Introduction The social and philosophical contexts involved, in planning an adult educational program are considered to be critical factors, and as such shape the form and function of the resulting program planning model. For example, in the history of adult education in Canada, the Woman's Institute (WI) was initially founded with the aim of educating rural women in Canada in the field of Domestic Science and Home Economics. Adelaide Hoodle, who is credited as a co-founder of the WI, was partly motivated by a personal tragedy in the loss of her 18 months old child due to his drinking of unpasteurized milk. At about the same time, the department of agriculture was eager to find ways of organizing the scattered farming communities of Canada in something more than the localized gatherings that use to take place in the form of farmers' wives nights. Hence the WI was fortunate to benefit from substantial support, both financially and politically, from the department of Agriculture. However, such support had inevitably rendered the WI an unfavorable partner for the feminist social movement that rejected gender based division of labor and hence viewed the WI as a means of reinforcing existent social injustices. There is a valid argument to be made here that the WI, although progressive in its view that education, through the scientific method, would reform society, it was essentially conservative in its approach and did not seek to challenge or transform the underlying social structures that created its founding concerns in the first place, i.e. the lack of choices and means for women to pursue their aspirations. The aim of this paper is therefore to reflect upon the inevitable societal power relationships that an adult education program planner is confronted with during the process of design, marketing and evaluation of her or his program planning model. For the purpose of our discussions here, an adult education will be defined broadly to include a wide variety of educational activities or programs in which adults might participate, such as university extension programs, continuing education courses, traditional higher or post-secondary education, and professional development workshops.
The social and philosophical contexts involved, in planning an adult educational program are considered to be critical factors, and as such shape the form and function of the resulting program planning model.
For example, in the history of adult education in Canada, the Woman's Institute (WI) was initially founded with the aim of educating rural women in Canada in the field of Domestic Science and Home Economics. Adelaide Hoodle, who is credited as a co-founder of the WI, was partly motivated by a personal tragedy in the loss of her 18 months old child due to his drinking of unpasteurized milk.
At about the same time, the department of agriculture was eager to find ways of organizing the scattered farming communities of Canada in something more than the localized gatherings that use to take place in the form of farmers' wives nights. Hence the WI was fortunate to benefit from substantial support, both financially and politically, from the department of Agriculture. However, such support had inevitably rendered the WI an unfavorable partner for the feminist social movement that rejected gender based division of labor and hence viewed the WI as a means of reinforcing existent social injustices.
There is a valid argument to be made here that the WI, although progressive in its view that education, through the scientific method, would reform society, it was essentially conservative in its approach and did not seek to challenge or transform the underlying social structures that created its founding concerns in the first place, i.e. the lack of choices and means for women to pursue their aspirations.
The aim of this paper is therefore to reflect upon the inevitable societal power relationships that an adult education program planner is confronted with during the process of design, marketing and evaluation of her or his program planning model. For the purpose of our discussions here, an adult education will be defined broadly to include a wide variety of educational activities or programs in which adults might participate, such as university extension programs, continuing education courses, traditional higher or post-secondary education, and professional development workshops.