Radical heroes : Gramsci, Freire and the liberal tradition in adult education

In the 1970s and 1980s many radical adult educators in the United Kingdom turned to the work of Antonio Gramsci and Paulo Freire for theoretical insights to support new initiatives in the education of adults. The thesis considers the significance of the work of Gramsci and Freire in the development of theories of adult education in Britain in the period following the publication of the Russell and Alexander Reports.

The thesis begins by charting the origins of the dominant tradition in British adult education, the Liberal Tradition, starting with an analysis of concepts of liberal education and outlining the struggle for education and for emancipation by working class groupings from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The thesis then traces the development, in the twentieth century, of the Liberal Tradition, with its emphasis on education for personal development and social purpose and for leisure as opposed to vocational education. The origins and development of radical critiques of liberal adult education in the period up to 1990 are outlined and some conceptualisations of the relationship between liberal and radical adult education are analysed. Freire's analysis of the transformative role of adult education in liberating the oppressed is considered, as is Gramsci7s concept of politics as educative, his writing on hegemony, the role of intellectuals and the nature of education in a revolutionary process. The relationship between Gramsci, Freire and the Liberal Tradition is explored, and the thesis considers the appropriateness of the emergence of Gramsci and Freire as 'Radical Heroes' in radical critiques and developments of the Liberal Tradition in adult education.