This paper reports on a longitudinal project examining how a group of students from diverse backgrounds succeeded in higher education. The project explored participants' pathways into higher education, how they managed their studies, and their reflections at course completion. In this paper, the concept of perspective transformation is used to…

Educational discourse has often struggled to genuinely move beyond deficit-based language. Even action research, a predominant model for teacher development, starts with the identification of a problem (Cardno 2003). It would appear that the vocabulary for a hope-filled discourse which captures the imagination and influences our future educational…

When adult learners return to formal education after a period of absence, coping with change is a constant and often omnipresent challenge. As they come to break down previous barriers to success in an educational arena, many adult learners are able to change the perceptions they have of themselves as learners. Previously held assumptions are…