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‘You’re thrown in the deep end’: adult learner identity formation in higher education

Brunton, James orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-7223-0524 and Buckley, Finian orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-2651-6868 (2020) ‘You’re thrown in the deep end’: adult learner identity formation in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 46 (12). pp. 2696-2709. ISSN 0307-5079

Abstract
For many adult learners transitioning into higher education is an intense experience that challenges their sense of themselves. This article reports on a study that examined the discourse of thirty-four undergraduate adult learners at the start and end of their first year in two Irish higher education institutions. The study focused on participants’ evolving sense of who they were in the new educational context and how they incorporated this new adult learner identity into their existing identity portfolio, their overall sense of who they are. The key finding in this discursive psychology analysis of interview data was that participants engaged in two interrelated forms of identity work across their first year: constructing an identity formation narrative, about becoming adult learners; and ongoing, day-to-day identity management. The study illustrates how these adult learners experienced varying degrees of identity struggle, which had to be minimised if they were to maintain a consistent and coherent sense of themselves.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Transition; adult learner; first year experience; identity formation; identity management; identity struggle
Subjects:Medical Sciences > Psychology
Social Sciences > Adult education
Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Social psychology
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
DCU Faculties and Schools > NIDL (National Institute for Digital Learning)
Publisher:Taylor & Francis
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1767049
Copyright Information:© 2020 Taylor & Francis
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:24740
Deposited On:09 Jul 2020 13:26 by James Brunton . Last Modified 22 Nov 2021 04:30
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