Michael Walker

Project Title

Educating the Workers, 1840-1950.

Academic Supervisors

• Dr Martin Farr

• Professor Daniel Siemens

• Dr Shane McCorristine

Project Description

My research focuses on the pedagogical methods used in adult education from 1840 to 1950. My thesis aims to track how pedagogical methods were used, how and why they differed, how effective they were, and what can be learnt from this period regarding adult education today. The thesis will explore how the workers were taught, what pedagogical approaches were used to motivate workers, how democratic was the classroom, what were the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of the students and the tutors and how these influenced the instruction within the classroom. I hope to contribute to the historical understanding of adult education during the period in question by focusing on an area of adult education that has been overlooked by researchers, namely the educational methods and practices used in the adult education classes. I also hope to unearth pedagogical approaches which may develop contemporary adult education and lifelong learning. I am particularly interested in the democratisation of the classroom, student-centred learning, scaffolding, critical thinking, reflection, lack of summative assessments and grades, constructivist teaching and a two-way channel of communication between the students and tutors (dialogical learning).