Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 8 | Page 64

64 | JADE
HIGHLIGHT #3 | 65
“A BONE OF CONTENTION”: REFLECTIONS ON THE EXPERIENCES
OF MATURE LEARNERS IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION
HELEN E. MACHIN
between young and mature learners and reduce anxieties about
assessments. Knowles’ theory of andragogy provides a useful
structure to address mature learners’ concerns about their progress
and their comparisons with others. Finally, the incident has revealed
that a full understanding of the experiences of mature learners on
social work degree programmes must involve consideration of the
wider structural issues that affect their experiences of social work
education. Although individual educators may not be able to resolve
these wider issues alone, discussion of the issues with learners
creates opportunities for the traditional structures of academic
social work programmes to be challenged. Given the importance
attributed to developing student social workers’ ability to challenge
social structures in social work discourses in the UK (Dominelli and
Campling, 2002, Thompson, 2016), it seems logical that social work
educators should also be involved in understanding and challenging
the structural barriers that affect mature learners. Rather than
addressing mature learners’ “bone[s] of contention” in isolation,
the incident has revealed that educators must consider the whole
skeleton of issues that can affect mature female social work learners
in education.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the mature learner who raised the “bone of
contention” and inspired this critical reflection. Discussions with
the learner about her experiences of social work education at Keele
University have helped to shape the ideas conveyed in this paper.
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