Lyceum & Chautauqua

Movements in Adult
Education
Introduction to Adult Education
Dr Crosby
Lyceum Beginnings
335 BC Aristotle in Athens
1800 - Scotland and Europe
Workforce education
A means to spread education to the masses
Topics: mechanics, chemistry, astronomy,
electricity, French, etc.
Singers, dancers, circus performers
America: Social Context
1700s Cotton Mathers discussion groups;
Benjamin Franklins Junto groups
1820s: Missouri Compromise; Maine 23
rd
State;
Antarctica discovered; Spain sells part of Florida
to US; Key people in the Civil War were being
born
Urbanization; Industrialization; Reform
movements
Cities tripled and quadrupled in size
Working situations poor

Lyceums come to America
Mid to late 1820s Josiah Holbrook, Connecticut
Article: Associations of adults for the purpose of
mutual education
No adult education in US outside of colleges &
universities
Gathering of 40 people in Milbury, CT (1826)
Lyceums
A Town Lyceum is a voluntary association of
individuals disposed to improve each other in useful
knowledge, and to advance the interests of their
schools. To gain the first object, they hold weekly
or other stated meetings, for reading, conversation,
discussion, illustrating the sciences, or other
exercises designed for their mutual benefit; and, as
it is found convenient, they collect a cabinet,
consisting of apparatus for illustrating the sciences,
books, minerals, plants, or other natural or artificial
productions. (McNamara, para. 4)
Educate the community members of a broad
variety of topics

Lyceum Growth
1826 one group
1828 (estimated) 100 Lyceum groups
Mid-1830s over 3,000 Lyceums in US
Lyceum Purpose
Improvement of conversation
Directing amusements for children
Calling into use neglected libraries
Increasing the advantages, and raising he
character of, district schools

Topics
Temperance
Abolition of Slavery
Civil Disobedience (title of a lecture)
Physical Education
Music
Chemistry
Astronomy,
Etc.
Impact of Lyceums
it was the Lyceum which took its start then,
that aroused the minds of our grandfathers,
afforded them greater opportunities for study, and
made their lives broader and better able to
understand and appreciate the gifts of God and
men (Mathews, 1896, last paragraph).

One of the first to embrace relevant curriculum
(knowledge that was useful but not necessarily
vocational Natoli, 2010, p. 6) and workforce education

Resulted in a higher educated populace, which in turn
lead to a higher demand for teachers.

Adult Education
An effort was made to keep the audience
from being mere sponges, to absorb all
that they could; and in order to draw out
the information received, a prize of ten
dollars was offered to the one who should
make best summaries of the lectures given
during one winter (Mathews, 1896, para.
20).
Set a foundation for the value of adult
education; promoted the establishment of
libraries, museums, and public schools.

The Ending
Civil War in 1860 caused the movement
to cease.

But not the END.Only the beginning of
something to come!!
Today
Flashback!
What is Chautauqua?
Chautauqua Movement
1874 Methodist minister, John Heyl Vincent &
Businessman, Lewis Miller
Training for Methodist Sunday School Teachers
A successor to the Lyceum Movement
Pillars:
Religion
Education
Cultural Arts
Recreation
Historical Overview
http://www.pbs.org/wned/chautauqua-american-
narrative/historical-perspective.php (6 minutes)
People
They believed that if democracy was to succeed
you had to have an educated electorate and they
believed that the churches has some
responsibility for that
www.pbs.org/wned/chautauqua-american-
narrative/founding-history.php
People discovering that lifelong learning is one of
the keys to living a happy, fulfilling life
Chautauqua Today
Summer Programs:
http://www.ciweb.org/education (1 minute)
2014 Topics
Feeding a Hungry Planet
The Ethics of Privacy
Emerging Citizenship: The Egyptian Experience
Brazil: Rising Superpower
Etc.

Adult Education Theme
Self-improvement through lifelong learning was
at the heart of the impulse that motivated
Americans and founded Chautauqua in 1874
(Chautauqua Institute. (2013). para. 1. Retrieved
from http://www.ciweb.org/education)
Philosophies Represented:
Humanistic
Liberal
Some Resources
Elias, J. & Merriam, S. (1995). Philosophical foundations of adult education
(2
nd
Ed.). Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing.

Mathews, G. E. (1896). The history of the Lyceum Movement in Brookline.
Retrieved from
http://www.brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/history/publications/seriesOne/lyceu
m/lyceum.html
McNamara, R. (2014). The American Lyceum Movement. Retrieved
http://history1800s.about.com/od/1800sglossary/g/American-Lyceum-
Movement.htm
Natoli, B. (2010). The American Lyceum Movement: A Brief Overview.
Retrieved from
http://bnatoli.weebly.com/uploads/7/1/3/2/7132794/lyceummovementovervi
ew.pdf
Websites (in addition to those already in ppt)
http://www.lakesideohio.com/about/chautauqua-movement