In this article the authors explore the notion of 'common good' in relation to adult education. They do this by drawing upon the experiences of working-class family members who were both social learners and autodidacts, and who engaged in learning for their own sake and for what they believed to be the common good. The authors use diaries, letters…

Prior research on school tracking has indicated that racialized classed ethnic students are channeled and separated into cohorts based on academic ability. Few studies have indicated the ways in which early socialization of teachers is imparted through pedagogical practices. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research when it comes to understanding…

This constructionist phenomenological dissertation study explored stories from nine working-class, first-generation college students, specifically how middle-class socialization on a four-year university campus located in the Mountain West region of the United States impacts the relationships with their parent(s)/guardian(s). My primary research…

Despite increasing rates of university attendance among women, a significant gender gap remains in socialisation and educational processes in Japan. To understand why and how gender-distinctive socialisation processes persist, this study aimed to examine both middle-class and working-class mothers' beliefs about gender, education, and children's…

This article studies the educational strategies adopted by university students from different class backgrounds in a Scandinavian welfare regime. Studies show distinct differences among classes relating to economic considerations, risk-averse behavior, and patterns of socialization among university students. We investigate these differences…

Framed within recent developments in genre theory, this paper examines personal storytelling as practiced by working-class children and their families. Although both working-class and middle-class children encounter versions of oral storytelling that embody a personal perspective, these versions privilege different slants on experience. Drawing on…

Interviews with six women from working class backgrounds, who had succeeded in higher education, identified common issues in growing up gifted and talented in the working class, the dearth of role models and mentors, the loss of connection with family and friends, and a sense of impostership. (DB)

This paper explores social class, gender, Great Britain's Youth Training Scheme, and social reproduction in the context of entry into "caring" careers. Data are drawn from one of a group of ethnographic studies. The focus is on participant observation with a group of 16- to 18-year-old girls training for jobs in the field of…

Calls for an expansion of the objectives of vocational education to include consideration of the nature, value, and purpose of work. Finds justification for this in the changing job market and John Dewey's original conception of vocational education. Suggests that some form of this approach become part of all students' curriculum. (MJP)