'Non-Traditional' and 'Traditional' Students at a Regional Finnish University: Demanding Customers and School Pupils in Need of Support

Autor/inn/en	Siivonen, Päivi; Filander, Karin
Titel	'Non-Traditional' and 'Traditional' Students at a Regional Finnish University: Demanding Customers and School Pupils in Need of Support
Quelle	In: International Journal of Lifelong Education, 39 (2020) 3, S.247-262 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0260-1370
DOI	10.1080/02601370.2020.1758814
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; College Students; Nontraditional Students; Adult Students; Age Differences; Student Attitudes; Student Needs; Neoliberalism; Employment Qualifications; Student Experience; Student Characteristics; Student Responsibility; Freedom; Distance Education; Study Habits; Finland + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Collegestudent; Adult; Adults; Student; Students; Erwachsenenalter; Studentin; Schüler; Schülerin; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Schülerverhalten; Neo-liberalism; Neoliberalismus; Employment qualification; Vocational qualification; Vocational qualifications; Berufliche Qualifikation; Studienerfahrung; Freiheit; Distance study; Distance learning; Fernunterricht; Study behavior; Study behaviour; Studienverhalten; Finnland
Abstract	This article explores university students' constructions of the ideal student at present-day university, that emphasises student-as-consumer culture and employability rather than education as a virtue in itself. The research is based on thematic narrative accounts (n = 67) generated in a generalist field in one regional Finnish university. We apply a narrative-discursive approach to analyse how 'traditional' young students (n = 34) and 'non-traditional' mature students (n = 33) position themselves in relation to the ideal good student in a present-day university and in relation to their university studies. Moreover, we examine some of the consequences of such positionings for the students themselves. Our analysis indicates that the present-day university student is constructed in line with the ideal student of the neoliberal order and student-as-consumer culture. However, whereas mature students positioned themselves as customers and were comfortable with the demands of today's university for self-directedness and self-responsibility, younger students positioned themselves as 'school pupils' and were critical about being left on their own without adequate support. The study suggests that the terms 'traditional' and 'non-traditional' make differences related to age and different kinds of student positionings visible and, thus, also possible to reconstruct the ideals and normalities of the present-day neoliberal university. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01