In this article the authors explore the notion of 'common good' in relation to adult education. They do this by drawing upon the experiences of working-class family members who were both social learners and autodidacts, and who engaged in learning for their own sake and for what they believed to be the common good. The authors use diaries, letters and interviews to reflect on how these learners used the lens of class to do this and ask whether in a less binary world, which appears fragmented, individualistic and focused on identity, an adult education for the common good is either relevant or possible.