Ruskin’s Followers – Social Network Analysis of the Roots of Experiential

Outdoor Learning

Paper presented at

Annual Seminar of FinEd/Network of History and Philosophy of Education

University of Turku, Finland

11.-12.6.2015

Lauri Luoto

lauri.luoto@psycon.com

Research Questions

• John Ruskin is considered as one of the most remarkable social thinkers of early 20th century. His educational ideas have inspired many contemporary progressive school founders and founders of outdoor learning schemes [1]. Unlike some other educationalists like Montessori and Dewey, Ruskin did not implement his ideas in practice. They were implemented by his disciples. Ruskin’s educational ideals have been studied recently by several scholars, but the question of disciples has not been discussed in detail. [2] – Q1: Who were the most important disciples and how they interacted with each other?

• Scout movement, founded by R Baden-Powell, is one of the organizations were one can see Ruskinian influences. In the literature, the founding of the movement is placed in the context of the changes that took place toward the end of the Victorian era. [3] Direct links to Ruskin have not been discussed in detail even though Ruskin himself was a family friend of Baden-Powells. In the literature Baden-Powell’s connections with military officers and the establishment are stressed, but there are also weak ties to the New School Movement and Christian socialists. [4] – Q2: Was Baden-Powell connected with the progressive thinkers and how?

• Today, there are different traditions in European experiential outdoor learning. Norwegian friluftsliv, German Erlebnispädagogik and British Adventure learning are often described as strictly separate schools. [5] The key thinkers and founders of those schools did – however – interact with each other. – Q3: To what extent the different traditions can be traced back to the ideas of the same thinkers?

Method

• Social Network Analysis is used to study the network relationships between experiential education theorists and practitioners between 1889-1918. The aim is to study the connections between the persons instead of attribute data of the actors like in biographies or prosopography and other existing literature.

• Due to the explorative nature of the paper, the target group was defined using reputational approach (see Scott 2000, 56). Long list was created based on the names listed in

– Sourcebook of Experiential Education: Key Thinkers and Their Contributions (Smith & Knapp 2011)

– Progressives and Radicals in English Education, 1750-1950 (Stewart 1972)

• The list was then edited based on three criteria. The persons should be

– Relevant. They used or their theories discussed experiential learning

– Worked actively beween 1889-1918. SNA is not very suitable for longitual studies , so the time span has to bee short enough to be considered as a snapshot. [6]

– Have at least two connections so that they can disseminate ideas. The process was iterative so that new people were added to the network as soon as they met this criteria.

• SNA has been critized for confusing structure with interaction. Persons with high social status tend to be well connected and in the worst case the network can be a reproduction of power structure rather than a picture of actual information flow. (de Nooy 2003, 319; Bergstrom 2013, 181). To avoid this, only strictly operational connections are taken into account.

Method

• Having both thinkers and practitioners in the target groups makes it diificult to choose a balanced set of relationship types. Citation is a common relationship but basically only applicable for scholars who do publish. Three broad categories of relationships were created by means of combining categories used in existing texts (Fangerau 2013, 19; Krischel & Fangerau 2013, 54). The types are

– Correspondence between persons

– Citation, intellectual reference (eg. person A cites B in a letter to C)

– Joint projects

• The connections are weighted by 1,2 or 3 based on how many types of relationship are used.

• All of the connections are considered as reciprocal. While it would be useful to analyze, how information has flown, it would not not be possible to combine directed and undirected data in the same adjacency matrix. Therefore the directionality of data is ignored. (see Scott 2000, 48)

• Information about the relationships between person was gathered from various sources. The above mentioned reference books were of great value. Information was also drawn from:

– Published letters

– Archive indexes with summaries of letters

– Biographies (including excerpts from letters)

– Other secondary literature

• Use of diverse material allows considering the relation from both parties point of view. The same method was applied by Lemmerer (2009, 11-12) when studying Ivan Illich’s professional network.

• The persons studied are listed on the next page

1825 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975

Thomas Carlyle, philosopher

John Ruskin, social thinker

Edward Carpenter, philosopher

George Baden-Powell, MP

Parick Geddes, professor

Robert Muirhead , mathematician

Robert Baden-Powell, general

Cecil Reddie, headmaster

Fritjof Nansen, polar explorer

Alexander Devine, headmaster

John Badley, headmaster

Hermann Lietz, headmaster

Maria Montessori, educator

John Howard Whitehouse, MP

Geoffrey Winthrop Young, climber

Kurt Hahn, educator

Analysis

• Two methods are applied to analyze the material:

• Information Centrality (IC) focuses on how information might flow through different paths. Compared with some other centrality indicators, it has two advantages when studying the dissemination of new ideas. (Kalamaras 2014, Stephenson & Zelen 1989)

– IC takes connection weighting into account. Thus, persons between whom there are several relationship types (eg. correspondence and joint businesses) are given more emphasis.

– Shortest path between the nodes is not the only connection that is taken into account. This allows studying the strength of weak ties. Even weak links can be bridges between clusters and allow wider transmission of ideas. (Fangerau 2013, 15).

• Common memberships

– Analysis on common memberships identifies how social movements and organizations are interconnected through mutual members. This method can be applied to see possibilities of cross-fertilization (Verbruggen 2007, Rosenthal 1985)

Information Centrality

Node size indicates its degree (how well connected the node is) Node positions on the chart correspond to Information centrality. Connection thickness indicates the value (how many relationship types are applied). Node Colors: Blue = philosophers, social thinkers Red = School founders Green = Outdoor educationalist etc.

Scout Movement

New School Movement

Outward Bound

Friluftsliv

Common Memberships

Node size indicates its degree (How well connected the node is) Connection value (values 1-3) indicates how many common members there are between the organizations.

Discussion

• Based on the analysis, thinkers and practitioners co-operated with many ways. Certain person can be considered as gatekeepers. They might have had more central role in disseminating the ideas between different actors than what is known. Some associations had an important role as forums for disseminating the ideas.

• Founder of the Boy Scouts, R Baden-Powell, was connected with the network especially through George Baden-Powell and J H Whitehouse.

• Expanding the scope of the study and the use of archival sources could give a fuller picture about the network, eg. clicques within the network

• Reliability of the findings, some concerns:

– When using reputational approach, the method of selection determine some relational features of the network. This might lead to a circular argument. (see Scott 2000, 56)

– False-negative bias: It is easier to proof existence than non-existence of connections. There is more source material available about well-known actors, which might boost their role in the network.

Notes

[1] These include Cecil Reddie, John Badley, Alexander Devine, John Whitehouse, Hermann Lietz (Stewart 1972)

[2] Atwood 2011, Eagles 2011

[3] MacDonald 1993, Rosenthal 1986, Gerr 1981

[4] Jeal 1989, Stewart 1972, Eagles 2011

[5] Gurholt 2008, 131; The structure of the MA programme Transcultural European Outdoor Studies of the University of Cumbria is based on these three traditions: http://www.cumbria.ac.uk/Courses/Subjects/ForestryOutdoor/Postgraduate/TransculturalEuropeanOutdoorStudies.aspx

[6] see Rosenthal 1985, Erickson 151

References

I LITERATURE REFERRED TO

Atwood , S. 2011. Ruskin's Educational Ideals. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate

Becker, P. & Schirp, J. (eds.) 2008. Other Ways of Learning. Marburg: European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning (EOE).

Bergstrom, C. 2013. Literary Coteries, Network Theory, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, Vol. 26, No. 3, 180–188.

Eagles, S. 2011. After Ruskin: The Social and Political Legacies of a Victorian Prophet, 1870-1920. Oxford Historical Monographs.

Erickson, B. 1997. Social Networks and History: A Review Essay, Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 30:3, 149-157,

Gerr, H. 1981. Baden-Powells Entwurf einer Erziehung durch Scouting. Einflüsse und Entwicklungstendenzen. Würzburg

Jeal , T. 1989. Baden-Powell. Yale: Yale University Press

de Nooy , W. 2003. Fields and networks: correspondence analysis and social network analysis in the framework of field theory. Poetics 31 , 305–327.

Rosenthal, M. 1986. The Character Factory. New York: Pantheon

Rosenthal, N. et.al. 1985. Social Movements and Network Analysis: A Case Study of Nineteenth-Century Women's Reform in New York State. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 90, No. 5, pp. 1022-1054.

Scott, J. 2000. Social Network Analysis. A Handbook. London: Sage Publications

Smith, T. & Knapp, C. 2011. Sourcebook of Experiential Education: Key Thinkers and Their Contributions. New York: Routledge

Stewart, W. 1972. Progressives and Radicals in English Education, 1750-1950. London: Macmillan

MacDonald, R. 1993. Sons of the Empire. Toronto: University of Toronto Press

Gurholt, K. 2008. Norwegian Friluftsliv as Bildung – a Critical Review. In Peter Becker & Joachem Schirp (eds.): Other Ways of Learning.

References

Fangerau , H. 2013. Evolution of knowledge from a network perspective: recognition as a selective factor in the history of science. In H. Fangerau: Classification and Evolution in Biology, Linguistics and the History of Science.

Fangerau , H. et.al. 2013. Classification and Evolution in Biology, Linguistics and the History of Science. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

Keats-Rohan, K. (ed). 2007. Prosopography. Approaches and Applications. Prosopographica et Genealogica, vol. 13. Oxford: University of Oxford.

Krischel , M. & Fangerau, H. 2013. Historical network analysis can be used to construct a social network of 19th-century evolutionists. In H. Fangerau: Classification and Evolution in Biology, Linguistics and the History of Science.

Lemmerer, E. 2009. Examining a Sample of the American-Mexican Scientific Cooperation in the 1960s: A Social Network Analysis of the CIDOC-Network. Diplomarbait. Universität Wien.

Kalamaras , D. 2014. The SocNetV Manual. Social Network Visualizer (SocNetV). http://socnetv.sourceforge.net

Stephenson , K.& Zelen, M. 1989. Rethinking centrality: Methods and examples. Social Networks 11: 1–37

Verbruggen, C. 2007. Literary Strategy during Flanders’s Golden Decades (1880-1914): Combining Social Network Analysis and Prosopography. In K.S.B. Keats-Rohan: Prosopography. Approaches and Applications.

II BIOGRAPHIES AND OTHER SECONDARY LITERATURE

Farrell, J. 2007. Education in the Years to Come: What We Can Learn from Alternative Education. In: Hershock, P. et.al.: Changing Education. CERC Studies in Comparative Education 20. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Center.

Hankinson, A. 1995. Geoffrey Winthrop Young: Poet, Mountaineer, Educator. London: Hodder & Stoughton

Kitchen, P. 1975. A Most Unsettling Person. An Introduction to the Ideas and Life of Patrick Geddes. London: Victor Gollancz.

Kjærheim, S. 1961. Fridtjof Nansen Brev. 2, 1896-1905. Trondhjem: Universitetsforlaget.

References

Searby, P. 1989. The new school and the new life: Cecil Reddie (1858-1932) and the early years of Abbotsholme School’ , History of Education, XVIII/1 .

Skidelsky, R. 1969. English Progressive Schools. Middlesex: Penguin Books.

Springhall, J. 1977. Youth, Empire and Society. London: Croom Helm

Stephen, W. et.al. 2011. Think Global, Act Local. The Life and Legacy of Patrick Geddes. Edinburgh: Luath Press.

Stewart, W. 1968. The Educational Innovators. Volume 2. Progressive Schools 1891-1967. London: Macmillan

Ward, B. 1934. Reddie of Abbotsholme. London: George Allen.

Veevers & Allison. 2011. Kurt Hahn: Inspirational, visionary, outdoor and experiential educator. Rotterdam: Sense

III ARCHIVE INDEXES

Patrick Geddes papers. Retrieved from http://strathclyde.ica-atom.org/patrick-geddes-papers

R F Muirhead papers. Retrieved from http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/search/detail_c.cfm?ID=1460

John Ruskin papers . Retrieved from http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/users/ruskinlib/Documents/mslist.pdf