The document discusses influences on adult education theory and practice in Canada during the 1960s and 1970s. Major influences included economic recessions, political shifts to the left, social protests related to class, gender, and youth culture, as well as technological advances like television and automobiles. Researchers began developing theories around adult learning and identifying characteristics of individuals who do and do not participate in adult education programs. This laid the foundation for the discipline of adult education in Canada.

1. INFLUENCES AND
THEORY OF
THE 60’s AND 70’s
Presented by:
Shannon Tang, Alice Maryniuk, & Sophia Koo

2. “S OONER OR LATER , A PERSON
GETS THE URGE TO CHANGE
THINGS OR MAKE A BETTER
WORLD . T HIS IS A CHANCE TO DO
JUST THAT."
-P RIME M INISTER L ESTER B.
P EARSON

3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
 Influences of the 1960s-1970s
 Technology
 Theory and Practice
 Building a Theory Base of Adult
Education
 Canadian Association for Adult
Education
 1972: Year of Affirmation for
Adult Education
 References

4. I NFLUENCES OF THE 1960 S -
1970 S
 Economic Influences
 Political Influences
 Social Influences
 Sociocultural Influences
 Influential Events
 External Events
 Ideas and Concepts

5. E CONOMIC I NFLUENCES
 Low rate of employment in the 1960s.
-Government spent a lot of money on housing grants, public
works, regional aid, and vocational training.
-Feb 1960- 500,000 Canadians looking for work but 800,000
collecting unemployment insurance. 8% of the population is
unemployed.
 1960’s inflation was controlled; industrial production was
booming.
 From June 1961, the value of the Canadian dollar ($0.96) was
dropping. In May, it declined to $0.92.
-10% of population unemployed. This rate increased since
1960.
-the value of money is unstable.
 Recession in 1970s.

6. P OLITICAL I NFLUENCES
 1960s was characterized by a political shift to
the left.
-this refers to supporting social change
in order to create a society with an egalitarian
structure.
-“individuals thought like Europeans
and acted like Americans.”
-partially influenced by Marxism.
-Example of New Left groups: Student
Union for Peace Action (SUPA) and Company
of Young Canadians (CYC).

7. S OCIAL I NFLUENCES 1
 1960s consisted of resentment about class struggles.
-Ex. In Quebec (1964) women voiced their anger on
how the status quo had confined them to specific
areas of their female domain. Since 1976, the number
of women in the paid labour force has risen. In 1976,
42% of women were employed.
 Young people had also rebelled about their job
conditions.
-Ex. Many workers engaged in protests where they
walked off their jobs. Wildcat strikes were also
popular and spontaneous and were more likely to be
about working class grievances.

8.  Protestors

9. S OCIAL I NFLUENCES 2
 1960s: Majority of working class youth had an ‘us vs. them’
mentality about ‘their generation.’
-they resented adults.
-they had resentments about authority, the domestic, and
workplaces. The state had difficulty trying to maintain these
struggles.
-their generation focused on music, drugs, sex, and fashion.

10. S OCIAL I NFLUENCES 3
 From 1961-1975, the numbers of youth participating
in wage labour rose dramatically.
-more youth in working class.
-larger percentage of entire workforce.
-males more likely to enter workforce.
 Only 11% of Canadians aged 18 to 24 were enrolled
in University in 1965. Since the 1970s, the number of
women earning university degrees has increased.

11. S OCIOCULTURAL
I NFLUENCES 1
 1960s-1980s: Sexual revolution/liberation
-more acceptance of sex and homosexuality
-since 1975, attitudes towards non-marital
sex has become more liberal
-introduction of female controlled contraceptives
(ex. the pill).
-changes in fashion (ex. mini-skirts).
-altered ideas, norms, behaviours of Canadians.

12. S OCIOCULTURAL
I NFLUENCES 2
 1960s commercialization of the teenager:
-growth of new sectors of mass consumption such as
entertainment, leisure, fashion, and education.
-due to prolonged baby boom (1946-1964).
-showed that the youth were an important part of
capitalist production.
-not everyone approved of this.
-youths discovered their identity through juvenile
delinquency and aggression. This shows the ‘immorality’ of
teens.
- the rate of youth crimes was not properly
documented. This is due to inadequate recording of data
and how the exact definition of crime was undefined.

13. I NFLUENTIAL E VENTS
 1960s Quiet Revolution: the government established control
over education and social services and promoted more
Francophone control over the Anglophone-dominated
economy.
-Promoted ultra-nationalism in Quebec
 1970s Quebec: the kidnapping of Pierre Laporte (Quebec
Minister) and James Cross and the invoking of the War
Measures Act were important events.
-the kidnappings were used to address the struggles for
national liberation.
-After Laporte was found dead, this incident further
intensified the tensions between Canada and Quebec. This
influenced how the Quebeckers had perceived the CYC in
their province.

14. E XTERNAL E VENTS
 The Civil Rights Movement in the United States
-1960s: Young Americans also rebelled against the state,
universities, and the US armed forces during the Vietnam War.
-Supreme Court begins to make rulings regarding the
desegregation of black Americans
-1960: John F. Kennedy’s speeches refer to the dawning of a
new era. His idea of the Peace Corps inspired the creation of the
CYC during the Pearson regime.
-Civil Rights Bill: Allowed the federal government to cut off
federal funding to any program that practiced discrimination.

15. I DEAS AND C ONCEPTS
 Humans are both autonomous and
interdependent
-individuals are interested in their own
welfare and they must adapt to situations to
the best of their ability.
-decisions that individuals make in coping
with their circumstances affects the welfare of
themselves and others

16. T ECHNOLOGY
 Automobile
- dramatic effect on youth culture.
- provided a means for suburban and rural youth
to travel to central cities.
-created a kind of portable "private space" that
enhanced courtship, sex, drinking, and listening
to the radio.

17. T ECHNOLOGY
 Television
-introduced in the 1950s.
-T.V.s became more common in the 60’s
-brought events such as the American civil
rights movement home to Canada.
-influenced young radicals
-The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and
smaller, private television stations flourished.

18. D ISCIPLINES AFFECTING L EARNING
T HEORY AND P RACTICE
 Strong impact of Scholarly Disciplines and university graduate
instruction on Learning Theory and Practice in the 1960s.
- “System of community colleges and other post-secondary
institutions was created, expanding educational opportunities
at the local and regional level ( Habdas, n.d.).”
-In 1970: 130 colleges and institutions across Alberta, BC,
Ontario, and Quebec.
-technical and vocational training is funded by the federal
government.
 Prior to the 1960’s Adult Education was heavily influenced by
the social sciences of sociology, anthropology, history, and
psychology.
 However, more research has been made since the 1960’s
about Adult Education as a discipline.

19. B UILDING A T HEORY B ASE OF
A DULT E DUCATION
 Information, research data, and theory during the 1960s
and 1970s was strongly related to adult learning and
psychology.
 usable survey instruments and prediction scales for
studying the adult education student were developed.
 group and individual differences in participants were
examined.
-Researchers studied the variables that led to the
participation and dropping out of adult education.

20. I NDIVIDUALS WHO PARTICIPATE IN
A DULT E DUCATION ARE :
 Younger.
 Higher educated and highly motivated to learn.
 Members of more organizations.
 Positive in their attitudes toward education and the
educational agency.
 Middle class.
 Urban residents with easy access to education.
 Involved with broad and diverse leisure activities.
 Highly skilled in social relationships.
 Oriented in terms of a personal role of service to others.

21. O BSTACLES TO PARTICIPATION I N
A DULT E DUCATION
 Not wanting to go out in the evening.
 Not enough time.
 Financial limitations.
 Home and job responsibilities.
 Lack of energy or health problems.
 Perception of being too old to learn.
 Transportation limitations.
 Child care problems.

22. I NDIVIDUALS WHO DROP OUT OF A DULT
E DUCATION ARE :
 Less intelligent and have lower reading abilities.
 Experienced less success in past learning efforts and in adult education
 Less educated.
 Had less success in work experiences.
 Been out of school longer.
 To rely on public transportation to attend adult education activities.
 Enrolled because of an educational or vocational deficiency.
 A lower status job and lower income.
 Been fairly inactive in community affairs.
 Been less permanent in a community and at a residence.
 Been more dissatisfied with the class and the teacher.

23.  These sources of information revealed
several things about the field of adult
education:
 The barriers to participation can be
decreased by offering formal adult education
classes in neighbourhood schools or
community college buildings or even homes.
 These barriers can also be decreased by
providing independent study opportunities,
financial assistance, and daytime courses.

24. T HE C ANADIAN A SSOCIATION
FOR A DULT E DUCATION
 During the 1960’s, the extent of illiteracy and
under education in Canada was realized through
the 1961 census.
-Adult basic education was federally funded in
1960.
-The federal government’s share of the cost of
post secondary education rose from 23% in 1960
to 46% by 1969 (Selman, 1995).

25.  In the 1960’s, community development had also
brought social change and the quality of
individual and community life was also improved.
 Alan Thomas differentiates ‘adult learning’ from
‘adult education.’
-Learning occurs everywhere, not just in
institutions.
-Education facilitates learning.

26. 1972: Y EAR OF A FFIRMATION FOR
A DULT E DUCATION
 There were 3 major reports:
-A Choice of Futures (Ontario)
-The Learning Society (Alberta)
-United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) published its report on
the International Commission of the Development
of Education.

27.  All three of the reports promoted the concept of
lifelong learning.
-education is life wide.
-replaces the traditional view that education
should be termed in educational institutions.
-education includes the social and cultural
aspects of society.

28. R EFERENCES
 Die. (n.d.). International Adult Education as a Discipline of
Higher Education. Retrieved from
http://www.diezeitschrift.de/299/bron99_01.htm
 Dominique Clément. (n.d.). The Sixties. Retrieved from
http://www.historyofrights.com/sixties.html
 Habdas, M. (n.d.). Canadian Adult Education History in a
Nutshell. Retrieved from
http://www.digitalschool.net/edu/ucfv/360_history.html
 Hiemstra, R. (n.d.). Lifelong Learning Chapter Seven. Retrieved
from http://www-distance.syr.edu/lllch7.html
 Kidd, J. R. (1979). Some Preliminary Notes Concerning an Enquiry
into the Heritage of Canadian Adult Education. Vancouver:
Centre for Continuing Education.

29. R EFERENCES
 Palmer, B. (2009). Canada’s 1960s: The Ironies of Identity
in a Rebellious Era. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
 Roberts, L. W., Clifton, R.A., Ferguson, B., Kampen, K., et
al. (2005). Recent Social Trends in Canada 1960-2000.
Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
 Selman, G. (1995). Adult Education in Canada: Historical
Essays. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
 The Gale Group, Inc. (2008). Youth Culture- Youth Culture
Before the Modern Period- Encyclopedia of Children and
Childhood. Retrieved from
http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Wh-Z-and-other-
topics/Youth-Culture.html