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The Fifty-One Society: A case study of BBC radio and the education of adults.
- Source :
-
Studies in the Education of Adults . Autumn2006, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p210-224. 15p. - Publication Year :
- 2006
-
Abstract
- This article discusses the relationship between sound broadcasting and adult education, looking at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during the period of post-war reconstruction and austerity of the 1950s. It considers in particular one of the Corporation's most innovative educative programmes of the period, The Fifty-One Society'. This was produced in Manchester by the Talks Department of the BBC North Region and first broadcast on 1 November 1951. The format was a discussion, along the lines of the old literary and debating societies, and featured a small group of northern academics drawn from the Universities of Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, many of whom had personal experience as adult education tutors. Each week a topic was introduced by a guest speaker and then discussed by the 'resident experts' in the studio. The discussion was then edited and broadcast. The Fifty-One Society aimed to bring to listening audiences ideas, informed views and argument on a wide range of topics relating to science, the arts, industry, education, literature, government, politics, religion, war and peace. The paper examines the programme's underlying philosophy: 'the belief of the liberal imagination' and attempts to evaluate its success and its educative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02660830
- Volume :
- 38
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Studies in the Education of Adults
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23195394
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2006.11661534