From life crisis to lifelong learning: Rethinking working-class 'drop out'

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From life crisis to lifelong learning Many others envisaged a university education as playing a role in their future. Only one said they would never want to return to university again. The view that students who ‘drop out’ are permanently ‘lost’ to education is not supported by this research. The significant change was that they now viewed education in a more strategic way as a means to an end that they needed to define more clearly for themselves: 46 Researcher: Just to sort of ask you again, it hasn’t put you off learning? Interviewee (male): No, it has just pointed out what I should have been doing in the first place. When I do finish my apprenticeship it does give me an HND, which is obviously lower than a degree, so it hasn’t put me off trying maybe later on to continue for another year to get a degree, so it hasn’t put me off education at all. One could argue that they had moved from being passive to active in redefining their goals and that ‘drop out’ can be understood as the first stage in that process: It has just made me wake up and think about what I want. (Male) That end might be vocational but there were also discourses of pleasure in learning. They also wanted to take advantage of any flexibility that did exist in the system that they had previously not known about: Even though I didn’t finish I think it was still a worthwhile experience and I think it still set me up and prepared me for life. I didn’t feel any shame. (Female) Peter’s story Peter comes from a working-class background and was the first in his family to go to university. His family’s attitude is that they would support him whatever he chose to do. The vast majority of his friends are students. Peter knew that he wanted to be a policeman and the school’s career adviser suggested doing a university course in social science prior to seeking to join the police. He signed up, attending as a day student, and stayed between two and three months before realising it wasn’t for him: Continued
The impacts of working-class ‘drop out’ To be perfectly honest, I think it was as much my fault as anybody giving me advice. Looking back now I should have certainly looked into the course and seen what was there … I was a bit gullible … When I got there I didn’t really know what was involved in the course, sociology and psychology and things like that, which I wasn’t really too interested in. Peter realised that he was not enjoying the course and started speaking to police officers who told him that he could get into the police force via another route. He hadn’t at this stage made contact with any individual tutors so he went to the administration staff and told them he was dropping out. They told him to send a letter to them about his withdrawal, but didn’t suggest he talk to anyone before taking the final decision: With hindsight and looking back, it was a bit strange that they thought ‘why has he picked this course and thrown in the towel already?’ I thought, looking back, someone might have wanted to discuss it with me. Peter summed up his experiences: A combination of bad advice and my naivety just to dive straight in with someone else’s advice. Impacts on institutions ‘Drop out’ is currently constructed as a failure of both student and institution. Funding arrangements ensure that institutions are heavily penalised for ‘drop out’. In effect, they are sanctioned rather than rewarded for attempting to widen participation. High drop-out rates potentially threaten the very survival of the institutions involved: What are the consequences of ‘drop out’? Well clearly a big one is the university’s prospects. If we don’t keep them there will be financial implications. (Head of recruitment) ‘Drop out’ and the way in which it was handled was seen as having a long-term impact on the university’s future ambitions and missions, and on its credibility within the local community: The university’s mission is to become very much a local university resource for the local population … that means the students of today, if 47
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From life crisis to lifelong learni
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From life crisis to lifelong learning: Rethinking working-class 'drop out'

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