History

What is ARCA?

ARCA emerged out of the Adult Residential Colleges Association in 2010 to encompass professional providers of residential adult education courses whether they have premises or not. In recent years the world of residential adult education courses has become enormously diverse. Not only are course programmes provided at specialised centres but experienced professionals are delivering courses in hotels and other types of residential facility. This rich tapestry of provision is now being brought together under the auspices of ARCA so that students can find courses of interest, where providers can share experiences and information, and where tutors interested in working in residential adult education can promote themselves to course programme organisers.

The idea of residential adult education was imported from Denmark in the 1930s but only took root after the Second World War. The concept of living and learning together was developed in the nineteenth century by Pastor NFS Grundtvig and others after seeing how students and tutors lived and worked together at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Residential adult education continues to be a key cultural idea in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries.

ARCA originally stood for the Adult Residential Colleges Association and goes back to the early 1980s when a group of residential education colleges decided to formalize the informal network between college principals.

Many of the residential colleges had been formed in the late 1940s and 1950s whilst others started in the 1960s. The early colleges were often run by local authorities but soon other colleges from the private and charitable sector joined the movement.

The ARCA of today was reformed in 2010 to encompass professional providers of residential adult education courses whether they are responsible for buildings or not. This was in response the enormous diversity that now exists in the field of residential adult education. Not only are course programmes provided at specialised centres but experienced professionals are delivering courses in hotels and other types of residential facility. This rich tapestry of provision is now brought together under the auspices of ARCA so that students can find courses of interest, where providers can share experiences and information, and where tutors interested in working in residential adult education can promote themselves to course programme organisers.