The concept of a Study Circle is not new. This method has been used for long time to educate the people. The Study Circle was introduced in Sweden about 100 years ago and is by far the most popular form of adult education in Sweden: One in every five Swedes has either led a study circle or has joined one.

Study circles were sponsored in the United States as early as in the 1870s by the Chautauqua Library and Scientific Circles (CLSC) in New York, which was an initiative of Bishop John H. Vincent’s Lake Chautauqua Assembly. The CLSC initiated a popular program of a four-year correspondence study with home study circles, organized group reading and discussion for adults. The adults had no training beyond high school. By 1915 the course became very popular. In the nineteenth century there was a slump in the economic and social conditions in Sweden, and as a result, one third of Swedes migrated to the United States. Thinkers, educators and political leaders became anxious and sought ways to overcome this condition. In the late nineteenth century, temporal movement leaders attempted to educate Swedes through adult education. However, they were searching for a method that could provide education in a democratic environment. In this situation, Edvard Wavrinksy, an ardent temperance advocate, visited Lake Chautauqua in 1893, was impressed with the CLSC home study circles and wrote an article on it. Temperance movement leader Oscar Olsson picked up on the idea and organized a series of study circles within the temperance movement.

Today, the Study Circle is the most popular form of adult education in Sweden. One in five Swedes participates in a Study Circle. The Study Circle method is still growing. Developed and developing countries across the globe are now modeling and practicing the Study Circle method. The Study Circle is a powerful, democratic instrument for social change.