1. Agency, identity and learning at turning points in women’s lives
- Author
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Biasin, Chiara and Evans, Karen
- Subjects
Women's research ,Erwachsenenbildung ,Arbeitsleben ,Identity (social science) ,Großbritannien ,adult learning ,0504 sociology ,Agency (sociology) ,Learning theory ,Frau ,Sociology ,Internationaler Vergleich ,International comparison ,lcsh:LC8-6691 ,Lebensablauf ,Working-day world ,05 social sciences ,Introspection ,050301 education ,narrative learning ,Gender studies ,Social engagement ,Frauenforschung ,adult learning, agency, narrative learning, turning points, women’s life course ,Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung in der Erziehungswissenschaft ,England ,Italy ,Narratives Interview ,Cultural Differences ,Autobiographies ,Life course approach ,Selbstbeobachtung ,Adult ,Self-reflexion ,Informal education ,turning points ,Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen ,Informal learning ,Italien ,Cross-national comparison ,women’s life course ,Adult training ,Sample (statistics) ,Women's studies ,Familienleben ,Lernen ,Education ,Erwachsener ,ddc:370 ,Identity ,Woman ,Qualitative research ,Erwachsenenbildung / Weiterbildung ,Learning ,Autobiografie ,Women ,Narrative ,Interview ,Kultureller Unterschied ,Narrative interview ,Lebensereignis ,Lebenserfahrung ,Zeichnung ,Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft ,Women's Lives ,Wales ,lcsh:Special aspects of education ,Beziehung ,Mittleres Lebensalter ,050401 social sciences methods ,Identität ,Informelles Lernen ,Qualitative Forschung ,Biografisches Lernen ,Adult education ,United Kingdom ,Erwachsenenleben ,Scotland ,Selbstreflexion ,women's life course ,agency ,Schottland ,Informelle Bildung ,Self-perception ,0503 education - Abstract
This paper discusses the ways in which women aged 50, in two different cultural contexts (United Kingdom and Italy) narrate and portray turning points in their life course. Particular emphasis is put on the relationships between identity, learning and agency that emerge through work, family and life experiences. The reference paradigm is adopted from Narrative Learning Theory and the approach is qualitative and comparative in analysing the participant’s voice. For the UK sample, the data sources are 16 semi-structured interviews, including drawings representing the life course, selected from the study deposited in the UK Archives Data under the “Social Participation and Identity” project; for the Italian sample, the data sources are 28 semistructured interviews and drawings, based on the same selected items of the UK interviews and provided by women living in the North-East of Italy. This study will show how women’s representations of their life course and of turning points in their lives reveal different propensities to reflect on and learn from their own lives. The comparative perspective highlights, through two-level analysis (micro and macro) and by contrasting cultural, relational and social contexts, variations in ways these women are enabled or restricted in moving their lives forward. The research also contributes to methodological insight into the use of drawings in elucidating life course narratives.
- Published
- 2019