ABSTRACT
To any tutor in the field the chastening importance of environmental factors in adult education is soon brought home. He soon learns the extent to which the horizons of his work are determined by the social and educational backgrounds of his students. Reluctance to recognize these limitations has been a recurrent cause of failure throughout the history of the movement, and inability or unwillingness to assess accurately the significance of changes in these areas has led to the decay of more than one institution. In the early days of adult education its opportunities and limitations, in fact its very nature, were determined by the all-compelling conditions of life in the new industrial society which was emerging. The length of the working day, the level of wages, the homes of the people are more than mere 'background' to the operations of educational institutions. They are the very stuff of the adult education movement. Hence it is necessary at the beginning to examine the physical conditions of life of those people who constituted a potential clientele of adult education and to make some assessment of their educability.
