| The purpose of this study was to understand better how three adult women students enrolled in a developmental English class at a community college made sense of their educational experience. All of the subjects can be classified as "non-traditional" students and included a women returning after thirty years to school and two that had recently emigrated from the Middle East. The study examined the relationship of the classroom educational environment and the academic achievement and self confidence of the women while enrolled in this course. Within the single site of the classroom, what factors hindered or supported these women's construction of their personal and academic identities? Through formal and informal interviews and classroom observations, an educational narrative for each woman was developed. This study expanded the definition of learning beyond the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills as it aligned the cognitive and affective experiences of the adult women students within the classroom. |
