Educating Rita and Peter: gender and a history of the Open Foundation Program, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1974-1994

Willy Russell's play, 'Educating Rita' (1980) explores a powerful matrix of the themes of gender, class, adult education and academia. But what kind of story could have been written if the protagonists were Rita and Peter? This paper outlines a proposal for a history of a university access program called the Open Foundation Program, from its inception at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1974 until 1994. Thousands of Ritas and Peters have by now gained entry into university through this program and there is no sign of demand dying out or 'steadying'. The paper explores some of the theoretical and methodological considerations for this proposed history. It briefly considers the deployment of gender as an analytic category in history, and then it canvasses the history of higher education in Australia. The paper goes on to examine some international gender studies of adult students in higher education. Finally it outlines the theory and methodology for the study, and explores the task of framing research questions on tertiary adult experience.