51. The Pioneer Vanishes: Midnight Oil and the Birth of Adult Education Television.
- Author
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Griffin, Ken
- Subjects
ADULT education research ,ADULT education ,EDUCATION ,ARCHIVAL research - Abstract
The pioneering work of Ulster Television (UTV) in the field of adult education television is among the most neglected chapters of UK regional broadcasting history. Between July 1962 and August 1963 the station produced 73 televised lectures in association with Queen's University, Belfast. UTV's initial effort, Midnight Oil (1962), was the first ever adult education series on UK television, while its sequel, The Inquiring Mind (1963), explored the medium's potential as an illustrative educational tool. Both series prefigured key aspects of the television broadcasts which supported the subsequent Open University. Their audience ratings also challenged established wisdom about the potential reach of televised adult education. Despite their innovative nature, UIV's series have been marginalised within accounts of the origins of adult education television in the UK. Such narratives have tended to focus on later English productions and generally identify Anglia Television's Dawn University (1963) as the first precursor to the Open University. One account, Sendall (1983), even questioned the veracity of the UTV's claim to have brought adult education television to the UK. This article establishes the extent and nature of UTV's contribution to adult education television before examining the factors which may have led to the marginalisation of its role within narratives surrounding UK broadcasting history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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