Literacy upgrading: issues of transition for adult males in British Columbia

Abstract

This study sets out to explore the realities and dilemmas of several adult males experiencing transition from a rural setting to an urban and academic setting. Efforts to explain the origin, significance and complexities of this experience reveal much about transitions in adult education. As there is a marked absence of theoretical literature on transitions in adult education, this study integrates various theoretical conceptions. The case study approach used in this study is largely exploratory and aimed at stimulating further discussion. This study integrates theory drawn from a diverse range of literatures such as sociology, rurality, education and culture. Discussion of these theoretical contributions in combination with data drawn from the narratives of the participants reveals that transitions in adult education are not autonomous experiences. On the contrary, transitions are tied to an integrated pattern of social, cultural, political and economic institutions, structures and processes. The participants’ interactions with these institutions, structures and processes over the course of their lives reveals much about the intimate relationship between culture, power and ideology in affecting rural social and cultural conditions as well as their transitions to the urban and academic setting.