Something to Do Something to Be : A study of students' vocational identity formation in adult education

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand how vocations are learned in adult education by exploring the vocational identity formation of students in Municipal Adult Education (MAE) in Sweden. By analysing interviews of adult students during different stages in their Vocational Education and Training (VET) through working life, this study contributes to the fields of adult education and VET. The theoretical framework centres on the concept of identity, utilising communities of practice, and is nuanced with the concepts of sense of self and vocational habitus, in order to analyse both social practices and individual aspects of the students' vocational identity formation.The most standout finding is that VET in adult education can provide something beyond forming a vocational identity. In essence, the process of successfully completing an education can improve how students perceive themselves as adults, learners, and active members in society. The findings also show how the intersection between students' perceptions of themselves, their education, and their vocation create barriers that they must overcome in order to progress in their identity formation. Overcoming barriers is an important part of the learning process that is towards a vocational identity, however, while some barriers are surpassed, some persist, and some are substituted by new ones.These processes in turn affect how students identify and dis-identify with educational and vocational practices, which in turn influence how they participate in these practices. To the extent that students progress in their vocational identity depends on a variety of factors, related to their ability to participate in the social practices offered by education, primarily time in school and access to workplace-based training. Furthermore, the process of learning a vocation is a complex social venture and the findings argue that there is a risk in attributing students' struggles solely to issues pertaining to vocational learning as this may overlook underlying structural challenges faced by students.