Continuing education is predicated on an enduring belief that lifelong learning is essential. Over a century ago, Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) was attributed the saying, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” And while there is some debate if Twain actually said these exact words, the American author and humorist definitely believed in their essence. Education often starts in the classroom but should not be limited to such rarified spaces. It can also happen around the classroom and should transcend it. This idea that a curious and engaged citizen should constantly test and expand the lessons they learn is one that continues to resonate with modern audiences.
However, we continue to struggle over how exactly to meet lifelong learners, to create spaces where the traditional barriers of the ivory tower can be surmounted. We have all seen how the expansion of online learning, spurred on by the COVID-19 epidemic, has broken down the physical barriers of the classroom, yet these virtual spaces are still highly regulated, and their structure can be daunting to the public. Even with the capacity to have breakout groups, chat functions and other online engagement tools, establishing meaningful connections amongst students is still challenging.
The current focus on targeted, skills-based microcredentials has not improved the situation. The classroom—physical or virtual—is increasingly part of a transactional and transitory model of education. Learning spaces are less a destination for students and increasingly a perfunctory place where they achieve the next set of credentials before moving on.
Despite these pressures, learning still can—and should—be facilitated in a wide array of educational settings. These spaces have the power to bring people together, fostering not only individualized lifelong learning as well as encouraging a stronger, public connection with our educational institutions. The evidence suggests that if you build it they will come.
One such example is the new Jalynn Bennett Amphitheatre at Trent University that offers a publicly accessible, purpose-built space. It has already exploded some of the anxieties and misconceptions that surround higher education through the creation of a nexus of knowledge and expression.
A nexus is the connection of two or more things, as well as the state of a continuous connection. Thus, the goal of the amphitheater is not only to bring various types of people together but to importantly keep them engaged with the subject matter, with the university and each other.
Trent University was founded in the 1960s. At that time, the people of Peterborough demanded a university, a specialized space where their children could learn. When the university was being planned, its new president, a 33-year-old Tom Symons, approached the various employers, including Canadian General Electric, to see if they would support a matching employee donation scheme. In the end, the people of the city raised millions of dollars because they wanted a brighter future for their children.
Almost six decades later, the idea of an amphitheater came out of a very real threat that Traill College, the downtown campus and oldest part of Trent University, faced. The college had been built in a Victorian neighborhood of the city, and its central courtyard had several decaying and collapsed foundations as well as rotting trees. A window of five years was given before the space would have to be condemned.
At the same time, the university had received an offer of seed money from the estate of former board chair Jalynn Bennett. Bennett was an influential and popular businesswoman. Her estate challenged the university to propose creating a space that would be as bold and empowering as Jalynn, and the idea of an outdoor amphitheater was born.
When the amphitheater was constructed, Traill was home to Trent University’s continuing education program. Many of the people that offered CE classes were members of local arts, culture and heritage groups. Over the years, they had developed courses that engaged, amused and enlightened the lifelong learning community. These community partners jumped at the idea to create a new kind of performance space.
Its construction offered much to the university. It gave new life to a space that was going to be condemned. It allowed for key infrastructure improvements (the movement of old cabling and services, etc.). The stage, the first tier of seating, the backstage were all made AODA compliant. It created not only a performance space but a unique, accessible outdoor learning environment replete with charging stations and lights.
Importantly, it offered that nexus of knowledge and expression: a special kind of public forum that encourages interdisciplinary and intergenerational interconnections, where, for example, older, seasoned performers engage with younger audiences. Where younger students experiment in a safe space of exploration. Where the university engages the larger community with lectures and lessons. And where the larger community is welcomed to use it as a space to showcase its talents. In short, it is a place where a broad cross section of people who share their experiences and gain new experiences by learning together.
Its creation led to some unanticipated benefits. Originally envisioned as being uniquely for organized performances or classes, it soon transformed into a place where undergraduate, graduate and CE students alike gather, study or chat in the open air. Along the safe, grass-lined tiers, students and community members hold picnics, play games and toddlers run with glee. In short, it is a space that people—all people—can call their own. And when people feel comfortable in a space, anxiety is reduced, barriers to access are removed and a lasting connection with the institution is minted.
Its creation also led to some important takeaways.
Over sixty years ago, it was the wider community that demanded a university in Peterborough (many other universities have similar, grassroots origin stories). Since it is our communities that provided the original raison d’être for our respective institutions, I would suggest that we overlook that history of community support at our peril.
There is a strength in community-based partnerships that are not necessarily corporate partnerships. Private financial sponsorships helped build and operate the amphitheater, but community partnerships and their moral support are what caught the attention of government funders and convinced private donors of the lasting, educational dividends of the project.
Importantly, in an environment where we cannot necessarily look to government for sustainable financial support, there is a wisdom in actively welcoming and engaging the people who elect our governments.
Welcoming a wider public through our doors is an important way to reduce all sorts of barriers to higher education. A purposeful learning nexus becomes a learning gateway where the public can confidently take a microcredential, audit a course or return to full-time studies to finally finish a diploma or degree.
Creating more spaces on our campuses like the Jalynn Bennett amphitheater, where students, faculty, the community and its lifelong learners can more easily engage the university and its academic mission makes sense. It makes sense, not only for the future of universities as institutions but also for the creation of a more engaged, curious and critically thinking citizenry.
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