Exploring Transformative Journeys through a Higher Education Programme

Since the 1960s there has been a sustained policy commitment to widen participation to social groups previously under-represented in further and higher education (Thompson 2000; Burke 2012). It has been argued that widening participation has encouraged students to return who are poorly prepared for the intellectual challenges of post-compulsory education (Leatherwood 2005; Burton and Golding Lloyd et al 2011). Some research has concluded that post-compulsory education has been dumbed down to meet the needs of ill-prepared students (Haggis 2006; Coffield 2010). This research interrogates these analyses in the context of Higher Education in Further Education (HE in FE). The research investigates if HE in FE can be a catalyst for significant social emotional and intellectual growth in students – if students can be transformed by the experience of education (Mezirow 1978a 1991; Cranton 2006).