The Craft of Storytelling: Structure, Plot and Narrative Momentum

The history of continuing education at Oxford

Nearly 150 years ago, a movement called 'Oxford Extension' began at the University of Oxford - an initiative that sprang from general educational reforms in the mid-Victorian era, and from a growing national sense of social awareness.

The history of Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education is several stories in one: it's the story of a handful of dedicated Oxford tutors who felt that educational opportunity was essential to the nation's welfare and future;

it's an account of ordinary citizens collaborating with Oxford to design a format of education that served their needs; and it's the story of adult education evolving as successive generations of students, from 1878 to the present day, participated in ever-growing numbers.

The articles below are milestones in our efforts to bring Oxford teaching to the widest possible audience.