From listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu Mon Oct 13 18:29:38 1997 Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 08:13:14 -0400 From: listproc@pulsar.acast.nova.edu To: aedmod@fcae.acast.nova.edu Subject: GET HORIZONS VOL2N2 (1/1) Archive HORIZONS, file vol2n2. Part 1/1, total size 91326 bytes: ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** **************************** **************************** ********************* ********************* *************** *************** ************ *********** ******** ******** ****** ****** **** NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION **** *** *** ** ** *************************************************************************** Volume 2 Number 2 Fall 1988 *************************************************************************** EDITORS Michael Erskine Ehringhaus. . . . . . . Syracuse University Bird Stasz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Syracuse University EDITORIAL BOARD Judith Gwinn Adrian . . . . . . . . . . University of Wisconsin Catherine Casey . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Rochester Sue Collard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of British Columbia Rodney Fulton . . . . . . . . . . . . . Montana State University Hank Healey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cornell University Jane M. Hugo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Syracuse University Michael Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of British Columbia Tim Murrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pennsylvania State University Richard Novak . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rutgers University Judith Potter . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Priscilla Spencer . . . . . . . . . . . Columbia University Joyce Stalker . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of British Columbia Tom Sudduth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . University of Wyoming ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION is a refereed journal published by the Syracuse University Kellogg Project. The journal is managed by graduate students at Syracuse University in cooperation with graduate students throughout Canada and the United States and is electronically transmitted via the Adult Education Network (AEDNET), accessible through BITNET. There is no cost for NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION; it is sent to all subscribers of AEDNET. All correspondence concerning change of address or membership in AEDNET should be addressed to AEDNET, Syracuse University Kellogg Project, 113 Euclid Avenue, Syracuse, New York 13244-4160. Send all article submissions to the editor at the above address or in ASCII through BITNET (MICHAELE@SUVM). ___________________________________________________________________________ N E W H O R I Z O N S IN A D U L T E D U C A T I O N CONTENTS Volume 2, Number 11/21/88, Fall 1988 A R T I C L E S Into 'Terra Incognita': Considerations on the 'Timeliness' and 'Importance' of the Carnegie Corporation's Early Involvement in Adult Education Michael Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Women and Literacy in Tanzania Sharon Cramer Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Physical Learning Environments: Why Be Concerned Rodney Fulton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 F O R U M Introducing Metaphors of Chaos to Adult Education Robert Domaingue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 11/21/88, Fall 1988, 31-39 ******* MICHAEL LAW is a senior continuing education officer at ******* ******* the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand and an ******* ******* interdisciplinary doctoral candidate in adult education ******* ******* and social theory at the University of British Columbia, ******* ******* Vancouver, Canada. ******* *************** ********* INTO 'TERRA INCOGNITA': CONSIDERATIONS ON THE 'TIMELINESS' AND 'IMPORTANCE' OF THE CARNEGIE CORPORATION'S EARLY INVOLVEMENT IN ADULT EDUCATION by Michael Law NOTE: This is a significantly revised version of a paper presented to the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education Conference in Calgary, Canada during May, 1988. As there is a sense in which aspects of this work are ongoing, those interested in more detail are referred to my "Elephants' Graveyard" paper (Law, 1988a); an edited and much revised version of that paper is expected to be published in monograph form by the Syracuse University Kellogg Project in the early part of 1989. INTRODUCTION With the specter of free trade and further cultural assimilation haunting Canada, this is not a propitious time for a foreigner to highlight American sponsorship of Canadian adult education. However, in the formative years of organized adult education in Canada, the direction of development was influenced significantly by the Carnegie Corporation and its "chosen instrument," the American Association of Adult Education (AAAE). Between 1926 and 1935, $122,500 U.S. was granted for the purpose of adult education in Canada and Newfoundland: Newfoundland Adult Education Association ($22,500); Frontier College ($10,000); Ontario WEA ($10,000); Acadia University Extension ($15,000); St. Francis Xavier's "Antigonish Project" ($48,000); AAAE ($16,000). This last grant was for the purpose of establishing a Canadian organization cast in the image of the American Association. Interestingly, this grant was not provided to Canadians; establishing such an organization was funded as an AAAE project! Another foreigner, Armstrong (1968), details this American role in the formation of the Canadian Association for Adult Education (CAAE); this is a descriptive and semi-evaluative study, however, and offers only limited, interpretive, theoretical insights. Although this thesis is frequently cited, the subsequent 'nativistic' tendency in Canadian adult education historiography has been inclined to relegate further the American influence to uncritical observations and reductionist footnotes. The result is a distorted popular memory. What the footnotes neglect is the screening role - 31 - page 32 / LAW played by the American Association; it stood in relation to the Carnegie Corporation as "advisor and critic." Thus, while the initiatives behind Canadian projects that received or did not receive funding were indigenous, decisions as to which projects to support were made on the recommendation of the AAAE. In effect, a small group within the AAAE essentially made those recommendations. That group included, as far as I can ascertain, Morse Cartwright, Everett D Martin, and James Earl Russell, along with the president of the Carnegie Corporation, Frederick Keppel. At this stage, we do not know very much about Canadian projects that sought, but failed, to obtain Carnegie funding. We do know, however, that, for those that were supported, this money was crucial. Clearly, these agencies and projects conformed, in general terms, to the AAAE/Carnegie concept of 'worthwhile' adult education. The thrust of the argument upon which this paper is premised is that we cannot make sense of the Canadian history unless we have a better grasp of the ways in which Canadian adult education was imbricated into American developments. For not only was this a matter of grants, Cartwright, Keppel, and Gustav Beck also played major roles in the establishment of the Canadian Association for Adult Education (Armstrong, 1968), while a succession of Canadians played a role in the American Association. The significance of this imbrication extends well beyond the 1920s and 1930s. It is beyond the scope of this paper, but I think it can be argued that the foundations of an American Continentalism in adult education were laid in the 1920s. I hold that a line of continuity can be traced from those early contacts to present graduate programs and to the involvement of Canadians-- or Canadian-based professors--in the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), the Commission of Professors, and the Adult Education Research Conference (AERC). The purpose of the study reported here, however, was much more limited. It sought to locate early Canadian developments in context by examining critically the symbiotic relationship between the Carnegie Corporation and the AAAE and by revisiting the circumstances of the founding of the American Association. This summary paper offers an interpretive historical sketch that seeks to identify the contours of the ideological framework within which organized adult education in America was fashioned. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK In general terms, the theoretical orientation of the study was informed by insights derived from contemporary, neo-Marxist, British historical sociology, in particular, the works of Edward Thompson, Raymond Williams, and some of those associated with the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, especially Richard Johnson. Obviously, this is not the place to present a comprehensive introduction to that work which offers alternative ways to think about turn-of-the-century developments in adult education. The thrust of this work, though, affords helpful insights into working-class culture by highlighting and emphasizing the cultural dimension of popular struggles and campaigns. In this analysis, the concept of culture is reworked in a way that stresses values and meanings and their creation and recreation in the course of everyday life. The concern, therefore, is to understand more richly Marx's observation that page 33 / LAW people make their own history, but not in circumstances chosen by themselves. The importance of all this for adult education is that the modern movement was born of the social and political ferment--the democratic upsurge--of the late 19th and early 20th century. In the main, the social and political forms that came to dominate resulted from the reaction to those popular movements and can be seen as attempts to harness and deflect the energy of working people. Two related sets of ideas from Williams were employed in this study. The first was articulated in a 1961 paper to adult educators and shortly thereafter in his classic work, "The Long Revolution." He holds that in the 19th century, three strands of thinking about education emerged: vocational training, elitist humanism, and public education. It is the last of these that informed liberal adult education. In a later essay, "A Hundred Years of Culture and Anarchy," Williams (1980) writes of two streams in liberal thought. The first emphasizes excellence and humane values but, at the same time, is distrustful of popular culture and politics, both of which are seen as threats to those values: Mathew Arnold's "Culture and Anarchy." The second holds the same values but also affirms the democratic impulse and the extension of popular education; implicitly, "its enemies were the political and economic system, the manipulators, the anti-educators" (p. 5). The elitist, humanist strand of thinking reflected the first of these traditions. Public education was informed predominantly, but not exclusively, by the second. In other words, traces of Mathew Arnold's distrust of ordinary people and their 'anarchical' culture can be found within the public education tradition. When we use these ideas to think theoretically about the formative period of adult education, especially in North America, we also have to interweave ideas about professionalization (Popkewitz, 1988). Amy Rose (1979) emphasizes this impulse in her dissertation. Ellen Lagemann (1987) also offers useful insights in her wider discussion of the Carnegie Corporation. Harold Stubblefield (1988) draws substantially on both. My feeling, however, is that this approach is too limited (see Note 1). THE FORMATION OF THE AAAE The 'facts' of the formation of the AAAE are well recorded (Cartwright, 1935; Grattan, 1955; Knowles, 1955, 1962; Rose, 1979; Stubblefield, 1988), even if largely forgotten. In June, 1924, Frederick Keppel, the relatively new president of the Carnegie Corporation, convened a meeting of people interested in adult education. Out of this emerged an Advisory Committee and from that an Executive Committee of six: Charles Beard, Alfred Cohn, C. R. Dooley, Eduard Lindeman, Everett Dean Martin, and James E. Russell. A number of studies of adult education were launched-- with Carnegie funding--and a series of regional conferences convened. L. S. Klinck, the president of the University of British Columbia, attended the conference in California; there is also a suggestion in the World Association of Adult Education's papers that Albert Mansbridge, founder of the British Workers' Education Association (WEA), was present, probably at the invitation of Leon Richardson. However, there is no confirmation of this in Rose's dissertation. On March 26, 1926, the Association's founding conference was held in Chicago. A short time later, Cartwright, Keppel's assistant at Carnegie, was appointed Executive Director. page 34 / LAW Cartwright and Knowles credit Keppel with the initiative; Grattan claims that the idea of involving Carnegie in adult education was already percolating within the Corporation before Keppel's appointment. Stubblefield, relying on Rose (1979) and Lagemann (1987), makes much the same argument as Grattan. Clearly there was some earlier thinking within the Corporation about extending its role, but the weight of evidence still favors the thrust of Cartwright's account. First, he was an insider; second, his version and variations of it were published when all the principal players were alive: It was the 'received history.' Third, there is a revealing comment by Keppel in his 1941 Annual Report, a remark I have never seen referenced by adult education historians: "Though the Board authorized the entry of the Corporation into the terra incognita of adult education in 1925 with some misgivings, it soon recognized the importance and timeliness of the step undertaken" (p. 19). "Timeliness" cues us to the social backdrop. The first part of this century was marked by tremendous social and political ferment. It was an age of popular, often radical, politics. In America a dozen socialisms bloomed; within organized labor there were several militant tendencies. One reaction was repression. Strikes were often met with violence; socialists were jailed; legislative investigations were conducted into 'subversion'; loyalty oaths were begun to be demanded of teachers. Against this backdrop, radical adult education flourished. It formed an important element of the rising, popular labor movement, an element that associated with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)--the 'Wobblies' (Paulston and Altenbaugh, 1988). It was also central to the struggles of the 'social feminists' (Lagemann, 1979; Lemons, 1977). A democrat, Keppel was not a strident voice. He sought to find a 'middle way'; this was a time to promote responsible leadership; education was the key. In a sense, he might be thought of as a pragmatic Arnold. Shortly after launching his adult education initiative, he explained his moves in terms of a concern that this expanding area of practice had "grown up outside our best educational traditions and leadership, and so without the guidance and control by which it might have profited" (1926, p. 23). If we knit together these scattered comments and contextualize them in ways I lack the space to do comprehensively here, we begin to get some feel for the times, some sense of what Keppel meant by "timeliness" and "importance." The extent to which Keppel was influenced by European developments is a matter of disagreement. Knowles (1955) claims he visited Europe in 1924 to "inspect" national adult education movements, but I have been unable to corroborate that. According to Cartwright, Keppel was influenced by the British 1919 Report and a collection of essays edited by Stanley (1923). Grattan challenges Cartwright's claims; Stubblefield makes no reference to them. I tend to side with Cartwright. It seems that Keppel's interest in adult education was stimulated by American considerations, but once having made the decision to become involved, he looked to Europe for models. There is no doubt that he found the British Oxford Reformist/Workers' Education Association (WEA) alliance attractive. University-affiliated intellectuals provided leadership; the ideology reflected liberal values and mild social democratic politics and emphasized education and leadership as the core ingredients of a new 'middle way.' Furthermore, by the time of Keppel's initiative, a number of strategically well-placed university leaders were taking an interest in the British WEA. During World War I, Army Education had served as a meeting point for likeminded public educators from Britain, the United States, and the British Dominions (Australia, Canada, and New Zealand). In 1919 these army educators formed the core of Mansbridge's newly founded World Association for Adult Education (see Note 2). Between the end of the War and Keppel's moves, page 35 /LAW Mansbridge made extended visits to North America where his ideas were very well received in liberal academic circles. Keppel turned to two clusters of liberals to advise him on how to implement his ideas. The anchor person was Russell whom Keppel described as "a man with an uncanny instinct for concerning himself with the education of tomorrow" (1926, p. 15). Prior to World War I, Russell's interest had been the professionalization of education. But from around 1918 he had become increasingly concerned with formulating a "more definitely democratic and social objective for education" (Curti, 1959. p. 552). During the Depression, he wrote of adult education as a means of preventing the breakdown of the existing system and consequential social revolution. Another key player was Martin. An elitist, he was an unrepentant subscriber to Arnold's vision of "culture or anarchy." Martin distrusted democracy and scorned "the mob": America had been in cultural and social decline since Jackson's presidency (1828)--it was still sinking. Adult education's redemptive task, hopeless though it may be, was to reassert the values and culture of 'civilization' and to restore the 'quality leadership' of the enlightened. Martin's influence should not be underestimated; many of his basic ideas were endorsed by Keppel, Cartwright, and, one infers, Russell. The other cluster revolves around Beard. Much of the education that had grown up outside of the established traditions was worker education; much of this was associated with various socialist groups, but within this movement there were different emphases and political affiliations. Beard was in the thick of this. In 1899, with Walter Vrooman, he founded Ruskin Hall at Oxford University. After working in England for a couple of years, he returned to the United States and, in 1906, was closely involved with the establishment in New York of the Rand School, a venture based on the Ruskin model. Over the next 15 years or so, he and Mary Beard were active in various aspects of worker education. In 1917, while Keppel was still Dean of Columbia College, Beard resigned his professorship in protest at the firing of a pacifist colleague. This embroiled him in a long, bitter feud with Columbia's president, Nicholas Butler, a close friend of Keppel. A short time later, Beard, along with Dewey, James Harvey Robinson, and Veblen founded the New School for Social Research, again incurring the wrath of Butler who accused them of being "a little bunch of disgruntled intellectuals setting up a fly-by-night radical counterfeit of education" (Nore, 1983, p. 39). In 1921, the New School sponsored the formation of the Workers' Education Bureau; the model was the British WEA's Workers' Education Trade Union Committee (WETUC). Beard, again, played a leading role. A former student, Spencer Miller, was appointed director, and the Beards sponsored him on a visit to Britain where they introduced him to their friends in the WEA. Again, we know little of the details, although a British report of Miller's visit states that 30 Americans were in Britain at that time studying the labor movement (Greenwood, 1922). Beard chaired, and Lindeman, Martin, Miller, and Robinson were members of the WEB's publications committee. The Bureau subsequently secured American Federation of Labor endorsement; by the time of Keppel's initiative, therefore, the Bureau was strategically placed to exercise a moderating influence over a growing and potentially militant area of adult education. Keppel probably had to mend some broken fences to tap the cluster of fairly radical intellectuals around Beard, although Martin already had some association with them, and there is the suggestion in Curti (1959) that Russell had considerable respect for Dewey. However, without wishing to deny their radical reformism, it is clear from their writings and from page 36 / LAW Beard's personal friendships that these American intellectuals had a lot in common with those in Britain who provided much of the intellectual leadership of the WEA (Cotton, 1968). In this vein, I think it can also be said with fairness that on both sides of the Atlantic these intellectuals were becoming more convinced of the possibility of Labor Party reformism. Finally, despite their more radical politics, Beard and his colleagues shared with Keppel, Martin, and Russell much the same liberal values and a common class location. Thus by 1926, Keppel had knitted together a pragmatic alliance of liberal and mildly radical reformist intellectuals which, in association with educational specialists and a few corporate representatives, was to place an indelible stamp on the tone and direction of emerging organized adult education. A number of early publications illustrate how this worked in practice. I think the pivotal work is the almost completely neglected study by Nathanial Peffer (1926), "New Schools for Older Students." This was one of the original reports commissioned by Keppel's advisory committee. In it Peffer critically appraises a range of adult educational agencies. The most telling sections are those dealing with worker and political education. Peffer is a good example of the sort of reformist intellectuals about whom I have been talking. In this book he places considerable weight on British experiences. Peffer recounts the split in England between the WEA/Oxford alliance and the radical Labor College movement (Plebs League); he suggests that the WEA's WETUC represents a "middle way." The American WEB is then presented in much the same light: as a "national clearing house of the movement and its official center" (p. 213). In effect, Peffer combs worker education with liberal reformist normative teeth. He is not critical of the Rand School or of the fairly radical Brookwood College but implies, nevertheless, that such partisan education fell outside the unspoken criteria for funding. When we look at the subsequent pattern of funding, what is striking is the extent to which it walked down this middle road. And not just in America. Very quickly after its formation, the AAAE became involved with Mansbridge's World Association--to a large extent, with Carnegie funds, its benefactor. Work in progress explores this relationship a little further. For the moment, it is sufficient to note that within the space of a few short years, especially in the area of publications, the AAAE-Carnegie connection required the World Association to take more account of its American affiliate's viewpoint than of those of other members. In other words, I think there are scattered pieces of evidence to show that Cartwright, in particular, set out to influence the direction and tone of adult education well beyond his own borders. In the case of Canada, we get some hints of this in Armstrong's thesis, however I believe that he fails to knit the evidence together as well he might have. CONCLUSION This study sought to introduce some new ways of thinking about the field's history, not just with respect to Canada, but also with respect to early developments in the United States and the relationship between North American adult education and that in other countries. In a sense the study is a plea for a more theoretical approach to history, one that seeks to interpret rather than merely describe the events of the past and to do so in ways that inform the present. page 37 / LAW We read history to make sense of the world we live in today. What this study illustrates is how our theoretical understanding of certain developments can be enriched by neo-Marxist approaches such as those of Williams. The study's principal finding is that the alliance of two streams of liberal thought within the AAAE did not develop by accident, but was deliberately constructed by Keppel and Russell. This has implications not only for future studies in adult education, but also for research in 'labor studies,' research which often fails to make links between the Carnegie Corporation's sponsorship of labor education and organized adult education. The study also offers interpretive insights that might prompt a critical reappraisal of aspects of Canadian adult education history. Space precludes outlining here the further development of the American movement's ideology during the 1920s and early 1930s, but it fits a pattern: an ongoing interest in British ideas--in the main, those of L. P. Jacks and Mansbridge--and a growing interest in ideas from Scandinavia. In the latter case, that interest focussed on residual themes associated with the Danish Folk High Schools and the social democratic conceptualization of the worker as citizen propounded by the Swedish educator, Rickard Sandler. In the mid-1930s, around the time of the CAAE's creation, there was some tension within the American Association with respect to the radical progressivism of George Counts and the Social Frontier group. Cartwright was especially critical of this point of view, one which he saw as undermining 'liberal education.' At this stage I have no feel for how these concerns spilled over into discussions about the Canadian Association--perhaps they did not. The important point to note, in conclusion, is that historically Canadian adult education has been much more entwined with American developments than it presently acknowledges. Canadian adult education was certainly not "Made in America," but much of what survived was endorsed by Americans. That may be discomforting, but, until Canadian adult educators examine more critically that relationship, they will fail to understand their own history. NOTES (1) For a sympathetic critique of Stubblefield's interpretation, see my review in Adult Education Quarterly (Law, 1988b). (2) I hope to bring together work on early English influences on American adult education in time for a history conference at Syracuse University in March, 1989. REFERENCES Armstrong, D. P. (1968). Corbett's house. Unpublished Masters Thesis, University of Toronto. Cartwright, M. A. (1935). Ten years of adult education. New York: The Macmillan Company. Cotton, W. E. (1968). On behalf of adult education: An historical examination of the supporting literature. Boston: Center for the Study of Liberal Education for Adults. page 38 / LAW Curti, M. (1959). The social ideas of American educators. Patterson, NJ: Pageant Books. Grattan, H. (1955). In quest of knowledge. New York: Association Press. Greenwood, A. (1922, January). The W.E.B. of America. Highway, 14(4). Keppel, F. (1926). Education for adults and other essays. New York: Columbia University Press. Knowles, M. (1955). Adult education in the United States. Adult Education. V(2), 67-76. Knowles, M. (1962). A history of the adult education movement in the United States. New York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston. Lagemann, E. C. (1979). A generation of women: Education in the lives of progressive reformers. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Lagemann, E. C. (1987). The politics of knowledge: The Carnegie Corporation and the formulation of public policy. History of Education Quarterly, 27(2), 205-220. Law, M. G. (1988a). An elephants' graveyard or buried treasure? The Syracuse adult education collection. An essay report to the Kellogg Project, Syracuse University. Vancouver, B.C. Canada: Adult Education Research Centre. Law, M. G. (1988b) Review of Harold Stubblefield's Towards a history ican adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 39(1), 58-62. Lemons, J. S. (1977). The woman citizen: Social feminism in the 1920s. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Nore, E. (1983). Charles A. Beard: An intellectual biography. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. Ministry of Reconstruction, Adult Education Subcommittee, (1919). Final Report. London: HMSO. Paulston, R. G. & Altenbaugh, R. J. (1988). Adult education in radical US social and ethnic movements: From case studies to typology in ex- planation. In T. Lovett (Ed.). Radical approaches to adult education: A reader. London: Routledge. Peffer, N. (1926). New schools for older students. New York: The Macmillan Company. Popkewitz, T. S. (1988) Social identity and professionalism: The reconstruction of 19th century teaching in the United States as elements of state building. Paper for symposium on Theory of Professionalization and Conflict; Swedish Colloquium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala, March 3-6. Rose, A. D. (1979). Towards the organization of knowledge: Professional adult education in the 1920s. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Stanley, O. (Ed.), (1923). The way out. London: Oxford University Press. Stubblefield, H. W. (1988). Towards a history of adult education in America. London: Croom Helm. page 39 /LAW Williams, R. (1961). The common good. Adult Education (UK), 34(4), 192-199. Williams, R. (1980) Culture and anarchy. In Problems in materialism and culture (pp. 3-8). London: Verso. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 11/21/88, Fall 1988, 40-49 ******* SHARON CRAMER BELL is a consultant for the Canadian ******* ******* Organization for Development through Education. She ******* ******* worked for two years in Tanzania and is currently in ******* ******* Madagascar. ******* *************** ******* WOMEN AND LITERACY IN TANZANIA by Sharon Cramer Bell ABSTRACT: The question of whether or not women's concerns are being adequately addressed and incorporated into planning and materials for newly literate women is discussed within the framework of the Tanzanian national literacy campaign, a movement which has been a model for nations interested in using adult education as a basis for political, social, and economic development. The important role of women in development and the connection between education and development are well recognized, yet women continue to have a higher rate of illiteracy than men. Using first-hand experience in producing literacy materials as well as reviewing the literature, the author finds that women, due to unequal division of labor, have less time than men to participate in literacy efforts. Most of the curricula are designed to maintain women's traditional, subservient roles. Many textbooks and popular literature contain gender biases and sex stereotyping, both of which hinder self-growth and independence. Recommendations include reorienting teaching materials to promote change through joint decision making, assisting women to develop income generation skills, and focusing on the development of leadership skills and higher self-esteem. INTRODUCTION This paper brings together my experiences in Tanzania from 1985 to 1987 both as a member of the Women's Research and Documentation Project (WRDP) and as an Evaluation Advisor for the Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE), an enterprise which was providing paper to print post-literacy materials for the Department of Adult Education. Within WRDP, Tanzanian women were researching women's concerns regarding national development, agriculture, economics, health, politics, and education. At the same time, CODE was eager to learn more about the impact of post-literacy materials on women. Over time, I began to formulate some specific questions: Are women's concerns being adequately addressed and incorporated into planning and materials for neo-literate women? What can be done to improve the impact of literacy on women's lives? - 40 - page 41 / BELL WOMEN, LITERACY, AND DEVELOPMENT Much has been written recently about women, literacy, and development, particularly in response to the United Nations Decade for Women which formally ended in July, 1985 in Nairobi. Development is a complex issue, involving economics, agriculture, industrial production, technology, health and nutrition, as well as education. In many African societies, the burden of agriculture falls on women. Even where men control cash cropping, women provide the food which sustains the family, implicitly, therefore, subsidizing the growth of a cash economy. High productivity of food for local consumption also brings down the cost of food and releases funds which can be redirected toward other needed local or national priorities. Responsibility for children--including nutrition, hygiene, health, and early education--falls almost exclusively on women. These extremely important tasks are often given short shrift as mothers spend long hours cultivating the fields, searching for fuel, and carrying water, leaving child care up to older siblings. Given the responsibilities placed on women, it seems ironic that until recently they were virtually ignored in donor and government development schemes. Extension programs were geared toward men, leaving women marginalized and in a low status, further reinforcing their feelings of low self-worth and passivity. Traditionally, women also have less access to formal education than do men for a variety of reasons: cultural beliefs and attitudes concerning the value of educating girls, the necessity of child labour (particularly female) in the home and in the fields, concern for the safety of older girls who must travel long distances for education, social beliefs that education should be segregated by sex and that girls should be taught only by female teachers (of which there may be a shortage), and the expectation that boys will support their parents in later life. (CIDA Workbook) The dropout rate is higher for girls due to pregnancies, lack of school fees, poor teaching conditions, and different curricula for boys and girls. The result of fewer educational opportunities is a higher illiteracy rate among women. According to a Canadian government report, "In the third World, two-thirds of the illiterates are women, and two-thirds of women over the age of 25 have never been to school" (CIDA Workbook). The gap between male and female illiteracy rates is growing despite literacy programs, largely due to population growth and high primary school dropout rates for girls. The connection between education and development is obvious; there is no development without education. Education and literacy for women can lead to higher agricultural productivity, better health and nutrition for children, lower birth rates through improved family planning methods, greater participation in the political process and decision-making, and a more equitable division of labor. But these are possible only if women are also equipped with the basic tools necessary to acquire new skills, training, and instruction. page 42 / BELL THE TANZANIAN LITERACY AND POST-LITERACY CAMPAIGNS In Tanzania overall government education planning can be divided into three areas: formal education, functional literacy, and post-literacy. Although steps have been taken to ensure greater participation of girls in the formal system, they are too late for many older women who have never had a chance for schooling. The Tanzanian literacy campaign was launched in 1970 and has aroused considerable attention, since its beginning, as a model for nations interested in using adult education as a basis for political, social, and economic development (See Mpogolo, 1980, 1985; Hall, 1975). The basic assumption is that illiteracy can be eradicated only if learning is directly tied to changes in living conditions or increases in production, closely mirroring the concept of functional literacy or work-oriented literacy. Teaching materials, therefore, contain subject matter relating to agriculture (cash crops), health, home economics, and civics. The campaign has reduced the official overall illiteracy rate from 69% in 1967 to 15% in 1983--for women from 80% to 21%. By 1987, a 90% literacy rate was claimed, although it is not within the scope of this paper to examine what these figures really mean. An important aspect of the post-literacy campaign has been the building of rural libraries. There are now over 3,000 village libraries, and the goal is to have a library in each of Tanzania's 8,000 villages. Those villages which have built permanent buildings and aggressively collected books demonstrate the high impact a library can have on maintaining new literacy skills as well as on catering to various needs of teachers, students, retired officials, and others wanting further education. Unfortunately, however, most libraries are housed in makeshift premises with inadequate reading space and lighting, untrained librarians, and only a few books, most of which have been around for years. WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN LITERACY EFFORTS Mass education campaigns focusing on political education, agriculture, health, nutrition, and forestry have attracted women because of their direct relevance to women's issues; women's participation, however, is still lower than that of men. Figures which show women registering for literacy classes in large numbers do not reveal their lower attendance records and high absenteeism. According to the results of the national literacy test held in September 1983, 42% of the men who were expected to be tested were actually tested while only 30% of the women showed up. The number of women expected was already lower than that of men. Correspondence courses form an important component of post-literacy education, yet the National Correspondence Institute's figures show that only 14% of their registrants are women (Muro, 1984). These figures substantiate my own findings when I went to a village near Dar es Salaam to evaluate post-literacy supplementary readers (Bell, 1986). Each interviewee (11 men and 13 women) was given four new supplementary readers and asked to talk with me about them a month later upon my return to the village. As shown below, a lower percentage of women actually appeared for the interview, and still fewer had read the books. page 43 / BELL Men Women Total Given 4 books 11 13 24 Interviewed 10 (71%) 7 (54%) 17 (71%) Read 3 or 4 books 9 (81%) 3 (23%) 12 (50%) Saying they had read the books meant anything from reading a book cover to cover to glancing through and sampling a page here and there. Not only did men read more, but in interviews they reported enjoying and understanding the books more than women. Several explanations for women's lower participation came out of the open-ended interviews. All the women had children to care for as well as household and farming chores. All women who did not read said they had no time. Many of the women also had additional income-earning activities. The women who failed to appear for the interview were said to be ill, traveling, or unable to leave work. Over half the women given books were single or divorced, i.e., heads of household. The men, on the other hand, tended to be older than the women. Many were retired with leisure time, as the younger men are often working in Dar es Salaam or other towns, again leaving their wives in charge at home. Clearly a key factor for women is time. In the list of daily activities, reading gets lost somewhere after working in the fields, fetching water and firewood, child care, preparing food, as well as small income-generating activities. To give women more time, many projects have tried to introduce labor-saving devices for this so-called "non-productive" work: grain mills, improved water supplies, improved cooking stoves, health and child care facilities. My question, however, is, "Time for what?" If the extra time is used to produce more agricultural commodities, then are women able to control the products of their labor, or are they continuing to be exploited? I wonder if any true leisure time is used in the "luxury" of reading. Perhaps the focus on women is all wrong. Perhaps it is the men who must be educated to assume an equitable role in the maintenance of home and family. INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES AND POST-LITERACY CLASSES There is an awareness of the need for income-generation for women, and post-literacy classes are geared toward providing some guidance. However, the results have not been very impressive. While in Arusha at a workshop on post-literacy, we visited several villages to see what post-literacy classes and handcraft centers were doing. Many of the women in our group reacted with dismay when they saw rural women being taught to embroider tablecloths and napkins or crochet doilies, all of which were not of an acceptable standard for marketing. There had been no survey to determine whether markets were available, standards of production were low, little was being sold, and the emphasis seemed to be on raising quick money rather than on establishing long-term businesses. One interesting study found that women's groups which were given financial assistance from donors did not maintain their activities for long; the money often disappeared. On the other hand, groups which started with their own resources made more money and lasted longer (Hannan- Andersen, 1984). Outside help should, therefore, be in the form of management and marketing "know-how," i.e., education and training. Perhaps it is pride in doing something completely on their own which makes certain groups succeed. page 44 / BELL Women should be integrated into the mainstream economy rather than shunted off into low-priority, marginal projects where men do not have to deal with them. Making doilies and tablecloths is all very nice, but what women really need is to be able to produce enough food to feed their families. For this, they need access to information and training in all areas of agriculture and appropriate technology. EVALUATION OF ADULT EDUCATION TEACHING MATERIALS Another approach to the question of women and literacy is to look at the available reading materials. These can be grouped into three categories: (a) textbooks for formal education, especially primary school texts; (b) materials for literacy and post-literacy classes, including rural newspapers and supplementary readers and primers; and (c) popular literature--short stories and novels--found in rural libraries and in bookstores. In providing adult education for women, it is widely accepted that course content must be related to development, if for no other reason than women will make room in their busy lives if they stand to benefit from the practical application of newly acquired skills. The emphasis should be placed on agriculture, hygiene, nutrition, and appropriate technology. Other important foci could include consciousness-raising and personal development. Too often writers of curricula assume women are only interested in or capable of learning about cooking and child care, assumptions which reinforce women's traditional dependent and subordinate roles. Development of traditional roles hinders development because women are not being given the necessary foundation to solve the problems in their own lives . . . which include legal, political, and economic problems. Third World literacy programs must deal with agriculture, hygiene, nutrition, environment, traditions, national unity, politics, law, and even more importantly for women, management and leadership training. (Riria-Ouko, 1984) Most of the curricula, however, are still written and approved by men who tend to have a paternalistic attitude toward women and who may consciously or unconsciously fear changes in the status quo. Below are some comments made by men when asked what kinds of reading materials women want and need. These interviews took place in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions while I was evaluating the distribution of Swahili books to rural libraries. * "Women want domestic science and child care." * "Women want to know what they can do to improve their lives, family life, child care, cooking, sewing." * "Women are more interested in performing actions or seeing demonstrations than reading or theory." * "There would be problems if books were provided for women only." * "Books for women should be in simple language." * "Women are less mobile than men." * "If you improve the life of women, you improve the life of the whole family. They are the caretakers of society." * "Women come later in the evening to the library." * "More women borrow books than men." * "Women participate more in adult literacy classes because they 'agree' better. They are told to better themselves and they do." page 45 / BELL Women are seen by men as passive consumers of reading materials. The following are some comments made by a woman who is a ward education coordinator in the same region, working with women's groups. Women are interested in cooking, nutrition, and cultivation. They want to know how they can help their daughters with their education. They want to be able to benefit from new agricultural methods and see the results of their labor. They want to begin sewing and knitting projects, but need money to buy cloth, machines, and yarn. They want to know how to raise money, perhaps through growing vegetables, in which case they want to know how to develop markets. But women don't have time to read, so I take the books to them. (Personal communication from Rose Kundy) Home economics readers for post-literate women, ones which I have evaluated, discuss washing and ironing clothes--including proper drying of sweaters--proper care of shoes, knitting, embroidery, and sewing; they contain nothing on marketing, management, or leadership. As long as men continue to write the curricula, women will be taught to retain their traditional homebound roles. GENDER BIAS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS Primary school books are discussed in this paper because they may have assisted in shaping attitudes of women in earlier formal schooling. A very interesting article has been written by Anna P. Obura (date unknown) about primary school textbooks in Kenya. She examined agriculture texts aimed at both boys and girls in Standards Four to Eight. She found that men were overwhelmingly portrayed as "both owners of land and the decision-makers and planners [and] they have at their disposal the unpaid labor of their wives and children." A comparison of male and female references revealed a strong gender bias; men were mentioned 95 times and women 17 times. Moreover, males were typically associated with modern technology, knowledge, science, and experience, whereas women were portrayed as being lazy, ignorant, incompetent wives who finally acquiesce to their husbands' admonitions to make compost or collect firewood. There were no role models for girls which showed women as large-scale farmers, agricultural extension workers, institution managers, or even as successful, independent, subsistence farmers. While this article refers specifically to neighboring Kenya, I suspect a closer look at similar texts in Tanzania would prove interesting. In addition, the Tanzanian government has purchased a large number of Swahili books, for the rural libraries, from the Kenyan publisher of the above-mentioned primary textbook. After reading a draft of this paper, an American citizen teaching in a Dar es Salaam girls secondary school reported strong gender bias in the texts she used for teaching English (published in England). In two examples of how to write a paragraph describing oneself, the boy came across as strong, self-confident, and outgoing, whereas the girl was shy, unpopular, and did not like herself very much. In desperation, the teacher told her girls to model their writing on the boy's paragraph rather than on the girl's. page 46 / BELL FEMALE STEREOTYPES IN POPULAR LITERATURE Although few villagers can afford to buy books, there has been a program to purchase books in Swahili by Tanzanian and Kenyan authors and place them in rural libraries. The image of women in this so-called popular literature has been analyzed by Patricia Mbughuni of the University of Dar es Salaam: "Perhaps because most of the authors are male, the women receive very little character development. They serve either as representatives of the evil elements in human nature or make a quick entrance as a domestic model" (Mbughuni, 1979). More specifically, women characters appear as two main stereotypes. The first is the "evil temptress" or Eve figure who uses her sexuality to lure the hero into crime, disrupts the social and moral order, or creates misrule and chaos. Her opposite is the ideal woman who appears briefly because she is less interesting. She is domestic, docile, beautiful, maternal, well-mannered, patient, and an appendage to the male she serves. A popular variation on the theme is that of the evil temptress who reforms and becomes an ideal wife and mother under the guidance or influence of the male. While there are oral traditional stories which have positive female heroines, they are rarely found in written, popular literature. Since CODE had helped purchase about thirty titles for rural libraries, I asked Tanzanian staff members--male and female--to read a few and prepare summaries. Women were overwhelmingly described as being jealous, superstitious, emotional, childish, and immoral; others were passive, forgiving, and practical. Men were always in a position of power over women. The following examples demonstrate this point: Hiba ya Wivu: A wife pretends to have been kidnapped to cover up her absence from home while spying on her husband, whom she wrongly suspects of infidelity. He forgives her after many complications. Bahati na Sibu: A poor woman wins a lottery, and the husband divides the money between them. He squanders part of his and is robbed of the rest. The wife prudently uses hers to pay school fees and hides the rest. She may be smarter, but she is powerless. Ng'ombe Akivunjika Mguu: A young girl goes to Nairobi, forgets her family, gets involved with the wrong crowd, loses her job, gets pregnant, runs home, and begs for forgiveness. Ushirikina si Mzuri: A wife's belief in witchcraft nearly destroys her life and her marriage until she repents and begins to lead a 'normal' life. Most Tanzanians I talked with, both in town and in the villages, said they found the books humorous, entertaining, and realistic. I began to wonder whether we were helping or hurting women by placing such literature at their disposal. SUMMARY OF PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The main issues identified so far are as follows: 1. Women's role in development is vital, and education is an integral part of development; page 47 / BELL 2. Women participate in literacy and education programs less than men for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is time. Therefore, the rate of illiteracy for women is higher than for men; 3. Curricula written for women in adult education emphasize traditional roles and subservience to men. There is a great need for materials which develop leadership, marketing, and management skills in women and which raise their consciousness and self- esteem; 4. Textbooks in formal education may contain gender biases which become internalized and hinder growth of self esteem; 5. Popular literature tends to portray women as stereotypes, either as evil and immoral or passive and subservient. The Department of Adult Education, together with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), has already begun to address the curriculum problem by establishing a committee of Tanzanian "women experts" to evaluate the impact and relevance of the adult education curriculum for women. Committee members were drawn from the University of Dar es Salaam, Sokoine University, the National Correspondence Institute, the Ministries of Agriculture and Education, UWT (the women's branch of the party), and other organizations. The group decided to first conduct field research in several regions and collect data on women's problems and needs. The issues the group found centered on the oppressive division of labor in production and social reproduction; the unequal ownership, access to, and allocation of resources; and the secondary status of women in the decision-making process. Teaching materials were evaluated as to their relevance and impact in solving the above problems. A number of concrete recommendations were made, the emphasis being placed on the need for change-oriented education to liberate women. These recommendations included some of the following key objectives: 1. Reorienting the materials to encourage joint family decision- making and responsibility between men and women; 2. Integrating all three curricula (agriculture, crafts, and home science) to focus on the problem issues and needs relevant to women, including reorienting to involve both men and women in each curriculum; 3. Localization of the knowledge content in relation to specific technological knowledge needs of women using local expertise and materials; 4. Imparting income-generating skills to increase women's financial resources; 5. Considering the practicability and applicability of knowledge and skills in adult education materials, especially given women's limited time and resources; 6. Identifying and utilizing--by the Ministry of Education--useful materials from other institutions. page 48 / BELL The implications of the committee's findings and recommendations are nothing less than revolutionary, as they call for upheaval of one of the most basic cultural norms in African society: male dominance. In the discussion after the presentation of the report, most of the men seemed speechless, but there was general agreement that more localized materials were needed. The supplementary readers for the new curriculum, therefore, will be written by regional writers workshops. Many women are already involved in writing texts, but they may need conscientizing themselves. Finally, materials free of gender bias are of little use if they are taught by males who wish to maintain the status quo. My own recommendations were formulated specifically in response to CODE's activities in Tanzania, but the following are generally applicable to any organization trying to break the cycle of illiteracy and low self- esteem in Third World women: 1. Seek to identify unpublished manuscripts of local authors, especially women, which develop strong female characters as positive role models. Fund publication for eventual distribution to rural libraries and sale at low cost in national bookshops. One word of caution, however: These books should not be seen as "women's books" which men would not read. The books should appeal to both sexes; 2. Identify materials for use in women's post-literacy classes, materials which develop leadership, management, and decision-making skills; 3. Look for other books written by and about women in other African countries, especially the African Writer Series. These could be translated into local languages and sent to rural libraries; 4. Fund small-scale studies of gender biases in primary and secondary school textbooks; 5. Encourage efforts by individual women to do participatory research and life histories. These are women-to-women efforts which allow women to identify their own problems and tell their own stories. They could be funded either as case studies or as original manuscripts; 6. Continue to support the development of rural libraries. They may be weak, but the infrastructure is in place; 7. Contribute articles for inclusion in rural newspapers, especially stories of successful women's income-generating activities, women in leadership positions, and other strong role models. Articles on women's health issues such as cancer and AIDS could be edited and translated; 8. Support a reader survey to determine women's reading habits, interests, and needs. This paper is meant to stimulate both action and further research. I hope it will be taken as a challenge to design methodologies and material which will continue to clarify women's needs with regard to literacy, education, and development. page 49 / BELL REFERENCES Bell, Sharon (1986). Tanzanian post-literacy Campaign, third and fourth interim progress reports. Unpublished manuscripts. Hall, Budd L. (1975). Adult education and the development of socialism in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: East African Literature Bureau. Hannan-Andersen, Carolyn (1984). Swedish development assistance to Tanzania: The women's dimension. Dar es Salaam: SIDA. Mbughuni, Patricia (1979). The image of women in Kiswahili prose fiction. Paper presented at the BRALUP Workshop on Women's Studies and Development. Dar es Salaam. Mpogolo, Z.J. (1980). Functional literacy in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: Swala Publications. Mpogolo, Z.J. (1985). Post literacy in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam: Africana Publishers. Muro, Asseny (1984). Non-formal education: A tool for the development of women in Tanzania. Paper presented to the East Africa Seminar, Institute of Adult Education. Dar es Salaam. Obura, Anna P. Learning the gender bias early; A critical examination of some primary school textbooks. Source unknown. Photocopy marked only "Ceres iii." Riria-Ouko, J.V.N. (1984). Literacy, programmes and consciousness raising and women's role in development. A paper written for presentation at a literacy seminar for CIDA, Ottawa, Canada. Report on the Evaluation of the New Adult Education Curriculum from the Point of View of its Relevance to and Impact on Women. Prepared for the Ministry of Education and SIDA, June 1987, Dar es Salaam. Women in Development and the Project Cycle. Workbook published by Women in Development section of the Canadian International Development Agency. Photocopy. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 11/21/88, Fall 1988, 50-54 ******* RODNEY D. FULTON is a Kellow Fellow at the Kellogg Center ******* ******* for Adult Learning and Research and a doctoral student in ******* ******* the College of Education, Health and Human Services, at ******* ******* Montana State University. ******* *************** ******* PHYSICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: WHY BE CONCERNED? by Rodney Fulton ABSTRACT: Before research agendas again deal with the question of how the physical attributes of a place impact on adult learning, we must consider some very basic, yet important, questions. This article urges the reader to think about the physical environment as one of many controllable conditions of learning. The author offers a conception of the physical environment as not only a stimulus evoking a response but also as a function of human intent, control, and structure. The purpose of the article is to encourage adult educators to ask appropriate questions about the physical learning environment and to develop increased environmental awareness. INTRODUCTION All human activity occurs in a physical setting. Try as hard as we may, we are, as of yet, unable to transcend the physical dimension of our existence. Because the physical environment is such an all pervasive factor of our lives, we sometimes tend to overlook its effects on us; it becomes so common that we treat it as background to our behavior rather than as a direct influence on behavior. In education, often the physical environment is taken as a given over which the learner has little, if any, direct control. Vosko (1985) reports that adult learners generally thought that the design of the learning setting was a responsibility of administrators. At times, teachers, facilitators, resource people, or leaders have a bit more control over the setting; however, they exercise little of that control to enhance learning. All too often, it is easier or less time consuming to simply take the learning environment as is than to adapt the physical characteristics to a more effective condition. After defining what I mean by the physical environment, I will offer reasons why the adult educator should be concerned with the effects of physical design on learning. I will then provide a possible matrix for educators to consider in evaluating the diverse environments in which they and their learners use for educational purposes. - 50 - page 51 / FULTON THE PHYSICAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Defining the concept of physical environment is a more difficult task than it first seems. The literature is full of research and writings that use the words, physical environment, with slight variations in meaning. Wiatrowski, Gottfredson, and Roberts (1983) claim that, "The search for person-environment interactions has been hampered by divergent approaches to the characterization of environments" (p. 55). Some use physical environment synonymously with architectural design (Kasmar, 1970); others define physical environment by measuring some variable such as seating arrangements (Stires, 1980) or proxemics (Vosko, 1984); still others look at physical environment as an interactional phenomenon between the physical setting and the human entity (Moos, 1973). In order to conceptualize physical environments we need to explore the development of basic assumptions. C.S. Weinstein (1981) postulates four premises crucial to her discussion of classroom design. The first premise states that the physical setting of the classroom is an integral element of the learning environment. . . .The second premise is that the studies of classroom environments must take into account the social and instructional context. . . .The third assumption is that there is no ideal physical setting that will satisfy all learning situations. . . .The last premise . . . the physical setting of a classroom constitutes an external condition that must be arranged as systematically as the other elements of the stimulus situation. (pp 12-13) While Weinstein limits her discussion to the classroom, learning environments have not necessarily been limited to the classroom. A learning environment is defined by Finkel (1984) as "every space in a facility in which meeting activities occur and the degree to which each detail of those spaces can be designed to contribute to higher levels of learning" (p 32). If by meeting activities we can include the learner "meeting" the ideas of another in a book, on a tape, or in some other media presentation--that is, there is no requirement for at least two individuals to actually be physically present--then I think Finkel gives a plausible and all encompassing definition. Sommer (1970) researched study areas because "we want to learn the varieties of places used for studying and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each location" (p. 271). Vosko (1984) used a seminar room, a library, a living room, and a chapel in his study of lifelong learning environments. WHY BE CONCERNED? The study of the physical environment in which learning occurs is important since "many studies have demonstrated that substantial differences may occur in the behavior of the same individuals when they are in different milieus" (Moos, 1973). Weinstein (1981) asserts that because "classroom design is clearly secondary in importance to instructional methods and curriculum, there is growing evidence that the physical setting of a classroom is capable of influencing the behavior that occurs within it" (p. 12). I am not so sure that physical environment is secondary. Surely if one examines only one component of the physical environment, that component is secondary. However, if one uses the functional environment concept developed by David (1979, cited in Weinstein, 1981), then "instead of page 52 / FULTON trying to demonstrate the universal effects of isolated physical factors, this approach focuses on the environment as it is perceived, responded to, and used by students and teachers" (Weinstein, 1981, p. 12). I am not so convinced that environment takes a back seat to other components of the learning process. The understanding of the effects of environmental factors individually and their interactional effects are, in my opinion, very central to the maximization of human learning. White (1972), for example, claimed that 25% of adult learning was directly attributable to the effectiveness of the physical environmental design. A PLAUSIBLE MATRIX How do we begin to study learning environments when there is such diversity in conceptualization and definition? Is it reasonable to assume from research conducted with children in classrooms that findings can be applied to adults in numerous learning situations or even to children outside the classroom? I suggest that if factors are inherently attributable only to the classroom, then it is tenuous, at best, to generalize to other learning environments. What is called for, in my opinion, is a matrix designed to describe learning environments, one that will classify environments according to their similarities and differences. Kasmar (1970) says that "if people are expected to describe and distinguish among environments and architectural spaces, they will need tools to do so, and they will especially need a scale appropriate for the description of the physical environment" (p. 153). There are three dimensions along which the functional physical environment can be evaluated. First, the intent of the environment--the purpose for which the learning environment was created. Second, the control of the environment--who in reality has the power to make changes in the environment? Third, the structure of the environment--is the environment structured to provide organized, prescribed learning opportunities or is it arranged to address individual learning needs? These dimensions are not dichotomies; they are continuums along which there are numerous points to which an environment can be assigned. This matrix is also three dimensional with a learning environment classified on each continuum's plane. Drawing an analogy with the classification of learning as formal, informal, and non-formal reinforces that the environment varies just as other learning conditions vary. Perhaps examples dealing with each dimension will help to clarify the matrix. The purposes of a learning environment can run the gamut from singular and very apparent to multi-purposed and flexible. As an example, consider a movie theater, generally a place of very informal learning. This learning environment is very singular in purpose: to inform or entertain by use of film. In contrast, learning resource centers, especially as they are used in the United States military, are more formal and very multi- purposed, often serving many individual learners simultaneously in many content areas using numerous media strategies. Finally, consider a living room in an American apartment or home--usually a place of very non-formal learning. This environment has multiple purposes such as watching the news on TV, reading a best seller, and even talking local, state, and national politics. Clarifying the purpose of the environment helps us determine what physical factors are of interest to the researcher. Control over physical environmental factors is a phenomenon that needs further research. Control runs the gamut from authoritarian, institutional control--generally in formal settings--to individual control, more common page 53 / FULTON in less formal settings. Individuals may complain and be affected by poor sound projection in a movie theater; however, only the theater's management can exercise control to change the problem. Yet, in a living room the control rests with the individuals in that learning environment. The arrangement of furniture, one of the most researched physical environmental factors, is also very subject to different controls, depending on the environment. The structure of the learning environment from prescribed to self- directed is another continuum along which environments can be classified. An art museum's galleries provide very prescribed learning by offering the viewing of selected works of art. On the other hand, a library allows the individual to engage in self-directed learning by choosing which of several resources to use to learn about thousands of topics. CONCLUSIONS It is my contention that the physical factors of the environment will effect learning behavior differently, depending on the intent, the control, and the structure of the learning environment. By examining these three factors and classifying the numerous environments in which learning takes place, we can group similar environments and assess the effects of single physical factors such as temperature, furniture arrangements, space, lighting, and color. More importantly, we can determine the interaction of single environmental factors as well as assess the "transaction between an individual and his environment . . . the individual's idiosyncratic use of space and the environment's structuring" (Fitt, 1974, p. 617). Using intent, control, and structure, we can develop a description of the environment that can "have maximum meaning and relevance for the ultimate user" (Kasmar, 1970, p. 155). Adult educators, then, can accept that the same physical environment can be adequate for some learning while unacceptable for other types of learning. Thus, a room with permanently fixed furniture all facing forward in amphitheater fashion may not be routinely rejected; rather, once the intent, control, and structure of the learning activity is assessed, a decision is made as to the appropriateness of the environment for that particular type of learning. The science teacher who needs to demonstrate an experiment may use such a setting with great ease; whereas, the philosophy teacher may need to drastically modify, or even reject, such a place! It is not so much the discrete physical attributes of a place, but rather how those attributes enhance or detract learning that we must attend to as adult educators. REFERENCES David, T. (1979). Students' and teachers' reactions to classroom environments. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago. Finkel, C. (1984). Where learning happens. Training and Development Journal, 38 (4), 32-36. Fitt, S. (1974). The individual and his environment. School Review, 82 (4), 617-620. page 54 / FULTON Kasmar, J. (1970). The development of a usable lexicon of environmental descriptors. Environment and Behavior, 2 (2), 153-169. Moos, R. (1973). Conceptualizations of human environments. American Psychologist, 28(8), 652-665. Sommer, R. (1970). The ecology of study areas. Environment and Behavior, 2(3), 271-280. Stires, L. (1980). Classroom seating, location, student grades and attitudes: Environment of self-selection? Environment and Behavior, 12(2), 241-254. Vosko, R. (1984). Shaping spaces for lifelong learning. Lifelong Learning, 9(1), 28, 4-7. Vosko, R. (1985). The reactions of adult learners to selected instructional environments. Dissertation Abstracts International, 45, 3519A (University Microfilms Order No. DA 850072). Weinstein, C. (1981). Classroom design as an external condition for learning. Educational Technology, 21 (8), 12-19. White, S. (1972). Physical criteria for adult learning environments. Washington, D.C.: Adult Education Association of the U.S.A., Commission on Planning Adult Learning Systems, Facilities, and Environments. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 080 882). Wiatrowski, M., Gottfredson, G., Roberts, M. (1983). Understanding school behavior disruption classifying school environments. Environment and Behavior 15 (1), 53-76. ___________________________________________________________________________ NEW HORIZONS IN ADULT EDUCATION Volume 2, Number 11/21/88, Fall 1988, 55-59 F O R U M ******* ROBERT DOMAINGUE is working on his Ph.D. in adult ******* ******* education in the Department of Continuing and ******* ******* Vocational Education, University of Wisconsin in ******* ******* Madison. ******* *************** ******* INTRODUCING METAPHORS OF CHAOS TO ADULT EDUCATION By Robert Domaingue ABSTRACT: Chaos theory is providing us with new images of the world. The new science of Chaos or Nonlinear Dynamics examines patterns of complex and simple systems. Two principles emerging from the science of Chaos are sensitive dependence on initial condition and self-similarity as symmetry across scale. These principles form viable metaphors for the field of adult education. Sensitive dependence on initial condition, for example, could alert us, in planning our programs, to small changes in the process which can magnify into very large changes. Self- similarity as symmetry across scale might provide us with organizing guidelines for educational curriculum. Learning patterns within learning patterns within learning patterns may be formed. Chaos theory, then, can offer adult education rich metaphors through which to examine, in new ways, what it is doing. Chaos theory brings a new way of looking at the world. This new science looks at the patterns found within complexity itself; there are startling similarities in very different kinds of systems. Very complex turbulence, for example, can produce simple patterns. Very simple systems, on the other hand, can produce unpredictable, chaotic patterns. The study of systems of patterns is what Chaos theory is all about. Where did chaos theory come from? James Gleick (1987) has written a very readable book tracing the development of the theory, interviewing many of the scientists involved in the initial research. Chaos theory cuts across disciplines and reverses the reductionist direction of traditional science. Chaos dramatically demonstrates that the whole cannot be understood by breaking the parts into smaller and smaller constituents. The tools now exist to go beyond the linear equations and methodologies. Centers for Dynamical Systems or Nonlinear methods are springing up all over the world. - 55 - page 56 / DOMAINGUE "To some physicists chaos is a science of process rather than state, of becoming rather than being" (Gleick, 1987, p. 5). There are many researchers from different fields--mathematics, physics, biology, astronomy, economics--who are searching for connections in different kinds of irregularity. Chaos provides a bridge for the study of rhythms of the human heart, turbulence in weather, water eddies in a stream, the patterns of drips from a faucet, and the design of snowflakes. Chaos theory helps explain the growth of complexity in nature. The first chaos theorists, the scientists who set the discipline in motion, shared certain sensibilities. They had an eye for pattern, especially pattern that appeared on different scales at the same time. They had a taste for randomness and complexity for jagged edges and sudden leaps. . . . They feel that they are turning back a trend in science toward reductionism, the analysis of systems in terms of their consti- tuent parts: quarks, chromosomes, or neurons. They believe that they are looking for the whole. (Gleick, 1987, p. 5) Scientists exploring systems where order arises spontaneously and coexists with chaos have challenged old assumptions. It is now seen that simple systems can give rise to complex behavior. And complex systems can be understood by simple behavior. These laws of complex behavior hold universally. It does not matter what the medium is or what the constituent parts of the system are. Some have felt that chaos is a poor name for describing this work. They feel "the overriding message was that simple processes in nature could produce magnificent edifices of complexity without randomness. In nonlinearity and feedback lay all the necessary tools for encoding and then unfolding structures as rich as the human brain" (Gleick, 1987, p. 307). Chaos does, however, provide a banner under which scientists can study complexity itself. Chaos theory has been called the most significant discovery since quantum mechanics. Advocates feel that chaos theory, along with quantum mechanics and relativity, will represent the most significant accomplishments of twentieth-century science (Gleick, 1987, p. 6). Chaos is leading a revolution in the way we view the world. Metaphors are very powerful tools for viewing the world. In fact, we use metaphors as a basis for learning. We compare something we are trying to understand to something we all ready know. We are making the strange familiar (Gordon, 1970). Metaphors have been analyzed in philosophical inquiry (Apps, 1985) and recommended as leads into research in adult education (Candy, 1986). I would like to examine some new metaphors for adult education. These metaphors will provide a rich texture in which to think about the practice of adult education. Chaos theory has provided several principles which may be of use to adult education. Edward Lorenz, when developing a model of the earth's weather patterns, discovered that very small changes in one part of a system could result in very large changes over time in the whole system. >From this discovery, the principle of sensitive dependence on initial condition was formed. A chain of events can have a crucial point where small changes in the system are greatly magnified. Chaos means that such crucial points are located everywhere in the system. The small changes influence the overall behavior. The cumulative results of these small changes cannot be predicted beforehand. From this, Lorenz discerned that long range weather forecasting would be impossible. Benoit Mandelbrot, through his fractal geometry, demonstrated another principle of chaos, self-similarity. There is symmetry across scale-- page 57 / DOMAINGUE pattern inside of pattern. The patterns repeat themselves going both ways in scale. In self-similarity detail is produced at finer and finer scales. The detail is also produced with certain constant measurements. Mandelbrot created computer generated geometrical objects which could be zoomed in on and retain their original patterns at greater levels of magnification. Patterns of symmetry across scale can also be seen in the nature of a fern leaf which retains the shape of the overall plant or the discharges of lightening. If these two principles--sensitive dependence on initial condition and self-similarity--are applied to adult education as metaphors, what would it mean? The most important implication of chaos is that we are not dealing with linear systems anymore. "Nonlinear systems with real chaos were rarely taught and rarely learned. When people stumbled across such things --and people did--all their training argued for dismissing them as aberrations. Only a few were able to remember that the solvable, orderly, linear systems were the aberrations" (Gleick 1987, p. 68). What are adult education's linear systems which could be examined in a new light? Ralph Tyler's (1957) linear approach to determining and evaluating objectives comes to mind. What would sensitive dependence on initial condition mean in this case? Small changes in the process can result in very large changes at the end. Sensitive dependence implies more than a step by step buildup to a final product. In Tyler's linear system the cumulative effect of stages building on stages will not significantly affect the starting point. Also in Tyler's model there is great replicability. The same inputs will result in the same outputs. But is this what really happens? Do our observations of people in these systems follow Tyler's model or are they closer to the chaos model of sensitive dependence on initial condition? People come to a learning experience with a personal history. Each of these individual histories is different. These histories each act as a sensitive dependence on which the learning is built. At the end of a learning experience we often discover a great diversity of personal meaning. The program has meant very different things to the participants. The chaos model predicts this diversity of meaning. How would you organize a learning program along the chaos model? A group of people would start out exploring a topic together. Because each individual's initial condition is different, even though the group is exploring the same topic, they will end up at different locations at the end of the program. It is important to realize that one end condition is not better than another--only different. This can be better explained by describing the use of the Hypercard computer program to demonstrate sensitive dependence on initial condition in action. The program (developed for the Macintosh computer) is based on the model of a Rolodex card file. The computer screen becomes a card linked to many other cards in a `stack.' When exploring a topic "you weave through a stack, jumping from card to card, idea to idea, choosing your own path by touching on the items you are interested in, endlessly discovering new levels, or deliberately aiming toward a desired card" (Kelly, 1987, p. 102). The cards are all linked in several directions. The journey through the cards is directed by the learner's interests. In this way two learners starting out at the same spot could end up quickly in different directions. Using a computer, Another way to imagine it would be to think of a book that had footnotes that appear only when you clicked (touched the cursor) on a passage you wanted to know more about. It would carry you to interesting details, which might themselves have footnotes page 58 / DOMAINGUE which are footnoted, and so on. Any date might bring you to a fuller account of what else was happening then by clicking on it, or a name might summon a biography. Commentaries, references, citations could all be connected to appear when needed. This vision is called hypermedia. (Kelly 1987:102) Hypermedia, then, fits the chaos learning metaphor of sensitive dependence on initial condition. Another useful metaphor for adult learning is self-similarity as symmetry across scale. How would self-similarity as symmetry across scale be used in the classroom? The image of Russian babushka dolls, with a doll inside of a doll inside of a doll inside of a doll, comes to mind. The pattern is repeated within and without. The image retains its integrity at the various levels. Relating this to education would involve the forming of a complete `picture' of the educational experience. This picture or pattern would then be repeated, fully integrated, down into different scales. Individual activities become microcosms of the overall behavior. Self-similarity means the goals are being mirrored in all the activities down to the smallest scale. There are other ways of viewing self-similarity. The reverse of starting with the fully completed end goal is to start with the individual actions or assignments of an educational program and then trace them up the larger scales to see what the overall pattern would be. In many cases I think we would be surprised to find that our individual building blocks are constructing something we had not intended. For example, we may be building dependence in the learner by our choice of assignments. Are we building dependence or independence in our overall structure? The principle of symmetry across scale can provide us with general organizing guidelines. It forces us to look at the overall organization to see if all the parts are interrelated. With such an approach I believe overall learning can be greatly enhanced. CONCLUSION Nature forms patterns. Some are orderly in space but dis- orderly in time, others orderly in time but disorderly in space. Some patterns are fractal, exhibiting structures self-similar in scale. Others give rise to steady states or oscillating ones. . . . The dynamics seem so basic-- shapes changing in space and time--yet only now are the tools available to understand them. (Gleick, 1987, p. 308) Now that the tools are available chaos theory is providing some very rich metaphors. As was mentioned earlier metaphors can be very powerful tools. They allow us to conceptualize in new ways. Adult education can benefit from looking at its activities through the metaphors of another discipline. Chaos theory, to start, has provided the metaphors of sensitive dependence on initial condition and self-similarity as symmetry across scale. How different does adult education look after being viewed through these metaphors? As chaos theory expands I look forward to additional inspirations for the field of Adult Education. page 59 / DOMAINGUE REFERENCES Apps, Jerold (1985). Improving practice in continuing education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Candy, Philip (1986). The eye of the beholder: Metaphor in adult education research. International Journal Of Lifelong Education, Vol.5, No.2. Gleick, James (1987). Chaos: Making a new science. NY:Viking Penguin. Gordon, William (1970). The metaphorical way of learning and knowing. Cambridge, MA: Porpoise Books. Kelly, Kevin (1987). Whole earth Hyperlog: Beginning a communication medium called stackware. Whole Earth Review, No. 57. Tyler, Ralph (1957). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ------------------------------ Cut here ------------------------------