Australian Journal of Adult Learning - Volume 50 - Recollections on the Association over five decades

Oct 15, 2026

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Recollections on the Association over five decades, published in Australian Journal of Adult Learning (Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010), presents an autobiographical account from Arch Nelson focused on adult education and literacy work during the 1960s. The narrative describes experiences with WEA tutorial classes, the organization of community education groups, and subsequent service in army education. It highlights the value of discussion through current affairs materials, the capacity of ordinary participants to engage critically, and the Association’s role in sustaining gains, promoting rational debate, and encouraging innovation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

1. AAAE IN THE 1960s

Recollections on the Association over five decades

Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 50, Number 3, November 2010 Recollections on the Association over five decades The first three contributions werepresented by the authors atthe 30th Conference Dinner in December 1990, and subsequently published in: Harris, R and Willis, P (eds.) (2002) Striking a balance: Adult and community education in Australia towards 2000, Adelaide: Centre for Human Resource Studies, University of South Australia and the South Australian Branch of the Australian Association of Adult and Community Education, pp. 140–148. The last two contributions were specifically requested for this issue of the journal. 1. AAAE IN THE 1960s Arch Nelson Adult education and literacy consultant, Armidale I would say you are taking a grave risk, when you ask me to reminisce. That is a very dangerous request to a person in his 80th year! I would like to say first of all that my attitude to the Association can be attributed to my previous experience of adult education. 530 Arch Nelson, Barrie Brennan, Dianne Berlin, Alastair Crombie and Roger K. Morris I worked in Adelaide in the tutorial class department as a tutor fora number of years and I recall that our secretary in those days, a very efficient secretary, was one Colin Lawton. As a matter of fact when I was a primary schoolteacher here in SA, Ihad as many as four WEA tutorial classes in each single week. And one of my recollections is that we had no trouble about the organisation of these classes. The theory of the WEA tutorial class arrangement was that the WEA looked after the consumers; it was the community representative so to speak. It was very efficiently done here in SA. I do not want to reminisce about them but I do recall that one was down at Largs Bay, and that was a fairly highly respectable, middle class group. Ihad one at Port Adelaide which was tremendously interesting. It included Marxist and Henry George people, people ofvarious brands of political sympathy and Ihad an entertaining and educative evening once a week with a dozen or so people. I also looked after a group at Port Augusta. I wrote the lectures in handwriting and sent them up to Port Augusta and somebody up there had the job of imparting them to a group and fostering the discussion afterwards. My first thinking about the Association was that I should support it for a number of reasons. I had in mind that we had made some quite substantial advances over the years. I spent some time in army education. Whereas my experience in Adelaide had been restricted, it was broadened in army education. One of the questions I asked myself when I went into the army was whether the kind of thing that I did with those highly specialised groups that I taught in Adelaide could be done with ordinary troops. I found that it could be. Oneof my jobs was to go around and instruct officers in running the current affairs discussions. Senior officers were very sceptical that the material that came from Army Education Headquarters could be used. I was sent out to show them it could be. I remember I went into Western Command, WA, and General Robertson grinned at me and said,‘Well Nelson, if you are able to instruct my officers in the use of those comic book pamphlets that come from your HQ every two Recollections on the Association over five decades 531 weeks, in order to inspire discussion among the troops, you’re a better man than I am’. It occurred to me that l expected to be a success. But my response to the general was simply,‘Well, Sir, I believe that you have some criticisms ofthe Current Affairs Bulletin’. But I did find out when I went around that ordinary men and women were capable of discussing the issues put forward in the Current Affairs Bulletin. Two things impressed me in my three or four years in the army about the troops. One was that the ordinary fellow had a much greater capacity to discuss the issues of the day than he was given credit for, provided he was reasonably

FAQs

What experiences shaped Arch Nelson’s attitude toward the Association?

His attitude is described as rooted in prior experience in adult education, including teaching and literacy-related work before and during army education.

How were WEA tutorial classes described in Nelson’s recollections?

They were organized efficiently by the WEA, framed as serving consumers through a community-representative approach, with examples from several locations.

What roles does Nelson believe the Association should fulfill when considering its establishment in 1960?

He identifies three aims: preserving adult education gains, promoting rational discussion among adult educators, and becoming more innovative than before.

Oct 15, 2026

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