Lyceum & Chautauqua Movements in Adult Education

Lyceum & Chautauqua Movements in Adult EducationIntroduction to Adult EducationDr Crosby

Lyceum Beginnings 335 BC – Aristotle in Athens1800 - Scotland and EuropeWorkforce educationA means to spread education to the massesTopics: mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, electricity, French, etc.Singers, dancers, circus performers

America: Social Context1700s Cotton Mather’s discussion groups; Benjamin Franklin’s Junto groups1820s: Missouri Compromise; Maine 23rd State; Antarctica discovered; Spain sells part of Florida to US; Key people in the Civil War were being bornUrbanization; Industrialization; Reform movementsCities tripled and quadrupled in sizeWorking situations poor

Lyceums come to America

Mid to late 1820s Josiah Holbrook, ConnecticutArticle: “Associations of adults for the purpose of mutual education”No adult education in US outside of colleges & universitiesGathering of 40 people in Milbury, CT (1826)

Lyceums“A Town Lyceum is a voluntary association of individuals disposed to improve each other in useful knowledge, and to advance the interests of their schools. To gain the first object, they hold weekly or other stated meetings, for reading, conversation, discussion, illustrating the sciences, or other exercises designed for their mutual benefit; and, as it is found convenient, they collect a cabinet, consisting of apparatus for illustrating the sciences, books, minerals, plants, or other natural or artificial productions.” (McNamara, para. 4)Educate the community members of a broad variety of topics

Lyceum Growth1826 one group1828 (estimated) 100 Lyceum groupsMid-1830s – over 3,000 Lyceums in US

Lyceum PurposeImprovement of conversationDirecting amusements for childrenCalling into use neglected librariesIncreasing the advantages, and raising he character of, district schools

TopicsTemperanceAbolition of SlaveryCivil Disobedience (title of a lecture)Physical EducationMusicChemistryAstronomy, Etc.

Impact of Lyceums“it was the Lyceum which took its start then,

that aroused the minds of our grandfathers, afforded them greater opportunities for study, and made their lives broader and better able to understand and appreciate the gifts of God and men” (Mathews, 1896, last paragraph).

One of the first to embrace relevant curriculum (“knowledge that was useful but not necessarily vocational” Natoli, 2010, p. 6) and workforce education

Resulted in a higher educated populace, which in turn lead to a higher demand for teachers.

Adult Education“An effort was made to keep the audience from being mere sponges, to absorb all that they could; and in order to draw out the information received, a prize of ten dollars was offered to the one who should make best summaries of the lectures given during one winter” (Mathews, 1896, para. 20).Set a foundation for the value of adult education; promoted the establishment of libraries, museums, and public schools.

The EndingCivil War in 1860 caused the movement to cease.

But not the END….Only the beginning of something to come!!

Today

Flashback! What is Chautauqua?

Chautauqua Movement1874 – Methodist minister, John Heyl Vincent & Businessman, Lewis MillerTraining for Methodist Sunday School TeachersA successor to the Lyceum MovementPillars:

ReligionEducationCultural ArtsRecreation

Historical Overviewhttp://www.pbs.org/wned/chautauqua-american-narrative/historical-perspective.php (6 minutes)

People“They believed that if democracy was to succeed you had to have an educated electorate and they believed that the churches has some responsibility for that” www.pbs.org/wned/chautauqua-american-narrative/founding-history.phpPeople discovering that lifelong learning is one of the keys to living a happy, fulfilling life

Chautauqua TodaySummer Programs: http://www.ciweb.org/education (1 minute)2014 Topics

Feeding a Hungry PlanetThe Ethics of PrivacyEmerging Citizenship: The Egyptian Experience Brazil: Rising SuperpowerEtc.

Adult Education Theme“Self-improvement through lifelong learning was at the heart of the impulse that motivated Americans and founded Chautauqua in 1874” (Chautauqua Institute. (2013). para. 1. Retrieved from http://www.ciweb.org/education)Philosophies Represented:

HumanisticLiberal

Some ResourcesElias, J. & Merriam, S. (1995). Philosophical foundations of adult education (2nd Ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing.

 Mathews, G. E. (1896). The history of the Lyceum Movement in Brookline. Retrieved from http://www.brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/history/publications/seriesOne/lyceum/lyceum.html 

McNamara, R. (2014). The American Lyceum Movement. Retrieved http://history1800s.about.com/od/1800sglossary/g/American-Lyceum-Movement.htm Natoli, B. (2010). The American Lyceum Movement: A Brief Overview. Retrieved from http://bnatoli.weebly.com/uploads/7/1/3/2/7132794/lyceummovementoverview.pdf

Websites (in addition to those already in ppt)http://www.lakesideohio.com/about/chautauqua-movement