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"A slushy time" : the transitional experiences and changing images of adolescents crossing the bridge to adulthood

University of British Columbia

This study focuses on the liminal experiences of a group of grade twelve students. Their narratives describe their experiences as they prepare to leave the structure that has framed their lives for thirteen years and move into the adult world. The study begins with an overview of the literature in which the notion of adolescent transition into adulthood has shifted over the decades from an emphasis on transition as a rite of passage to transition as a societal economic concern and the more recent regard for the personal experience of transition. Interviews, field notes of group discussions and site observations, as well as student surveys and their own narratives form the body of the work. Structured as a narrative, the study presents a co-construction of how these students talked about their pressures and concerns, and their hopes and fears of moving into the adult world. While looking forward with varying degrees of anticipation to graduation celebrations, the students, like Janus, the Roman god of the doorway, reflected on past events that have brought them to this place. The study also describes various influences on students' experiences and raises questions about how students might be guided toward adulthood so they have greater confidence in themselves and their future. Students' evocative stories reveal that grade twelve is a time of uncertain identities and of personal transformation. Their narratives reveal that there is a need for more sensitive pedagogy for senior secondary students, one that acknowledges their personal transformations as well as the importance of supportive relationships during this time of uncertainty. The final chapter describes how a number of the students in the study have fared since their graduation. The Epilogue reflects on how the "Subjective-I" (Peshkin, 1988a, p. 18) shaped the study and the resulting text, then briefly re-examines the value of Turner's (1967) notion of liminality in the study of present-day adolescent transition.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-10-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/13777

Curriculum Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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