2019 Annual Conference

Graduate Student Education

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

Highlander Research and Education Center is a sacred gathering space for faculty, community organizers, and ordinary people facing the challenges of staying alive, economically, physically, and spiritually. This session uses an arts-based approach to illustrate the creative tension between academics and grassroots leaders and their resolution to bring social changes.

Graduate students and professors interested in exploring the historical tradition of cooperatives in adult education from the work of Lilian Johnson, a pioneer in women's education and in rural reform, to Highlander Folk School. Four doctoral students and a professor will make parallels with contemporary efforts to bring economic and educational reform through cooperatives, using an original play to illustrate the dueling philosophies of Johnson and Horton, both dedicated to economic and social change for Appalachian communities. Other potential participants include activists, community educators, and qualitative researchers interested in arts-based approaches.

Participants will:
1. Identify the guiding philosophy of Lilian Johnson, pioneer in education and cooperatives in the US (1864-1956).
2. Compare and contrast the philosophy of Johnson, benefactor, with Myles Horton, founder, of HIghlander Folk School.
3. Define arts-based research (Leavy). Presenters will use Reader's Theater to illustrate the dueling philosophies of Horton and Johnson in addressing social change, economic and environmental sustainability. A dialogue with the audience will follow.
4. Apply lessons learned from leaders of social justice movements to fostering peaceful resolution of philosophical gridlocks.

How does the agricultural cooperative promote environmental sustainability? Economic independence? What are the barriers and resistances they face?  Dr. Lilian Johnson and Myles Horton had opposing ideologies, yet they both recognized the potential of cooperatives to improve the welfare of people and strengthen the societies in which they lived.  Such farming communities aimed to address and meet the needs of their people, increasing not only economic independence but cultivating ecological sustainability and aiding in food security.                                     This session will focus on the ways in which the two visionaries sought to initiate social and economic change in a rural Appalachian community during the early to mid-twentieth century through a Reader's Theater presentation by four doctoral students.  Belief in cooperatives created a common ground for Horton and Johnson. Yet, both early Highlander staff and Dr. Johnson faced resistance to their strategies for change. In fact, faculty today may face the same tension with communities wary of academics. Adding to the complexity is a divide between democratic ideals and classroom hierarchies. A discussion will follow on how agricultural cooperatives can address contemporary social concerns and how educators, practitioners, and communities of like-minded people can unite to bring about educational and economic reform.

A brief presentation will introduce the cooperative movement and the work of Lilian Johnson. After Johnson accompanied congressmen on a tour of agricultural cooperatives in Europe, she returned to the US intent on establishing a cooperative in rural Tennessee. She explored multiple ways to educate and empower the community. After 15 years, she felt she had not made a difference. 

A scene from an original play will illustrate the meeting of Johnson with Horton and West, founders of Highlander Folk School, highlighting their philosophical differences. Reflection of creative tensions in small groups wil be followed by discussion of contemporary applications.