Riding the carousel- balancing learning loan against life load for authentic student engagement

Presenter: Helen Kirby-Hawkins

Institution: Manchester Metropolitan University

Format: Presentation

Motivated by lower levels of student attendance on campus than pre-pandemic, this research explored the intersect of student identity and place as factors in student attendance and engagement behaviours within the Faculty of Health & Education at Manchester Metropolitan University through semi-structured interviews and online identity maps conducted during Summer 2022.

Four composite case studies are presented highlighting the key findings. These four characters embody the lived student experience as told through those interviews. Conveying the sense of juggling competing demands, feeling an “outsider” (both geographically and to the “student” role), the motivation to accommodate university into an already complex and demanding life load and the conflict of being a student and maintaining a sense of connectedness to their home, family, and sense of authentic self. 

This short presentation is designed for conference participants to interpret themselves and is not presenter led. It is intended to highlight the divergence in the non-traditional student group and the practical decision-making process students employ when trying to balance their competing identities. It celebrates the autonomy they have as adult learners and poses questions for institutions as to whether more can be done to accommodate and meet our students where they are.