"Finding a Voice"The experience of mature students in a college of further education
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This study explores the experience of mature students in a Further Education college\nin Ireland. It looks at the development of the further education sector and its current\nrole in Irish education. Further education is a major provider of education for adults as\nmore than half the students in further education are now mature students. The system\ngrew largely within the Vocational Education system and, it is suggested, has adopted\nmany of the neo-liberal ideas and practices prevalent in society more generally.\nThe first research element was a survey and focus group, followed by nine qualitative\ninterviews which explored with the students their reasons for returning to education,\ntheir experience while in further education and what they consider to be the benefits of\nparticipation. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach the data were\ngenerated and analysed through a systematic process of coding, categorisation and the\ndevelopment of core concepts grounded in the students’ lived experience. Three\nsignificant concepts emerged from the analysis. The first concept of ‘The latent self’\ndescribes the range of social, personal, structural and biographical influences and\ndiscusses how they interact and impact on the decision to return to education. The\nsecond concept, ‘The Emerging Self’ describes the negotiation of challenges faced by\nthe students in the process of change. The third concept, ‘The Revised Self’, describes\nthe changed self emphatically described by the students as resulting from their\nparticipation and characterised by greatly enhanced confidence and agency.\nThe conceptual label ‘Finding a voice’ was used to describe this ‘Revised Self’ as\nmany of the participants spoke in terms of feeling able to speak and having things to\nsay. It encompasses willingness and a sense of entitlement to participate and engage\nwith others and a sense of having something to contribute.\nThe findings demonstrate that further education is a site of significant learning for\nadults. Although the purpose of the further education sector is to provide students with\nthe skills needed in the workplace and many students came for vocational reasons, the\nactual learning went beyond the instrumental and resulted in many surprising benefits\nto the students and to society more generally.
Author: Fergal Hardiman
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2289633924