education resources and needs of California, and each
participating agency was asked to submit a statement
setting forth its purposes, assets and needs in regard
to its program of adult education* Twenty-six of these
adult education agencies responded to this assignment
and a description of their purposes, assets and needs
in regard to adult education may be seen in Appendix E.
The participating agencies are as follows:
1, The American Association of University Women,
California Division
2. The American Legion, Department of California
^Bureau of Adult Education, lfSanta Barbara Work
shop in Adult Education, Report and Proceedings,” Santa
Barbara, California, July 22-31* 195h> PP. 62-63.
(Mimeographed. )____
13k
3* American National Red Cross
if. Anti-Defamation League of B*nai B* rith
5. Audio-Visual Education Association of
California
6. Boy Scouts of America
7* The Bureau of Adult Education
8. California Academy of Sciences
9. California Association of Adult Education
Administrators
10. California Congress of Parents and Teachers
11. California Council for Adult Education
12. California Junior Colleges
13. California Library Association
lif. California State Chamber of Commerce
15>. California State Federation of Labor
16. California State Library
17. Catholic School Department
18. Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
19. League of Women Voters of California
20. Education Office Mather Air Force Base
21. San Francisco Museum of Art
22. Toastmaster1s International
23. University of California, School of Education
2k. University of California, University Extension
2f?* University of Southern California, University
College
26. Young Women* s Christian Association
California*s overall program of adult education in
the public schools is directed by the Division of Adult
and Continuation Education, which has its central office
in Sacramento. The basic job of this agency is the co
ordination of the adult and continuation program with the
total educational program in the State of California.
CHAPTER VIII
ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION OP
ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
I. STATE PHILOSOPHY
The State of California has considered public
education to be one of its chief obligations. Evidence
of this interest may be found in the many enactments of
the State Legislature in the form of laws dealing with
education; provisions of the Administrative Code of the
State Board of Education; publications and directives of
the State Department of Public Instruction; and the State
Director of Education.
Adult education has been considered as an integral
part of the educational pattern of California for more
than forty years* Its roots lie in acts passed by the
State Legislature, its program defined by educational
policy making bodies of the State, and its support from
funds provided by the people of the State for a sound
program.
II. LEGAL PROVISIONS
Certain provisions of the Education Code of
California form the legal basis for the establishment of
137
adult education programs in the public schools of
California. From the standpoint of organization, the
public schools of California have three basic levels.
These are the kindergarten-elementary schools; the high
schools, including the thirteenth and fourteenth grades
of the junior college; and the state colleges and the
university system. By legislative enactment, the adult
education activities in California are to be found
primarily in the second of these levels.
The California Education Code clarifies, defines,
prescribes, and directs what may be legally offered in
the field of adult education. The code sets forth per
formance standards and regulations for the operation of
the adult education programs. This code includes legal
authority for school districts, or systems, to present
adult education activities ranging from teaching of basic
elementary subjects to the admission of adults to junior
colleges.
The most pertinent provisions of the California
code relating to the administration and organization of
adult education in California are listed in Appendix F,
III. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE PROVISIONS
The California Administrative Code, Title
138
Education, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, published by the
Division of Administrative Procedure, lists rules and
regulations which have been adopted by the educational
policy making boards of the State and which are specifi
cally related to education.
The Administrative Code seeks to describe more
fully, clarify more accurately, and implement more com
pletely the enactments of the State Legislature. This
code explains in detail methods of governing the public
school program at all public school levels.
The more pertinent provisions dealing with the
administration and organization of adult education in
California are shown in Appendix P.
IV. STATE SUPERVISION OF ADULT EDUCATION
The State Department of Education, operating
through the Bureau of Adult Education, supervises the
California program of adult education. The Chief of the
Bureau of Adult Education is assisted by a consultant
whose duties relate to all the functions of the Bureau and
two consultants in specialized fields, one in parent
education and one in continuation education.
The Bureau of Adult Education develops policies
on the state level for the operation of adult and
139
continuation programs and approves separate evening
schools and individual classes for adults carried on in
day and evening schools.
In carrying out its responsibilities, the Bureau
performs the following functions: helping in the
organization and conduct of workshops for adminis
trators on administrative problems, on the techniques
of community surveys, and' on teaching methods in
adult education; developing credential standards;
preparing teachers guides, guides on curriculum
development, and instructional materials; preparing
statistical reports covering adult education activi
ties; and providing special consultant services in
parent education, continuation education, citizen
ship, English for foreign born and native-born adults,
and socio-civic education. It also advises local
school boards on procedures for developing adult
programs, means of determining community needs, legal
steps involved, selection of teachers, and types of
offerings. It helps in organizing and administering
a state-xtfide training program for teachers of adults.
The discharge of these responsibilities involves
contact with more than IpDO schools throughout the
State of California.1
V. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
Adult education, as all other types of public
education, must be administered locally to insure its
meeting the educational needs and demands of the citizens
it serves. Therefore, there must be an overall adminis
tration of the program of adult education, which stems
•^California State Department of Education,
Development of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXII,
Nol 6 (Sacramento: California State~T?rinting Office,
June, 1953), pp. IfJ-W-f-.
124-0
directly from the office of the chief school officer of
the local school district.
California law authorizes several types of local
organization for adult education. These types include:
A. The separate evening high school.
B. The separate evening junior college.
C. Classes for adults maintained by day schools,
both in high schools and junior college
districts.
D. Special day and evening classes in elementary
school districts*
The Separate Evening High School
The separate evening high school in California is
divorced from the regular secondary school and offers a
program of education meaningful and necessary to adults.
When the enrollment and program of studies in classes for
adults justify the organization of a separate evening
school in any secondary school district and when the
district can meet the standards for a separate evening
school prescribed by the State Board of Education, the
superintendent or principal submits to the Bureau of
Adult Education an application for authority to establish
l l j . 1
2
such a school. Standards for setting up a school for
adults and prescribed courses to be offered are listed
in the California Education Code and the California
Administrative Code,
In a school for adults which had an average daily
attendance during the preceding fiscal year of less than
200 units, a principal must be appointed who gives at
least half time to the school. In a school for adults
with an a,d.a. during the preceding fiscal year of 200
units or more, a full-time principal must be employed.
In the large cities there is usually a director of adult
education responsible to the superintendents office. 3
Separate Evening Junior Colleges
The organization of the evening junior college is
the same in all respects as the organization of the
evening high school. There are two types of evening
junior college, the two-year evening junior college and
the four-year evening junior college. The two-year
evening junior college may give credit for junior college
subjects in grades thirteen and fourteen. The four-year
^California State Department of Education, Adult
Education--Handbook for In-Service Teacher Training
Programs, Vol. XXIII, No. 5 (Sacramento: California State
Printing Office, August, , p. 23*
•^Ibid.
142
junior college, however, may give credit in both high
school and junior college subjects*
Glasses for Adults
In districts which do not meet the requirements for
the establishment of an evening high school or do not
offer the full number of courses required for a separate
high school, it is still possible to have classes for
adults. These classes are maintained by the day high
school or junior college, and in most respects, these
classes are operated under the same general regulations
as apply to separate evening schools and the attendance
is computed on the same basis as attendance in separate
evening schools.
Special Pay and Evening Classes
in Elementary Schools
Elementary school districts may carry on special
day and evening classes for adults in elementary school
subjects. These classes are administered as a part of
the elementary school.
In regard to local administration, the board of
trustees is considered first in authority. The city or
district superintendent, where there. is such an official in
the system, is usually considered second in authority.
When the school system has an assistant superintendent in
li+3
charge of adult education, he is usually considered third
in authority. The principal of the day high school is
usually not in authoritjr over the evening school at all,
except in cases where he is also district superintendent
or evening school principal.
The evening high school principal is usually con
sidered third or fourth in authority. Where the evening
school principal is considered third in authority, there
is no assistant superintendent in charge of adult educa
tion, and where the evening school principal is considered
fourth, there is usually an assistant superintendent for
adult education*
Warne found that there are many different adminis
trative organizations in various systems, but two stand out
as typical. In the large communities the typical order
of authority is; city board of education, superintendent,
assistant superintendent in charge of adult education,
and evening principal. In smaller communities the typical
order is: board of education, city or district superin
tendent, and evening school principal. In the larger
communities there seems to be very little connection
administratively between the day high schools and the
adult evening classes which are conducted in connection
with them, while in the smaller communities, the principal
1 kk
of the day school is usually the principal of the evening
school as well.^"
From the administrative standpoint the evening
school seems generally to be recognized as an insti
tution entirely different from the day high school
in character and function, although utilizing the
same equipment and existing as a legal branch of the
high school system.^
VI. APPROVAL OF CLASSES
All adult education classes for adults in
California must be approved each year by the Bureau of
Education, as established and maintained in conformity
with law. Each class must be approved before attendance
in such a class can be counted for state apportionment
purposes. Special reports must be made on forums and
lecture series, since the school district must obtain
lecture permits for all lecturers and there are special
limitations on attendance.
All classes for adults in California must have
an educational purpose and classes for recreational or
entertainment purposes or for the sole purpose of
^•Joseph E. Warne, !lThe Organization and Adminis
tration of Adult Education in Public Schools in
California” (unpublished Master1 s thesis* The University
of Southern California, 1930), pp. 19-21.
^Ibid., p. 29.
ih5
occupying the leisure time of individuals cannot be
approved.
VII. GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
The minimum state requirements for high school
graduation of adults, as outlined in the California
Administrative Code, consist of the completion of not
less than l£0 semester periods of classroom instruction,
not including physical education, which is required of all
minors attending school half-time or more. A semester
period is defined as one period of IpO to 60 minutes per
week throughout one semester of not less than 17 weeks.
Included in the lf?0 semester periods must be the following:
A. Fifteen semester periods of Instruction in
American history and civics, including the
study of American institutions and ideals,
the United States Constitution, and the
principles of State and local government of
California.
B. Attainment of satisfactory mastery of oral and
written English.
C. Instruction in the principles and practices of
first aid.6
Except for the above stated legal requirements,
the policies on granting credit in schools and classes
^California Administrative Code, Title 5, Education,
Section 97*
Ik6
for adults are determined by the local school district.
The minimum state requirements for graduation from
a junior college, as outlined in the California
Administrative Code, consist of at least 60 credit hours
of work. One credit hour of junior college work is
approximately 3 hours of work per week throughout a term
of 16 weeks. Included in the 60 credit hours of work
must be the following:
A. A major consisting of at least 20 credit hours
in a specified field of study.
B. Three credit hours in the Constitution of the
United States and in American history, in
cluding the study of American institutions
and ideals and the principles of state and
local government established under the
Constitution of this State, and the satis
factory passing of an examination on these
courses,
C. Two credit hours of community and personal
hygiene.
P. Two credit hours in physical education earned
at the rate of one-half credit per semester
of 120 minutes per week. Permanent exemption
from physical education requirements may be
granted a student who has reached his twenty-
fifth birthday or who is enrolled as a post
graduate student.
E. Such requirements in oral and written English
as the governing board of the school may
establish.
F. Instruction in the principles and practice of
first aid.'
The governing board of a.school district maintaining
' lbid. 5 Sect1 on 102. --- -
a junior college shall have the power to award the
appropriate diploma or degree whenever a student shall
have completed all requirements of a full curriculum of
the school without regard to the length of time actually
taken to complete such requirements.
CHAPTER IX
FINANCING ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
I. STATE PHILOSOPHY
Our country has long been deeply committed to tax
supported public schools open and free to all people.
The age limits often found in early state constitu
tions and laws represented a prevailing concept of
public education. As the need for public education
has become evident, local and state school authorities
have added education for adults as a part of the
school system. As is usual with legal changes, both
permissive legislation and mandatory support for
adult education have often lagged behind public
sentiment. Nonetheless, beginning soon after the
turn of the century, state after state liberalized ^
its laws regarding the provision of adult education.
As outlined in Chapter VIII, the above statement
by Dr* Homer Kempfer typifies the rise of publicly sup
ported adult education In California. The history of the
movement shows that it developed with the growth of public
support for public education, but for many years had only
stepchild status. As the need for adult education was
realized, however, legislative and mandatory support
developed the program and helped it achieve the high
status it has today*
■^Horner Kempfer, National Home Study Council; for
merly Specialist in Adult Education, U. S. Office of
Education, in f f Financing Adult Education,t f Public School
Adult Education, National Association of Public School
Educators, 195>6, P* 93*
Ik9
There are very few forms of education in America
that the public pays for directly in any amounts which
might be considered adequate. Most of our citizens
regard the opportunity for education as a right rather
than a privilege, and assume that state funds will provide
education at every level. With such a background of
thought, adult education has had to struggle to make
♦
itself a component part of our system of public education*
In about half of the states, some form of state
support for adult education is available. Only seven
states, however, California, Michigan, New York, Penn
sylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, provide
more than $100,000 per year in state aid for this purpose.
Only two of these, New York and California, exceed one
million dollars of state support per year.^
The most encouraging factor in California1s adult
education program today is that it is continually going
forward.
Although California is considered to stand at the
top and to be the best in the , nation in the field
of adult education, it is noteworthy that adult
educators in this state are not smugly satisfied,
but are continually striving toward even better
p
Paul H. Sheats, Clarence D. Yane, -and Ralph B.
Spence, Adult Education (New York: The Dryden Press,
1953), pp. 1+28-29.
1$0
programs. ^
Today adult education in California comes from
essentially the same sources and in the same proportions
as for elementary and secondary education. Aid for adult
education is a part of the state1s foundation program for
the support of all public education.
Adult education in California today is recognized
as an integral part of the public school system and
derives its support almost entirely from four sources of
revenue: (1) state funds, (2) local district funds, (3)
tuition charges paid by adult students, and (Lj_) federal
funds.
The two main sources of financial support for
adult education in California are the state and school
district funds. Some federal support is available for
certain vocational classes for adults, and except for
classes in English, citizenship for foreigners, and
classes in elementary subjects, tuition may be charged.
Tuition may be charged by the district, not in excess of
six dollars per term. In addition to tuition charges,
schools may charge fees for materials furnished, may
3Mr. Robert Luke, Assistant Director, Adult
Education Services, National Education Association, in a
meeting at the Santa Barbara Workshop in Adult Education,
July, 1951J-.
i5i
operate a student body organization, and accept voluntary
registration fees. There is little uniformity throughout
the state in regard to tuition fees, and the amounts
collected are of little significance in relation to the
overall finances of adult education.
The California Education Code has certain basic
provisions which form the legal basis for the financing of
adult education. The more pertinent of these provisions
are listed in Appendix P.
II. STATE AID FOR ADULT EDUCATION
State support for adult education is determined
primarily on the basis of average daily attendance (units
of a.d.a.). Attendance in evening schools and classes
for adults on the secondary level is computed on the
basis of three hours as one day of attendance. Any
number of hours attended in one day may be counted for
any individual, but the present law, (Article %, Section
68I 4 JL), stipulates that no pupil may be credited with more
than 15 hours of attendance In any one week in classes
except In trade and Industrial classes and Americaniza
tion classes, in which there is no limitation of hours.
Since many, of the classes are given for a short term and
only one, two, or three evenings a week, it takes the
152
attendance of from 10 to 20 adults to make one unit of
average daily attendance.
In computing units of a.d.a. for an adult education
class, it is necessary to add the total number of pupil
hours of attendance for the entire duration of the class.
This total number of hours divided by 3 is the total days
of attendance. The number of units of a.d.a. in evening
schools and classes for adults is the quotient arising
from dividing the total number of days of pupil attendance
by 175.
All attendance counting shall be done on forms
which are subject to the approval of the State Department
of Education. Attendance shall be recorded in hours and
fractions of hours for each student enrolled. For
apportionment purposes, one hour in a class for adults
shall consist of 60 minutes. One-sixth fractional part
of an hour shall be deducted for each full 10 minutes of
absence. Only regularly enrolled students shall be counted
as shown on the sign-up sheets used at class sessions for
attendance purposes.
Basic Aid
According to the California Education Code
(Article 8, Section 7067), each high school district and
each junior college district shall receive $120 for each
153
unit of average daily attendance in the district during
the preceding year, but not less than $2,i{-00, to be known
as basic aid. For example, if a high school or junior
college district had 100 units of average daily attendance
during the preceding year, the district would receive
apportionment on account of a.d.a. in the amount of
$12, 000.
Equalization Aid
Before the advent of the equalization formula,
all California school districts received equal apportion
ment, based on average daily attendance. Under equaliza
tion, the districts having a low assessed valuation of
property receive more money for each unit of a.d.a. than
do the wealthier districts. This means that the poorer
districts are not held back in their educational program
because they lack the necessary local wealth to raise
their tax program. It should be emphasized that all money
apportioned to school districts for adult education
attendance has been transferred to the state school fund
because of earned units of a.d.a.
Districts that receive equalization aid for
attendance in high schools and junior colleges also
receive equalization for the attendance of adults whether
such adults are enrolled in regular day classes or in
classes for adults. The amount of such equalization is
determined in the following manner: the amount of equali
zation aid per unit of average daily attendance, not to
exceed $80, is allowed for each unit of average daily
attendance resulting from the attendance of adults en
rolled for less than 10 class hours per week. Equaliza
tion aid for attendance of minors in classes for adults
enrolled for 10 or more class hours a week is not limited
to $80 per unit of average daily attendance.
III. LOCAL DISTRICT SUPPORT FOR
ADULT EDUCATION
All school districts, whether they are rich or
poor, must levy taxes for the support of their own pro
gram of adult education. Because the wealthier districts
get less equalization aid, they must use more local funds
than the poorer districts who receive this extra sub
sidization from the state. A recent study made by the
Division of Public School Administration shows that for
the state as a whole, school districts bear 1 ^8.3 per cent
of the cost of adult education.^*
^California State Department of Education,
Development of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXII,
No. 6 (Sac ramento; California StateT Printing Office,
June, 1953), p. 51*
155
IV, SPECIAL FUNDS FOR VOCATIONAL CLASSES
State support for adult education is augmented by
Federal and State vocational education funds administered
under the California State Plan for Vocational Education,
Funds are available for reimbursement for approved types
of homemaking education and trade and industrial educa
tion.^
V. TUITION CHARGES
The California Education Code makes direct pro
vision for tuition charges for adults as follows:
Adults enrolled in all classes except classes
maintained in English and citizenship for foreigners
and classes in elementary subjects, where no charge
of any kind shall be made, may be required by the
governing board of the district maintaining the class
to pay a tuition not to exceed the cost of maintain
ing such classes.&
Furthermore, the governing board of a school district
conducting classes for adults may establish an account
in a bank for each school of the district in which
classes for adults are maintained, known as the Incidental
Expense Account of that district. Fees collected from
5ibid.
“Education Code, State of California* 1955*
Article 13, Section 9192.
each pupil. shall not exceed fifty cents ($0.£0) in any
school year, and must be expended only for (1) materials,
services, or supplies for the operation of classes for
adults in such school; and (2) activities of particular
7
benefit to pupils in classes for adults in such school.*
«
^Ibid., Section 9193, p. ij-76
CHAPTER X
SELECTION OP TEACHERS FOR ADULT
EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
The quality and effectiveness of an adult education
program depends upon the leadership of its teachers.
Teachers make or break the programs. The task, then,
of discovering and selecting competent leadership is
one of the biggest that faces the adult education
admini strator.I
I. THE ADULT SCHOOL TEACHER
One of the greatest problems of the adult education
administrator In California is that of teacher recruit
ment. As is true in most fields of education, there has
never been a time when there have been enough good teachers
to go around, and the area of adult education Is no ex
ception to the rule.
Down through the years, the word 1 1 teacher” has
generally been associated with the teaching of children
in either elementary or secondary schools. In higher
education, the teacher has more often been thought of as
a tfprofessor” rather than as a teacher. In adult
3-Carl E. Minich, Director of Adult Education,
Amherst Central Adult School, Snyder, New York, in
l f Discovering and Selecting Teachers,1 1 Public School Adult
Education, National Association of Public School Educators,
19567 P.■ 53.
158
education, however, the term "instructor1 * or "teacher of
adults" has become the accepted term. Thus, the adult
teacher immediately is considered a person not limited to
a particular age group, but a leader in adult relation
ships and informal group activities.
The responsibilities of a teacher of adults are
much the same as those of any other teacher* The chief
difference lies in the subject--the adult student. The
adult student usually comes to school with a different
attitude and a different purpose. He has already become
an integrated part of his environment, and knows the
patterns of his culture. He comes to adult school either
to improve these patterns of culture or to acquire greater
economic skill and knowledge to assist him in his way of
life.
It is because of this fact that a teacher of adults
must adopt the role of leader and must integrate his
educational approach to meet this need.
The good teacher keeps his responsibility clear in
his own mind. He endeavors to see that every seeker
after knowledge finds somehow and somewhere both the
dispassionate guidance that makes his purposes clear
and the leader who will inspire him to free action,2
One of the great problems of the adult administrator,
2Lyman Bryson, Adult Education (New York: American
Book Company, 1936), p. 68.
159
then, is to attempt to seek out teachers who can fulfill
the requirements of this unique type of teaching. At the
same time, he must be realistic enough to know that he is
faced with the necessity of finding teachers for immediate
learning situations.
Harry and Bonaro Overstreet list the following
qualities that distinguish a leader of adults, and in a
separate chapter devoted to each, attempt to define them:
The Learning Mind
...The fact that teachers must be learners is. the
important thing. Any teacher who stops getting better
and better is no good. And part of the process of
getting better is that of continuing to grow, not only
as a technician of the teaching trade, but also as an
individual interested in our many-sided world.
The Importance of the Specialist
...The adult educator cannot be simply a person of
good will and generous impulses--and large ignorance.
He must know something well. Neither can he be simply
a person who knows something well but who is pro
foundly ignorant about the mental and emotional
make-up of the adult human being and of the society
in which he resides.
The Importance of the Generalist
...It is because the adult education leader must
have in mind the whole experience range necessary to
balanced living that he must be both specialist and
generalist. He must have tapped the sources of power
that reside in a mastery. But he must also be able to
encourage one type of experience here, another type
there, yet another type there. He must see in people
not only what they are at any given moment but what
they would be if they were living on a properly
balanced diet of experiences.
160
The Sense of Community
. . .A power to think and act in terms of the real
problems and resources of real places where real
people live.
A Person Among People
...Involving*the peculiar status of adult educators;
a functioning respect for other people as possessors
of ideas, feelings and experiences; a subtle sense of
drama; a certain nonroutinized interest in life that
exists side by side with necessary routinized inter
ests and a certain bouyant confidence that makes it
seem reasonable to undertake ventures that would make
a narrowly prudent person feel foolish and conspic
uous; and the importance of background and exper
ience. 3
II. SOURCES OF TEACHERS
Because the teaching of adults is much more exact
ing than the teaching of children, California adult school
administrators have to literally seek out teachers from
many different areas. These areas may include day school
teachers, teachers from other adult schools, college
teachers, former teachers, and specialists from various
fields•
There is a distinct advantage for the adult school
administrators to seek teachers from the day school. Most
day school teachers have had training and experience in
the use of teaching methods which-can be adapted for
3Harry A. Overstreet and Bonaro Overstreet, Leaders
for Adult Education (Hew York: American Association for
AdulTT*Education, I^lj.1), p. 202.
161
adult classes. The day teacher of the same school is
familiar with the staff and facilities, as well as with
school reports and routines. Even when the adult admin-
istrator must seek help from other day schools than his
own, the experience of the teacher in a similar situation
makes it easier to fit into the evening school pattern.
It is.not unusual for an adult school administrator
to borrow teachers from a neighboring adult school. Many
of these teachers teach only part time and are available
for teaching assignments in other schools.
Many California adult school administrators take
advantage of the proximity of a college or university to
help fulfill their faculty requirements. Many college
and university teachers appreciate the opportunity of
teaching an adult class, both ^from the standpoint of
professional growth as well as for economic gain. Inter
views with a number of evening school principals indicated
that this was an excellent source of teachers, which
public adult education has failed to take full advantage
of.
Interviews with a number of college and university
teachers who are currently in the field of adult educa
tion or have taught in the adult education program showed
agreement that the experience of adult school teaching is
162
extremely worthwhile, but a number of them felt the
current salary rate of the adult education program dis
courages other teachers froip participating in the program.
Many adult school administrators are able to hire
good teachers who have left the profession because of
entering another field of work or for marriage. A number
of these people are interested in getting back into
teaching on a part-time basis and certainly add experience
and stature to the faculty.
Adult school administrators who work closely with
the local community are in a position to secure special
ists in business and industry to teach adult classes.
A great deal of discretion must be used.on the part of
the adult school administrators, however, as the problem
of proper credentials and teaching experience must be
successfully met.
Another factor adding to the difficulty of the
problem is the fact that the adult education program in
California is extremely varied, and long-range planning
for the securing of teachers is difficult because of the
changing character of adult interests and because of the
varying number of persons who may be interested in a
particular program of study at a given time. It is not
uncommon in adult education for certain subjects to be
163
more in demand at one time than at another. In other
words, where there is not a definite set curriculum as
seen in the elementary and secondary schools, subjects
have to be presented to meet the needs of the community
and teachers have to be secured to teach these particular
subjects•
As previously mentioned, another frequent problem
facing the adult education, administrator today is the
securing of adequately trained credentialed teachers.
Specialists are often available who are in a position to
strengthen and enrich the offering, but unless properly
credentialed the administrator must secure teachers from
another source.
In 19k7-k& the Bureau of Adult Education, with the
support of the California Association of Adult Education
Administrators and the California Council for Adult
Education, developed a plan in co-operation with the
University of California Extension for an in-service
training program for teachers of adults which was admitted
ly experimental in nature.^* Many teachers who were unable
to attend regular college classes were able to secure
^California State Department of Education, Adult
Education--Handbook for In-Service Teacher Training
Programs, Vol. XXIII, No. 3 (Sacramento: California State
Printing Office, August, 195k) > P. 23.
16k
adult education training in this way.
Since the training program was established, new
courses have been added. The following courses are
now available for local district sponsorship: (1)
methods in adult education; (2) psychology of adult
learning; (3) curriculum materials and methods in
adult education; ( I j . ) counseling techniques in adult
education; and (5) community analysis.5
A complete breakdown of the adult education courses
offered through University Extension may be found in
Chapter XII of this dissertation.
Many large cities are able, to conduct similar in-
service training courses through institutes directed by
a central administration. These institute sessions are
conducted throughout the year at hours convenient for
adult education teachers.
III. LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR CREDENTIALS
The Education Code of California provides:
The minimum standard for any adult education
credential shall be as high a general standard for
each of the subjects as conditions at the time will
warrant. This credential shall authorize service as
a teacher in any class for adults in the subjects
named herein.^
^Ibid.
^Education Code, State of California, 1955 >
Article Section 12lIt-0, p. 565*
165
IV. TYPES OF CREDENTIALS FOR
TEACHERS OF ADULTS
The California Administrative Code contains the
complete information on the basic requirements for cre
dentials authorizing service in evening schools and
classes for adults. They are as follows:
A. G-eneral Secondary Credential, authorizing the
holder to serve as a teacher in grades 7
through 11±,
B. Special Secondary Credential, authorizing the
holder to teach the subject named in the
credential in elementary and secondary schools.
C. Junior College Credential, authorizing the
holder to teach the subjects and classes
listed therein in a junior college.
D. Adult Education Credential, authorizing the
holder to teach the subjects named in the
credential in classes for adults.
1. Adult Education Credential in Designated
Subjects.
2. Adult Education Credential for Short Unit
Courses.
3. Adult Education Credential for Teaching 7
Lip Reading and the Hard-of-Hearing Adult.
Adult education credentials authorize the holder
to teach only in classes for adults and only the particu
lar subjects named in the credentials.
^California Administrative Code, Title 5* Education,
Chapter 1, Subchapter 2, Articles ~ 3 l j T 9 35* 36, and 37*
166
The requirements and authorization for service for
the adult education credentials are set forth in the
California Administrative.Code, Title 5, Education,
Chapter 1, Subchapter 2, Articles 3b> 35, 36, and 37.
The teacher training program, as conceived in
19ii7-l4 - 8 by the Bureau of Adult Education, has made it
much easier for Californiaadult education teachers to meet
the renewal requirement for the adult education creden
tials# This program has made tremendous strides toward
alleviating the greatest problems of the adult education
administrator, that of the recruitment of properly
trained and credentialed personnel.
CHAPTER XI
THE CURRICULUM'FOR ADULT EDUCATION
IN CALIFORNIA
I. STATE PHILOSOPHY
Adult education embraces the learning achieved by
adults during their mature years. It Is new learning,
not just a continuation of learning. The major
purposes of adult education are, first, to make
adults in the community aware of individual and
community needs, and, second, to give such education
as will enable them to meet problems that exist now.
Adult education stems directly from the people. The
curriculum is based on present needs and problems.
Education for the solution of problems in a
democratic society includes the total range of human
learning, from the learning of the simple means of
communication, reading and writing, to the actual
solution of the most complicated problems of human
relations.
The above statement demonstrates well the philoso
phy of adult education in California. Because adult
education is an integrated part of the total education
program offered in the State, it-behooves the adult
education administrator to be responsible for the
planning and maintenance of a program that meets the
needs of those who are served by it and which furthers
^California State Department of Education, Handbook
for Teachers of Adults, Vol. XX, No. if (Sacramento:
California State Printing Office, May, 1951), p. 2.
the general welfare of the community.
168
II. OBJECTIVES OP THE PROGRAM
Although stated in somewhat general terms, the
following is a list of objectives of the California
program of adult education which adults are helped to
attains
A. Awareness of their civic responsibilities to
one another, to the community, to the state,
to the nation, and to the world.
B. Proficiency in meeting their economic needs
and efficiency in managing the economic
phases of their lives.
C. Understanding their responsibility for adjust
ing themselves to family life, knowing how to
make the adjustment, and skill in making the
adjustment.
D. A sufficiently high degree of physical fitness
to enjoy healthful living.
E. Appreciation of the fine arts and ability to
participate in the cultural development of
the community.
F. Sufficiently broad educational backgrounds to
be able to explore new areas of living and to
make use of information thus secured.
G. Avocational interests and ability to use skills
that are required in pursuing the interests.2
^California State Department of Education,
Development of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXII,
No. 6 (Sacramento: California State Printing Office,
June, 1953), p. 55.
III. PLANNING- THE CURRICULUM
169
Adult education administrators cannot possibly plan
an adult school curriculum until they have ascertained
the purposes of the educational program and related them
to the known needs of the local community.
Although organizational relationships vary con
siderably from one community to another, in practically
all situations the administrator of adult education for
the public school Is looked upon as the leader in making
program decisions. In many places final and responsible
determination of what courses or services to provide falls
upon the director. In other communities the decisions
are made by an advisory council or board with the
assistance of the director. In practically all situations,
hoxjever, the adult school administrator as the executive
officer of the program Is responsible for putting the
decisions into effect.
In California, the Bureau of Adult Education of
the State Department of Education is very helpful in
assisting the adult education administrator in ascertain
ing the purpose of the program. This has been shown
through numerous conferences, workshops and Institutes,
as well as through publications and directives of the
State Department of Public Instruction and the State
170
Director of Education.
The needs of the community must be ascertained
through the combined efforts of the administrative staff
of the school, the teachers, other members of the com
munity, and civic groups working together cooperatively
in the overall planning of the program. A study of the
needs and interests of the community can be approached by
determining the vocational and occupational interests of
the people, their age distribution, their avocational
interests, organizational affiliations, economic learning
levels, number of years of schooling completed, reading
interests, nationality backgrounds, and vital statistics
dealing with health.
IV. LEGAL PROVISIONS
Certain provisions of the Education Code of
California form the legal basis for the curricular offer
ing of adult education in the public schools of California.
The most pertinent provisions of the California
code relating to curricular offering are the following:
Schools Taught in the English Language
Section 825>1. All schools shall be taught in the
English language.
Classes for Adults Deficient in English
Section 90^1. Upon application of 20 or more
171
persons above the age of 21 years residing in a high
school district who can not speak, read, or write the
English language to a degree of proficiency equal to
that required for the completion of the sixth grade
of the elementary schools, the governing board of
the high school district shall establish classes in
English.
Classes in Citizenship
Section 909i+* Upon application of 25 or more
persons desiring training for citizenship and residing
in a high school district, the governing board shall
establish special classes in training for citizenship.
Upon demand the board may establish the classes with
a less number of applicants.
Section 9097* The course of study in training for
citizenship shall consist of the teaching of United
States history, and State and community civics, and
the Constitution of the United States, with special
reference to those sections in the Constitution which
relate directly to the duties, privileges, and rights
of the individual, and such allied subjects, including
English for foreigners, or activities as will properly
prepare the applicants to understand and assume the
responsibilities of citizenship.
Instruction Required for Graduation in Evening Schools
Section 10051. In all public and private schools
located within the State, there shall be given regular
courses of instruction in the Constitution of the
United. States, and in American history, including the
study of American institutions and ideals, and of -the
principles of State and local government established
under the Constitution of this State.3
V. ADMINISTRATIVE CODE PROVISIONS
The California Administrative Code, Title 5>
^Education Code, State of California, 1955?
Article
172
Education, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, published by the
Division of Administrative Procedure, lists rules and
regulations which have been adopted by the educational'
policy making boards of the State and which are
specifically related to education.
No attempt will be made by the writer to list or
break down the detailed information concerning the
curricular offering as shown in the Administrative Code.
Only some of the underlying basic concepts of it will be
discussed,
The Administrative Code is implicit in the specific
command that all classes for adults must have an educa
tional purpose and the class period shall be devoted to
instruction.
Evening School and Classes for Adults
Each evening school must establish a program of
studies based upon the educational needs of persons
eligible to attend. Each evening school must provide
either a general curriculum or a vocational curriculum.
The general curriculum must include courses in at
least six of the following areas:
1. Agriculture
2, Arts and crafts
3* Business education
i j - . Engineering and technological subjects
5. Health and physical education
173
6f Homemaking education
7. Industrial arts
3. Language and speech arts
9. Mathematics
10. Music
11. Science
12. Social-civic education including citizenship
13. Trades and industries .h-
The vocational curriculum must contain courses
with related instruction in the following areas:
1. English
2. Applied science
3. Applied mathematics
i f . . Such other courses as are necessary to provide
information relative to^the subject matter of
vocational instruction.^
Classes in physical education must be approved by
the Bureau of Adult Education, and applications for
approval must be accompanied by evidence that the program
is instructional. Requests for approval must include:
(1) purpose of course, (2) instructional units, (3) hours
planned for each unit, ( I j . ) maximum student-teacher ratio
permitted, and (5) methods and procedures to be used.
Forum Series
The California Administrative Code makes provisions
for forum series, which are defined as follows: "A forum
^California Administrative Code, Title 5* Article
llj., Section 122.1,“ p. 23T73T ~
5lbid.
series.is hereby defined as a class for adults which
provides, for the free discussion of public affairs under
qualified leadership.11^
The forum series are specifically designed to
provide opportunity for active participation in discussion
by the members. The number of persons in attendance is
limited to insure this principle and all forum series
must be submitted for approval to the bureau and must be
approved, by the bureau prior to the first meeting.
In order to be credited for apportionment purposes,
each class session of a forum series must be of evident
educational value, and must be conducted under the general
supervision and direction of an employee of the school
district who is legally certificated for such service.
Lecture Series
Provision is also made in the California
Administrative Code for specifically conducted lecture
series. Like the forum series, they must be on related
topics, of clear educational value, and have the approval
of the Bureau of Adult Education.
Lecturers must hold either a state credential
authorizing service in classes for adults, or a lecture
^Ibid., Section 1 Sip, p. 26.6.
17?
permit.
Crafts
Adult school programs may request approval for
courses in any field of crafts, including leather, clay,
plastic, metals, and needle craft, as long as the courses
are of educational value, and meet the stipulated re
quirements in.regard to attendance and number of hours
allowed for the course.
Trade or Industrial Sub j ects
Provision is also made for the inclusion of trade
and industrial subjects in the adult education curriculum
as long as they provide instruction in:
1. Any industrial pursuit, skilled or semiskilled
trade, craft, or occupation which directly
functions in the designing, producing,
processing, assembling, maintaining, servicing,
or repairing of any manufactured product.
2. Any service, trade, or occupation which is not
classified as agricultural, business, pro
fessional, or homemaking.
3. Other occupations which are usually considered
as technical and in which workers such as
nurses, laboratory assistants, draftsmen, and
technicians are employed.7
7Ibid., Section 129*2, p. 28,8.
VI. RANGE OF OFFERING
176
Adult education in California provides opportuni
ties for adults to become increasingly proficient In
meeting their responsibilities and in living full and
wholesome lives* The great breadth of the curricular
offering of the state reflects these opportunities very
well. The courses needed to meet the educational demands
of adults are maintained in most communities.
The writer has examined class schedules from
evening high schools and junior colleges from all parts
of the State of California, and has reached the conclusion
that the range of class offering is practically limitless*
Adult classes range from the requirements needed to earn
an eighth grade certificate, to the most abstract and
complicated problems that human beings face.
For purposes of illustration, the curricular
offering of a school district with a strong program of
adult education is presented. The following courses are
offered in the adult education program of the four
evening high schools and at the Evening Center of the
Junior College in San Diego:
Business Education
Accounting
Bookkeeping
Business Arithmetic
Business Machines
Economics
Fundamentals of Investments
General Civil Service Review
Income Tax
Penmanship
Real Estate Law & Practice
Shorthand (Beg, & Adv.)
Typing
History-Civic Education
Anthropology
Community & World Problems
Criminology
Driver Education & Training
Leadership Training
Naturalization Classes
Parliamentary Law
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology
Public Forums
Sociology
U.S. History
IT,S* Civics
United Nations Study
Industrial Arts
Amateur Radio License
Architectural Drawing
Blueprint Reading
Lapidary
Mechanical Drawing
Photography
Photo Tinting
Radio Repair
Woodshop
Language and Speech Arts
Chinese
Creative Writing
Drama
English ,
English for Foreign Born
French
178
German
Great Books
Italian
Journalism
Latin
Lip Reading
Literature
Polish
Public Speaking
Radio Speech
Radio Production
Reading (Speed & Comprehension)
Russian
Spanish
Spelling
Music and Fine Arts
Chorus
Drawing and Painting
Harmony
Life Drawing
Music Appreciation
Music Composition
Oil Painting
Orchestra
Portraiture
Theory
Science and Mathematics
Algebra
Arithmetic
Astronomy
Biology
Botany
Calculus
Chemistry
Geology
Geometry
navigation
Physics
Slide Rule
Trigonometry
Zoology
Health and Physical Education Classes
Cerebral ..Palsy ( speech therapy)
179
First Aid
Health Education
Mental Hygiene
Physical Education
Homemaking Education and Home Arts and Crafts Classes
Child Development
Clothing and Tailoring
Clothing Accessories
Crafts: Ceramics
Crafts: China Painting
Crafts: Draperies & Slipcovers
Crafts: Jewelry
Crafts: Lampshades
Crafts: Leather
Crafts: Rug Making
Crafts: Silk Screen Painting
Family Relations
Flower Arrangement
Food and Nutrition
Furniture Repair: Upholstery
Furniture Repair: Woodshop
Home Gardening
Interior Decoration
Metal: Copper Craft
Metal Craft
Millinery
Parent Observation
Plastics
Textile Painting
Weaving
The Getsinger study in 19if7r* which examined the
course offerings of 116 separate evening schools in the
state, revealed the great variety of subjects offered in
the adult program of California. A total of 6,291 classes
were listed; the median number of classes per school was
5j. Wilson Getsinger, "The History of Adult Educa-
tion in the Public Schools of California” (unpublished
DoctorTs dissertation, Stanford University, 19i|.8).
180
39 and the mean a little over 53. The range was from
8 to l80 classes, with 13 schools offering more than
100 each.
In addition to the foundation courses which have
always been a part of the adult school curriculum in
California, it is important to note that the offering
has always been flexible enough to meet special problems
as they arise.
Changing community, state, and world problems have
often demanded the immediate need for new and diversified
subject material in the adult school program. This has
been one of the strongest facets of the program in
California, which has demonstrated during periods of
national stress that it could adapt its subject offering
to meet the need.
Immediately preceding and following World War I,
adult education took the lead in offering Americanization
and citizenship classes. During the depression of the
1930* s, the adult program included vocational training
classes, literacy classes, parent and worker’s projects,
nursery schools, and general adult education programs.
During World War II, the adult program was able to
institute a number of offerings in the civil defense
program, such as first aid, home nursing, auxiliary fire
l8l
and police, etc., and its flexibility contributed greatly
to the war production program.
The curricular offering in the adult schools in
California today is not held back by tradition, but is
meeting the needs of a changing, dynamic civilization
as they arise.
CHAPTER XII
IMPLICATIONS PROM SWEDISH ADULT EDUCATION
APPLICABLE TO ADULT EDUCATION
IN CALIFORNIA
I. INTRODUCTION
Dr* Haakon Tornebohm, currently the Head of the
Department of Philosophy at the Khartum University in
the Sudan, once told the author, t f Socialized medicine
works well in Sweden because everyone in Sweden is
Swedish., , ^
This may appear to be a strange jumping off place
for determining implications from Swedish Adult Education
applicable to California Adult Education, but there is a
basic premise in this statement that must be taken into
consideration whenever one makes a comparison of man-made
institutions. This is especially true when one takes
into account the differences in the geographical,
environmental, political, and educational climate of the
people of Sweden and the people of California.
In respect to size of population, Sweden is one of
•^Interview in July, 1956, with Dr. Haakon Tornebohm,
of the University of Gothenburg.
183
the smallest nations in Europe, but in area it is among
the largest. With a current population of about eight
million, it is slightly larger than Los Angeles County
and considerably smaller than Southern California. By
tradition, Sweden has always enjoyed a position of isola
tion, and only in the recent century has accepted cultural
diffusion from other areas.
In spite of its size and geographical location,
Sweden has a remarkable cultural heritage dating back
more than a thousand years. It has an organized educa
tional heritage dating back to the early days of the
Middle Ages. For the past 150 years, the Swedes have
enjoyed internal and external peace.
Until the turn of the 19th century, the political
history of Sweden was not significantly different from
that of most European countries. The Viking tradition,
with the clan as the ruling unit, is not dissimilar to
that of other areas of Northern Europe. Since the
* Napoleanic Period, however, a new Sweden has emerged,
and the Swedish people have participated more extensively
in the material, cultural and political progress of their
country than is historically seen in most other nations.
The Industrial Revolution brought to Sweden the
creation of two new elements of culture. One was the
1 8 1 4 -
organization of a new social structure and the other the
acceptance of a democratic way of life. The principal
factor instrumental for these changes has been the
determination of the people themselves to improve their
way of life. As discussed in Chapter II, Sweden has
achieved its present high standard of life because of
the determined efforts of the people to assert themselves
socially and politically.
Educational leaders in Sweden today feel that the
rise of the democratic way of life in Sweden is inseparably
connected with the rise of adult education. Because
democracy and adult education have both been inspired by
the same ideals, they have developed simultaneously and
neither institution has allowed itself to become stagnant.
New forms have ousted old forms and new ideas have drawn
attention to themselves.
Adult education in Sweden was conceived at a time
in history when the common people were securing their
rights by legislative enactment and this was their method
to guarantee their democratic growth. They had to study
and learn together in order to consolidate their aims and
ideals.
Perhaps the key to both the rise of democracy and
adult education in Sweden is the phrase !,free and
185
voluntary,1 * It implies, and rightly so, that the com
munity is the focal point of societal strength and the
institutions of the country are created for the people
by the people.
This»is not to imply that democracy and adult
education have not gone hand in hand In the history of
California, Having taught California history for five
years, the writer is well aware of the struggle of the
people of California for both governmental and educational
recognition.
The point in question, however, Is a basic one and
yet a very subtle one. Historically speaking, Sweden has
had a traditional feeling of Hone for all and all for one,”
that many areas of a more heterogeneous nature have had a
difficult time achieving.
Their program has been one of social and economic
necessity for the welfare of all the people. Hence, it
has created a decentralized government and an intensely
patriotic and highly individualistic people.
The creation of this climate in Sweden has made
itself felt in all Swedish institutions, and the field of
adult education is no exception. It is somewhat analagous
to the political feeling of f,laissez faire,t ! in that the
basic ingredient is noninterference.
186
Like the California system of adul£ education,
adult education in Sweden is provided for by legislative
enactment and by clearly stated rules of interpretation,
but in many ways the law ends at this point. There is
definitely a feeling of greater freedom at the local
level in Sweden than the author feels there is in the
adult education program in California# This is not to
imply that local education administrators in California
are not allowed to act on their own initiative and meet
the needs as they see them in their immediate community,
but is meant to imply that there is a greater intent on
the part of the Swedish Board of Education to allow local
administration to take care of its own situation than is
experienced in California*
This underlying difference so apparent in Swedish
adult education should be understood before any implica
tions for adult education in California can be drawn.
The basic philosophy of adult education in Sweden
and in California is the same# Both attempt to give the
understanding and skills that promote effective democratic
living to those who have the responsibility of solving the
problems of democratic society, and both attempt to
develop and enrich the lives of the participants and the
community in which they live.
187
II, ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION
In order to administer adult education in Sweden,
a special section for adult education has been established
in the Board of Education. The section also includes two
advisory experts on questions of general popular education,
and clerks, A special board, with representatives for the
work of voluntary education from all over the country,
acts in an advisory capacity*
This organization is similar to that of the office
of the Chief of the Bureau of Adult Education in California*
The principal difference between the two seems to lie in
the degree of accepted responsibility.
The administrative office for adult education in
Sweden is not as comprehensive in its services for local
adult education as is such in California. It formulates
policy on the national level and issues a number of
statistics and surveys, but does not attempt to advise
local school boards on procedures and types of offerings
as is true in California,
Because of the relative smallness of the Swedish
system, the work of the administrative office seems
satisfactory, but would undoubtedly be more effective if
it had the range and scope of the California Bureau of
Adult Education.
188
The Folk High, Schools
The governing body of the folk high school in
Sweden is very powerful in that it assumes practically
the full responsibility for the administration of the
school. It tends to be more informal than California
school boards in that it meets more often, its members
frequent the school a great deal, and school department
heads are usually invited to attend the board meetings to
take part in their discussions. The chairman of the
Board of Governors is charged with the responsibility of
observing the external and internal activities of the
school, and makes numerous reports to the local city and
county administration. Practically entire freedom is
left to the folk school in matters of internal organiza
tion and administration.
There seems to be a great deal of merit to the
Swedish system of local boards of education in that it
seems to be a very intimate one. Governing boards tend to
make their meetings somewhat of a coffee hour and are
able to produce a greater feeling of cooperation and
intimacy between themselves and the folk high school
administration and student body.
The Study Circles
The great majority of study circles belong to one
189
or another of the national associations for study-circle
activities, and are under the supervision of a director
of studies appointed by the association whose competence
for the post has been approved by the Board of Education,
The organization of the study circle is very
flexible, and any interested group of people can form an
independent circle and be eligible for state aid if they
adhere to the state definition. Once granted state aid,
they report on their activities but retain their inde
pendence and conduct their meetings in any way they wish.
Popular movement study circles operate in the same manner,
except they must report to the popular movement as well
as to the government regarding their yearly activities.
The central organization of the study circle
consists of a study committee with a national leader,
who attends to the work of the organizational activities
of the circles within his own popular movement. The
national movements also have a secretary, but the actual
administration and organization of the circle is entirely
dependent upon local initiative.
The youth study circles belong to the national
movements and work directly under their supervision. The
mother organization assigns teachers who organize and
administer the circles, who in turn report to the national
leader*
The university circles are under the direct admin
istration of one of the four major universities* The
universities assign teachers, set up the course of
studies, and personally administer each circle. These
circles are much more systematic and comprehensive than
any of the other circles. Because the university circles
are financed by the government as well as the university
itself, the teachers exercise complete control in regard
to administration and organization.
Because we do not have a similar agency within the
adult education program in California, it is impossible
to draw any educational implications for the purpose of
contrast. However, there is considerable merit in the
idea and it seems perfectly feasible for California to
adopt the idea with certain modifications.
According to Swedish law, the Swedish study circle
has been given the following official definition; f l By
study circle is meant in this section a circle of
comrades (assembled) for common theoretical and practical
studies on a given subject according to a plan drawn up
beforehand.”^
^Gustaf Svigard, Skolor Qch TJtbildningsvagar (The
School and Paths of Education) "(Stockholm, Sweden: K. L.
Beckmans Boktryckeri, 1954)* P. 194.
191
The study circle is a communion of work and
comradeship, consisting of a group of interested persons
who have voluntarily come together for the informal study
of a subject that they have chosen themselves. The word
1 1 comrade ship*1 is stressed because they want no one person
to feel above the others, and the leader must be a comrade
among comrades. They oppose the idea of a leader-
specialist, because it might turn the study circles into
an evening school. This, they feel, would defeat the
entire purpose of the program.
The writer has talked with a number of adult
educators in California who,feel there is a place for the
Swedish type of study circle in the State. Working along
the lines of the ^G-reat Books1 * idea, groups of interested
people could come together and formulate their own
organization, studying whatever topic they felt was of
particular interest to them. This would be especially
true in remote areas where educational facilities limit
the potential breadth of subject matter in adult educa
tion. The writer would strongly recommend a study which
would investigate the feasibility of such an educational
agency in California, especially with regard to study
circle administration, subject offering, and financial
subsidy.
The Popular Lectures
Independent lectures are arranged and supervised
by the Lecturing Institutes, which draw up their programs
in advance. In order to facilitate this work, the
Lecturing Institutes have formed Lecturing Associations.
The area to be covered by the Lecturing Associations is
determined by the Board of Education.
The independent popular scientific lectures in the
Swedish adult education program are supervised by the
Lund Center for Popular Scientific Lectures and the West
Swedish Adult Educational Association in Gothenburg.
These lecture centers, in turn, are approved by the
Swedish Board of Education. It is the main duty of these
centers to so organize the lectures to be able to supply
institutes and societies with lecturers and educational
material, as well as with advice on related questions.
They also see that the lecturers and the subject of the
lectures are chosen from the lecturing catalog issued by
the Board of Education, or otherwise approved in advance
by the adult educational section of the same board.
The local sections of the adult educational
associations make extensive use of the lecture series
to supplement their own activities, and the administration
and supervision of this activity is handled by the Central
193
Office of the Workers* Educational Association, through
the National Associations for Study Circle Activities.
The State Supported Temperance Lectures
The central office for the State Supported
Temperance Lectures is the Temperance Education Board,
which organizes and supervises the entire program. As
is true with independent lectures, the Temperance Board
is responsible to see that the lecturers are chosen from
the list of lecturers approved by the Board of Education.
As was discussed in Chapter V, there are many
other types of lecturing activities sponsored by societies
and associations of every kind. When they receive state
support, they must submit a detailed schedule of their
activities, which must conform to the rules of the Board
of Education,
In many ways, the Sxtfedish Popular Lectures are
quite similar to the Forum and Lecture series as seen in
the adult education program of California. Both are
defined by law; both require the lecturer to have a
credential or lecture permit; and both deal largely with
public affairs (Forum Series), or with educational topics
in fields other than public affairs (Lecture Series).
There are, however, many areas of difference,
where definite implications from Swedish adult education
1 9 1 * .
for adult education in California are particularly
relevant.
One of the greatest single contributions of the
popular lectures in Sweden is the ability of this type of
education to reach all of the people. In this area, the
popular lectures have been more successful than any of
the other three main areas of adult education in Sweden.
The first reason for this is the great variety of
subjects covered by the popular lectures (see Chapter V).
Secondly, is the great number of lecturers who are avail
able all over the country. It is not uncommon in Sweden
for many of these lecturers to travel to the most remote
parts of the country for one or two lectures* As stated
in Chapter V, wherever you travel in Sweden, you can
consult the local newspaper or the local library announce
ments for regularly scheduled lectures. In many of these
remote areas Interested people have no other access to
first-hand information on pertinent topics. Because of
geographical distance or their inability to leave a job,
they have come to depend on this educational agency for
their needs. When they want a lecture series on a
particular topic, they contact the Board of Education, a
local study circle, or one of the popular movements, and
make their request. The Board of Education publishes an
195
annual catalog which lists the lecturers and the topics
which are available.
A lecture series in Sweden is often a great and
unifying event in a remote district, and frequently
results in the participants taking advantage of a local
study circle or the peoples libraries. One of the prime
aims of the lectures is to inspire the people to further
their own education by presenting a broad type of educa
tion with special emphasis on the humanities.
As a general rule, all of the lecturers have a
discussion period at the conclusion of the formal pre
sentation. Very often, when interest in a particular
topic has been aroused, the lecturer will assist the
participants in the organization of group studies.
Probably the greatest difference between the popular
lectures of Sweden and the forum and lecture series in
California is that the Swedish program is largely initiated
by the people themselves. Hence, it is their own program
and they are willing to support it. Adult education
administrators in California undoubtedly try to meet the
needs of their respective communities through the media
of the forum and lecture series, but certainly they are
limited by the specialists they have available.
The facts seem.to indicate that adult education
196
administrators in California could improve the present
forum and lecture series if more of the program could be
initiated by the people of the local communities. It
seems logical that if the people of California could be
encouraged to submit their own ideas as to what would
meet their community needs, they would more readily
support the program.
The Peoples Libraries
Although the peoples libraries of Sweden form an
integral part of the Swedish program of adult education,
their organization is not significantly pertinent to adult
education in California.
The libraries supported and run by the municipal
ities are quite similar in organization to our public
libraries. Both are tax supported and controlled by law.
There are, however, a number of so-called peoples
libraries which are supported and run by the different
educational organizations. These libraries have operated
for many years only for the interests of the particular
organization they represented. In recent years, however,
the trend has been for the educational organizations to
surrender the control and management of their libraries
to the local municipalities.
III. METHODS OP FINANCE
197
Adult education in California, as part of the
public school system, derives its support almost entirely
from four distinct sources of revenue: (1) state funds,
(2) local district funds, (3) tuition charges paid by
adults, and (Ip) federal funds. The two main sources of
financial support are state funds and school district
funds. State support for adult education is determined
primarily on the basis of average daily attendance, and
consists of two items: (1) basic aid, and (2) equaliza
tion aid. School district funds resulting from local
school district taxation bear about lp8.3 per cent of the
cost of adult education throughout the state as a whole. ^
Monies raised through tuition charges and federal aid are
negligible.
Adult education in Sweden derives its support from
numerous sources including (1) state subsidies and grants,
(2) County Council grants (raised through local taxation),
(3) pupils* fees, (Ip) private donations, (5) contributions
from the national popular movements, (6) trade unions, and
(7) national lotteries.
^California State Department of Education,
Development of Adult Education in California, Vol. XXII,
No • "(Sacramento: California State Printing Office,
June, 1953),“ P." 5l. ' "
In order to determine implications from the Swedish
sources of revenue for adult education applicable to adult
education in California, the several sources mentioned
above will be critically analyzed. State aid is available
to each of the four major areas of adult education in
Sweden, but the amounts given each year are not always
consistent. Much of this state aid is conditional, as
will be pointed out later in this chapter.
State Subsidies and G-rants
Annual state subsidies are given to the folk high
schools partly as fixed grants or as supplementary grants
determined by the number of pupils, partly as an incre
ment to the teachers for years of service, and as a cost
of living bonus. State aid is a contribution to the
running expenses of the schools and theoretically covers
all salaries of the teachers, although recent statistics
show that only about 90 per cent of the teachers*
salaries are covered in this way.^-
Since 19V7* state support has been available to
independent study circles, youth circles, university
circles, and national movement circles.
^Statistics furnished in mimeographed form by the
Kungliga Skoloverstyrelsen (Royal Board of Education).
199
Independent circles receive at most half of the
actual costs, while youth circles receive at most three-
quarters of the cost. The grants are based on salaries
for teacher, leaders, correspondence courses and textbooks.
The amount of the grant is determined annually according
to adherence of the study circle law.
University circles receive state aid toward meeting
the costs of teachers1 fees at the rate of at most 60
Swedish crowns per double hour, while the allowance of
help to pay for courses of study and textbooks amounts to
at most half the costs.
National popular movement study circles are en
titled to state aid to help meet the costs of administra
tion and organization. Such state aid may amount to at
most half of the expenditures of the associations for
internal study activities, including courses for leaders
of studies arranged by the associations, and for in
structors and advisers employed by the associations.
State aid is also available for the arrangement
of independent lectures, lecture associations and lecture
centers. This aid is in the form of both subsidies and
grants, and is conditional upon the ability of the
municipalities, the national popular movements, and
private individuals to contribute an amount equal to that
of the state.
Annual subsidies are also made to meet the costs
of lecturing and instruction to promote the cause of
temperance.
The state gives additional financial aid in the
form of scholarships to students attending the folk high
schools. Provision is made for this by legislative
enactment, but the distribution of the scholarships is
left to the discretion of the local school boards.
State aid to adult education in Sweden does not
compare favorably to the program of state aid in
California, largely because of the lack of uniformity in
the Swedish program. Both programs are basically organ
ized along the lines of state apportionment and local
taxation, but the Swedish program relies heavily on con
tributions from private individuals, national movements,
and trade unions. Adult education in Sweden is also
forced to rely on the whims of the municipalities in
support of much of the program, which is on a free and
voluntary basis.
The situation is such, however, that the negative
argument present above is the key to the success of the
adult education movement in Sweden. Because Sweden has
firmly established the concept among its people that it
201
is their program and they must support it, they have
placed adult education on the level of pride and loyalty.
When people believe in a product as strongly as the
Swedish people believe in adult education, they will
support it.
To -believe that this idea would work in California
is unrealistic. Americans have been indoctrinated with
the idea that they pay taxes, the state foots the bill,
and that free education for all is an inalienable right.
As stated previously, “Socialized medicine works well in
Sweden because everyone in Sweden is Swedish.” This seems
to be the key to the whole concept and only in a compara
tively small and highly nationalistic area like Sweden
will such a concept be understood by the people.
There are, however, a number of interesting facets
in Swedish state aid which may be applicable to adult
education in California. One of these is the increase
of subsidies to the folk high school payable to teachers
as the cost of living^increases. In addition to incre
ments for years of service, the folk high school teachers
receive an additional bonus geared to the cost of living
index. This has been largely responsible for the high
percentage of faculty retention seen in these schools.
Many of the students of the Swedish folk high
202
school receive financial aid in the form of scholarships,
covering room, board and fees. As mentioned previously,
the recipients of this type of aid are selected because
of financial need.' Although California does not have an
educational agency similar to the folk high school, the
facts indicate that many more people would be interested
in continuation education if specialized programs could
be offered at no cost.
It would probably be considered undemocratic in
California (and certainly illegal) to assist large popular
movements and labor unions financially in their own
educational programs. However, such organizations as
those represented on the California State Committee of
Education, might be stimulated to further their own
educational activity if state subsidies were available.
The Workers1 Educational Association, the largest of
the national associations for study circle activities in
Sweden, has a total membership of well over two million,
the majority of whom are actively engaged in some type of
g
adult education. In a program like this, state subsidy
is certainly worthwhile.
^Interview in July, 1956, with Dr. Sven-Arne Stahre,
currently the head of the Department of Adult Education,
for UNESCO.
203
The principal of equalization aid, per se, is not
seen in the adult education program in Sweden. The facts
indicate that this is an educational concept that Sweden
should study for its program of state apportionment.
There are many rural areas, sparsely populated, which
are physically unable to offer the same type of educa
tion that is seen in the wealthier, more heavily populated
areas. This is especially true in the far north of Sweden,
where a large part of the population speaks Finnish, and
where there is very little real property for taxation
purposes. Many adult educators in Sweden agree that a
more comprehensive type of adult education program is
definitely needed in these areas, and it seems logical
that some type of equalization formula could be worked
out*
County Council G-rants
Local County Councils have always taken a leading
part in the financial support of adult education in
Sweden. Many folk high schools depend entirely upon the
County Council grants for maintenance costs and a number
of County Councils own the school premises, make extra
grants toward new buildings and facilities, and provide
scholarships for needy students. This is in addition to
the allotmentfor adult education raised through local
20k
taxes.
County Councils also contribute to the financial
support of the various types of study circles. Because
study circles receive only part of their support from the
state, the County Councils are called upon to make
financial grants to support the program.
The Swedish law states that when state money is
provided for the popular lectures, an equal amount shall
be contributed by the municipalities or by private
individuals. This money is raised largely through County
Council grants, based on projected annual scheduling of
lectures.
It is not uncommon for adult educational agencies
in Sweden to seek financial support for special programs
from the County Councils.
Although we have somewhat similar governmental
agencies in California, adult education is not in a
position to call on them for special requests, as is done
in Sweden. Increased subsidies in California must come
about through due process of law, either by bond issues
on the local level or through appropriations from the
State Legislature on the state level.
The Swedish idea of assistance and support from
the County Councils is another reflection of their
205
cooperativeness in furthering their program of adult
education.
As such, positive implications cannot be drawn
from the Swedish system of adult education applicable to
ours.
Student Fees
Student fees are very insignificant as a source of
financial support of the adult education in Sweden. Fees
are charged at the folk high schools for room, board,
tuition, books, etc., but the charges are practically on
a par with cost. About two-thirds of all the pupils in
the folk high schools are in receipt of scholarships of
varying amounts.
There are no assigned fees in the various types of
study circles but the participants have to make up any
deficit not received through the state, county council,
or popular movement funds. Again, the amounts are
negligible.
The majority of the popular lectures in Sweden are
free, although a minimum fee may be charged to help the
municipality meet its share of paying for the cost of the
lecture.
There is little consistency in the adult education
program in Sweden regarding tuition charges and fees,
206
except in the folk high school. The California program
xtfhich allows the governing boards of the districts to
charge adults for tuition, as itfell as an incidental
expense fee, seems much more satisfactory.
Private Donations
Private donations in Sweden to adult education
take many forms and, like any other type of philanthropic
giving, it follows no consistent pattern. It is to be
noted, however, that there is a considerable amount of
it and the educational authorities who have to pay the
bills generally expect it.
Most of the donations received go to the program
of the folk high school, usually given in the form of
grants of land, school supplies and equipment, and grants
for scholarships. Because it is given on a voluntary
basis, it makes it extremely difficult for the adult
school administrator to include It in his budget for the
coming year.
Many private individuals will also contribute to
the work of the study circles and the lecturing associa
tions. Oftentimes, however, it may be Inspired by a
somewhat selfish motive, as It is used to sponsor
207
L
educational activity of their own particular taste.0
There is no direct implication here for adult
education in California, except that it certainly behooves
us to present an adult program of education which will
attract private individual giving.
Contributions from the National Popular Movements
Contributions from the national popular movements
are seen almost entirely in the work of their own study
circles and lecture associations. National popular move
ments approved by the Board of Education are entitled to
state aid to help meet half of the costs of the adminis
tration and organization of their programs. It is their
responsibility to finance the other half of the costs,
and this is generally done through assessments from the
members of the local study circles and lecture associa
tions.
Contributions from Trade Unions
Like the national popular movements, the trade
unions contribution is seen largely within its own ranks.
They too have their own study groups and lecture
^Interview in July, 1956, with Dr. Haakon Tornebohm,
currently the Head of the Department of Philosophy at the
Khartum University, in Sudan.
208
associations, which when approved by the Board of
Education receive half the costs of administration and
organization. The trade union method of paying for their
program is also done through membership assessments.
The California Administrative Code expressly
forbids adult classes to be held as part of meetings of
clubs or organizations,^ Because of this philosophy of
education, it is impossible to draw educational implica
tions from this phase of adult education in Sweden. Our
adult educational program is easily broad enough to
provide whatever educational opportunity members of
similar organizations in California need.
Hational Lotteries
The Swedish government has often used national
lotteries for the purpose of raising money for educational
facilities. It has not been unusual for government
controlled lotteries to make contributions to certain
building facilities, especially for the folk high school.
A program of this nature, even if it were legalized in
the United States, would be educationally unsound.
7california Administrative Code, Title
Education, Chapter II, Subchapter 1, Article lk, Section
128.
IV. CXJHHICULTJM
209
Philosophy of Curriculum in
Swedish Adult Education
The key to the philosophy of the curriculum of
adult education in Sweden lies in the Swedish definition
of adult education. The Swedish term flfolkbildningsarbete, f
conveys a somewhat broader meaning than the term 1 1 adult
education” in California. As stated in Chapter I of this
study, t!bildning” implies cultivation, not merely the
pursuit of knowledge, and "folkbildning” implies a study
primarily designed to meet the needs of the entire popula-
tion. Furthermore, this cultivating and formative work
is not directed with the same force to all social classes
but is primarily designed to meet the desires and needs
of the broader social groups. The complete word,
”folkbildningsarbete,” means then the cultivation of
knowledge and the formation of character for all the
people.
This does not differ basically with the many lists
of objectives for adult education in California, which
may be found in the literature, except through implica
tion. Expressly stated, it implies that adult education
in Sweden is not a right or a privilege, but an inherent
duty which the people must shoulder in order to guarantee
210
the continued success of their culture and their way of
life.
The implication, for adult education in California
is that we need to prove that our program is more than
just a series of educational courses designed to meet
specific needs, but that it is an organized way to make
our citizens aware of their civic responsibilities to
one another, to our community, and to our state.
The literature indicates that this lfresponsibility1 1
is included on most lists of objectives of adult education
in California, but it seems Burton R* Clark, in his
statement, "Major purposes hardly constitute a stated
mission from which directives for action can be deduced,"®
voices an educational truth. One evidence that this is
a California problem is the alarming rate of drop-outs
seen in the evening school and junior college programs.
California adult education, in spite of certain
problems, rates high in adult educational circles.
"California has the enviable position of having the great
est amount of state support of adult education in the
United States and of having the best program of adult
®Burton R. Clark, Adult Education in Transition
(Berkeley, California: University of California Press,
1956), p. 61p.
211
schools.tf^
The implication for adult education in this regard
does not constitute destructive criticism of the objectives
of adult education in California, but attempts to point
out an area which needs further integration.
The Folk High Schools
According to legislative enactment, certain sub
jects are compulsory in the first year* s course at the
folk high school. These courses are the Swedish language
and literature, history and civics, geography, mathematics,
natural science and hygiene, singing and gymnastics. In
addition to these compulsory subjects, courses in book
keeping and drawing are offered for male students, textile
crafts for girls, and in some schools, domestic science.
The optional part of the course varies widely at different
schools, and there is a strong tendency at all schools to
stress current issues and interests. Some of the folk
high schools give a second year course with more compre
hensive instruction in the subjects studied in the first
year, in addition to some foreign language. About ten
^Dr. Paul S. Sheats, Associate Director, University
of California Extension, an opinion expressed at the
Santa Barbara Workshop in Adult Education, July, 1956.
212
schools offer a third year course* The second and third
year courses for girls are usually organized as housewives*
schools.
Classes are very informal and much emphasis is
placed on the study-circle type of discussion. Because
the folk high school builds upon the course of the
elementary school, it is difficult to draw implications
for adult education in California, except where students
are attending evening schools for the purpose of securing
a high school diploma# There are, however, three inter
esting facets of the folk high school curriculum, which
can be pursued briefly in the light of adult education
in California#
The first of these is that the folk high school
is examination free# It works in the Swedish folk high
schools because most of them are boarding schools, the
semesters are relatively short, the students and faculty
live together at the school, and the main emphasis is on
a personal exchange of ideas# The question of the
relative merits of a grading system is not part of this
study, but it is a point of definite interest that the
folk high school method has been highly successful.
Great stress is placed in the folk high school
on the historical, geographical and political aspects of
213
the community In which the school is located. The overall
philosophy of adult education in Sweden is very idealistic,
and the Swedes have capitalized on their cultural heritage
and tradition to instill a great deal of nationalism and
patriotism in the thinking of their people.
Perhaps one would need a captive audience in
California to attempt a program of this type, especially
in the concentrated form seen in the folk high school.
It remains true, however, that the educated citizen is
one who is not only acquainted with an overview of his
state, but Is intimately acquainted with the Important
institutions of his immediate community.
The facts seem to indicate that the Swedish folk
high schools have probably done a better job of stressing
spiritual ideals than is seen in the public schools of
the United States. The reason for it is obvious, however,
as there is no separation of church and state in Sweden
and religious instruction in the schools has never been
a problem.
The Study Circles
The range of subjects studied in the various types
of study circles practically includes the entire range
of human learning, but certain combinations are present
which seem to dominate all study circle activities.
21k
These subjects include foreign languages, trade union
activities, economic and industrial problems, social
questions, citizenship, singing, music and literature•
One can see in the study plan of the circles two distin
guishing lines, one dealing with civic problems and trade
unions, and the other dealing with the humanities. There
is another trend in the circles today which stresses a
continuance of required school subjects.
The methods of the circles vary; some have recitals,
reviews or lectures accompanied by discussions, others
apply more conventional classwork methods. Still other
circles base their work on correspondence courses or the
radio, which generally arranges lecture series and
language courses. Others, again, concentrate on crafts,
the theatre, music and singing* Although a great variety
of subjects is offered, the most popular ones are Swedish,
English, and courses in the organizing and conducting of
meetings.
The choice in subjects should be viewed in the
light of the overall transition of the Swedish community.
The processes of democratization brought to the people
the need for leadership and responsibility for the welfare
of their nation.
Both adult education in Sweden and California offer
215
a curriculum which is not traditional or conventional as
seen in the light of required school subjects. Both
curriculums provide balanced programs in which adults can
participate in the courses they need to solve their
problems.
There is greater stress on economic and industrial
problems and trade union activities in Sweden. This is
true because it has become f,part and parcel*1 of the
Swedish way of life. California adults who desire this
type of educational training are more apt to seek it on
the graduate level of education or within the trade union
movements themselves.
There is a positive implication, however, in the
learning methods employed by the various circles. They
invariably attempt to combine their circle meetings with
a social hour, and it has gone a long way toward establish
ing the success of these gatherings. Swedish study circle
members look forward to circle meetings because it is not
only a learning situation but an opportunity to visit with
friends and neighbors. Because of the tffree and voluntary
approach,1 1 which is the essence of all adult education in
Sweden, an extremely congenial climate has been created
and, from the standpoint of motivation, there is no better
way to learn.
216
California adult education authorities might well
attempt a ntest run” on study circles in some of our
remote areas of the state. With a little leadership,
subsidization, and an off-campus meeting place, the idea
might gain considerable favor with the people of the
state. The writer realizes that activities similar to
this are offered through university extension, but perhaps
it needs to be toned down to the level of the common man.
Swedish adult education is currently experimenting
with the idea of developing hobbies as intellectual
recreation, and making this a part of the study circle
activities. This might not be considered a positive
implication for adult education in California after the
stormy years California went through in regard to 1ffrills
and fads” in adult education, but if it could be organized
on an educational plane it would be beneficial for the
older generation and perhaps open a, door to further
educational activity for them.
The Popular Lectures
There is no organized curriculum for the popular
lectures in Sweden, but they tend to follow closely in
line with the subject matter of the study circles. In
many ways, they form the backbone of the circle courses
in that they supplement much of the circle activity. By
217
law, their prime function is to stimulate people to study
and point the way to an interest in books.
As previously stated, the Swedish popular lectures
are somewhat similar to the forum and lecture series as
seen in the adult education program in California. One
of the areas of difference, however, is the greater
breadth of subject matter seen in the Swedish popular
lectures. The California Administrative Code states that
classes in a forum shall be of evident educational value
and lecture series must be related to public affairs, and
this regulation must be adhered to. In theory, the adult
school regulations in Sweden are the same but it has not
been evident in practice. Many Swedish educators feel
that an alarmingly large number of lectures of purely
entertainment value have crept into the approved Bureau
of Education Lecture List. It has become somewhat of a
standing joke in Sweden to ask people returning from
their holiday if they plan to-become a member of a lecture
association, so they can get an audience to hear about
their vacation.
The facts indicate that state subsidies for
lectures designed purely for entertainment purposes are
educationally unsound. The program is under severe attack
in Sweden at the present time and may cause irreparable
218
damage to what has been a very fine program.
V. SELECTION OP TEACHERS
As is true in the case of adult education in
California, one of the greatest problems facing adult
education in Sweden is that of teacher recruitment.
Adult education administrators in Sweden have a distinct
advantage, however, in that the majority of their teachers
do not have to be credentialed in the same sense of the
word as we know it in California.
A characteristic of Swedish adult education is
that not only the organizers but those who serve as
lecturers, leaders or teachers are voluntary workers who
perform their duties in their spare time. The number of
full-time staff serving as administrators and instructors
is still relatively small.
Provision for the training of teachers is naturally
affected by this situation. So far the larger educational
associations, chiefly the ABP (WorkersT Educational
Association), have been most concerned with thorough
training for their teachers. ABF sponsors a number of
two-week summer courses for teachers in various subjects.
Similar courses for teachers are arranged by other educa
tional associations. Courses in leadership training are
219
organized by various districts and local departments,
and by the adult educational associations within the
local provinces.
The Boyal Board of Education also arranges con
ferences every year for lecturers and leaders of study
circles. Not all active leaders are able, however, to
participate in these training courses, A considerable
number of them receive their training through active
participation in various kinds of educational work. The
training which the folk high school furnishes its students
is also of the greatest importance in producing leaders.
The Folk High School
Although many credentialed teachers are found in
the four major areas of adult education in Sweden, it is
only in the folk high school and the university study
circle that the student comes into contact with a pro
fessionally trained faculty. The teachers at the folk
high schools are as a rule university men. In order to
qualify for the position of teacher at a folk high school,
one must have passed an academic examination in the
combination of subjects to be taught, or else be able to
certify that one has the requisite knowledge acquired in
some other way. In other words, a teacher must have an
academic education if he is to be appointed to the
220
permanent staff.
The folk high school draws heavily on both
elementary and secondary school faculties to assist them
in various phases of their program.
Teachers for the elementary schools are trained at
nineteen state-run elementary school teachers1 training
colleges (folkskoleseminarier). Six of these take in
male pupils only and five take female pupils only, while
eight are mixed.
All secondary school teachers in the theoretical
subjects now receive an academic education and practical
training in teaching (praktisk lararkurs) for either a
term or a full academic year* To qualify as a teacher
at a state secondary school one requires a degree in a
group of two, or most often three, school subjects as
well as qualification in a shorter theoretical course
in general and educational psychology.
The folk high school also draws heavily from
leaders and teachers of the study circles, as well as
members of the lecturing associations. The training of
the credentialed teachers serving the folk high schools
is academically sound and thus not greatly different from
that of California.
The most positive implication for adult education
221
in California undoubtedly lies in the extensive use made
of the many volunteer workers who assist the folk high
schools in their spare time. Although these people are
not credentialed, they are specialists in their own right
and add variety and breadth to the teaching program. The
practice of bringing in people from many walks of life,
each an expert in his own particular field, is education
ally sound if class organization and class continuity can
be preserved.
The Study Circles
One of the basic premises of the study circle is
that they should break away from the traditional class
room pattern and, instead of* having teachers, they should
be conducted by leaders who do not have to be profession
ally trained. The leader*s duties are to consist mainly
of organizing the study circle and of leading the talks
and discussions. All participants are to take an active
part and attempt to arrive at mutually satisfactory
solutions.
Most of the study circles still work with leaders
who are not professionally trained teachers and only
recently has it become more usual to utilize the services
of a teacher for study circle sessions. This applies to
sessions dealing with elementary subjects and requires the
222
services of a specialist* Such study circles are now
conducted by elementary and secondary teachers, special
qualified teachers, or by persons whose long experience in
study circle work has proved their suitability as teachers.
Courses sponsored by correspondence schools for
study circles have proved to be very appropriate for
circles which do not have access to qualified teachers.
Good results have been obtained when the leader sends to
the correspondence school a record of problems under dis
cussion and the solutions arrived at by the circle. The
qualified teachers at the school then give further advice
and instruction.
The basic philosophy, however, is that the spirit
of comradeship and informal study is best served without
professional academic leadership. It implies that the
participants of the study circle must, through research
and discussion, solve their own problems.
Theoretically, the practice is very sound, but
oftentimes it is not practical. Without the guidance of
a teacher trained in methods and procedures, it is very
easy for a circle to wander away from the basic purposes
of the group and follow what seems at the time to be a
more interesting avenue.
As far as adult education in California Is
223
concerned, the principle of the study circle is not
valid unless it is closely supervised by trained per
sonnel. One of the basic reasons for the let-down of
the , f Oreat Books1 1 groups has undoubtedly been the absence
of leaders trained in academic organizations. It is one
thing to enjoy a subject, but another, thing to conduct a
successful class in it.
The university circle is a form of adult work that
is well adapted to the adult education movement in Sweden
because it is led by faculty members of the four uni
versities. Furthermore, the studies of the university
circles extend over a period of two years and have proved
themselves more systematic and comprehensive than any
other type of circle.
There is an underlying implication in the Swedish
study circle movement that is most pertinent. When a
community wants to organize a program of education that
purports to reach all of the people, the program,should
not be curtailed because of a scarcity of academically
trained, credentialed teachers# Sweden is certainly a
case in point because they have seized upon the initiative
of their people to organize these educational agencies
themselves# With the financial and moral assistance of
the state, this program has had outstanding success. It
22l\.
is a challenging program, and one that adult education
movements all over the world would be xdlse to investigate.
Popular Lectures
Lecturing activity in Sweden is under the control
and inspection of the Central Board of Education, and
only those lecturers who have been approved by this group
may be engaged by the various lecturing societies. The
lecturers themselves are teachers from the universities,
various technical schools and institutes, candidates for
higher degrees, and specialists covering almost the entire
range of human learning. They are not necessarily cre-
dentialed, but apply to the Board of Education and receive
lecturing permits in their particular field.
As previously stated, one of the prime aims of the
popular lecture movement in Sweden is to inspire the
people to further their own education. Through the
presentation of a broad general education with special
emphasis on the humanities, this agency opens.many new
horizons of culture for the people of Sweden.
The implication here is obvious and should be the
prime objective of adult education everywhere. The
situation is such, however, that a popular lecture move
ment similar to that of Sweden would not be feasible for
225
California. It works in Sweden because a climate for it
has been created and it grows in the spirit of freedom
and democracy that characterizes educational work among
adults in Sweden.
CHAPTER XIII
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
I. THE PROBLEM AND PROCEDURES
Statement of the Problem
It was the purpose of this study to make an analysis
of the administration and organization of adult education
in Sweden for the purpose of determining implications for
the administration and organization of adult education in
California.
Significance of the Problem
In no other part of the world is there so much
widespread participation in adult education as there is
in Sweden, where it is estimated that more than half of
the population is active in some form of organized adult
education. The facts indicate that an analysis of the
Swedish system, together with an analysis of adult educa
tion in California, might reveal some areas in which
there are definite implications from the Swedish program
of adult education applicable for California.
Procedures and Sources of Data
The following steps were followed as the procedure
of this study: (1) a review of the literature in Sweden
227
relating to adult education, (2) a review of the literature
in the United States regarding adult education in Sweden,
and a review of the literature in California regarding
the adult education program in this State, (3) a number of
visits and interviews with leaders of the adult education
movement in Sweden in 1955 and 1956, ( I f . ) a number of
visits and interviews with leaders of the adult education
program in California, and (5) a critical analysis of the
two systems for the purpose of making implications from
the adult education program in Sweden applicable to the
adult education program in California.
II. FINDINGS
Adult Education in Sweden
1. Adult education in Sweden is inseparably con
nected with democracy in Sweden. Both institutions were
born at the same time, were mutually conditioned, and
both are products of the will of the people,
2. The origin and development of modern adult
education in Sweden has been intimately connected with
the change in economic, social, and political conditions
which have affected the Swedish social system during the
past century,
3# The adult education movement in Sweden has
228
definitely developed along four major lines: (1) the
folk high schools, (2) the study circles, (3) the popular
lectures, and ( i j . ) the peoples libraries.
I j . . Adult education in Sweden had its beginning
with the establishment of the folk high school, which still
is the most characteristic institution of the program
today. Established initially as the center for the
cultural life of a community, the folk high school is
the academic institution from which most of the other
facets of the free and voluntary movement emanate.
5. The study circle, which is seemingly of Swedish
origin, has become the most unique part of Swedish adult
education. By far the most plastic of all the organiza
tions for popular education, the study circle adapts
itself to local needs and takes precisely the form which
the members wish.
6. The study circle is the answer to comradeship
and group study in the Swedish program of adult education.
Designed for education and fellowship in daily life, it
has been the focal point for teachers and students to
unite in a common cause.
7# Although the different types of study circles
vary in their organization and immediate goals, the basic
reason for the establishment of any Swedish study circle
229
is the promotion of knowledge through reading and
studying,
8. The study circles have been used to great
advantage by both the national popular movements and the
labor unions. They have served as a sort of in-service
training program for the intellectual advancement of the
membership,
9# The popular lectures have always played a major
role in the adult education program in Sweden, Because of
the importance of the spoken word, the popular lectures
have always been basic to the folk high schools, the study
circles, and the peoples libraries. The popular lectures
have become extremely valuable in consolidating the various
areas of the adult education movement,
10. The popular lectures have also been an integral
arm of the large.educational groups, including the
national popular movements, the labor unions, and the
state supported temperance movement.
11. The peoples libraries constitute the oldest
form of education in Sweden and have grown hand in hand
with the rise of the adult education movement. Prom the
early type of parish library, they have developed into
the present county and municipal libraries. In addition
to these libraries, the educational agencies of the
'230
various national popular movements have established their
own study circle libraries.
Adult Education in California
12* Adult education in California can be traced
back to the beginnings of statehood. Since that time it
has expanded and flourished until now it is an integral
part of the public school system. The adult education
program in California today is recognized by leaders in
education as one of the best programs of adult education
in the United States.
13. Adult education in California today is ex
pressly provided for through legislative enactment.
lip. The State Department of Education, operating
through the Bureau of Adult Education, supervises the
California program of adult education and develops
policies on the state level for the operation of the
adult program.
15. The administration of adult education in
California is primarily on the local level.
16. Local districts in California are authorized
by law to provide an adult education program through (1)
a separate evening high school, (2) a separate evening
junior college, (3) classes for adults maintained by day
schools, both in high schools and junior college districts,
231
and ( I j . ) special day and evening classes in elementary
districts.
17* All classes in adult education in California
must be approved each year by the Bureau of Adult
Education as established and maintained in conformity
with law.
18. All adult classes in California must have an
educational purpose.
19* The policies regarding the granting of credit
in schools and classes for adults are determined by the
local school district.
20. Adult education in California today is
recognized as an integral part of the public school
system and derives its financial support from the people.
21. Funds for adult education in California are
almost entirely derived from (1) state funds, (2) local
district funds, (3) tuition charges, and (if.) federal
funds •
22. State support for adult education is deter
mined primarily on the basis of average daily attendance.
23* Each high school district and junior college
district in California receives $120 for each unit of
a.d.a. in the district during the preceding year, but
not less than $2, lf. 00, to be known as basic aid.
232
2ip* Under the equalization formula, districts with
a low assessed valuation of property receive more money
for each unit of a.d.a. than do the wealthier districts*
25* All local school districts must levy taxes
for the support of their own program of adult education.
For the state as a whole, they bear about lj.8.3 P©£* cent
of the total cost*
26. Teacher recruitment and selection continues
to be one‘of the most serious problems of the adult
education administrator*
27. Adult school teachers are largely drawn from
the ranks of day school teachers, teachers from other
adult schools, college teachers, former teachers, and
specialists from various fields*
28. One of the problems of the adult school
administrator has been the task of securing quickly the
proper credentials for specialists which will allow them
to teach in the adult program.
29* The Bureau of Adult Education1 s flin-service
training program1 * for teachers of adults has been of
great assistance to teachers who have been unable to
attend regular college classes.
30* The basic purpose of the adult school program
curriculum in California is to meet the present needs
and problems of the people of the State.
31. The adult school curriculum in California is
geared to assist adults attain an awareness of their
civic responsibilities to one another, to the community,
to the state, to the nation, and to the world.
32. Planning an adult school curriculum involves
knowledge of the purpose of the educational program, and
its relation to the known needs of the community.
33* Certain provisions of the Education Code of
California form the legal basis for the curricular
offering of adult education. The California Administrative
Code lists and defines the program of studies for adult
education.
3I 4 .. Provision is made in the California
Administrative Code for forum and lecture series.
35* The range of the curricular offering in the
adult schools of California is almost limitless. The
subject offering covers almost the entire range of human
learning from the three R*s to the most complex problems
of our time.
III. CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions reached in this study are indicated
in Chapter XIII, f!Implications from Swedish Adult
23k
Education Applicable to Adult Education in California.
For purposes of summary, they are broken down as follows:
Administration and Organization
1. The adult education program in Sweden is
ideally suited for the climate in which it finds itself.
As such, It Is excellent, but its overall method of
administration and organization would not be applicable
to the adult education program in the State of California,
2. The Swedish Bureau of Adult Education is
limited in range and scope of activity. Because of this,
it must allow local administration almost complete
freedom and Initiative, The basic policy of the Swedish
Bureau of Adult Education is not applicable to adult
education In California,
3. Local governing boards, as seen at the folk
high school, have much more control of Internal organiza
tion and administration In Sweden than they do in
California, Because of this, they tend to meet more
frequently and more informally. They also invite more
faculty participation than is true in California. They
have developed a greater feeling of esprit de corps than
exists In California, and have used it to great advantage
In building up community support.
k* The administration and organization of the
235
study circles in Swedish adult education is not applicable
to California because a similar device does not exist in
the adult education program of California.
5# The study circle idea of ffcomradeship and
study1 1 has great merit. The idea of the leader not being
above the others is largely responsible for the growth of
the movement.
6. Although the popular lecture movement of
\
Sweden is-quite similar to the forum and lecture series
program of California, the mobility of the Swedish
program appears to be superior. The California program
tends to cater to large areas and urban communities,
whereas the Swedish lectures reach the most remote areas
of the country.
7# The Swedish people initiate their own forum
and lecture programs. Such programs are not merely
presented to the people as is true in California, but are.
the result of the majority decision of a particular adult
education group such as a study circle.
Methods of Finance
8. The program of state support for adult educa
tion in Sweden is not as uniform as it is in California.
There is a definite lack of consistency within the
Swedish program, which must rely heavily on contributions
236
from national popular movements, trade unions, and
private individuals. This program is educationally in
consistent with proper planning and budgeting.
9. Sweden* s large popular movements, as well as
labor unions, receive financial support for their adult
education program from the government. This x^ould be
illegal in California, and the idea is not applicable to
adult education in California.
10. Sweden has failed to find a sound basis of
taxation in the poorer areas, because much of the country
is sparsely populated. In regions of this nature, it
seems logical that some sort of equalizatidh formula
would help alleviate the need.
11. Sweden has often used national lotteries for
the purpose of raising money for educational facilities.
This idea is obviously not applicable to adult education
In California. Not only would It be Illegal, but It
tends to downgrade the basic concept of a tax supported
educational program.
Curriculum
12. The Swedish definition of adult education,
namely 1 1 folkbildningsarbete,u conveys a more comprehensive
meaning of adult education than Is known in California.
It Implies by definition that adult education in Sweden is
237
an inherent duty, not merely a privilege.
13* Much of the curriculum within adult education
in Sweden is limited to the completion of elementary
education and does not contain the flexibility of the
adult education curriculum as seen in California.
llj.. Swedish adult education places great emphasis
upon the study of the historical, geographical and
political aspects of the community. As such, it promotes
not only local pride, but a strong feeling of nationalism.
l£. Because there is no separation of church and
state in Sweden, the curriculum in the adult education
movement has always included spiritual and religious
instruction. Educators in Sweden feel very strongly that
this has been a positive factor in maintaining discipline.
Religious instruction, as such, is illegal in California
and implications cannot be drawn.
16. Much of the Swedish curriculum is implicitly
tied in with the needs of the national popular movements
and the trade unions, As such, it is often a type of
in-service program for members of the different associa
tions. California law states that classes for adults
shall not be held as part of meetings of clubs or organi
zations. However, the adult program of California may
offer trade or industrial subjects, etc., which will
assist organizations in securing adequate personnel. The
implication for adult education in California is that
education and industry should work closer together to
create a more meaningful education for the people.
Selection of Teachers
171 The majority of the teachers connected with
the adult education movement in Sweden do not have
credentials and serve rather as leaders than teachers.
All teachers in California must he credentialed, or have
lecture permits, as seen in the forum and lecture series.
The Swedish system meets the needs of its own program
but would not be feasible in California, and no positive
implications can be drawn.
18. At the present time, California law demands
that all teaching personnel must be credentialed. The
implication for California is that the present credential
laws should be modified to allow more skilled personnel
to participate in the teaching program.
19. Adult education in Sweden is never curtailed
because of the lack of credentialed teachers in any
geographical area. When the people express an interest
in studying some particular subject, they are given
initial leadership by an expert and then allowed to
explore the field on their own initiative. This is often
239
done through a series of popular lectures or through the
sponsorship of a study circle by a popular movement. The
implication for adult education in California is that
perhaps more initiative of this type could be encouraged.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this study has been to seek impli
cations from the adult education program of Sweden
applicable to the adult education program of California.
A comparison of the two programs as to the relative
merits of each Is quite impossible because of the great
differences seen in the history, the population, the
geography, and economy of Sweden and California. Each
program seems well suited to its own particular situation,
and each has grown and developed to meet its own needs.
Prom the standpoint of overall organization and
administration, size, amount of equipment, available
facilities, etc., the adult education program of
California does not have to take a second place to any
program in the world and, unquestionably, many implica
tions from the California program would be highly appli- J
cable to the adult program In Sweden. However, the study
has not attempted to determine this but, rather, to seek
the implications from the adult education program of
Sweden which are applicable to California.
Based upon the findings and conclusions of the
study, the following recommendations are made:
Basic Concepts
1. California should attempt to improve its
educational climate within the field of adult education.
If the Swedish idea of adult education as an inherent
duty of the people to the state could be inspired, adult
education in general woLild be given a very stimulating
transfusion.
2. The Swedish idea of comradeship as an approach
to learning is a very positive one. The idea of a circle
of friends rather than just a class of students Is very
sound* The Swedish study circle has been able to produce
a climate of ,ftogetherness,4 1 which adult classes In
California should seek to emulate.
3. The Swedish idea that an adult education class
should combine class study with a social hour has been
one of the key factors in bringing their people closer
together. An attempt to do this In every adult class
in California would probably bring about complete dis
organization, but Its merits should be studied. Many of
the classes in the Downey Adult Schools have a Msocial
hour* 1 which occurs at the last meeting of each semester.
2iA
The facts seem to indicate that this has done more to
bring people together than much of the class work during
the semester. Perhaps this idea of 1 1 socialization1 1
°could be worked into the class program at regular
intervals.
Administration and Supervision
l \ . m California should attempt to bring about a
more intimate relationship between local school boards
and the school and the community. The idea of a period
of mutual discussion and sharing of problems, followed by
a social hour could bring about a greater afinity between
school boards, school personnel and the local community.
5* The Swedish idea of the study circle is strong
ly recommended for trial in the adult education program
of California in areas where facilities are limited.
Adult sponsored classes, in lieu of a credentialed
teacher, could lead to greater initiative on the part of
the people and an extension of adult educational services.
6. The extension of the California forum and
lecture series along the lines of the popular lectures
in Sweden is strongly recommended. Because of its wider
range of curricular offering, plus its wider mobility,
the popular lecture idea in California could conceivably
2 l \ . 2 .
bring a new audience into the adult educational program
as it is known today.
Methods of Finance
7. Although state aid to adult education in
Sweden does not compare favorably with state aid to adult
education in California, Sweden has gone a long way toward
developing public confidence in education when it can
rely on philanthropic giving to assist in financing its
program. As stated previously, it would be unrealistic
to believe that private giving in California could be
counted on to help finance adult education, but there is
merit to a program which has developed this type of
thinking on the part of its constituency. Tlae California
program of adult education might well make its appeal
strong enough to encourage some form of private support.
8, The folk high schools of Sweden have for many
years attempted to keep teachers* salaries in line with the
cost of living. It would be difficult for a large
educational system such as California has to tie teachers1
salaries to the cost of living index, as many industries
have done. However, it is recommended that California
determine a bonus schedule for teachers to meet rising
living costs. One of the major problems of the California
adult education administrator today is teacher retention,
2k3
and an improvement in the salary schedule for teachers of
adult education would greatly assist in the alleviation
of this problem.
Currlculum
9. A major part of the curricular offering in
Swedish adult education is geared toward making its
citizens conscious of their responsibilities to one
another, to their community, and to the state. Whether
one studies in the folk high school, the study circle,
or by the popular lectures, there is a consistent theme
of instruction in citizenry running through the curricu
lum. While there are no required subjects in adult
education in California (except for those people who are
working for degrees), it is strongly recommended tha,t an
attempt should be made in all adult classes to stress the
building of a strong citizenry.
10. In connection with the above, stated recommenda
tion, it should be noted that another integral part of the
adult curriculum in Sweden is the stressing of the
historical, geographical, and political aspects of the
immediate community of the adult class. With the unset
tled and oftentimes transient type of population in
California, it is strongly recommended that all adult
classes in California stress attention to the historical
2 -k k -
«
and cultural aspects of the Immediate community.
11. Swedish adult education is currently experi
menting with the idea of including more recreational
subjects in the curricular offering, such as tennis,
swimming, hiking, camping and horseback riding. The
California Education Code, at the present time, does not
allow for apportionment any classes for recreational
physical education purposes. However, it is recommended
that the code be modified to allow an organized recrea
tional program to emanate from the adult schools, rather
than having all recreation dependent upon city and county
programs.
Selection of Teachers
12. It is recommended that teachers of adult
education in California should strive toward the dialectic
method of discussion, as seen in the Swedish lectures,
rather than using the accepted lecture method of teaching.
A teacher who can assume the role of a dynamic discussion
leader invites greater interest and participation from his
audience and can better guide his students through a
positive learning situation.
13* Because all teachers in public adult education
in California must be credentialed, it is impossible to
make any positive recommendations from the Swedish system
2k$
of using noncredentialed personnel. There is, however, a
great deal of merit in the Swedish idea of drawing heavily
on volunteer workers and using them in a capacity of
leadership. California has undoubtedly a large number
of people well trained in almost every area of.human
learning, and the facts indicate that a study should be
made to determine whether or not these people could
enter the program of adult education in a teaching
capacity under a somewhat modified teaching credential.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. BOOKS
Arvidson, Stellan. Education in Sweden. Uppsala, Sweden:
Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, 1955.
Bryson, Lyman. Adult Education. New York: American Book
Company, 1936".
Campbell, Olive B. The Danish Folk School. New York:
Cornell University Press, 19lj-B.
Clark, Burton R. Adult Education in Transition. Berkeley,
California: University of CaliTornia Press, 1955*
Debatin, Frank M. Administration of Adult Education.
New York: American Book Company, 193b*
During, Ingemar. The Swedish School Reform. Uppsala,
Sweden: Appelbergs BoktrycTierlaletleboTag, 1951.
Forster, Margaret F. School for Life. London: Faber and
Faber Limited, 19
Heffler, Hugo. Studieorganisatoren. Stockholm, Sweden:
Tryckeri AB Bjorkmans Eftr., 1955*
Hirdman, G-unnar. Arbetarbildning--Linjer Qch Mai.
Stockholm, Sweden: Tidens Forlag, 1950.
. Kanske Ett Kulturprogram. Stockholm, Sweden:
Tryckeri Aktiebolabet, 19 M3.
. Kulturell Demokrati. Stockholm, Sweden:
Arbetarnas Bildningsforbund Och Tidens Forlag, 1950.
. Samtalets Konst. Stockholm, Sweden:
Tryckeriaktiebolaget Tiden, 19^5.
. Synpunkter Och Meningar. Stockholm, Sweden:
Tryckeriaktiebolaget "Tiden, 1939.
. Synpunkter Och Meningar. Stockholm, Sweden:
Arbetarnas Bi 1 dningsforbund, I9I 4 - 8.
. Var Bildningsstravans Paradoxer. Stockholm,
Sweden: Tryckeriaktiebolaget Tiden, 1952.
258
Holmback, Ake. Scholarly Freedom in Sweden. Stockholm,
Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri AB, 1955.
Hovde, B. J. The Scandinavian Countries. Ithaca, New
York: Cornell University Press, 1958.
Kempfer, H. H. Adult Education. Nexj York: McGraw-Hill
Book Company, Inc.“ J 1955^
Lindbom, Tage. Arbetarrorelsen Och Kulturen. Stockholm,
Sweden: Nordisk Rotogravyr, 1957.
Lund, Ragnar* Scandinavian Adult Education. Stockholm,
Sweden: Kooperativa Forbundets Bokforlag, 1952,
, and Harry Ohlsson. Adult Education in
Scandinavia. Copenhagen: Det Danske Forlag, 1950.
Olsson, Oscar. Folkbildning Och Sjalvuppforstran.
Stockholm, Sweden: Arbetarnas Bildningsforbunds
Skriftserie, 1923.
Overstreet, Harry A., and Bonaro W. Overstreet. Leaders
for Adult Education. New York: George Grady Press,
1951.
Sandler, Johan. Hagringar Och Verklighet. Stockholm,
Sweden: Tryckeriaktiebolaget Tiden, 1939*
Sandler, Rickard. Mangfaid Eller Enfald. Stockholm,
Sweden: Tryckeriaktiebolaget Tiden, 1937*
Sheats, Paul H., Clarence D. Jayne, and Ralph B. Spence.
Adult Education. New York: The Dryden Press, 1953.
Sivgard, Gustaf. Skolor Och Utbildningsvagar. Stockholm,
Sweden: K. L. Beckmans Boktryckeri, 19557
Social Sweden. Published by the Social Welfare Board.
Stockholm, Sweden, 1939.
Social Welfare in Sweden. Published by the Royal Swedish
Commission. Stockholm: Gernandts Boktryckeri, 1952.
Stahre, Sven-Arne. Studiecirkelledaran. Stockholm,
Sweden: Nordisk Rotogravyr^ 1955*
2k9
Swett, John. History of the Public School System of
California. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and
Company, 1876.
Tornqvist, Kurt. Studieintresse Och Studiemotiv Hos
Vuxna. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksells
Botrykeri, AB, 195k*
Vestlund, Costa. Arbetsgladjens Problem. Stockholm,
Sweden: Nordisk Hotogravyr, 19lj-9.
B. PUBLICATIONS
ABF1s Stallning 1^ Arbetarrorelsen Och Samhallet.
Published by the Workers Educational Association.
Stockholm, Sweden: AB Willhelmssons Boktryckeri, 19i+9.
California State Department of Education. Adult Educa
tion— Handbook for In-Service Teacher Training
Programs. Vol. XXIII, No. v. Sacramento: C alifornia
State Printing Office, August,
. California Administrative Code, Title 5,
Education. Sacramento: Division~oT~*Administrative
Procedure, 1953-
_______ . Development of Adult Education in California.
Vol. XXII, No. ~ 6 ' . Sacramento: California State
Printing Office, June, 1953*
_______ . Handbook on Adult Education in California.
Vol. XXIII, No. 3. Sacramento: California State
Printing Office, April, 195k-
. Handbook for Teachers of Adults. Vol. XX, No. 2 ^ . ,
Sacramento: California State Printing Office, May,
1951.
________. Professional Standards for Adult Education
Administrators. Vol. XXIV, No. lEZ "Sacramento:
Califorhia State Printing Office, November, 1955 •
Constitution of the State of California, 1879.
250
Pet Fria Och Frivilliga Bildningsarbetet I Sverige.
Bulletin of Folkuniversitetets Forlag. Stockholm,
Sweden, 19^9.
Pet Fria Och Frivilliga Folkbildningsarbetet. Statens
Offentliga Utredningar, 19 Ij-6; 6 B, Ecklesiastik-
departmentet. Stockholm, Sweden: K. L. Beckmans
Boktryckeri.
Federal Security Agency, Office of Education. Education
in Sweden. Bulletin No. 17* Washington, B.C.:
United States Government Printing Office, 1952.
Folk Och Skolbibliotek. Bulletin of the Statens
Eckl e si as t i ckdepart ement e t. Stockholm, Sweden, 19lj.9*
Manniskan Och Nutiden. A report of ABF’s Culture
Committee presented to the Social Democratic Party
Congress in 1952# Stockholm, Sweden: Tidens Forlag,
1952.
Skoloverstyrelsens Forelasningskatalog. Published by the
Swedish Board of Education. Uppsala, Sweden:
Appelbergs Boktryckeri, AB, 1955.
State of California. Education Code. Sacramento:
California State Printing Office, 1955*
C. PERIODICAL ARTICLES
l f Adult Education in Scandinavia," Adult Education, Vol. 5>
No. 1, Autumn, 195k-
Ellis, Caswell A. "Introduction,1 1 Department of
Superintendance Official Report," 1933*
Evans, Manfred E. "Introduction," Public School Adult
Education, National Association of Public School
Educators, 1956.
Kempfer, Homer. "Financing Adult School Education,"
Public School Adult Education, ^National Association
of Fublic School Educators, 1956.
251
Minich, Carl E. "Discovering and Selecting Teachers,”
Adult Education, National Association of Public School
Educators, 19F&.
Simpson, Roy E. f , Adult Education Comes of Age,” CTA
Journal, L|i3:13, February, 1952.
Thatcher, John H. "The Public School, Adult Education,
and Community Groups,” Adult Education, 5?163-65,
Spring, 1955.
”The Library Law of 1912,” The World Association for
Adult Education, February, 1523.
”The Peoples High School,” The World Association for Adult
Education, November, 1922.
”The Stockholm Workers* Institute,” The World Association
^or Adult Education, November, 1922.
D. ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
Monroe, Walter S. Encyclopedia of Educational Research.
New York: The Macmillan Company^ 1950.
E. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS
Bureau of Adult Education. ”Adult Education Workshop,
Report and Proceedings of Santa Barbara Meeting,
July 15-25, 191-1-9 •” (Mimeographed. )
. ”Montecito Workshop in Adult Education, Report
and Proceedings, July 18-28, 1952.” (Mimeographed.)
_. ”Santa Barbara Workshop in Adult Education,
Report and Proceedings, July 22-31, 195^-*1 1
(Mime o graphe d. )
_. ”Santa Barbara Workshop in Adult Education,
Report and Proceedings, July 19-28, 1956.”
(Mimeographed.)
252
Barker, Lowell F. “Adult Education Classes Offered in
Cooperation with Community Groups *” Unpublished
Doctor1s dissertation, The University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, 1956.
Brayton, James Donald. “Problem Areas of Adult Education.”
Unpublished Master1s thesis, The University of
Southern California, Los Angeles, 1951.
Cope, Calvin C. , f How to Conduct Successful Education
Classes.1 1 Unpublished Master1 s thesis, The University
of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1939.
Crawford, Will C. “Purposes and Personnel Administration
of Adult Education.” Unpublished Doctor1s disserta
tion, The University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, 1939.
Ferguson, Philip Mitchell. “The Selection of Teachers
for Adult Schools.3 * 1 Unpublished Master1 s thesis,
The University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
1935.
Getsinger, Wilson Joseph. “The History of Adult Education
in the Public Schools of California.1 1 Unpublished
Doctor1s dissertation, Stanford University, Palo Alto,
California, 191- 1 - 3.
Jones, Elmer Clifton. “The Administration of Adult
Education,” Unpublished Master1s thesis, The
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1928.
Lee, Vincent B. “The Adult Education Movement in the
Public Schools of California.” Unpublished Master1 s
thesis, The University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, 1931.
Metzler, David R. ”The Organization and Administration
of Adult Education in the Public Schools of
California.” Unpublished Master1 s thesis, The
University of Southern California, 1930.
McClintic, Stanley Charles. ffThe Administration of ■
Special Day and Evening Classes in the Public Schools
of California.” Unpublished Master1s thesis, The
University of Southern California, 1931.
253
Pryor, Ralph Huntington. "Financing Adult Education in
the State of California." Unpublished Doctor’s
dissertation, The University of Southern California,
Dos Angeles, 1938*
Sheblak, Vernon Brauer. "Financing of Adult Education
in the United States with Special Application to the
State of California." Unpublished Doctor’s disserta
tion, The University of Southern California, Los
Angeles, 1953.
The Royal Board of Education. "State Grants to Adult
Education in Sweden, 1955.1 1 (Mimeographed.)
The Swedish Institute. "The Swedish School Reform."
Extract from a Report of the Swedish Board of Education
in 1950 to the Geneva Conference on Education.
Warne, Joseph E. "The Organization and Administration
of Adult Education in the Public Schools of
California." Unpublished Master’s thesis, The
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1928.
APPENDIX A
POLK HIGH SCHOOLS IN SWEDEN
APPENDIX A
FOLK HIGH SCHOOLS IN SWEDEN
1* Birkagardens Folk High School, Stockholm
2. St. Eriks Folk High School, Stockholm
3. Vaddo Folk High School, Vaddo
ip, Southern Stockholm Province Folk High School,
Stockholm
5. Sigtuna Folk High School, Sigtuna
6. Jacobsbergs Folk High School, Jacobsberg
7. Swedish Gymnastic Society Gymnastic Folk High School
Lillsved
8. Uppsala Province Folk High School, Balingsta
9. Sodermanland Province Folk High School, Asa,
Skoldinge
10. Gripsholms Folk High School, Gripsholm, Mariefred
11. Ostergotland Folk High School, Lunnevad, Sjogestad
12. Marieborg Folk High School, Norrkoping
13. Vadstena Folk High School, Vadstena
lip. Jara Folk High School, Malmback
15. Jonkoping Province Folk High School, Sorangen, Nassj
16. Jonkoping Province Folk High School, Varnamo
17. Southern Vatterbygdens Folk High School, Jonkoping
18. Kronoberg Province Folk High School, Grimslov
19. St* Sigfrids Folk High School, Vaxjo
20. North Kalmar Province Folk High School, Gamleby
21. Southern Kalmar Province Folk High School, Hogalid,
Smedby
22. Olands Folk High School, Olands-Skogsby
23. Gotlands Province Folk High School, Hemse
2lp. Onnestads Folk High School, Onnestad
25. Southeast Skane Folk High School, Tomelilla
26. Northwest Skane Folk High School, Munka-Ljungby
27. Sundsgardens Folk High School, Raa
28. The Vilan Folk High School, Vilan, Akarp
29. Firdhems Folk High School, Fridhem, Svalov
30. Vemmenhogs Folk High School, Skurup
31. Eslovs Folk High School, Eslov
32. Oxie and Skytts Folk High School, Ostra Grevie
33. Halland Province Folk High School, Katrineberg,
Vessigebro
3k-. Goteborg and Bohus Province Folk High School,
Grebbestad
35. Billstromska Folk High School, Tjorn, Tygt, Hoga
36
37
38
39
i | . 0
Ip.
1 | . 2
Ij-3
IjS
J L ( _ 6
^7
2*8
I { - 9
50
5i
52
53
52*
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
6 1 } .
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
256
Kungalv Folk High School, Kungalv
Vendeslberg Folk High School, Vendelsberg,
Molnlycke
West Coast Young Peoples Folk High School,
Ljungskile
Alvsborg Province Folk High School, Fristad
Dalsland Folk High School, Fargelanda
Viskadalen Folk High School, Seglora
Skaraborgs Province Folk High School, Axvall
Skaraborgs Province West Folk High School, Vara
Varmland Province Folk High School, Molkom
West Varmland Folk High School, Ingesund, Arvika
Dalarna Folk High School, Fornby, Borlange
Brunnsviks Folk High School, Sorvik
Mora Folk High School, Mora
Malvung Folk High School, Malvung
Sjoviks Folk High School, Sjovik, Folkarna
Gavleborg Province Folk High School, Follnas
Worth Halsingland Folk High School, Forssa
G-astrikland Folk High School, Vasterberg, Storvik
Medelpad Folk High School, Alsta, Fransta
South Angermanland Folk High School, Hola, Prastmon
Worth Angermanland Folk High School, Hampnas,
Sjalevad
Mellansel Folk High School, Mellansel
Mellersta Worrlands Young Peoples Folk High School,
Iiarnosand
Brika Folk High School, Birka, As
Halland Folk High School, Halland
Vasterbotten Province Folk High School, Degerfors,
Vindeln
Edelviks Folk High School, Burtrask
Medlefors Folk High School, Skelleftea
Sunderby Folk High School, South Sunderby
Kalis Folk High School, Kalis
Tornedalens Folk High School, Matarengi, Overtornea
Jokkmokks Folk High School, Jokkmokk
Blekinge Province Folk High School, Brakne-Hoby
Orebro Province Folk High School, Kavesta, Skollersta
Fellingsbro Folk High School, Fellingsbro
Vastmanlands Province Folk High School, Tarna
APPENDIX B
ORGANIZATION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SWEDEN
APPENDIX B
ORGANIZATION OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SWEDEN
P u p i l ’ s age
7 . a 9
S c h o o l Y e a r
JLlJL "
10 11 12
6
13
7 .
14
a
i
1 5 1 6 17 I d 1 9
10 il t 12 , 13
4 y e a r R e a ls k o la
and
M u n ic ip a l M id d le
S c h o o l
3 y e a r
G ym nasium
P r im a r y
S c h o o l
5 y e a r R e a ls k o la
and
M u n ic ip a l M id d le
S c h o o l
4 y e a r Gym nasium
4 y e a r Gym nasium
3 y e a r
Gym nasium
Gym nasium
f o r G i r l s
S t a t e , M u n ic ip a l o r
P r i v a t e S c h o o ls f o r
G i r l s
Gym nasium
N o rm al
S c h o o l
E le m e n ta r y S c h o o l
V o c a t io n a l
S c h o o ls
APPENDIX C
NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR STUDY CIRCLE ACTIVITIES
APPENDIX C
NATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS FOR STUDY CIRCLE ACTIVITIES
1* ABF (Workers Educational Association)
2. SLS (Swedish Rural Education Association)
3. IOGT (Good Templars Educational Association)
! ( . * NTO (National Order of Templars Educational
Association)
5* JUF (Young Farmers Association)
6. SEE (Swedish Blue Ribbon Educational Association)
7. TBV (Educational Association of Professional
Workers)
8. SFM (Educational Association of the Citizens
School)
9. Liberal Educational Association
10, People1s University
11* SKS (Swedish Ecclesiastical Educational Association)
12. FKS (Educational Association of the Non-conformist
Churches)
13. KFUK and KFUM (National Educational Association of
the YWCA and the YMCA)
APPENDIX D
SUBJECTS STUDIED IN THE SWEDISH STUDY CIRCLES, 1953-1954
APPENDIX D
SUBJECTS STUDIED IN THE SWEDISH STUDY CIRCLES, 1953-1951]-
Subject Participating Circles
Librarianship • . • • ............. . 10
History of Religion.................... I 4.83
Bible S t u d y .............................988
Church History ........................ 82
Meaning of Life . . . . . . ..............102
Missionary Study.........................1511-
Psalm S t u d y .......................... 69
Soul S a v i n g.......... 73
World Religions...................... 5
Philosophy and Psychology ........... 268
Discussion ............................. 8
Child Rearing Instruction........... 2 l { .
The People and the Schools........... 1
General Language Study ............. . 52
Danish................................. I j .
English................................. 666
Esperanto............................ 68
Finnish ............................... 1
French................................. 27
German ..... ...................... 125
L a t i n ................................. 1
Norwegian ............................ 5
Russian............................ 6
Spanish ............................... 8
Swedish............... 799
Other Foreign Languages . 17
Penmanship............................... 139
Stenography and Typing..................ll|5
Public Speaking ...................... 110
Literature............................... l|-28
Motion Pictures ...................... 5
Home Crafts . ...................... 92
History of C r a f t s .................... 17
Museum Visitation .................... 1
Painting............................... 11
263
\
Subject Participating <
Drama Techniques ...........
Singing .................. , ...........818
Theatre ................. ,
Oral Interpretation . • . ,...... 137
Folk Dancing . . . . . . . . ........... ip6
History ................... ............. 66
Current Political Problems , ........... 33
The Swedish Farmer . . . . .
Post-War Problems . . . . , ........... 6
Swedish Culture ...... ............. 56
The Far North .............
Swedish Rural Culture ......
Local G-eography..............
Norrland (A Swedish Province) . . . 13
Alcoholism .................... ... 38
National Movement Organization . . . . 1373
Worker’s Movement History . . .
Worker* s Security .......
Banking Problems ..............
Housing Problems ..............
Problems of Democracy ......
Worker* s Associations........ ... 353
Family Relations ........... ... 17
International Peace ........
Jurisprudence ............ . . . 30
Cooperatives ..............
Suffrage .................
National Economics .........
Problems of Recreation ...... ... 1
Propaganda ............... . . . 9k
Township Orientation .......... . . . 78
Township Knowledge ............ ... 1
Taxation ...................... . . . llf.0
Socialism ....................
Political Parties .........
Syndicalism .............. ... 1
Problems of Youth .........
Building Construction ...... . . . 17
Electricity ... .........
Photography ..................
Agricultural Machinery ........
26 1 ±
Subject Participating Circles
Model Construction 3
Automobile Mechanics................. 23
Working Skills ........................ 177
Current Economic Problems ........... 107
Bookkeeping.............................Ijipt
Philately .......... 13
Salesmanship.......................... 5 >
Home Management 2l|-3
Industrial Organization ............. 15
Meal Preparation .................... 2
Office Management .................... 2
Navigation ............................ 8
Oceanography .......................... 13
Forest Preservation ................. 17
Time Studies............................. 109
Traffic Problems .................... 2
Care of Pets • ................. 32
Agricultural Economy................. 81
Agriculture ............. 22
Agricultural Organization 3
Fertilization ...................... 22
Agricultural Bookkeeping ............. 201
Agricultural Management............. 20
Farm Buildings........................ 7
Weed Problems........................ 11 4 .
Orchard Care..........................
Crop C a r e ............................. 18
Crop Disease . ...................... 22
Table Tennis........................ 1
Folk Dancing . .................... IpO
Free Sport.......................... 1
G-ymnastics ...................199
Individual Sports # ................ l4
Introduction to Sports.............. lij-7
C h e s s .............. 5
Mathematics..........................1102
Algebra and Geometry................ 13
Botany.......... 2
Physics and Chemistry.............. 11
Natural Science • • .............. 1
Subject Participating Circles
Child Care................. 11
House Pet Diseases.................... 2
Health and Sick Care ».«•••... 160
Medicinal Plants ...................... 1
Marital Relations .................... 1
Non-specified Subjects..................2l\2.
APPENDIX E
THE CALIFORNIA STATE COMMITTEE ON ADULT EDUCATION
APPENDIX E
THE CALIFORNIA STATE COMMITTEE ON ADULT EDUCATION
I. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION'OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN,
CALIFORNIA DIVISION1
Am Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
As stated in its original charter, the American
Association of University Women was organized for
f,practical educational work,1 1 and has, through the years
been concerned with the advancement and betterment of
education at all levels.
Its program has included the study of present-day
problems relating to education and effective ways of
solving them. It has also embraced study and action in
various subject-matter fields inherent in education
today; namely social studies, international relations,
and the arts.
The American Association of University Women has
pursued consistently an active legislative program on
local, state, and national levels as a means of translat
ing Into constructive action its study in the areas
mentioned above.
A statement, Issued at the time of the Biennial
Convention of AAUW, July, 19?5> illustrates the purpose
and concern, and Indicates the activities of the
organ!zation:
f , Universal education is basic to the preservation
of our form of government and the well-being of our
society. Therefore the study,.interpretation, and im
provement of education will continue to be a primary
concern of the American Association of the University
Women.1 1
Since all of the study undertaken by AAUW is
essentially adult education, our national staff has
^1727 Judah Street, San Francisco, California.
268
prepared many study guides on subjects of universal
interest and concern* These are available from the
National Office, 163^ Eye Street, N.W., Washington 6,
D.C., at various prices.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resourses Available:
In California, AAUW speakers are available to
branches of the organization. California State Division
operates a Travel Program to arrange visits for these
speakers. Their talks are frequently made the occasion
for open meetings, and the people of the community are
invited.
In order to conserve the time and energies of
State speakers for their AAUW work, it would be impossible
to make them available to other groups, except under
unusual circumstances, and by special arrangement.
There.is, however, a speakers1 bureau in San
Francisco whose subject is educational television, and
whose specific interest is the promotion of Educational
Television Station KQJ2D, and the explanation of its
operation to San Franciscans. Speakers from this bureau
are volunteer women, and they request no honorarium.
Spearheaded by the San Francisco Branch, AAUW,
this group has drawn speakers from many other organizations.
The present plan is the development of similar speakers1
bureaus in the nine Bay Area Counties that are served by
KQED.
II. THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA2
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
The adult education purposes, concerns and
activities of the American Legion, Department of
California, can best be outlined by the Preamble of the
Constitution and by the attached exhibit covering our
activities in the field of Community Service.
Our Preamble states:
%ar Memorial Veterans Building, San Francisco 2,
California.
259
f , For God and Country, we associate ourselves
together for the following purposes:
,fTo uphold and defend the Constitution of the
United States of America; to maintain law and order; to
foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism;
to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations
in the Great Wars; to inculcate a sense of individual
obligation to the community, state, and nation; to combat
the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; to
make right the master of might; to promote peace and
good will on earth; to safeguard and transmit to posterity
the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy; to
consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion
to mutual helpfulness.1 1
Dependent on their availability within certain
areas, speakers are furnished The American Legion on any
of the subjects noted on the attached exhibit.
Printed materials are available on the subjects
of Americanism, Child Welfare, Educational assistance to
orphans, disaster relief, community service, and many
youth activities.
We of the American Legion feel that a greater
exchange of information between our organization and
other community groups can dispel the mistaken impression
that we are basically an organization interested only in
the affairs of veterans. We believe that we can best
describe our organization as being a ”service organization
composed of veterans.”
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available
The American Legion has four basic major programs.
They are Americanism, Child Welfare, Rehabilitation and
National Security. Today it has 5$ departments, 17*if55
posts and 3*000,000 members. It has an Auxiliary with
more than 975*000 members in 13*625 units. Membership
eligibility is based on wartime service in American forces.
1. Americanization Program
2. Community Services
3# American Education Week
i j . . School Medal Awards
5. Education and Scholarships
6. Scout Leadership • f
270
7.
American Legion Baseball
8. Boy1s State
9.
Boy* s Nation
10. Historical Contest
11. Rehabilitation Service
12. Legion Service Officers
13.
Post Services
Ik. G-, I, Bill of Rights
15.
Employment
16. Jobs for Disabled Veterans
17.
Older Workers
18. Community Development
19.
Child Welfare
20. Juvenile Delinquency
21. Legion Endowment Fund
22. Divine Guidance Appeal
23.
National Security
2k*
Civil Defense
25. Forty and Eight
26. Volunteer Hospital Workers
III. AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CR0SS3
A* Adult Education Purposes, Concerns and Activities:
The American Red Cross is a service organization
providing a variety of services to the people of the
nation. Some of the services are responsibilities placed
upon the organization— as in the instrumentality of the
Federal Government--by Congressional Charter. Other
services are those which have been assumed by the American
Red Cross upon manifestation of need in communities of
the nation.
Each Red Cross chapter offers special services to
its community, these services varying in communities
depending upon the needs of the communities and the
strength of the chapters.
Red Cross volunteers and paid staff carry out these
Red Cross responsibilities in various fields. They
receive formal and informal training in accordance with
their needs and desires.
^1550 Sutter Street, San Francisco 1, California.
271
Some of them work in chapter administration or
serve on< committees that guide the organizations pro
grams of-service. In this latter capacity, they conduct
the first aid, water safety, and home nursing programs
described herein, and help maintain the formal training
standards and procedures made necessary by the nature
of these■programs.
Other Red Cross workers carry out the Red Cross
charter obligations. There are (1) services to the armed
forces and veterans, by chapter workers through the Red
Cross Home Service program and by national staff and/or
volunteers at military installations, in Veterans
Administration offices, and in military and Veterans
Administration hospitals; and (2) disaster preparedness,
relief and rehabilitation.
Still other workers recruit, screen, and train
volunteers, carry on the Red Cross Blood Program; take
the Red Cross into elementary and secondary schools
through the Junior Red Cross; promote Red Cross programs
on college campuses; and conduct public information and
fund raising activities.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
In addition to its welfare activities in behalf
of servicemen, veterans, and their dependents; its
disaster program; and the training programs which are
available to individuals and to other agencies, the Red
Cross:
1. Publishes text books, planning pamphlets,
manuals of instruction, training aids, and promotional
materials related to the training courses and available
through Red Cross chapters and other agencies.
2. On the basis of need, makes available consult
ing services to groups through Red Cross chapters on
specialized activities.
IV. ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE OF B'NAI B'RITH^
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:
The Anti-Defamation League, through its 26 regional
offices, provides human relations films, pamphlets and
books promoting better intergroup relations and the
services, when necessary, of professional consultants
for guidance and participation in planned programs which
lead to better intercultural understanding.
The League, through the efforts of volunteers, who
are trained by the professional staff, has a working
relationship with schools, PTA* s and other community
groups, and numerous church groups, in presenting film .
forums, panel discussions, and human relations workshops:
all positive approaches strengthening the fabric of the
democratic process.
The overall concept of programming within the
agency is a desire to integrate useful materials into
functioning programs in the community. The League1 s
purpose is to promote better human relations among all
Americans by education and the force of public opinion,
translated into social action.
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
The Central Pacific Regional Office has the most
complete audiovisual library on human relations themes in
Northern California. Many of the films available for
loan present social problems in highly dramatic form,
lending themselves to healthy group discussions. Booklets
and pamphlets are available in the field of civil rights,
segregation, equal employment opportunity, housing for
all, civil liberties and fair educational practices. Our
library includes radio transcriptions of dramatic content,
films cleared for TV, and animated songs on human relations
themes for TV.
By arrangement with the Institute for American
Democracy, Inc., nationally known in the field of graphics,
we can provide posters, car cards, bookcovers, blotters,
and other items. All graphics stress equal opportunity
^.0 First Street, San Francisco 5* California.
273
for all, regardless of race, religion or national origin*
Periodically, the Anti-Defamation League publishes
books in the field of race relations, discrimination and
civil rights. Amongst those published were tfThe Trouble
Makers,f f a documented study of the purveyors of racial
and religious hatred, and 1 1 A Measure of Freedom,1 1 a non
fiction best-seller which detailed the nature and extent
of discrimination against minority groups. The League
also promotes other books in the intercultural relations
field, offering special prices on many volumes to
interested groups.
V. AUDIO-VISUAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OP CALIFORNIA^
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:
Film services to all secondary schools, including
adult evening classes in high schools and junior colleges,
from the libraries of which the directors are usually
members of the Association.
B. Resources Available and Adult Education Assets
a. Speakers on the subject of Audio-Visual
Education.
b. Consultant service on sources of films, pro
jections equipment, etc.
VI. BOY SCOUTS OP AMERICA6
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
Each local council of the Boy Scouts of America
organizes a training committee which establishes adult
education policies and supervises the activities of
similar training committees in each of the districts of
the council. These committees and those they recruit
give courses to qualify adult Scouting leaders for their
^Room 10, Courthouse, Sacramento, California,
^ll^l South Broadway, Los Angeles l£, California.
274
eommittee responsibilities and the leadership of the boy
scouts *
B. Resourses Available to Other Agencies:
These courses are open to the general public. The
Boy Scouts of America has a considerable library of
training material developed since 1910, motion picture
projectors, training films, film strips and other visual
aids.
VII. THE BUREAU OP ADULT EDUCATION
A. .Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
Approval of Public School Adult Education
The Bureau has the responsibility for the approval
of all schools for adults, adult divisions of high schools
and junior colleges and all adult classes of local school
districts.
Supervision of Public School Adult Education
The Bureau exercises general supervision over
adult education programs to ensure that laws relating to
education and regulations and policies of the State Board
of Education, are observed.
Consultation Services
Consultation services are provided to local boards
of education, local administrators, county office and
professional organizations in planning and organizing
programs of adult education. Assistance is provided in
evaluation of programs, conducting surveys of educational
needs, credentials, teacher training and interpretation
of regulations and policies.
Training of Administrators and Teachers
The Bureau initiates and conducts training insti
tutes, classes and workshops designed to improve adminis
tration and teaching. It participates in city and county
institutes and in local, regional conferences on adult
education. The Bureau cooperates with colleges, univer
sities and professional organizations in in-service
275
training programs*
Conference Planning
The Bureau cooperates with officers and members of
educational organizations in planning and conducting adult
education conferences. It participates in national, state
and local conferences. It serves on boards and committees
of organizations devoted to family life education, workers
education, safety education and other adult education fields.
Research in Adult Education
The Bureau provides consultation and guidance in
connection with-research studies in the field of adult
education.
Materials in Adult Education
The Bureau prepares and publishes handbooks, curricu
lum aids and other bulletins designed to assist administra
tors and teachers in conforming with law, regulation and
policy and to develop strong instructional programs in adult
education.
Citizen Communication
The Bureau implements avenues of cooperation,
guidance and communication between public school adult
education and representative community agencies that have
adult education functions and needs.
VIII. CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES?
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities;
Adult Education Activities and Services; The adult
education activities of the California Academy of Sciences
are chiefly those which are inherent in the operation of a
large public museum. The Academy maintains a Science
Museum, the Steinhart Aquarium, and the Alexander F.
Morrison Planetarium. These buildings are visited yearly
by approximately one and a half million persons.
The Academy interprets science to thousands of
other adults, both in California and the country at large,
through the publication of a bimonthly magazine, Pacific
Discovery, the publication of popular books and booklets’ ,
and the production of a weekly television program “Science
7(k> 1denJlate Park, San Francisco 18, California
276
in Action.1 ’ The Academy also maintains a rental library
oi motion picture films devoted to natural history sub
jects. Although this is a service conducted primarily
for the benefit of schools and school groups, many adult
organizations utilize the films in their own educational
programs.
Aside from these public activities, the Academy
conducts regular monthly lectures by leading authorities
on natural history. These programs are organized and
presented expressly for the membership of the Academy,
which totals some 1800 persons. Members of the Academy
also receive a monthly Academy News Letter.
Insofar as its resources allow, the Academy lends
assistance and encouragement to all local activities
which are of an educational and scientific nature.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available
Resources Available to Other Agencies: Aside from
its activities in the area of public education in science,
the Academy is a research organization of important
stature. The Academy* s library is a repository of some
100.000 technical volumes in the natural sciences, and in
its research departments the following study collections
are maintained: 68,81I 4. bird specimens, 10,9l j -6 mammals, t
75.000 reptiles and amphibians, 380,000 plants, 532,000
fishes, 3,000,000 insects, and 1,650,000 geological and
paleontological items. These materials are made available
to scholars for study but are not open to the public.
However, on occasions arrangements can be made with the
curatorial staff for visits to the various departments
by limited groups of people. Members of the Academy* s
scientific staff are also available, by special arrange
ment, as lecturers.
Organizations wishing to visit Morrison Planetarium
may arrange for special reserved seat performances.
(Folders listing show titles and the hours of regularly
scheduled performances may be obtained free upon request.)
No reservations are necessary for groups visiting the
Aquarium or Science Museum; these buildings are open daily
from 10 a.m. to 5 p#m., admission free.
277
IX. CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF ADULT
EDUCATION ADMINISTRATORS® '
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
1. Establish professional standards for organizing
and conducting a local program of public school
adult education, and set up a procedure for
their enforcement.
2. Provide and promote in-service training for
teachers of adults in various local regions.
3. Encourage formal courses in adult education in
the various teacher training institutions.
I j . * Provide such help as is needed by newly
appointed adult education administrators.
5. Conduct research upon problems affecting adult
education particularly as carried on in
public schools and cooperate with other groups
in the study of problems that affect our
relationship with these groups.
6. Develop a workable philosophy of adult
education.
7* Provide means of exchange of information
regarding successful methods and materials
of instruction and administrative practices.
This is accomplished by means of:
a. An annual conference
b. Quarterly newsletter
c. Regional meetings
8. Study legislation which may affect adult
education and take suitable action.
9. Assist the State Department of Education by
suggesting rules and regulations for the
operation of adult schools; this includes
a
1620 West Main Street,_ Alhambra, California.
270
such things as records, reports, printed forms,
etc.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
1. The CAAEA flNewsletter, ” the official publica
tion of the organization giving a resume of
committee reports, conference deliberations,
and significant articles in the field of
public school adult education. (Address:
CAAEA, 1620 West Main Street, Alhambra,
California.)
2. "Professional Standards in Public School Adult
Education.1 1 Report of Professional Standards
Committee, 1955* (soon to be published by-
California State Department of Education).
3. f,The Adult in Our Public Schools,” Edwin C.
Kratt. A mimeographed copy of the report to
the State Advisory Committee of Adult
Education. (Request from Maurice Reetz,
Fresno, California)
L j - . Bureau of Adult Education Handbooks. (Bulle
tins of the State Department of Education,
Sacramento, California.)
a. HANDBOOK ON ADULT EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA,
Revised: George C. Mann, Chief of Bureau,
Vol. XXIII, No. 3, April, 195k*
b. HANDBOOK FOR IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING
PROGRAMS, Bureau of Adult Education:
George C. Mann, Chief; Milton Babitz,
Leo Jones, Stanley Sworder, Consultants,
Vol. XXIII, No. 5, August, 195k*
c. DEVELOPMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION IN
CALIFORNIA: George C. Mann, Chief of
Bureau, and J. Wilson Get singer, Super
visor of Business Education and vice
principal in vocational high school, San
Diego Public Schools, Vol. XXII, No. 6,
June, 1953.
d. HANDBOOK OF PARENT EDUCATION: Ralph G.
Eckert, Consultant, Vol. XIX, No. 5,
_ November., 1950.. . . .
279
e. HANDBOOK ON CONTINUATION EDUCATION IN
CALIFORNIA: Leo Jones, Consultant in
Continuation Education, Vol. XIX, No. 2,
March, 1950.
f. CURRICULUM AIDS IN CONTINUATION EDUCATION:
Leo Jones, Consultant in Continuation
Education, Vol. XXI, No. 12, September,
1952.
5* Inservice training courses offered in coopera
tion with University of California Extension,
State Department of Education and local school
districts as follows:
a. Adult education Methods X 185 AB
b. Adult Education Materials and Methods
X 185CD
c. Adult Learning X 183AB
d. Community Analysis in Adult Education
X 187AB
e. Counseling Techniques in Adult Education
X 1J+3AB
f. Problems in Adult Education X 3M|AB
(See local adult education administrators
regarding these offerings.)
X. CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS9
A* Adult Education Purposes, Concerns and Activities:
The major objective of the California Congress of
Parents and Teachers (a branch of the National Congress
of Parents and Teachers) is to “promote the welfare of
children and youth.” In the various projects and
programs which are developed to achieve this objective,
however, adult education is an Important factor.
1. The California Congress makes a definite effort
to inform its members and leaders of the
history and policies of the organization, the
^Suite 300, 322. West 21st Street, Los Angeles 7>
California.
280
current projects of the California Congress,
the responsibilities of leadership,’ the
techniques of group leadership. To accomplish
this, a number of devices are used. These
include use of the National, Parent-Teacher
Manual and National Congress Bulletin; the
publication of a State Yearbook, Bulletin, and
official magazine, the California Parent-
Teacher; a Parent-Teacher Information Course
consisting of a series of lessons; informative
material prepared by State chairmen; and the
annual State Convention with, instructional
conferences throughout the State, sending
speakers and conference leaders as requested.
The California Congress now has nearly one-and-
a-half million members in 3,217 local associa
tions, organized in 185 councils and 33
districts. It is evident, therefore, that a
continuing educational program about the
organization, itself, is necessary.
2. Subject matter chairmen, of whom there are
about on the State Board of Managers,
prepare material geared to the use of the local
association where many of the projects of the
Congress are made effective. Kits of material
are prepared, containing a selection of pam
phlets and other material pertinent.to the
chairmanship. The chairmen in health, legis
lation, education, and parent education
currently have such material. The special
project of the school education chairman at
present is the promotion of a study course,
lfTeaching Today * s Youth," a study of curriculum
in the secondary schools. This is the suc
cessor to the f,Three Rsl f study which con
sidered elementary school curriculum. Material
for this project includes a booklet to be used
as the "test1 * and a manual for the study group
leader. Other state-wide organizations aided
in the preparation of this material.
Another project for the spring of 1955 has been
the promotion of study groups to discuss the
material prepared for the California Elementary
School Administrators Association study of
"Characteristics of a Good Elementary School."
201
3# One of the most important adult education
activities of the California Congress is in the
field of parent education. Among the projects
sponsored are parent of preschool children;
study groups in child growth and development
organized under an adult education department
of the schools; study groups with volunteer
leaders; encouragement of individual study.
In all of these types of study use can be made
of the National and State Parent-Teachers
magazines. Lending libraries are maintained
by many units, councils, and districts; book
lists are distributed to members; the subject
of family relationships is the topic of many
local association regular meetings programs.
The Annual Summary Report of the California
Congress for 1953-5^- (the 195£p-55 report will
not be available until mid-June) showed that
ip, 762 parent education study projects were
conducted, with 210 preschool groups. A
total of 216 different film titles were listed
as being shown and discussed, as well as 39
different titles of socio-dramas used in the
same manner.
One of the itarns listed in the Education
Platform of the California Congress is * fadequate
programs of education shall be maintained and
budgets supported for adult education, especial
ly parent education.1 1
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available?
For the most part, the publications of the Calif
ornia and National Congresses are intended for the leaders
of the organization. Some of the publications, however,
have a wider interest, among them those listed below.
These may be ordered from the State Office of the
California Congress.
New Hope for Audiences .ip0
101 Questions about Public Education . . . 1.00
Farent-Teacher Story (techniques for use
of mass media of communications) .... .IpO
Parliamentary Procedure Study Course . . . ,2p0
Personality Insurance for Every Child . . . .35
Plan-and-Do Book (program planning)........... 25
Reading Guide for Parents (book list) . . . 110
282
Signals for S a f e t y ...................... $ .50
State Helps Finance Our Schools . . . . « .15
Study-Discussion G-roup Techniques .... .20
Study of the Gifted Child............... .25
XI. CALIFORNIA COUNCIL FOR ADULT EDUCATION10
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities;
The California Council for Adult Education is an
organization of teachers, administrators, and others
interested in public school adult education throughout
California. It is active in strengthening and establishing
as an integral part of the public school system a broad,
effective, and adequate adult education program. The
California Council is an affiliate of the California
Teachers* Association, and through its six regional
sections, coordinate with those of the C. T. A. , holds
frequent conferences, sponsors teachers* institutes,
training projects, and other communication media for
adult educators, and seeks to further adulb education by
securing appropriate legislation and administrative regu
lations and policies* The Council maintains a Speaker*s
Bureau which supplies forum lecturers and program talent.
In addition, the Council publishes THE COUNCIL NEWS
several times annually.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available;
The teachers* institutes and conferences, sponsored
by the several Council sections, are open to visitors.
Services of the Speakers* Bureau are available both to
lecturers desiring appointments, and to study groups
seeking lecturers for occasional events or to conduct
specific courses. Many members of the California Council
are outstanding experts in the various fields of adult
education, and their services as advisors, consultants,
or leadership trainers can be arranged through the Council.
10l620 West Main Street, Alhambra, California.
283
XII. CALIFORNIA JUNIOR COLLEGES
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
California junior colleges are by design community
colleges which dedicate their resources to meet the varied
educational needs of youth and adults beyond high school
age within the community. They are ,ffolkschools1 * in the
sense that they draw their identity from the communities
which they serve. They belong to the people and through
the policy making of elected Boards of Education and
extensive use of lay advisory committees their programs
are shaped by, and are responsive to, the expressed
aspirations of the communities.
The Education Code charges a junior college with
responsibility for the education of adults and minors
itfho may properly be admitted but who are not classifiable
by grade. This function may be described as follows:
1. To provide appropriate offerings in the field
of Americanization and citizenship-training for
foreign born.
2. To provide opportunities for native-born
adults to improve their competence as citizens.
3. To meet local needs in the field of literacy
education, provide sound training in the skill
subjects, and meet general community needs of
the basic education of adults.
1+. To provide suitable offerings in the field of
family life education including such aspects
as food, nutrition, clothing, parent education,
child- development, home beautification and
home furnishings, family economics, marriage
and family relations, and the like. The
ultimate goal Is the improvement of family
life and family membership.
5. To cooperate with the evening high schools in
providing opportunities for adults to complete
requirements for deferred high school
graduation.
6. To provide opportunities for adults to achieve
a liberal education through forums, other
cultural activities, and classes within the
area of general education.
7. To provide offerings which tend to enrich the
leisure time activities of adults*
XIII. CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION11
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
The public library, as an educational institution,
is designed to select the best printed and recorded
materials of all time, whether controversial or otherwise;
to organize these materials to make them readily accessible
and easily used by the citizenry; to encourage the use of
these materials through extension of library services
into the community through branches, bookmobiles, or even
direct mail service to isolated regions; to stimulate an
interest in and desire to continue the learning process
throughout life.
The public library offers an individual or groups
of individuals the opportunity to continue this life-long
learning without regard to age, creed, color, social
standing or educational level. It offers inspiration,
information or recreation. In contributing to the in
creased knowledge, enlightenment and aesthetics of an
individual, the library has a distinct educational func
tion.
The public library serves its clientele individually
or through groups either within or outside the library
building* It tries to find the right book for the right
person at the right time and loans the book for home use.
It gives reading guidance by counseling and advising
individuals or groups on particular needs. It prepares
booklists to fit individual or group needs. It assists
in planning group programs and will secure the reading
materials necessary to carry out the program. It will
provide staff members to give books talks or talks on
services to increase interest In reading and the use of
the library. It will teach individuals or groups how to
use such library tools as the catalog, indexes, and
•^829 Coventry Road, Berkeley, California.
2 . 0 i >
research materials in order to make better use of the
library*s resources.
Where physical facilities and staff time permit,
the public library may present series of lectures on
topics of community interest, sponsor discussion groups
such as the American Heritage program or the Great Books
group, conduct film forums or workshops on leadership
training, storytelling or program planning. In the
absence of meeting rooms, the library may cooperate with
other adult education agencies in sponsoring such projects.
The public library may sponsor adult education,
radio, or television programs or contribute materials to
be used in connection with public service programs
prepared by the radio station. The public library
cooperates with already organized groups to aid existing
educational programs or to help institute new programs.
This has been one of the primary adult education functions
of our libraries.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Availablej
Books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, films,
filmstrips, recordings, pictures, maps. If materials
are not available in the local library, the librarian
has channels through which the materials or information
concerning them may be secured.
List of local organizations with names of officers,
dates of meeting, purposes, etc.
Lists of adult education classes and opportunities
given in the locality.
Calendar of events and activities of organizations.
Bibliographies on special subjects.
Auditoriums or conference rooms for meetings,
exhibits.
Staff members with special interests who might
become consultants for special interest groups.
286
XIV. CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE12
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
None •
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
Factual information on governmental expenditures
and taxes. Statistics of school enrollment, costs,
financial needs.
XV. CALIFORNIA STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
The interests and activities of the California State
Federation of Labor as part of the American trade union
movement in regard to adult education are directed toward
the improvement and extension of community programs as
well as labor sponsored workers’ education programs.
In regard to general community programs, our
primary interest stems from the need for adult education
programs and facilities that will best serve the con
structive use of leisure time won by workers through trade
union action. Our major concern in community adult
education programs remains, however, the eradication of
adult illiteracy.
The extensive loss to our country by its failure
to provide for the training of some 12 million normal
people who were allowed to reach adulthood without being
able to read or write is a serious indictment against us.
For over 30 years, American labor has expressed indigna
tion over this condition, but we have not been able to
have much done to remedy this situation. We believe this
is one phase of adult education which the whole nation and
all private agencies can join forces in common battle.
t
Labor* s own program of adult education, usually
called workers education, has been developed over the past
three decades; It is a program bom of the dynamics of our
123^0 Bush Street, San Francisco If, California.
257
trade union movement. To help the worker as a producer,
eager to share the knowhow of his job; and the worker as
a.citizen ready to assume his responsibilities in a free
democratic society; and the worker relaxed to enjoy the
arts or just the simple comfort and contentment of
family life— are the purposes of labor’ s own distinctive
adult education.
The California State Federation of Labor has worked
with the Department of Education of the former AFL and
now of the AFL-CIO in the operation and promotion of
workers education. Increasing emphasis is being placed
on the value of mass media; films, film strips, and other
visual and.audio aids are being used. Short term and
long term institutes; college cooperative training
programs; international union training centers; rural-
industrial cooperative educational projects have all had
the interest of organized labor in the last thirty-five
years. From these activities there has come for all of
us a sense of responsibility to assure continuing develop
ment of such programs to give each worker a better under
standing and a deeper sense of participation in our trade
union movement.
In accordance with the national workers’ education
program of organized labor, California State Federation
of Labor sponsors and actively participates in three major
educational programs:
(1) An annual week-long, state wide Labor
Institute, sponsored jointly with the Insti
tute of Industrial Relations of the
University of California;
(2) An annual week-end, state wide Labor Press
Institute, also under the joint sponsorship
of the Federation and the University of
California; and
(3) Irregular regional week-end conferences
sponsored and directed by the Federation
alone•
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
Resources available to other non-union agencies
are restricted to occasional speakers within the limits
of the Federation staff, and various printed materials
288
such as pamphlets concerning trade union functions and
issues, legislative reports and voting records, and con
vention proceedings. The Federation also has a special
labor library located in its San Francisco offices that is
open to students.
XVI. CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY13
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
1. Advisory Activities
The public library in the United States is an
educational institution with a major role in
adult education and with responsibilities for
helping adults to learn. The California State
Library through its advisory relationship to
California public libraries and its supple
mentary book services furthers the work of these
libraries in adult education.
2. Direct Activities
In its capacity of serving the State government,
especially its services to training agencies of
the State government, the State Library provides
direct adult education services.
3. Cooperative Activities
In cooperation with other libraries in the
local community and over the State, the
California State Library helps to further the
adult education activities of the local com
munity and such activities throughout the State.
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
1. Supplying Materials
a. Through its services in supplementing the
adult book collection of other, libraries,
the State Library provides library materials
for adult education throughout the State.
b. The State Library prepares and displays
•^Library and Courts Building, Sacramento, Calif.
20 V
within the library exhibits, selected book
collections and reading lists on its own
initiative or at the request of other
groups interested in adult education.
c. The State Library supplies and displays
outside the library for other adult educa
tion. agencies, exhibits, selected book
collections and reading lists.
d. The State Library provides on a continuing
basis bibliographies on specific subjects
of interest to training agencies of the
State government.
2• Planning Activities
a. The State Library acts as participant in
planning and supporting the development
of community-sponsored adult education
programs.
b. The State Library takes leadership in
initiating adult education programs in
the field of librarianship.
3* Advisory Activities
a. The State Library provides advisory
services to. other libraries doing adult
education work.
XVII. CATHOLIC SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
Catholic Teachers G-uild
St, Thomas Aquinas Library
Audio Visual Services
Mothers’ Clubs (Catholic Parent Teacher Council)
B. Adult Education Assets and Resources Available:
St. Thomas Aquinas Library
Audio Visual Services
XVIII. GIRL SCOUTS OP THE U.S.A. ^
290
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns and Activities:
The adult education activities in Girl Scouting are
confined to helping the adult members, both volunteer and
staff, understand and become increasingly effective in
performing their specific G-irl Scout jobs. Within the
organization these activities are referred to as our
training program. This comprehensive training program is
planned for three main groups of adult workers in Girl
Scouting:
1. Those concerned directly with girls in troops
and camps--leaders, assistant leaders, troop
committee members, and camp counselors,
2. Those concerned with the administration of the
organ!zation--board and committee members.
3. Professional,staff workers.
The Girl Scout organization holds itself responsi
ble for making this training available to each adult work
er. Local councils provide this service by developing
and carrying out a training plan designed to give con
tinuous help to each adult at the time it is needed. The
national organization supplements this local effort by
offering certain training opportunities to selected
groups. Publication, filmstrips, and other visual aids
are also developed for the use of trainers throughout the
country. In addition, a national training is operated
and is recognized and used by adult members from this
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
B* Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Published materials are available and may be pur
chased by other agencies and interested individuals.
Since the purpose of the organization* s adult education
activities is to train its adult members for their Girl
Scout responsibilities, training opportunities are.open
only to the membership.
^*P. 0. Box 5075 Palo Alto, California
291
XIX. LEAGUE OP WOMEN VOTERS OP CALIFORNIA1^
A. Adult Education Activities and Services;
Purpose: To promote political responsibility
through informed and active participation of citizens in
government. To carry out this purpose the League members
choose a limited number of crucial governmental issues on
the local, state and national levels, to follow through
the study, formulating opinion, planning action, and
executing action phases of political activity.
Learning by doing is the keynote of League activity
since members are organized for their regular meetings
into neighborhood discussion groups, where optimum
participation is stressed.
Since League activity qovers so many phases of each
topic we consider, local Leagues have found it necessary
to train discussion leaders, recorders, resource people
on the various items, as well as public speakers who take
our material to other organizations. Members have been
trained in ways of interviewing government officials,
and as observers of official bodies. By and large these
training activities vary with the local Leagues as to
frequency of offering and depth of training.
The League membership is restricted to women
citizens of voting age, and is organized in 35 cities in
the State of California. To insure that its considera
tion of public issues will be in the public interest,
the League strives to maintain a cross-section of
community and diversity of backgrounds and political
positions. All activities of the League must be in the
field of government, and the League never endorses any
candidate or political party. All positions on issues
are taken as a result of member exploration of all
sides and agreement on the best solution in the public
interest.
The kinds of things the League work on include:
locally: city charters, juvenile delinquency in relation
to government, school and education problems, public
health, etc. State: mental hygiene, education, election
1$26 -A* Mariposa Avenue, P. 0. Box 126, San Anselmo,
California.
292
laws and procedures, social welfare, etc* National;
World Trade, Individual Liberties and internal security,
conservation, reorganization of governmental agencies,
Economics Assistance Program, etc*
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Varying with the local Leagues these are typical
assets which might be available in a given community:
speakers on any of the local, state or national issues
which the League is currently exploring (free), league
literature on any of these issues (moderate charges),
speakers on any phase of structure of government,
election laws, importance of voting and citizen political
activity, etc* Trained discussion leaders sometimes
available to other organizations on joint program and
projects. At election time . . * candidates1 meeting in
which all candidates:-'fr.om all parties get equal oppor
tunity to present themselves to the public, and League
written material and speakers to explain the pros and cons
of the ballot measures*
XX. EDUCATION OFFICE MATHER AIR FORCE BASE16
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:.
1. Maintaining an off-duty education program for
Air Force personnel through the following
means:
a. On-base and off-base elementary, secondary,
vocational and college level classes
conducted through the cooperation of
local schools.
b. On-base group study classes in courses
not available through local schools.
c. Individual enrollments in self-study and
correspondence courses available through
the United States Air Force Institute
and various colleges and universities.
•^Mather Air Force Base, Mather Field, California.
293
2. Counseling Air Force personnel in educational
and vocational problems using, when indicated,
various interest, aptitude, and achievement
tests.
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Various Air Force personnel are available for
speaking engagements through the Base Office of Informa
tion Services,
XXI. SAW FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF ART17
A* Adult Education Activities and Services:
1# Exhibitions presented always with a view to
their educational value, but with care to
avoid detracting from their aesthetic
importance,
2. Lectures, courses, demonstrations, etc, to
aid people in understanding art and artists in
general, and especially contemporary art,
3. Programs in the historic and creative film,
in poetry, in other arts.
If. Concerts and recitals.
5, Library of books, visual aids, reference
materials on art and especially contemporary
art.
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Slides, extensions loan exhibitions of reproduc
tions with carefully composed labels, loan of original
works of art. Films from the Museum of Modern Art
Collection of the history of the Film.
17
Civic Center, San Francisco 2, California.
XXII. TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL18
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:
Toastmasters International is a non-profit
educational organization operating through some 2100
clubs established throughout the English-speaking world.
There are approximately 350 clubs in the State of
California.
The fundamental purpose of the member clubs of the
organization is to improve their members as to personality,
leadership and- general usefulness through practice and
development of ability in communication. To this end,
the member clubs seek to improve their members in oral
expression of thought to develop their ability to appear
effectively before audiences; to provide constructive
criticism and comment on all speeches, giving each speaker
the benefit of audience reaction; to develop the habit
of analytical listening; to provide instruction and
experience in chairmanship and parliamentary procedure;
and to promote good fellowship among men interested in
speech improvement.
Toastmasters International does not set up any
qualification for admission to membership, either academic
or social; its only prerequisite is that men applying for
membership be interested in developing their own latent
potential through the medium of better thinking, speaking,
listening. Toastmasters does not employ paid instructors
or critics, nor does it utilize the so-called "academic1 1
approach; nor is it in any sense a "course1 1 or "class1 1
in public speaking. The clubs utilize the principle of
"learning through doing" as each member grows and develops
through participation and practice.
Toastmasters International encourages participation
of its members in group and community activities and
utilization of leadership qualities as their own desires
dictate, but the organization itself neither sponsors nor
subscribes to any cause, creed or political doctrine. The
organization assists its member clubs and individual
members in their quest for self-improvement through a
large number of printed and visual aids, which are con
tinuously checked and revised for full effectiveness. It
l^Santa Ana , _Cali fornia.
295
also maintains personal contact with member clubs, and
publishes a monthly magazine, the Toastmaster, devoted to
speech and speech training,
B, Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Toasitmasters International extends to all adult
male citizens the opportunity to participate in benefits
available by becoming a member of an existing club; or if
no club is already in existence within the reach of men
desiring such opportunity, the Home Office at Santa Ana,
California, stands ready to assist such men in forming
such a club under the Bylaws and Constitution of the
International Organization,
Toastmasters International prepares and prints at
its Home Office a large amount of material on all aspects
of speech and leadership training, conference techniques,
conduct of meeting, parliamentary practice, etc. These
materials are available to the general public at a nominal
fee and a price list will be cheerfully furnished upon
request. The organization takes pride in the fact that
constant and careful testing, sampling and revision of
its material keeps the content strictly up to date and
functioning.
The organization1s official magazine, The Toast
master, is also available to the general public at the
subscription rate of $l,f?0 per year. This monthly publi
cation is rapidly becoming recognized as an authority in
the field of speech and communications. While it is the
official voice of the organization it does not limit its
contents to articles of membership interest solely. It
ranges the entire field of communications and attempts to
provide materials which will assist anyone interested in
developing himself toward leadership and increased
participation in the complex society of today.
Individual Toastmasters clubs are always happy to
welcome guests to their meetings. The Home Office
publishes each year a complete Directory of Clubs listing
each affiliated club with date, time and place of meeting.
This Directory ig available upon request to the Home
Office.
Toastmasters clubs are happy and eager to assist
their communities by staffing demonstration meetings or
giving individual presentations on the subjects of
296
Toastmasters before any group or groups which may evince
interest. They also offer from time to time, a course in
Speechcraft. This course is conducted by individual
Toastmasters of the sponsoring club or clubs, and is open
to the public. It provides instruction, demonstration
and practice in the organization, development and presen
tation of speeches and in parliamentary procedure.
XXIII. UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION19
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:
The primary purpose of the program of Adult Educa
tion in the School of Education and other departments
of the Berkeley Campus of the University, is to provide
training for students preparing for educational service
in adult education in the public schools, the cooperative
extension service, universities, churches, labor unions,
industries, prisons, voluntary associations, libraries,
etc, . The program is designed for the students desiring
an advanced degree on the master1s or doctorate level in
adult education, or the individual wishing to secure some
background or additional training in adult education for
immediate application to some area of education for adults.
The School of Education has a flexible policy of
applying course requirements for advanced degrees to meet
the individual needs and backgrounds of students.
B. Resources Available (Courses Relevant to Adult
Educators)
School of Education
1. Education l8l (3) Survey of Adult Education
2. Education 182 (3) Problems of Adulthood
3. Education 28lA (2) Problems of Adult Education
I j . , Education 28lB (2) Research Seminar in Adult
Education
5>. Education 199 Individual Research Problems
6. Education 298 Individual Research Problems
(Doctoral)
7. Education 160 (2) Vocational Education
8. Education 279 (2) The Junior College Practicum
■^school of Education, University of California,
Berkeley I ] . , California.
297
9* Two new courses being planned ares
a. Education 28lC (2) Methods in Adult
Education
b* Education 28lD (2) Curriculum Materials
University of California Extension Division (Berkeley &
Los Angeles
1, Xli^AB Counseling Techniques in Adult Education
2. X183AB Adult Learning
‘ 3m Xl8$AB Adult Education Methods
iq. Xl8$CD Adult Education Materials and Methods
5>. X187AB Community Analysis in Adult Education
6. X3kh&.B Problems in Adult Education
Extension Division - The Department of Correspondence
Institute
1. X188 Principles of Adult Education
2, X38l Procedures and Methods in Teaching Adults
Home Economics (Family Life Education)
1. Home Economics 137 Marriage and Family
Relationships
2. Home Economics 138 Contemporary American Family
3. Home Economics 237 Research in Family Sociology
I | , . Home Economics 239 Seminar in Socialized
Aspects of Marriage and Family Counseling
Social Welfare
1. Social Welfare 280 Introduction to Social
Group Work
School of Librarianship
1. Librarianship 29i+ The Communication of Ideas
2. Librarianship 21$ Reading and Reading
Interests
3m Librarianship 238 Libraries In the Community
Psychology
1. Psychology 2iq7 Seminar in Group Dynamics
295
Public Health
1. Public Health 133 Introduction to Group Process
2. Public Health 13^4- Community Health Education
Sociology
1. Sociology 30
2* Sociology lOi-p
3*
Sociology
107
k. Sociology 111
5*
Sociology 160
6. - Sociology 178
7*
Sociology
207
Society and Personality
Group Life and the Social Self
Social Control
Analysis of Social Institutions
The City
Social Interaction and
Personality Org,
Seminar in Social Action
XXIV. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-, UNIVERSITY EXTENSION20
A. Adult Education Activities and Services:
University Extension, as the community service
agency of the University of California, strives to meet
those educational needs of the people of the State which
can be served by the resources of the University.
The University of California began its extension
activities by offering public lectures, during the academic
year 1891-1892. In 1912, the Regents of the University
adopted a formal plan of university extension organization
financed by the legislature in 1913* In this enabling
action, the University added to its functions that of the
dissemination of knowledge to the adult public.
The activities of University Extension include
classe.s, conferences, and other services as follows:
Class Instruction
University Extension offers many credit courses
which parallel regular campus courses. The unit credit
earned through their successful completion may be applied
toward a degree upon approval of campus authorities. The
final year’s work toward a degree, must, however, be
20xjniversity Extension, University of California,
Los Angeles, 2 l j - , California.
299
completed in regular session.
An increasing number of extension courses are
offered for persons who wish to advance themselves pro
fessionally* Some of the programs are organized on state
wide basis in cooperation with non-university groups, as
for example, the law program, the real estate program, and
the program for certified public accountants. Some of
the offerings of University Extension have been organized
to curricula leading to a certificate.
Many other courses are designed primarily for
intellectual interest and self-improvement in the arts,
social sciences, and other fields.
Correspondence Instruction
* Available by correspondence are courses which
parallel regular campus offerings and yield credit toward
degrees; professional training courses for teachers and
members of other professions; courses which offer no
credit but are designed to satisfy adults* cultural and
intellectual needs; and supervised study at the high
school level. The Correspondence Division has approxi
mately 20,000 current course enrollments.
Lectures
Singly or in series, lectures may be arranged for
any commercial organization or club desiring this service.
While University Extension makes no charge for this
service, fees are normally expected by the speakers.
Visual Instruction
This includes - film libraries at Berkeley and Los
Angeles and the production and distribution of educational
film.
Conferences
Workshops, institutes and conferences, of one day
to several weeks duration, are arranged by University
Extension in cooperation with community organizations and
groups. The wide range of topics covered in these con
ferences is indicated in the following sample of the many
events arranged during 1953-195^;
300
1. The Western Training Laboratory in G-roup
Development
2. California Folklore Conference
3. Summer Management Conference
4. Marine Corrosion Problems
5. International Cooperation
6. Training Institute for Personnel Working with
Juvenile and Young Adult Offenders
Vocational Counseling
This is available to anyone who wishes guidance in
choosing a vocation or in changing their work.
University Extension is administered by a Vice-
President of the University who has statewide responsi
bility. For administrative purposes, the State is divided
into three areas, with area offices located in Berkeley,
Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. The Northern Area,
administered from Los Angeles, includes all territory south
of that line, excluding San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara
and Ventura Counties, which constitute the Central Coastal
Area and are administered from Santa Barbara.
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
Most of the activities organized through University
Extension must be self-supporting, since only about 20^
of the University Extension budget statewide is provided
from State funds.
The professional staff which administers the
departments referred to above is prepared to consult with
public and private agencies in the State of California
who wish to explore possible cooperative efforts in the
field of adult education. In addition, University Ex
tension will supply to interested groups copies of its
l f Llfelong Learning” publications, which describe present
offerings In a wide variety of fields.
University Extension books members of the faculty
for speaking engagements In the State.
301
XXV. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA,
'•UNIVERSITY COLLEOE21
A, Adult Education Activities and Services:
College credit program
lpDO-600 course program of regular university credit
classes; fields include engineering, education,
humanities, social and physical sciences, among
many others. This is a late afternoon and evening
program, integrated with the all-University program
on both the under-graduate and graduate levels.
Instruction on the main campus.
Non-credit programs
A wide variety of professional, semi-professional,
vocational, cultural, and ^interest1 * courses and
lecture series are offered each year. Faculty
for these programs are selected both from regular
University Staff and from business and professions.
Conferences and Institutes
These include teachers group and professional
associations, on the national, state and local
levels.
Special programs
Most programs, which because of their nature,
cannot be offered through the regular daytime
sessions of the University, are administered by
University College. For example, credit courses
on Television have been offered in the areas of
English Literature and Psychology.
Extension Division
In addition to many other adult education services,
the Extension Division (a branch of University
College) provides course offerings, both on the
credit and non-credit basis in a number of
^University College, University of Southern
California, University Park, Los Angeles 7> California.
302
off-campus locations throughout Southern
California.
Government Contract Programs in many areas
Most of the facilities of the University are
available to participants in all of the programs
outlined above.
B. Resources available to Other Agencies:
In addition'to the obvious benefits to other
agencies as seen (in r) above, the following resources may
be listed:
Rooms, when available, and if the proposed use of
the rooms fits the general University educational
patterns•
Operation and Maintenance facilities
Audio-Visual Services
Library Services, if in connection with University
sponsored courses
Personal advisement by members of the University
College Staff regarding availability of facilities
in and near the University.
Assistance in securing instructors or special
lecturers in areas of the University curriculum.
Cooperation with industry in establishing both
campus and in-plant training programs.
XXVI. YOUNG* WOMEN* S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
A. Adult Education Purposes, Concerns, and Activities:
The YWCA, in its program throughout the country,
serves young married women, coeds, employed girls. It
serves young men and women, married or single, whether at
work or in the home. The young mother, her husband and
their children come to the YWCA--sometimes separately,
sometimes together; the ^Newcomer1 1 couple find the YWCA
a welcome spot in an unfamiliar community. Young women
303
and men, employed in plant or office, find in the YWCA a
meeting place, a friendly environment, and a varied
program that endeavors to meet the interests of eighteen
to thirty-five-year-olds.
YWCA program offers opportunities to young adults,
individually and in groups, to put into practice 1 1 the
Christian ideals of everyday living.1 1 Young adults may
join in YWCA for the experience of relating themselves to
an ever-lasting and widening circle of people of varying
ages, religions, nationalities, racial and economic back
grounds; and to grow in understanding and appreciation of
people different from themselves. They may, too, develop
a program which provides experiences in narrowing the gap
between Christian ideals and practice: and, by being
related to others with a common goal, learn through group
study, how to take more effective community responsibility.
Young adults may find in theYWCA day-to-day pro
grams which include the learning (or perfecting of) such
skills as painting, homemaking, arts, photography, golf
or better speech. They like the dances and outings,
tool They may have classes which help improve their
physical well-being and the good care of their health.
A few examples of the kinds of program the YWCA
offers Young Adults:
A coed council— may plan a series of discussion
groups.
A group of young working women may develop an
informal J *drop-in, f lunchtime program which enables
its members to exchange job and housing informa
tion.
A YW-Wives group may bring together young mothers
and give them opportunities for a health education
program of exercise, a crafts class or a child
study group, while their children play in a YWCA or
cooperative nursery. Employed girls from offices
or plants may form an evening club to widen friend
ships, to engage in social events, community
projects, group learning. Newcomers in a town
like to gather for monthly family suppers in a
congenial atmosphere and later enjoy square
dancing.
30k
Young men and girls may get together for a trip to
a concert or museum or for the outdoor fun of a
camping weekend.
Young adults also find opportunity for service in
volunteer participation, in carrying out the World
Fellowship program of the YWCA, in serving on
Association planning groups and committees, or
engaging in community projects.
Many Associations offer a variety of classes in
cooperation with the Adult Education Program of
their respective cities. These include handcraft,
home management (cooking, sewing, etc.), languages,
bridge, music, dramatics, etc., and are open to
members as well as participants.
B. Resources Available to Other Agencies:
The YWCA endeavors to do an effective job of
training its members--both volunteer leaders and program
participants--and staff. Many are equipped to speak or
lead discussions on national and world affairs, race
relations, family life education and kindred subjects.
They also possess many program skills.
Assistance to other agencies is available to a
limited degree because of the extent of the YWCA* s own
program of activities.
Information of the recreation, churches, schools,
newspapers, radio facilities and other areas of community
life of the city is found in the resource files of
YWCA* s. There are many books and pamphlets which are
applicable to use by other agencies although prepared
specifically for use in the YWCA. Among these are those
listed below:
Young Adults and the YWCA
A YWCA in Your Town
A Handy G-uide to the YWCA
The YWCA Magazine
Sight and Sound--The Use of Audio-Visual Aids in
the YWCA
Human Relations--For Volunteers in the YWCA,
Helen Southard
Have You Met Yourself? A Psychological
Introduction, Helen Southard
3 0$
Step by Step with Interracial Groups, Dorothy S.
Height•
Available also are the publications of other
organizations with which the YWCA cooperates on a
national and international level.
The building facilities of many YWCAs are avail
able to community groups for educational meeting and
classes. Expanding program is limiting this at present.
APPENDIX F
PERTINENT PROVISIONS OP THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION COPE
RELATINO TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION
OF ADULT EDUCATION
APPENDIX F
PERTINENT PROVISIONS OF TEE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE
RELATING- TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND ORGANIZATION
OF ADULT EDUCATION
CHAPTER 10. CLASSES FOR ADULTS
9700.1. For the purpose of crediting attendance
for apportionments from the State School Fund during the
195*1.-1955 Fiscal Year and thereafter, 1 1 adult” means any
person who has attained his twenty-first birthday on or
before September 1st or February 1st of the semester for
which he has enrolled, and who has enrolled in less than
10 class hours as defined in Section 6961 for junior
college districts or 10 periods of not less than IpO
minutes each per week for high school districts.
9701. The governing board of any school district
maintaining secondary schools shall have power with the
approval of the State Department of Education to
establish and maintain classes for adults, except programs
and classes in outdoor science education and conservation
education as the term is employed in Section 10056, for
the purpose of providing instruction in civic, vocational,
literacy, health, homemaking, technical and general
education.
9702. Such classes shall be open for the admission
of adults and of such minors as in the judgment of the
governing board may be qualified for admission thereto.
9703. Such classes may be convened at such hours
and for such length of time during the day or evening and
at such period and for such length of time during the
school year as may be determined by the governing
authority.
97024.. The State Department of Education shall
establish, standards including standards of attendance,
curriculum, administration, and guidance and counseling
service for such classes as a basis for the several
apportionments of State funds provided herein for the
support of such classes.
308
970^. Governing boards shall have the authority
to provide for granting appropriate credits, certificates,
diplomas or other recognition of skill or accomplishment
in such classes which such districts are otherwise
authorized to grant.
9706. Classes for adults may be maintained in
connection with day or evening high schools or day or
evening junior colleges.
9707. No class for adults shall be maintained by
any district: ^(1) if the district receives compensation
for such class from any public or private agency, in
dividual or group of individuals, except fees authorized
by Section 9191 and apportionments from the State and
Federal Governments; or (2) if such classes are not open
to the general public; or (3) if the pupils attending
such classes are paid for such attendance. The State
Board of Education may adopt such regulations as may be
necessary to define wpayment” and ^payment for attendance”
as used in this section.
No classes for adults shall be maintained by any
district if the cost of such class is paid entirely from
federal funds.
9708. No class for adults in dancing or recrea
tional physical education shall be maintained by any
district for which the district receives money from the
State.School Fund.
CHAPTER 10.1. • SPECIAL DAY AND EVENING CLASSES FOR
ADULTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
9751* The governing board of any school district
maintaining secondary schools is authorized without the
approval of the State Department of Education to establish
and maintain special day and evening classes for adults
in civic, vocational, literacy, health, homemaking,
technical and general education, including but not limited
to classes in the fields of music, drama, art, handicraft,
science, literature, nature study, nature contacting,
aquatic sports and athletics. Such classes shall be
designed to provide instruction and to contribute to the
physical, mental, moral, economic, or civic development
of the individuals or groups enrolled therein.
9752* Special day and evening classes for adults
shall be open for the admission of adults and of such
309
minors as in the -judgment of the governing board may
profit therefrom.
9753. Special day and evening classes for adults
must be convened at such hours and for such length of
time during the day or evening and at such period and for
such length of time during the school year as may be
determined by the governing board of the district.
975^-* Governing boards shall have the authority
to provide for granting appropriate certificates or other
recognition of skill or accomplishment in such classes.
9755* Attendance or average daily attendance in
special day or evening classes for adults pursuant to this
chapter shall not be reported to the State Department of
Education for apportionment. No apportionment from
state funds shall be made to establish or maintain such
classes.
9756. Governing boards are authorized to expend
any money from the general funds of the district to
establish and maintain special day or evening classes
for adults and may charge student fees not to exceed the
cost of maintaining such classes or may provide instruc
tion in such classes for remuneration by contract, or
with contributions or donations of individuals or groups.
CHAPTER 5. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Article 1. Admission
8502. The day elementary schools of each school
district may be open for the admission of adults if the t
governing body of the district deems the admission
advisable.
CHAPTER 6. SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Article 1. General Provisions
8703* The high schools of the State are designated
as four-year high schools, junior high schools, senior
high schools, continuation high schools, and evening
high schools.
310
8703*1# The governing board of a district main
taining one or more high schools may maintain a summer
school at any of such high schools during the period
between the, close of one academic year and the beginning
of the succeeding academic year in accordance with rules
and regulations of the State Board of Education and with
the prior written approval of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
The term "academic year" as used in this section
means that portion of the school year during which the
regular day high school is maintained., which period must
include not less than the number of days of teaching
required to entitle the district to apportionments of
state funds.
870I 4 . • Evening high schools and evening junior
colleges shall consist of classes for adults.
8705# High schools and junior colleges maintained
in any state institution for adults or in any city,
county, or city and county jail, road camp or farm shall
consist only of classes for adults.
Article 3>. Junior Colleges
8820. Junior colleges may be maintained as
separate day or evening junior colleges or in conjunction
with any day or evening high school.
CHAPTER 7# SPECIAL CLASSES AND COURSES OP INSTRUCTION
Article 1. Special Day and Evening Classes in
Elementary Schools
895>1 • The governing body of any elementary school
district may establish and maintain, in connection with
any school under its jurisdiction, special day and evening
classes and summer schools, consisting of special day
classes or special evening classes or both, for the
purpose of giving instruction in any of the branches of
study prescribed and authorized for the elementary schools.
89^2# These classes may be convened at such hours
and for such length of time during the school day or
evening, and at such period and for such length of time
during the school year as may be determined by the
311
governing authority in accordance with rules and regula
tions of the State Board of Education and with the prior
written approval of the State Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
8953* The evening elementary schools and the
special day and evening classes of the elementary schools
of any school district shall be open for the admission
of such minors and adults as in the judgment of the
governing board of the school district maintaining the
schools or classes may profit from the instruction
offered.
E/aiversitv Crf Southern Cahtcwroi*

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Creator Tegner, Olaf Herman (author)

Core Title Adult education in Sweden: Its administration and organization with implications for adult education in California

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, adult and continuing,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c26-430877

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Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA