Wednesday, 02 November 2022
A new exhibition at Lakeside Arts will show how adult education in Britain started right here in Nottingham in the early 1900s.
At the start of the twentieth century, most adults had left education at the age of twelve or even younger. However, that changed in 1920, when the first department of adult education was established at the University of Nottingham. Over the next seventy years, the Adult Education Department worked with unions, employers, local councils and voluntary organisations, offering courses in workplaces and communities across the East Midlands. For the first time, adults had the opportunity to revisit their education, learn new topics and improve their personal development. Many of the department’s students and staff went on to become leading political figures, both locally and nationally.
The story of how adult education came to Britain is told in ‘Knowledge is Power: Class, Community and Adult Education’, which opens tomorrow (27 October) at Lakeside’s Weston Gallery and will run until 12 March next year. Admission is free to all.
Visitors will see how the Adult Education department developed from the 1920s onward, and how it worked with trade unions, the Workers’ Educational Association and voluntary organisations to provide education for working adults. They’ll see a wide range of original documents from the university archives, including rare photographs, pioneering studies and news clippings from some of the most impactful and - at times - controversial research.
Two paintings by the late Marjorie Arnfield, artist and art tutor in the Adult Education Department, will also be on display from her Nottinghamshire colliery series – providing a link to the many miner-students who gained scholarships to study at the university.
Knowledge is Power has been curated by experts at the University of Nottingham, including its Manuscripts and Special Collections team and Professor John Holford, Robert Peers Professor of Adult Education.
This exhibition showcases how adult education enriches the lives and culture of ordinary – and extraordinary – people. It also demonstrates how education helps to build a fairer and more democratic society.
The exhibition will run from 27 October 2022 to 12 March 2023 at the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre. More information is available at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ManuscriptsandSpecialCollections/Exhibitions/KnowledgeIsPower.aspx
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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