Adult Education in the Social Planning of a Civic Organization

Abstract

This study deals with adult education in the social planning of a civic organization. The problem is to determine the nature and extent of adult education which is the outgrowth of community planning. The study is made in order to assemble and present in usable form facts which may assist persons promoting adult education, program makers in adult organizations, and community leaders in one line or another of community betterment. More specifically, it is the purpose of the study to examine in detail the work of the Montgomery County Civic Federation of Montgomery County, Maryland, in order to discover the higher forms of adult education of informal types which accrue from the several activities of a single civic organization of recognized influence in a rural-suburban area, as these are manifest in the records of the federation and its member associations, and in changes and developments in this area. The activities of the federation, as recorded in the minutes over eight years of its existence, were examined in detail and classified under five major subjects, each having many minor topics. The major divisions are used as chapter titles and the findings, which include studies made by the federation and developments within the county, are presented under these subjects to reveal the amount and kind of adult education in social planning. The study begins with a description of the locale, Montgomery County, Maryland, which includes its location, history, governmental structure, and population. In Chapter II., the aims, history, structure, and functioning of the Montgomery County Civic Federation are described. The facts revealed by this survey of the eight-year program of the federation and of the area it influences are classified and presented as five chapters dealing with adult education in Public Welfare, County Projects, Public Schools, Government, and Outside the County. The study ends with a summary based on the findings.