A Force to Be Reckoned with

Overview & Synopsis

In the second article in a series marking 90 years of NIACE support for adult learning, the author charts the changing shape of adult education in the decades following the Second World War, and the Institute's emergence as a "major non-governmental force" in the development of adult education. In 1983 the NIAE changed its name to the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, a decision at least in part motivated by changing preconditions for departmental investment. The name change did not involve a change in the organisation's structure or immediate practice, but it did reflect more accurately an emerging remit beyond the traditional mainstream territories of university extra-mural provision; the agendas of local education authority adult and community education services; and the concerns of major voluntary bodies like the Workers' Educational Association (WEA). As the 1980s progressed, NIACE started to contribute more confidently to discourses about the relationship between general education and vocational training and between economic prosperity and social inclusion; retaining its traditional membership base among local authorities and universities while building its membership among further education colleges and Training and Enterprise Councils.