A case study of the university training programme - Non-commissioned members of the Royal Military College of Canada

This is a case study of a professional development programme in the form of an adult education university programme at the Royal Military College (RMC) of Canada. The participants of the study are members or former members of the University Training Plan Non Commissioned Members (UTPNCM) or are university professors or administrators of RMC. The University Training Plan for Non Commissioned Members is an unique education programme. It allows Non Commissioned Members (NCM) of the Canadian Forces (CF) to attain a university degree and upon graduation gain a Queen's Commission in the CF at the rank of junior officer.; The thesis also reviews the field of Adult Education and the philosophical basis for the independent study of adult students. Andragogy (Knowles, 1980) and adult learning principles (Macheracher, 2004) are discussed as they relate to the adult students of the UTPNCM.; The thesis study explores the participants' perceptions of their experience of being adult students while remaining full time members of the CF. The academic duties of the adult students together with the military requirements of the programme were explored in the effects that these had as barriers to the success of the individuals in the programme. The Cross (1981) Barriers to Education Model was employed to describe the dispositional, situational and institutional barriers faced by the UTPNCM students as they experienced the various demands of the programme. The possibility of the UTPNCM programme as a Transformative Learning experience as described by Mezirow (1991) was discussed and the role of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) in the programme was reviewed.; The participants were asked to describe their own experiences within the programme and they highlighted areas of concern in their interviews, which were the primary investigating tool of the case study. Participants discussed the pressure of the demand of being adult students on their various family units; the challenges of participating in the programme under the Four Pillar Model of curriculum at RMC; and the demands of Second Language Training (SLT) at RMC.