Adult Education in Canada: Historical Essays

George G. Ambury is an associate professor of adult education at
Queen’s University.

Gordon Selman was involved in many facets of the Canadian adult
education movement. Unfortunately, he does not communicate a
comprehensive vision of the movement in this book. Rather, it is a
series of disparate papers on a variety of historical themes. The first
part examines Canadian (primarily English) issues. The balance of the
essays focus on British Columbia. Particularly valuable are the three
monographs dealing with the changes in the Canadian Association for
Adult Education under Corbett, Kidd, and Thomas, respectively. The
absence of an essay on the role of Canadians in international aspects of
adult education is disappointing. Shortcomings aside, this book provides
a treasure-trove of Selman’s writings.