This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by O'Donnell, V. L. Articles by Tobbell, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Transition of Adult Students to Higher Education: Legitimate Peripheral Participation in a Community of Practice?

University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Jane Tobbell

University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom

This article presents empirical research exploring adult students' transition to higher education (HE) through a program designed to enable that transition. Wenger's Communities of Practice theory has been applied to informal adult learning by Merriam, Courtenay, and Baumgartner (2003), who suggested its potential for understanding formal education. Using this theoretical framework, adults' transition to HE is explored in terms of learning, participation in practices, and identity. Students were interviewed, and qualitative data analysis revealed that although they perceived themselves to be peripheral participants in the community, university regulations, and academic procedures sometimes undermined their feelings of legitimacy. Their experiences of the community's practices were mediated by individual, shifting identities and a sense of belonging. Their experiences are discussed in terms of the power of practice to include or exclude, and the concomitant identity shifts which may lead to fuller participation. Implications for the design of transitional programs are also discussed.

Key Words: educational transitions • communities of practice • higher education • adult learning • nontraditional students • identity • participation

Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 4, 312-328 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0741713607302686


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. L. O'Donnell, J. Tobbell, R. Lawthom, and M. Zammit Transition to postgraduate study: Practice, participation and the widening participation agenda Active Learning in Higher Education, March 1, 2009; 10(1): 26 - 40. [Abstract] [PDF]