ADULT EDUCATION OR TRAINING? PUBLIC POLICY RETURNS TO FIRST PRINCIPLES
Abstract
Education in its wider sense has always been the prerogative of more leisured people; for those who had to work to live, the most that was ever considered, from Plato on, was training for a job. Only by taking advantage of this distinction, however, has the federal government of Canada been able to get its foot in the door of adult education. (Responsibility for education was given to the provinces in 1867). But Keane is apprehensive that the unhappy experiences of working class "education" in the 19th century are about to resumed, under a different rationalization, perhaps, but with the same effects. In an intriguing historical sketch of the mechanics' institutes of Victorian Canada, he conducts us through one more episode in the time-dishonoured efforts of governments to keep the second-class citizenry in their places. He thinks it is all happening again. RÉSUMÉ Dans son sens large, l'éducation a toujours été la prérogative de la classe oisive; depuis l'ère de Platon, ceux qui devaient travailler pour vivre n'avaient qu'une chose à contempler, l'apprentissage d'un métier. Toutefois, ce n'est qu'en tirant parti de cette distinction que le gouvernement fedéral du Canada a réussi à s'immiscer dans le domaine de l'éducation permanente. (La responsabilité des questions d'Education a été confiée aux provinces en 1867). Mais Keane craint que les expériences malheureuses de l'"éducation" des classes ouvrières au 19e siècle ne se répètent aujourd'hui, sous une rationalisation différente peut-etre, mais avec les mêmes conséquences. Dans un tableau historique intriguant des instituts de mécanique du Canada victorien, il nous fait découvrir un épisode de plus de l'histoire infâme des gouvernements qui s'efforcent de maintenir les citoyens de deuxième classe à leur place. Selon lui, la même situation est en train de se reproduire.Downloads
Published
1984-01-01
How to Cite
Keane, P. (1984). ADULT EDUCATION OR TRAINING? PUBLIC POLICY RETURNS TO FIRST PRINCIPLES. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 19(001). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7547
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