Community education: being a description of the work of residential and non-residential colleges for adult education

Maryport Educational Settlement

This 1938 publication from the Educational Settlements Association provides a useful overview of activity at that time.

contents: preface · introduction · community education · the association · the residential colleges · educational settlements in normal areas · educational settlements in special areas · examples of courses · membership of the esa · how to cite this piece

[page 1] DURING the last thirty years a new educational development has been taking place—the growth of Residential and non-Residential Colleges for adult students, or what is more generally known as the Educational Settlement Movement. The idea of the Movement is that of education in community and in it many people have found a deep and abiding interest and concern. Because of its value and infection it is now shared by a very much wider public than formerly.

“The assertion of truth, the unveiling of illusion, the dissipation of hate, the enlargement and instruction of men’s hearts and minds” are some of the indispensable and urgent duties and services of our time and all true citizens should be identified with them. For many, I feel sure, the effective medium for the discharge of these duties and the fulfilment of these services is to be found in the Movement with which this pamphlet is concerned.

ARNOLD S. ROWNTREE,
President of the Educational Settlements Association.
January 1938.

Community education

[page 2] The age in which we live has been described as the golden age of applied science, the millennium of social facilities. The development of industry, the amazing progress of scientific invention, and the increasing dominance of the machine over life, both in work and in leisure, have profoundly influenced the moral, spiritual and intellectual attitude and outlook of all, and have reset the problem of human worth and conduct.

Universal elementary education, the flooding of new knowledge through hitherto undreamt of channels, the demands upon attention and interest through cinema, advertisement and daily Press, and the fascination of speed and the desire to be on the move “, are factors which have gone deeply into our lives and have made it imperative that we should take serious stock of our situation if we are to preserve the unity of our lives as individuals and as a people, let alone break new ground in the experiment of living.

The resistless spirit of man has driven him forth to discover the utmost limits of the objective world—to sail its mighty oceans, climb its highest peaks, sound its depths and mount its heavens, master its stubborn resistance and exploit its material resources. The quest has been unremitting, eager and thrilling, but it has not been concerned with what matters most, namely, a true human motive, a sufficient “end” for all its stupendous tasks and efforts.

Indeed, what is coming to be seen with no small measure of alarm is that “means” have been regarded as “ends “, that things have been thought of as something worthy in themselves, and that human beings may be sacrificed to them; that unless a worthy human purpose or use can be found for them the opportunities and inventions of the scientific age may prove delusive and destructive of man.

Whilst man has been absorbed in the discovery of the remote countries of the world he has neglected to press forward in the discovery of that hidden country in the mind and spirit. There is so much of this terra incognita lying undiscovered in ordinary men and women, and its unveiling is so important both to us and to society at large, that the penetration of it and becoming at home in it is one of the imperative necessities of our time.

“Who “, says Fuller, “hath sailed about the world of his own heart, sounded each creek, surveyed each corner, but that there still remains much terra incognita in himself?” It is the discovery of this terra incognita that is civilization, and it is one of the functions [page 3] of education to bring it about, not only in the exceptional person but in the ninety and nine, in the ordinary everyday average man and woman.

It is this service of discovery of the “inward man “, this search for a true knowledge of ourselves, this reaching up to the full stature of manhood and womanhood, this blending of the spiritual and the intellectual in a unified personal life, this dedication to a worthy human ideal, that is implied in the word “ education”, and that is our important business. It cannot be imparted to children even by the best of teachers; it cannot be given to adolescents; but it can and must be achieved by men and women in fellowship of understanding and corporate dedication to the search for true knowledge, in a united determination to serve the noblest conception of life yet bequeathed to man.

This Community Education is the purpose of the Educational Settlements Association through its Residential Colleges and Educational Settlements.

The Association

The Association is a voluntary organization for adult education. It was founded in 1920 and to-day comprises seven Residential Colleges and twenty-nine Educational Settlements or non-Residential Colleges. For directory, see pages 15 and 16.

Status. The Association is a Responsible Body under the Board of Education Adult Education Regulations for the purpose of submitting formal classes and receiving grants in respect of them.

Finance and Management. The Association is governed by a Council composed in the main of representatives of the constituent institutions affiliated to it. It is maintained from voluntary sources and for the purposes outlined in this pamphlet administers funds entrusted to it by Educational and other Trusts.

Scholarships and Bursaries. The Association awards annually a limited number of bursaries to men and women wishing to proceed to one or other of the Residential Colleges for a course of full-time study. Also from time to time it awards travel bursaries for students.

Affiliation. Among the conditions of affiliation to the Association are: (1) That the College or Settlement must have a Governing Body and in the case of a Settlement a student membership which is represented on the Governing Body. (2) That the education given must be non-party in politics and non-sectarian in religion.

Consultation and Advice. The Association is a clearing house for information concerning various aspects of Settlement [page 4] and College work and of vacancies and opportunities arising in connection with them. Interviews with prospective workers in the movement are arranged and because of its extensive and varied experience the Association is competent to give advice on questions relating to the kind of training and initiation needed for it.

Contact with the Wider Movement. The Association keeps in effective touch with its constituent bodies by representation on their respective committees and councils, by the holding of regular meetings of representatives and other members of Colleges and Settlements, by the regular visitation by the Secretary and members of the Executive Committee and by the arrangement of Conferences.

Co-operation in the work of the wider movement of Adult Education is effected by representation on such bodies as the Adult Education Committee of the Board of Education, the Workers’ Educational Association, the National Central Library, British Drama League, National Adult School Union and other kindred organizations.

The Association is responsible for the administrative and publicity work of the Joint Committee for Residential Adult Education which was set up to bring together the Residential Colleges and the Supplying Bodies in Adult Education. This Committee is composed of representatives of the University Extra-Mural Boards, the Trades Union Congress, the Central Joint Advisory Committee on Tutorial Classes, the Workers’ Educational Association, Association of Education Committees and the Residential Colleges.

Literature. The Common Room—the journal of the Association —is published three times yearly. The purpose of this journal is for the interchange of news and opinions each term among all who are interested in the work of Educational Settlements, Residential Colleges and the wider movement of Adult Education.

Residential Colleges for Adult Education—published on behalf of the Joint Committee for Residential Adult Education, and descriptive of the opportunities for full-time study and scholarships and bursary provision made in respect of it.

Community Education— being a description of the work of the Residential and Non-Residential Colleges for Adult Education.

From time to time the Association publishes information concerning the College and Settlement movement.

The Common Room may be had for an annual subscription of is., or at 3d. per copy. The other publications referred to are free.

Enquiries. Enquiries concerning any of the matters referred to in this pamphlet will be welcome and information in respect of the Colleges or Settlements will be gladly supplied. [page 5]

The residential colleges

A body of students sharing a common life under a common roof with their own tutors, their own lectures and classes, Residential their own library and common room, their own societies for discussion and for sport and recreation—the residential college is a unique and valuable feature of the older English universities which is rarely found abroad, and is only partially realized in the men’s and women’s hostels of the newer universities in this country.

To bring an opportunity for at least one year of continuous study under such conditions to working men and women of adult years (the ages range from nineteen to sixty, with an average between twenty-five and thirty is the aim of the Residential Colleges for Workers which have sprung up during the present century.

There are now seven colleges of this type. The oldest is Ruskin College, Oxford, founded. in 1899. The youngest is Newbattle Abbey, near Edinburgh, founded a year ago.

Ruskin College is open to both men and women students for either one year or two years. Second-year students may enter for Diploma examinations in the University of Oxford, and the lectures and libraries of the University have been generously put at the disposal of the students. The College is governed by representatives of the Trades Union Congress General Council, and of other working-class organizations, together with three University “advisers “. Students for the most part come by means of scholarships or grants provided by Trade Unions, Educational Trusts, or Local Education Authorities.

Fircroft College at Bournville, Birmingham, was modelled on the Danish Folk High School, and has the advantage of access to the lectures and other facilities of Woodbrooke and the other Selly Oak Colleges. Avoncroft College, near Bromsgrove, is specially designed for agricultural workers, and combines cultural and vocational interests. Hillcroft College, Surbiton, is the only working women’s college. Coleg Harlech is a Welsh foundation, though not exclusively confined to Welsh students. All these colleges are recognized for grant by the Board of Education, and are affiliated to the Educational Settlements Association, in which they form a Colleges Group.

These colleges aim at providing selected adult students with the opportunity of continuous study, unhindered by the many obstacles which confront the worker-student living at home— [page 6] scanty or scattered leisure, lack of privacy and quiet, and the pressure of private engagements or public work.

They present many advantages which the Tutorial Classes or the W.E.A. course in a locality cannot give—regular weekly private tuition, association with several tutors, a wide range of subjects, easy access to books and guidance in reading, as well as the enrichment of intercourse with fellow students of diverse occupations, from different parts of the country, and sometimes from overseas.

And what happens to students after they have left the colleges? In earlier and more prosperous times the most of them would return to their occupations and localities, there probably to engage in educational, social, or political work among their fellows. But to-day there are many who seek for new openings and callings,, either because they cannot find work in their previous occupations, or because they are anxious to find more congenial work.

Among the students, for example, several have entered on fulltime educational work with the W.E.A. or the Co-operative Movement, others have been engaged as research officers in their trade unions, others elected to Parliament, while not a few have qualified for special forms of social service, such as probation work, and one or two are parsons. Recently, a number have found a useful place as leaders in the Educational Settlements and Community Centres that have sprung up in the Special Areas, or on new housing estates.

But the results of residential adult education are not to be measured in terms of easily recorded after-careers, or achievements in public life; the most significant results are the imponderable ones that take place in the mind and spirit—the expansion of interest, the growth of character and insight, the loosening of prejudices and strengthening of principles.

The collection of students’ sayings in Learn and Live bears witness to the fruits that may be, though they are not always, gathered from the life at college. “He put my hand on a new latch,” says one student of his tutor. And another says quite simply: “He introduced me to myself.”

It would be difficult to find a better phrase to describe one of the most important effects of college life. For, after all, there are many men and women who have never really been introduced to themselves, or who are not on good terms with, or at home with, themselves. The first effect of self-acquaintance may not always be encouraging. We discover our prejudices and our limitations of knowledge or capacity. But the recognition of ignorance is, as Socrates maintained, the beginning of wisdom; and the education which so begins may pass into the highest form of education, which is the “conversation with a man’s best self “. And this kind of self-knowledge and self-communion is bound up with a [page 7] better understanding of the other man and of the community in which we live, so that the student who has come by it is like to be a better parent, a better companion, and a better citizen.

We do not seek nor expect perfection; we see frequent failures and failings back; but all of us who are engaged in residential Adult Education are encouraged to continue by the happy knowledge of men and women whose lives have been enriched, if not transformed, by the gradual process of growth in knowledge, wisdom, humour and good humour—of growth, in fact, in grace.

Educational Settlements —Non-residential Colleges for Adult Education in normal areas

Any attempt to describe a Settlement in a normal area must overcome the difficulty of definition: what is a Settlement and what is a normal area? For the purpose of this article a normal area must be understood as an urban area, neither “special” nor “distressed “, with a fair provision of community services such as health, technical and post-school education in general. ‘What a Settlement is in such an area will, I hope, be clear by the time this article is concluded.

It is always easy to say, first, what a thing is not, and therefore it may be as well to say how a Settlement differs from both a W.E.A. tutorial class and a local authority’s evening institute. W.E.A. tutorial classes will be found in Settlements, and some Settlements are affiliated to evening institutes. Moreover, some institutes, especially those provided by the London County Council, are the equal in range and social life, and mote than the equal in equipment, of the best of Settlements. Where is the difference?

As is generally known, the principle of the W.E.A. is to form a tutorial or other class where the members of the class require it, in church hail, school, settlement or working men’s club. By contrast the Settlement houses a variety of activities in the one building. On the other side, however vivid may be the social life of a London Literary Institute, its programme, staffing and general control are in the hands of a statutory authority: the principal, for example, cannot be dismissed by the students. In a Settlement, however, it is possible for the individual student, with [page 8] his or her fellows, to have a preponderating share in the government of the Settlement, to appoint the staff, to decide the educational and general policy and generally, through an executive, to be responsible for the detailed life of a community which may include as many as six or seven hundred men and women.

So much for definition by contrast. Now, what would you find on entering a Settlement? Inside on the notice board there would be the schedule of the day’s, or more generally the evening’s, activities. These might include an economics class, folk dancing, a rehearsal for a Shaw play, German literature and practical wireless construction. The number of activities is necessarily determined by the size and adequacy of the premises. From the entrance hall it is usually not far to the common room. This should be, and in most Settlements is, truly a common room. It ceases to be one when rehearsals or committee meetings are allowed to encroach. After classes are over the embryo philosophers and folk dancers, economists and German scholars, together with others not bent on any special activity, meet and talk there. A canteen is provided, and tongues can wag, gently lubricated by tea, coffee or lemonade, until 11 p.m., or whatever is the official closing time. A library is housed either in the common room or elsewhere. For the rest, the enquirer will find class rooms, a lecture hall and workshops, together with, in many Settlements, the private rooms of the resident wardens.

Much has been written of things so far. What is happening to persons. here? Well, in the first case, there is space in the Settlement, colour and light, and many who come there lack these in their homes. There is freedom. In the Settlement the individual man or woman may become significant. The man is no longer a lodger, tolerated by an inhospitable landlady. The woman is no longer “merely a wife “—dare it be said?—surrounded by housework and the care of children. A good many young parents take it in turn to come to the Settlement, in order that neither shall be wholly tied.

There is not only freedom; there is grace. You only achieve significance by making yourself acceptable to your fellows. On first joining the Settlement you may discover pain, the pain of contrast. Settlements are not places to stave off revolution. But the discontent stands a chance of becoming transformed through righteous indignation into positive social effort by the fellowship of varied souls, whose experience may range from that of a county court judge or city engineer to that of a coachbuilder or factory hand. The intellectual discipline of the tutorial class is allowed to impress the passive play-reader. Folk dances keep the earnest Marxist human, and Christian and Atheist are able to meet together in a community which is salted with humour. [page 9]

Most of the work is done in the evening, but there is a considerable and growing amount of work being done in the day with shift workers, unemployed, and married women. It is not only classes which are organized. In most Settlements there are strong dramatic groups; one has twice been in the finals of the British Drama League for the whole of England. Settlements have often taken a leading part in forming Youth Hostels, in focusing public opinion on the school-leaving age, nursery schools and other local government matters.

All educational settlements are affiliated to the Educational Settlements Association, which is a responsible body recognized by the Board of Education. Classes submitted through the E.S.A. or the W.E.A. are inspected by the Board’s inspectorate. In addition, many local authorities give block grants to Settlements and a corresponding amount of registration and inspection follows again.

The majority of Settlements receive a grant from the E.S.A., ranging from ten to thirty per cent, of the total income; the balance is made up of students’ fees (in one Settlement these range from is. 6d. to 7s., according to the class, and the year’s entire programme may be taken for a composition fee of 12s. 6d.), grants in aid from the Board of Education and the local authority, local subscriptions, and the special efforts, such as garden parties, of the students themselves.

The staff will vary from place to place. There is always a full-time Warden or joint Wardens, with occasionally a sub-Warden. The remainder are part-time tutors, taking their special subjects. They may be wholly occupied with similar work, as are the majority of W.E.A. tutorial class tutors, or they may be engaged on quite other work. There is in one Settlement, for example, a Post Office official who conducts an English literature class which has achieved renown. Many groups, especially those which are not limited by statutory requirements, will be staffed and organized by students themselves.

Cardinal Newman once wrote: “If, then, a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say it is that of training good members of society. Its art is the art of social life and its end is fitness for the world.” The Settlement is concerned not only with the decent use of leisure but with the very art of living, and the words of Newman may not unjustly be adopted as its aim.

 “ What I claim is liberal education: opportunity, that is, to have my share of whatever knowledge there is in the world according to my capacity or bent of mind . . . and also to have my share of skill of band which is about in the world, either in the industrial handicrafts or the fine arts.”

WILLIAM MORRIS.

[page 10]

In special areas

 “TheSettlements which have grown up in the mining valleys of South Wales since 1927 are making a contribution to the cultural and social life of the communities they serve which may fairly be described as unique inasmuch as they have been able to continue, in a way hardly open to any other type of organisation, the provision of expert advisory services in a variety of social activities with the maintenance of that close personal relationship and concern for people in whose midst they are situated, which is the distinguishing mark of Settlement work.”—Report of the Commissioner for the Special Areas in England and Wales for the year ended September 30th, 1937.

A number of palliative and practical efforts have been made in the Special Areas in the hope of mitigating the severity and demoralization of the conditions which poverty and uselessness have imposed upon many thousands of homes. One of the most significant has been the establishment of Educational Settlements of which there are eight in South Wales, one on the north-east coast of County Durham, and one at Maryport in Cumberland.

The first and obvious needs met by these efforts were physical. Visits to the homes of some of the miners revealed the desperate struggle going on, not only to feed the family, but in many cases also to hide the poverty that had overtaken them. Steps were taken to meet such needs as far as funds would allow.

But if the physical condition was serious the mental condition was even more serious, and there was as deep a need for an understanding sympathy as for material help.

In the situation we are thinking of the people had been used to work, to a consuming occupation which demanded their physical strength and occupied their minds, but after the General Strike many thousands of them found themselves with nothing to do from morning to night, week in, week out, and in place of a regular wage a meagre allowance from Public Assistance. Next, therefore, to trying to meet the barest physical needs was the imperative necessity [page 11] of something to meet the mental and spiritual demands of their lives, and it was this which led to the first Settlement in South Wales.

As an outcome of consultation with those who had experience of Educational Settlements in normal areas a house, Maes-yr-Haf, was taken and the experiment began of educating people to make good use of their otherwise useless hours and days.

At Maes-yr-Haf it was recognized from the outset that sympathy becomes mere sentimentality unless it has a practical expression, and that the spiritual life of a people is inseparably linked up with education in the broadest sense of that word. Therefore an attempt was made to find work for idle hands to do as well as to provide food for the mind. Cobblers’ shops, equipped with the necessary tools and leather, where unemployed men could mend boots and shoes for their dependants and also for school children, were among the first and successful efforts. Later came the development of men’s clubs in which meals were provided and pieces of public work undertaken by unemployed men, by arrangement with the local authorities. The clubs had workshops and tools where men could learn to make simple furniture and mend their own household necessities. Skilled instructors were available, and at one time there were as many as forty such centres in different parts of the South Wales valleys.

The starting of Adult Schools, and informal classes in a variety of subjects, and of a little school of weaving for women and girls at the Maes-yr-Haf Settlement, opened the way to new friendships and wider contacts. The weaving school was a great success and brought many women and girls into touch with beautiful work.

On the side of educational class work the Settlement provided competent lecturers in subjects that were close to the people’s interests.’ Although all the classes held, and they were many, were informal, the standard set was a high one. Time has shown that this provision was in direct line with the needs of the people, because the educational classes and lectures have grown from 9 in 1927 to 78 classes and 420 single lectures in 1937, and the students from about 200 in 1927 to over 1,000 in 1937. The Settlement staff, which began with two, to-day consists of twenty-four, including lecturers and instructors in Economics, Biology, Music, Psychology, Handicrafts, Drama, Play Centres, Physical Training, and Recreation.

This first experiment worked like leaven, and soon attempts were made to adapt it to the needs of other areas. Following close upon its found2tion was the opening of a Settlement at Merthyr Tydfil, and an original piece of work was begun at Dowlais. A little later Oxford House, Risca, was opened, and was followed by Bargoed Educational Settlement in 1934. [page 12] In 1936 by one at Aberdare and another at Pontypool. Plans are in hand for a further one at Pontypridd, which it is expected will be in full work during this winter. In the North of England a new Settlement was opened in Seaham Harbour in 1930, and the latest development is one at Maryport in West Cumberland, opened on September 22nd, 1937.

Of the development in South Wales Sir Percy Watkins, formerly of the Board of Education, says: “Each Settlement serves its own area, usually a mining valley with a population varying from 50,000 to 130,000, and from this significant fact there has grown, perfectly naturally, a somewhat unique result, namely that each Settlement is not merely a central meeting place for its associated clubs and groups and individuals, but is also a power-station from which emanates guidance and advice…. A South Wales Settlement is therefore a natural unit of organization within its area for any form of social service which depends for the value of its contribution upon a recognition of the cultural and social needs of that area as a whole. . . . These focal points are institutions which in the midst of all our changing social problems stand for something abiding and permanent and stable….”

An account of this kind would be incomplete unless some reference were made to the wider movement throughout the country which has been made possible by the Special Area Fund and the interest and sympathy of the Special Commissioner, Sir P. Malcolm Stewart, and his successor, Sir George M. Gillett. This fund, administered mainly through the National Council of Social Service, has been used to try to meet the greater need throughout the country and has been applied in a variety of ways and with varying degrees of success. There is no question, however, that those who were responsible for the administration of that fund availed themselves of the ideas that were being worked out at Maes-yr-Haf and in other Settlements.

One thing must not be overlooked, and that is that the Educational Settlement in Special Areas did not begin with any orthodox conception of what a Settlement should be, but only with the intense desire to meet a very serious and demoralizing human situation, and an open mind as to how that could be done. There now seems little doubt that the thing was right in its inception, and that the life of thousands of people has been effectively reached.

Moreover, as time has gone on and it has become more clear that a very large section of the mining community will never return to the one occupation of which they have competent knowledge, and that they will never have the chance of beginning life anew in some other district or in some other occupation, the Settlement is destined to play a permanent part in their lives.

[page 13]

Formal and Informal Courses of Study arranged by and held in the Educational Settlements, and indicating the Range of their Educational Activity

UNIVERSITY EXTENSION COURSES

Appreciation of Art

Drama, Modem

History, Modem

Introduction to Social Problems

Literature, English

Making of the New Testament

Making of the Gospels

Public Administration

Psychology

World Politics

THREE-YEAR TUTORIAL CLASSES

Anthropology

Economics

Economic History

International Problems

Literature

Philosophy

PREPARATORY TUTORIAL

Economics

Nationalism and Peace

ONE-YEAR COURSES

Biology

Drama

Economics

Economic History

Biology

Britain’s Government

French

German

French

German

International Relations

Literature

Literature, French

Literature, German

Literature, English

Music, Appreciation of

Music

Psychology

Parliamentary System

Social History

Nature Study

Psychology

Russia

TERMINAL COURSES

Architecture

Art and Craft Appreciation

Biology

Drama

Economics

Great Composers and their Works

Goethe

History

History, Constitutional

History, Economic

International Relations

Literature, Modern

Literature, German

Music, Appreciation of

Physics

Psychology

Political Theory

Political History of South Wales

Political Philosophy

Socrates

York, History of

International Affairs History

SHORT TERMINAL COURSES

Biology

Drama

Democracy and Civilization

History of the Oli%

Testament

International Afikirs Literature

Psychology

Science

Local Government

Psychology

Social Reforms of the Nineteenth Century

May of these courses are arranged in co-operation with Extra Mural Departments of Universities, and the Workers’ Educational Association.

[page 14]

Courses of Study arranged through Local Educational Authorities

Seniors

Art and Drama, Modern Architecture, Biology, Cookery, Crafts, Dramatic Study, Design, Dressmaking, Folk Dancing, Eurhythmics, Byways in Europe, Economics, Embroidery, English Grammar, How to write English, Elocution, Esperanto, French, First Aid, Films and Film Making, Government, German, Home Nursing, History, Hygiene, Italian, International Relations, Lettering, Lino Block Cutting, Literature, Law in Everyday Life, Leatherwork, Appreciation of Music, Choral Music, Millinery, Home Nursing, Needlework, Opera, The Open Air, Philosophy, Piano Playing, Psychology, Photography, Painting, Portraiture, Physical Training (Seniors), Physical Training (Juniors), Science,Speech Training, Spanish, Typewriting, Shorthand and Book-keeping, Home Tailoring, Welsh, Woodwork.

Courses of Study arranged through non-grant-earning classes

Art and Civilization, Ambulance Class, Bootmaking, Biology, Basketry, Current Events, Cookery, Eurhythmics, Morris Dancing, Country Dancing, Folk Dancing, Natural Movement Dancing, Drama, Dressmaking, Drawing, Design, English for Foreigners, English, English Grammar, Esperanto, Embroidery, Fencing, French, Foreign Affairs, Gospel Origins, German, Girls’ Club Leaders’ Class, Gardening, Home Decoration, Local History, Greek History, History, Handicrafts, Italian, Literature, Local Government, Music, Nationalism and Peace, Orchestra, Physical Training, Play Reading, Poetry, Photography, Poster Art, Pottery Painting, Philosophy, Public Speaking, Pewter Work, Swimming, Shorthand and Typewriting, Spanish, Upholstery, Welsh.

SUMMARY OF COURSES

The foregoing does not include courses of study provided by the Residential Colleges, particulars of which are given in the pamphlet Residential Colleges for Adult Education (see page 4). [page 15]

RESIDENTIAL COLLEGES

CROFT COLLEGE, STOKE PRIOR, NEAR BROMSGROVE, WORCS. For agricultural and rural workers (Men). Principal: James Dudley, M.Sc.

COLEG HARLECH, HARLECH, NORTH WALES. For students from adult education classes. Short courses also arranged for unemployed men. Principal. B. B. Thomas, M.A.

FIRCROFT COLLEGE, BOURNVILLE, BIRMINGHAM. For men from industry, commerce, etc., or from public or social services. PrincIpal: W. W. Lee, B.Sc.

HILLCROFT COLLEGE, SURBITON, SURREY. For women workers. Principal: Miss M. K. Ashby, B.A., M.Ed.

NEWBATTLE ABBEY COLLEGE, DALKEITH, SCOTLAND. For men and women workers. PrincIpal: Alexander G. Fraser, C.B.E., M.A.

RUSKIN COLLEGE, OXFORD. Courses for men and women workers. Principal: A. Barratt Brown, M.A.

WOODBROOKE, SELLY OAK, BIRMINGHAM. Religious and Social courses. Wardens. Henry T. Cadbury, M.A., Lucy B. Cadbury. Director of Studies: H. G. Wood, M.A., D.D.

EDUCATIONAL SETTLEMENTS

ABERDARE: Aberdare Valley Settlement, Fairfield, Aberdare, Glam. Warden: J. Victor Evans, M.A.

BARGOED: Bargoed Educational Settlement, Cardiff Road, Bargoed, South Wales. Wardens: J. I-I. Thomas, B.Litt.; Lucy Thomas.

BIRKENHEAD: Beechcroft Settlement, Whetstone Lane, Birkenhead. Warden: Charles Owen, B.A.

BRISTOL: Folk House, College Green, Bristol. Wardens: Harold F. Bing, M.A.; Elizabeth M. Bing.

DOWLAIS: Dowlais Centre, The Armoury,. Dowlais, South Wales. Warden: John Dennithorne.

EDINBURGH: Edinburgh University Settlement, Cameron House, Prestonfield, Edinburgh, 9. Warden: Miss Grace Drysdale.

GATESHEAD: Bensham Grove Settlement, Gateshead-on-Tyne. Warden. D. R. 0. Thomas, M.A.

LEEDS: Swarthmore Settlement, 4 Woodhouse Square, Leeds. Warden: Wilfrid Allott, B.A.

LEMINGTON: The Settlement, Lemington-on-Tyne. Warden: Dr. A. Messer, B.Sc. [page 16]

LETCHWORTH: The Settlement, Nevells Road, Letchworth. Warden: Miss Ruth I. Pym.

LONDON:

Balham Educational Settlement, Ramsden Road, Balham, S.W.12. Wardens. E. J. Fullwood; Mrs. Fullwood.

John Woolman Settlement, Memorial Buildings, Roscoe Street, E.C.1. Warden: Charles R. Simpson.

Mary Ward Settlement, 36 Tavistock Place, W.C.1. Hon. Warden.:  C. C. Walkinshaw, J.P.

Toynbee Hall, Commercial Street, E.1. Warden: Dr. J. J. Mallon.

Walthamstow Educational Settlement, Greenleaf Road, E.17. Warden: J. Owen Clover.

MERTHYR TYDFIL: Merthyr Settlement, Merthyr Tydfil. Warden:

NORTHWICH: Wincham Hall, Northwich, Cheshire. Warden: Frank S. Milligan, M.A.

PONTYPOOL: Pontypool Educational Settlement, Rockhill Road, Pontypool, Mon. Wardens: Ivor and Mrs. Thomas.

PONTYPRIDD: Educational Settlement, Pontypridd, South Wales. Warden: T. Glyn Davies, M.A.

PLYMOUTH: Swarthmore Hall, Mutley Plain, Plymouth. Warden: Arthur S. Gage, B.A.

READING: Holybrook House, Castle Street, Reading. Warden: T. W. Price, B.Litt.

TREALAW: Maes-yr-Haf Educational Settlement, Trealaw, The Rhondda, South Wales. Wardens: William and Emma Noble.

MARYPORT: Maryport Settlement, Castle Hill, Maryport, Cumberland. Wardens: Ralph E. and Mrs. Reedman.

RISCA: Oxford House Educational Settlement, Risca, Monmouthshire. Wardens: J. V. Alexander, B.Sc.; Mrs. Alexander, B.A.

RUGBY: Percival Guildhouse, Rugby. Warden: Raymond C. Rowse, M.A.

SEAHAM HARBOUR: Rock House Educational Settlement, Seaham Harbour, Co. Durham. Warden: E. A. S. Butterworth, M.A.

WILMSLOW: The Beacon Guild, Bourne Street, Wilmslow, Cheshire. Warden: Miss C. Fowler, B.A.

DONCASTER: Terry Holt, Woodlands, near Doncaster. Warden: Miss W. Hogg.

YORK: The Settlement, Holgate Hill, York. Wardens: R. Duncan Fairn, B.Sc.(Econ.); Marion Fairn, B.Sc.

How to cite this piece:  Educational Settlements Association (1938) Community Education. Being a description of the work of residential and non-residential colleges for adult education, London: Educational Settlements Association. Available in the informal education archives: https://infed.org/mobi/community-education-being-a-description-of-the-work-of-residential-and-non-residential-colleges-for-adult-education/

Acknowledgements: This piece has been reproduced her with the kind permission of the Educational Centres Association. The photographs: the common room at York Settlement (circa 1938) and picture: settlement sports day – South Wales are also is reproduced with their permission.

First placed in the archives: July 2004.