Lyceum & Chautauqua Movements in Adult Education

1. Lyceum & Chautauqua Movements in Adult Education Introduction to Adult Education Dr Crosby

2. Lyceum Beginnings • 335 BC – Aristotle in Athens • 1800 - Scotland and Europe • Workforce education • A means to spread education to the masses • Topics: mechanics, chemistry, astronomy, electricity, French, etc. • Singers, dancers, circus performers

3. America: Social Context • 1700s Cotton Mather’s discussion groups; Benjamin Franklin’s Junto groups • 1820s: Missouri Compromise; Maine 23rd State; Antarctica discovered; Spain sells part of Florida to US; Key people in the Civil War were being born • Urbanization; Industrialization; Reform movements • Cities tripled and quadrupled in size • Working situations poor

4. Lyceums come to America • Mid to late 1820s Josiah Holbrook, Connecticut • Article: “Associations of adults for the purpose of mutual education” • No adult education in US outside of colleges & universities • Gathering of 40 people in Milbury, CT (1826)

5. 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

6. Lyceum Growth • 1826 one group • 1828 (estimated) 100 Lyceum groups • Mid-1830s – over 3,000 Lyceums in US

7. Lyceum Purpose • Improvement of conversation • Directing amusements for children • Calling into use neglected libraries • Increasing the advantages, and raising he character of, district schools

8. Topics • Temperance • Abolition of Slavery • Civil Disobedience (title of a lecture) • Physical Education • Music • Chemistry • Astronomy, • Etc.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. The Ending • Civil War in 1860 caused the movement to cease. • But not the END….Only the beginning of something to come!!

12. Today

13. Flashback! What is Chautauqua?

14. Chautauqua Movement • 1874 – Methodist minister, John Heyl Vincent & Businessman, Lewis Miller • Training for Methodist Sunday School Teachers • A successor to the Lyceum Movement • Pillars: • Religion • Education • Cultural Arts • Recreation

15. Historical Overview • http://www.pbs.org/wned/chautauqua-american-narrative/historical-perspective.php (6 minutes)

16. 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.php • People discovering that lifelong learning is one of the keys to living a happy, fulfilling life

17. Chautauqua Today • Summer Programs: http://www.ciweb.org/education(1 minute) • 2014 Topics • Feeding a Hungry Planet • The Ethics of Privacy • Emerging Citizenship: The Egyptian Experience • Brazil: Rising Superpower • Etc.

18. 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: • Humanistic • Liberal

19. Some Resources • Elias, 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