Adult education
Academic and therapeutic
Oliver Emerson
There is probably no country in the world where education attracts more adult students than in this country. As a tutor, a lecturer, a GCE examiner in '0' level and 'A' level Oral French, examining candidates all over the country, I have had special opportunities to see this.
Of course, one must look at the word 'education' through the eyes of non-educationalists. Much of what is called adult education is far removed from classroom disciplines and examination results. What draws adults to education? Sometimes it is the desire to keep one's mind stretched. A year or two ago I examined a colliery manager, a man of about fifty, in 'A' level Oral French. He was a reasonably competent candidate and though I did not give any information about how he had done in the examination, I did feel that I could ask him why he had taken it. "Oh, I like to keep my mind stretched!" When he told me a minute or two later that he had been "brought up" on one of my own French courses, he ensured himself a friendly and permanent place in memory bank.
A lady — she must have been fortyish — proved a really admirable candidate in 'A' level Oral French. I had to get back to the railway station and my candidate very kindly offered me a lift in her car. I learned that she wanted to prevent her mind from growing rusty and, indeed, she confessed that she hoped to obtain a position as a language teacher in Britain. Her French was really fluent and I asked her if she had spent much time in France. She had not but she had spent a great deal of her life in South America and was bi-lingual in English and Spanish. With such good Spanish and with the prospect of acquiring a really workmanlike knowledge of French, her chances of finding a' post in a state school or a private school or even in a polytechnic seemed very bright.
A great deal or time is now being spent in language learning in this country. For generations the only foreign language recognised by most people in Britain was French. Now we find instruction in German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and even, I believe, Afrikaans. As the world shrinks, so! that before long we shall be able to slip over to Paris for morning
coffee at the C afe de la Paix, we can expect that there will be a day — and that day not so far distant — when Japanese and maybe Chinese will be taught in some of our schools and colleges.
But this mind-stretching goes far beyond languages. Take writing, for example: writers' circles, writers' workshops, writing for pleasure and profit. Thousands of adult students enrol for these courses and many of them are students of considerable ability. A number of these students are able to place their work with local Radio Centres or even manage to find a slot on BBC or Independent Television. Often their contributions are short stories for children but occasionally a student manages to place a quite considerable piece. Last term one of my writers, a non-. conformist parson, placed without excessive difficulty a play with the BBC, receiving something like £125 for it, though the Corporation reserved the right to ask for certain modifications which in their view would add to the play's general appeal. It is quite thrilling to read some of the work that students submit. Many students have travelled widely, I had a first-class account of one student's visit to Petra. Some very illuminating views were given to me about New Zealand, an ex-soldier wrote about a visit he had paid to Tibet when he was on leave from his unit in India. Greece, Israel, Russia, Thailand, the United States, Mexico are dealt with by visiting tutors or by students who have visited these countries. I always feel that I ought to apologise to my writers because there is no writers' costume. You find schools where students of painting are so thick on the ground that even big institutions are almost overrun by painters in their dainty paintsmeared smocks. A writer, alas, has nothing but his pen and some sheets of unblemished white paper.
Sometimes students are attracted by the idea of taking up again subjects which they enjoyed at school. You can hardly pick up a prospectus without finding "brush-up" courses for French or German or Spanish.
Sometimes students come in order to be able to keep up with their GCE children. It is possible to claim nowadays, when as much as 25 per cent of the marks for a foreign language are allotted to oral work, a parent can give a son or daughter a pre-examination test that will ensure that the candidate faces the examiner with a confidence that would otherwise be lacking.
Almost invariably one finds that candidates — boys as much as, if not more than, girls — come into an examination room in a state of nervous apprehension. A good examiner realises this and very wisely asks the Principal's permission to talk to all the candidates in English and explain what he/she proposes to do. Then he is cheered to see the flush fade from anxious faces and breathing become normal. Well, parents engaged in brushing up their French or German, can, before John or Jane takes the GCE Oral examination, assume the mantle of the examiner and tell his child not to blow down his blazer or breathe down her blouse but to speak up loud and clear!
Often students come simply to find an agreeable leisure occupation. When children have left home and a husband is lunching in the City, a housewife will often make do with a boiled egg and some yoghourt for luncheon. Before her lies an empty afternoon. Tea-parties are somewhat democid and not every wife feels an inclination for afternoon bridge. So she may think about a course. And what a variety to choose from! Pay Attention To Yourself; Figure Control; Weight Away!: Dance and Keep Fit. Then Yoga. Yoga lyengar, Yoga For Health, Integral Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga. Or cooking. Not just plain, cooking but "Cooking for Fun ", "Shop and Serve (go ready)", "Italian Cooking for Housewives (each meeting featuring one or more of the speciality dishes of sunny Italy)."
Some students join a class from sheer loneliness.You find in a class ladies (men too) who have never married or have lost their partners and who just long for companionship. Almost always there is a tea-break in an afternoon and a coffee-break in the evening and sometimes members drift into a kind of friendship that extends beyond the boundaries of the centre. For some of these lonely ones Wednesday evening's discussion group or choir practice or old-time dancing is one of the highlights of the week.
Nearly all of the courses mentioned above take place in the morning of the afternoon and they are in general for women. But the evening range is even wider and there are courses which appeal particularly to men — metal-work, motor car maintenance, Rugby coaching and investment.
The present writer and, no doubt, many readers, will take note of the Russell Report and hope that the Government will appreciate the real value of adult education: for some — academic achievement, for some — swapping views with people of their own age and, for many, so very many, a respite from loneliness.
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