ABSTRACT

This paper uses the 1908 Oxford Report, a founding document for the Workers’ Educational Association, as a window onto the internal contradictions of the university adult education movement, an issue that has been neglected by historians of education. Examining the early history of the WEA shows that while the movement was inspired by Oxford Idealism and set itself the aim of democratising higher education, it also drew support from people who intended to professionalise the university by introducing the principles of trained expertise and selection by merit. The confluence of Idealism and professionalism resulted in a ground-breaking but inconsistent educational programme outlined in the Oxford Report. This paper suggests that the attempt to simultaneously democratise and professionalise higher education was untenable and foreshadowed later tensions within the WEA movement.

摘要

本文使用工人教育协会的创始文件1908 年牛津报告作为了解大学成人教育运动内部矛盾的窗口，这是一个被教育史学家忽视的问题。回顾 WEA 的早期历史表明，虽然该运动受到牛津理想主义的启发，并将自己的目标定为高等教育民主化，但它也得到了那些打算通过引入训练有素的专业知识和择优选拔原则来使大学专业化的人们的支持. 理想主义和专业主义的融合导致了牛津报告中概述的开创性但不一致的教育计划. 这篇论文表明，同时使高等教育民主化和专业化的尝试是站不住脚的，并预示了后来 WEA 运动内部的紧张局势。