Individual Paper
5. Transmitting Knowledges: Institutions, Objects and Practices
“Non-traditional” as a category is not homogenous. Age, background characteristics including ethnicity and socioeconomic status, risk factors, and differing access to various forms of capital were some basis of being a “non-traditional” student (Kim 2002, Pfaff-Czarnecka 2022). The need to revisit the term and the connotations it may impose prompted the reexamination of experiences of interruptions and persistence to acquire a diploma.
This paper aims to explore the idea of so-called “non-traditional” students (NTS) and their navigation through Philippine formal education social spaces. Data from this paper is derived from literature and preliminary qualitative data gathering on Philippine higher education (HE) as part of a research project that seeks to answer the question: how do Filipino “non-traditional” students experience and navigate disparities and boundaries in HE? I propose that to contextualize “non-traditional” students in the Philippines, we must look into their experience of (1) traditional exclusion and/or (2) education interruption. It should be noted that traditional exclusion and education interruption are not mutually exclusive and can further compound a student's marginalization.
Traditional or historical exclusion may be experienced through language, curriculum, and institutional values orientation to name a few. Education interruption brought about by one’s biographic life events and multiple belonging result in changes to traditional degree completion timeline which are linear and fixed. Equipped with knowledge gained through life experiences, their navigation of formal education institutions is often motivated by non-academic goals (ie. work promotion) and non-academic esteem (ie. recognition from parents, children and community).
Cherie Audrey D. Alfiler
Bielefeld University, Germany