Fearful of the Present and Terrified of the Future

While reading Hallenbeck's letters from 1955 in which he asked several colleagues for their working definitions of Adult Education I was taken by the difference in tone and tenor of each answer from 1955 as it felt so much more like there was "building" going on, whereas now I feel we take a lot of systems for granted. We are fine-tuning so much that has been given us, rather than creating from whole cloth.

Regardless, I gravitated toward Schwertman as well. The focus on experience drew me in. This is what I like most about Adult Education is our ability to use our experiences and build on experiences to become something more and to add to the education of others through the use of our experience as examples for them. I highlighted that same quote as you, "adult education is the constant expansion of experience in desirable directions," (p. 141) but also highlighted this passage from the Minich definition about how adult education must be diverse, "adult education should still represent a partnership among these groups and agencies in the community which have a genuine concern for the education of adults" (p. 140). In a past life as a Director of Career Development, I worked with a community college that wanted to provide associates degrees to our workers for having finished our training and experience over the course of two years. This was a blend of both Schwertman's experience and Minich's partnerships.



Honorable mention for highlights in this article I feel must go to Frank for the passage where he states, "As Otto Rank once said, "We cling to the past not because we are in love with the past but because we are fearful of the present"; and, it might be added we are terrified of the future. If we are to recover from the seemingly widespread demoralization and growing failure of nerve, adult education has the great office of helping people gain confidence in themselves, to renew their courage and their faith in human potentialities, in order that as a people we can overcome our many resistances to change and replace our anxiety with hopefulness toward the future" (p. 145). I read this several times and liked what it had to say more with each reading.



Hallenbeck, et al. (1955). What is adult education? Adult Education, (5) 3, 131-145.