Liberal Arts, Progressivism, Professionalism

Adult education is a two-philosophy tug of war: should it develop human capital for the Knowledge Age economy, or progressive activists who will transform capitalism? The schism is a monumental shift from 19th-c. conventional wisdom that Everything is Education, including the objects inside private dwellings. With the rise of Modernism and Blank-Slate science, the private, decorative, corporeal, and female lost their prestige to the masculine, rational, and institutional. This book is both a history and a contemporary biography of informal educators who preserve history. They are not anachronisms oblivious to high-tech/low-maintenance. In their stories, old/new, simplicity/technology, body/mind, personal fulfillment/political action thrive in contrast to the boredom, anxiety, and polarization common in work and education. Flow research suggests that whole-person engagement in difficult challenges facilitates creativity and complexity. This book is relevant for all concerned with optimal learning environments: educational researchers, philosophers, and practitioners; training and development specialists; and any self-motivated learner who believes there is the currency in the past.