Research Practitioner and doctoral student About me

1. A collage of “transitions”: Uncovering personal histories and portraying transitions into university of non-traditional learners Stephane Farenga @StepFareEdu

2. Research Practitioner and doctoral studentAbout me • Research & Evaluation Officer • EdD at School of Education, University of Hertfordshire • Year 2: data collection; early findings and analysis • 11 participants • 2017 completion

3. A collage of "transitions": Arts-informed personal histories of incoming non-traditional students at the University of Hertfordshire • Who, what, where? • 1st year students from non-traditional backgrounds • Transition into and during their 1st year at UH • Why? • 1st year is crucial for determining persistence (Andrew et al., 2008) • Particular concern for students from widening participation backgrounds (Gale and Parker, 2014) and their continuation (Kift, 2009) • At UH: 14% attrition compared to 6% average • Aim? • Better understand experiences of non-traditional students • Give a voice to a potentially institutionally marginalised group

4. Today’s presentationOutline 2. Introduce and evaluate collage 3. Present early findings Theoretical framework

5. A collage of "transitions": Arts-informed personal histories of incoming non-traditional students at the University of Hertfordshire Collage: cutting and pasting of materials to express phenomenon, experience and emotion (Butler-Kisber, 2009) Personal history: subset of ‘habitus’ and part of ‘practice’ (Bourdieu, 1990, Bourdieu and Passeron, 1993, Reay, 2004 and Reay et al., 2009) Transition: nuanced concept embracing the multiplicity of student life (Ecclestone, Biesta and Hughes, 2010 and Gale and Parker, 2014) Non-traditional: under-represented individuals (Burke, 2012 and University of Hertfordshire)

6. TransitionGale and Parker, 2014 • Transition as… Induction • Pathway following sequentially defined periods • High level of institutional control • Transition as… Development • Personal trajectory “shifting from one identity to another” • Non-linear

7. MethodologyCollage • Why use collage methodology? (Weber, 2008, Butler-Kisber, 2009) • “New connections” (Butler-Kisber, 2010: 104) • Each participant can explore a phenomenon in their own way • Visual, constructivist tool • Limit power issues • Why use art-based methodologies? (Eisner, 2008) • Explore experience, emotions and feelings • Deliteralisation of knowledge

8. MethodologyCollage

9. MethodologyCollage: tensions? • Narrative arc rather than identity exploration • Co-participatory (Burke, 2012) • Introduce group element & traditional methods • Collage as introspective elicitation • Traditional data just as important

10. Early findingsA typical session Starter activity (outcome recorded) Group collage (outcome recorded) Individual collage (outcome recorded)

11. Research questions & hypotheses Research questions Hypotheses These identities are in possible conflict with those of more traditional students (Reay et al., 2009). There is a mismatch between the brought identity of widening participation students and the typical identity the university promotes (Archer et al., 2003). Widening participation students can experience discomfort during their transition due to this potential mismatch. What are the personal histories that define this cohort of non-traditional students? How do personal histories shape their student identities? How do these identities impact their transition into university?

12. Early findingsTerm A: exploring personal history & student identity • Resiliency • Financial, school • Journey • Being yourself • Family • Neo-liberal backbone (Ball, 2003) • Goals • $$$ motivation • Success • Gaming • Competition • Personal development/investment • University life • Work ethic • Academic success • Positives of student life (independence) • Confidence • Passion • Survival at university • Difficulty of student life (social, budgeting, health) • Adaptation to academics

13. Early findingsFamily and financial difficulty “There was like money, like shortages and stuff, and me and my sister, we had to help out because we had like part-time jobs, so we were like helping out my Mum” – Milly on family and financial difficulties

14. Early findingsBeing yourself “I’ve got my own back, don’t really need anyone else to have my back – I’ve got me and I’m doing fine.” – Kiki on independence

15. Early findingsJourney “The things you start off with in life […] your disadvantages [don’t] mean you’ll always gonna be at the bottom.” – Buster on journey

16. Early findingsNeo-liberal backbone “The way that society measures success is through your job, your money, your family, your status, so I think that’s got a lot to do with it.” – Kiki on society’s expectations “I think the status is quite important […] no disrespect to people who work in shops but, you know, I want an actual title to the job that I’m in, so I just think that’s quite an important thing.” – Milly on status and success

17. Early findingsCompetition Journey/ Awareness Competition Race/ Competition (Steven)

18. Early findingsGaming “there’s like unconscious rules in society, they’re not stated as rules but we just know” – Eva on society “Because first impressions count”

19. Early findingsGaming and personal development “That’s why I did Computer Science because I’m one of few girls and they’re all looking for girls at the moment, […] I think I’m guaranteed more of a job than any other person.” – Ada on competition

20. Early findingsSuccess, competition, determination, opportunities “[I] see it like, in a race, everyone starts off at the same point, but there are certain people who might be starting a few metres back and might have to run a longer race to get to the same place as someone else, and that’s why I need to go out there and find opportunities, make opportunities, and go and grab them, not just wait for something to come to me because that will be very unlikely.” – Kiki on her outlook

21. Early findingsTerm A: exploring personal history & student identity • Resiliency • Financial, school • Journey • Being yourself • Family • Neo-liberal backbone (Ball, 2003) • Goals • $$$ motivation • Success • Gaming • Competition • Personal development/investment • University life • Work ethic • Academic success • Positives of student life (independence) • Confidence • Passion • Survival at university • Difficulty of student life (social, budgeting, health) • Adaptation to academics “feel for the game” (Bourdieu, 1993: 5) “fish in/out of water” (Bourdieu, 1992: 127)

22. Early findingsTerm B: exploring transition • Initial transition • Why am I here? • Difficult integration • Academic mismatch • Expectations • Capital/habitus mismatch? • Split personalities • Home privileged • Academic mismatch • Rationalising disadvantage • Transition as Development > Induction • Individual experience > collective • Personal development > university-sponsored lifecycle • Language of winning/losing • Success comes later • Peer group • Developing confidence

23. Early findingsEarly transition Unprepared Overwhelming Loneliness

24. Early findingsEarly struggles “[Milly] See, like everyone says you make friends for life at uni… [Eva] I ain’t found them friends for life, yet” – Milly and Eva on making friends “It kind of felt like you were being thrown into the deep end and you had to like be able to manage yourself and like become more independent like that, so I think that it was kind of battle at the start” – Naomi on academics

25. Early findingsSplit personalities “All the things that I do at uni conflict with the person that I am at home.” – Ellora on her home vs uni self “I feel like, like when I’m here, I don’t really have a purpose.” – Milly on the difference in being at home and uni

26. Early findingsRationalising disadvantage “If they haven’t been to that specific one [uni] and they’re not there at that time like they’ll have probably gone years ago as well, it wouldn’t really help. I don’t think you’d be at much of an advantage [laughs].” – Naomi on her parents not going to uni “They [parents] can’t really judge you about what’s happened because they don’t have anything to compare it to from their own experience so then you’d feel more comfortable…” “Yeah, because then they can’t turn around and say, ‘oh that didn’t happen when I went, or we didn’t have these problems’” – Dawn and Ellora on their parents not going to uni

27. Early findingsPeer groups and personal development “I think the best way to ensure that you have a good university experience and then that you have a good smooth transition is to make sure that you have a good group of friends.” – Kiki on the importance of peer groups “You’re the engineer to your life.” – Kiki on being an individual

28. Research questions What are the personal histories that define this cohort of non-traditional students? How do personal histories shape their student identities? How do these identities impact their transition into university?

29. Early conclusions Strong levels of resiliency that reflect motivations in neo-liberal context (RQ1) Reflected in early HE experience, student identity (RQ2) Reay et al. (2009): Disconnect between defined aspirations and appropriate capital Manifested in reliance on self during transition (RQ3) Do HEIs rely too much on resiliency to get non-traditional students to and through uni?

30. References Andrew, S., Salamonson, Y., Weaver, R., Smith, A., O’Reilly, R. and Taylor, C. 2008. “Hate the course pr hate to go: Semester differences in first year attrition”. Nurse Education Today. 28 (7) 865-872. Archer, L., Hutchings, M. and Ross, A. 2003. HE and social class: issues of exclusion and inclusion. London: Routledge Farmer. Ball, S. J. 2003. “The Teacher’s Soul and the Terrors of Performativity.” Journal of Educational Policy. 18 (2) 215-228. Ball, S. J. 2015. “Accounting for a sociological life: influences and experiences on the road from welfarism to neoliberalism”. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 1-15. Bourdieu, P. 1990. The Logic of Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, P. 1993. The Field of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Lierature. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J-C. 1990. Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture. 2nd ed., London: Sage. Bourideu, P. and Wacquant, L. 1992. An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago.

31. References Brown, P. and Hesketh, A. 2004. The Mismanagement of Talent. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Burke, P.J. 2012. The Right to Higher Education. Routledge: London. Butler-Kisber, L. 2010. Qualitative Inquiry: Thematic, Narrative and Arts-Informed Perspectives. London: Sage. Butler-Kisber, L. and Poldma, T. 2010. “The power of visual approaches in qualitative inquiry: the use of collage making and concept mapping in experiential research”. Journal of Research Practice. 6 (2) Eisner, E. 2008. “Art and Knowledge”, in J. G. Knowles and A. L. Cole (eds.), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research. London: Sage, pp 3-12. Ecclestone, K., Biesta, G and Hughes, M. 2010. Transitions and Learning through the Lifecourse. Routledge: London. Gale, T. and Parker, S. 2014. “Navigating change: a typology of student transition in higher education”. Studies in Higher Education, 39(5), 734–753, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2012.721351

32. References Kift, S. 2009. “Articulating a transition pegaogy to scaffold and to enhance the first year student learning experience in Australian higher education: Final report for ALTC Senior Fellowship Program”. Strawberry Hills, NSW: Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Reay, D. 2004. “’It’s all becoming a habitus’: beyond the habitual use of habitus in educational research”. British Journal of Sociology of Education 25 (4): 431-444. Reay, D., Crozier, G., Clayton, J. 2009. “’Strangers in Paradise’? Working-class Students in Elite Universities”. Sociology. 43 (6). pp: 1-19. Reay, D., Crozier, G., Clayton, J. 2010. “’Fitting in’ or ‘standing out’: working-class students in UK higher education”. British Educational Research Journal. 36 (1). pp: 107-124. Weber, S. 2008. “Visual Images in Research”, in J. G. Knowles and A. L. Cole (eds.), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research. London: Sage. pp 41-54.

33. Thank you Collage as a method for uncovering personal histories and portraying transitions into university for widening participation students Stephane Farenga Research & Evaluation Officer (Widening Participation) @StepFareEdu s.farenga@herts.ac.uk