John
Funnell Ohliger Vita
The
Adult Education History Project
Based
on Information in the Syracuse University Library Archives
Translated
for the WWW by Roger Hiemstra
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494
-Record_type-
Person
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-Main_entry-
John
Ohliger.
[John Funnell
Ohliger; J. Ohliger; John F. Ohliger]
-Title-
-KLARS_source-
Edited by
Roger Hiemstra from data compiled by Andrew Goldstein, ATE 600 Historical
Perspectives student, Fall, 1989, and compilers for published resource guides.
-Phys_descrip-
-Strategy_hints-
Selected
archival materials at Syracuse University, Arents Library, will provide some
assistance. Other support would come
from John Ohliger and his materials through Basic Choices, Inc., Springfield,
IL.
[sources: Andrew Goldstein; Roger Hiemstra]
-Bio/hist_note-
Married in
1963. He has three children. John Ohliger is alive and well and working
at a rapid pace. He has been involved
in adult education for over 35 years as a professor, administrator, author,
trainer, speaker, researcher, organizer, bibliographer, critic, and volunteer
in such aspects of the field as philosophy, political education, media,
discussion group leadership, university extension, community colleges, liberal
arts, and labor education. He is quite
outspoken in his views of adult education.
Dr. Ohliger considers himself a "radical" adult educator. By his definition, he considers all radical
educators as those individuals who "get to the root of the issues and work
toward fundamental social change for the better." I (Andrew Goldstein) spoke with him by
telephone when I was trying to augment the spotty information covered in
LEADERS IN EDUCATION. The literature
ceased with his appointment to Ohio State University as an associate professor. When I asked him what followed, he stated
that he "left" Ohio State in 1973 to "pursue other
options" [and after some
disagreement with Ohio State administrators].
This intrigued me. After
reviewing his resume, I must agree with his self description as a "radical
educator." He, however, conceives
of "radical" in a different light.
Radical, to him, means working for fundamental social change through the
balance of a just social order based on human rationality and the fostering of
spontaneous freedom through true community.
The "social change," as fostered by the university, served,
apparently, to stifle him. In an
article about philosophy as a guide to individual action, Dr. Ohliger points a
condemning, albeit, subtle finger at his (at the time) employers, Ohio State,
and at institutions, in general. He
says,facetiously, that we don't need guides to action anymore; "no moral
or ethical guides to social action.
They just get in the way. If we
stood up for what we believed in, we might get fired or at the very least
frowned on by our bosses or our fellow employees. . . . being an adult educator
is just a job . . . . right? It's not
our fault if the result of our work further enmeshes people in the web of
institutional slavery. We're just doing
our job. Like Adolph
Eichmann." The article in which
this statement was contained was written during his tenure at Ohio State, but
was rejected for publication by ADULT LEADERSHIP. Perhaps Dr. Ohliger is a radical, but as a proponent of social
change, he appears true to his convictions.
[source: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974]
-Summry_descrip-
-Series-
-Folder_title-
-Set_title-
-Begin_date-
19261111
-Source_B_date-
LEADERS IN
EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974.
-End_date-
-Source_E_date-
-Form/genre-
-Education-
1948-51--A.B.,
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
1956-57--M.A.,
Adult Education, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
1958-60--Advanced
study in Adult Education, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
1964-66--Ed.D.,
Adult Education, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
[source: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974]
-Work_history-
1945-48--Information
Specialist/Teacher/Writer, U.S. Army, West Germany.
1948-51--Teaching
Assistant, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.
1951-54--Educational
Representative, Michigan CIO Council, Detroit, MI.
1954-56--Administrative
Assistant to the Vice-President, Sun Battery, Santa Ana, CA.
1956-58--Principal
extension representative to Adult Education, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
1958-59--Senior
staff member, American Foundation for Continuing Education [AFCE], Chicago, IL.
1959-60--Area
Director and Administrative Assistant to the President of the Great Books
Foundation, Chicago, IL.
1960-61--Assistant
Coordinator for Labor Programs, Industrial Relations, University of California
at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
1961-64--Public
Affairs and News Director for Pacifica Foundation's radio stations, KPFA &
KPFK, Los Angeles and Berkeley, CA.
1964-66--Assistant
University Extension Specialist, UCLA, Berkeley, CA.
1966-67--Director
of Continuing Education at Selkirk College, Castlegar, British Columbia.
1967-73--Assistant
and Associate Professor in Adult Education, Ohio State University, Columbus,
OH.
1973-74--Visiting
Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Extension, Division of Program and
Staff Development, Madison, WI.
1974-77--Freelance
teacher, speaker, consultant. Teaching
assignments included University of Saskatchewan and Florida International
University. Speaking engagements
included Temple University, Florida State University [FSU], and Center for
Intercultural Documentation (Cuernavaca, Mexico).
1977-present--Founder
and co-director of Basic Choices, Inc., a midwestern center for clarifying
political and social options, Springfield, IL.
[sources: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974; John
Ohliger]
-Assoc_subjects-
Adult
education.
Broadcasting.
CERTIFICATION.
Discussion.
LIFELONG
EDUCATION.
Listening
groups
Mandatory
continuing education.
Mass media.
Political
action.
POLITICAL
EDUCATION.
Radical
adult education.
Voluntary
continuing education.
[sources: Andrew Goldstein; Roger Hiemstra]
-Assoc_people-
Brightman,
Sam.
Cunningham,
Phyllis.
Illich,
Ivan.
Freire,
Paulo.
[sources: Andrew Goldstein; Roger Hiemstra]
-Assoc_organiz-
Adult Education
Association of the USA (section chairman, 1967) [AEA-USA].
Alpha
Epsilon Rho.
Canadian
Association of Adult Education [CAEA].
National
Association of Educational Broadcasters (committee member, 1967).
Phi Delta
Kappa (committee member, 1968).
[source: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974]
-Assoc_evnt/prj-
Co_editor,
SECOND THOUGHTS, 1978-1984
Consultant
for Fund for Adult Education, 1956-1959.
Consultant
for National Instructional T.V. Center, 1969-1970.
Consulting
Editor,ADULT EDUCATION, 1968.
Consulting
Editor, ADULT EDUCATION QUARTERLY, 1986-1989.
Consulting
Editor, EDUCATIONAL BROADCAST REVIEW, 1970-1971.
Editor, MASS
MEDIA/ADULT EDUCATION, 1967-1973.
Editor,
EDUCATIONAL BROADCAST REVIEW, 1969-1970.
Editorial
Work, ADULT LEADERSHIP, MEDIA AND ADULT LEARNING, and MEDIA INTERBANG, various
times.
Establishment
of Basic Choices, Inc., 1977.
[sources: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974; John
Ohliger]
-Assoc_places-
Ohio State
University, Columbus, OH.
Selkirk
College, Castlegar, British Columbia.
Springfield,
IL.
Syracuse
University [SU], Syracuse, NY.
University
of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
University
of California at Los Angeles [UCLA], Los Angeles, CA.
University
of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI.
[sources: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed., 1974; John
Ohliger]
-Publications-
Numerous
articles, monographs, and book chapters. Some selected materials are as
follows:
Ohliger,
John. Accent on social philosophy. ADULT LEADERSHIP 22 (1973): 144.
Ohliger,
John F. The media activists. MASS MEDIA/ADULT EDUCATION, no. 39(Spring
1974).
Ohliger,
John F. Is lifelong adult education a
guarantee of permanent inadequacy?
CONVERGENCE 7, no. 2 (1974).
Ohliger,
John F. Sour grapes and the
international society. MASS MEDIA/ADULT
EDUCATION, no. 41 (Summer 1975).
Ohliger,
John F. A jaundiced view of a learning
society. JOURNAL OF EXTENSION (July/August 1975).
Ohliger,
John F. Prospects for a learning
society. ADULT LEADERSHIP 24 (1975).
Ohliger,
John F. The Wisconsin idea: Some reflections on historical context and
issues. RESEARCH IN EDUCATION (Nov. 1975).
Ohliger,
John F. MEDIA AND ADULT LEARNING: A BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH ABSTRACTS, ANNOTATIONS,
AND QUOTATIONS. New York: Garland Publications, 1975.
Ohliger,
John F. Alternative media: Up to your ass in alligators. MEDIA/ADULT LEARNING, no. 50 (Summer 1979).
Ohliger,
John F. Radical ideas in adult
education. RADICAL TEACHER
(March,1979).
Ohliger,
John F. Must we all go back to
school? THE PROGRESSIVE (October 1980).
Ohliger,
John F. Searching for balance, Coping with Threats, Looking for
Opportunities. SETTING THE PACE (March
1980).
Ohliger,
John. The social uses of theorizing in
adult education. ADULT EDUCATION 31
(1980): 48-53.
Ohliger,
John F. Dialogue on mandatory continuing education. LIFELONG LEARNING: THE
ADULT YEARS 4 (June 1981).
Ohliger,
John F. Is J. Edgar Hoover a
virgin?. MEDIA/ADULT LEARNING 4, no. 1 (1982).
Ohliger, John
F. Review of 1st 14 years of Media and
Adult Learning. MEDIA AND ADULT
LEARNING (January 1982).
Ohliger,
John F. Media and the American
mind. LIFELONG LEARNING: THE ADULT YEARS (May 1982).
Ohliger,John
F. Lifelong learning as nightmare. In INVITATION TO LIFELONG LEARNING, edited
by Ronald Gross. Chicago: Follett Publishing, Inc. 1982.
Ohliger,
John F Continuing education for
professionals: Voluntary or
mandatory?-Comment. . JOURNAL OF HIGHER
EDUCATION 53, no. 5 (1982).
Ohliger,
John F. Reconciling education with
liberty. PROSPECTS, (UNESCO Quarterly
Journal of Education) (May 1983).
Ohliger,
John F. The Tao of adult
education. THE LEARNING CONNECTION
(December 1983/January 1984).
Ohliger,
John F. Power and conflict in continuing
professional education. JOURNAL OF
HIGHER EDUCATION (September/October 1984).
Ohliger,
John F. The final solution to learning
opportunities. TRANET (Summer 1985).
Ohliger,
John F. Really creative
conferences. MEDIA AND ADULT LEARNING
(1987).
Ohliger,John
F. Alternative images of the future in
adult education. In HANDBOOK OF ADULT
AND COCONTINUING EDUCATION, edited by Sharan B. Merriam and Phyllis M.
Cunningham, 628-639. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1990.
[sources: LEADERS IN EDUCATION, 5th ed.,1974; John
Ohliger]
-References_to-
-Location-
-Provenance-
-Restrictions-
-Pref_citation-
In addition
to following normal manuscript citation conventions, include these elements
when citing records found "electronically" through The Adult Education
History Project: Main entry, Title, Item number, and, if a specific image is
being cited, Component number. Mention, too, that the record was found in
"/history.html,
an Electronic Source for Syracuse University Library's database for archives
and manuscripts".
-OCRd_text-
-END-
[Postscript: John was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2002.]
Created on May 7, 2002
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