Narratives of Migration for Reframing Adult Education for Equity in Mobile Times

Abstract

International comparative adult education research takes both an international and a comparative perspective, whilst often assuming that the nation state is the main unit of analysis (Milana 2017). Yet, human mobility across national borders is an increasing phenomenon. Arguably, the effects of transnational migration on national adult education policies and practices are somewhat underdeveloped in international comparative research. The purpose of this chapter is to contribute to a reframing of adult education research for mobile times by shifting the focus of international comparative adult education research onto the experiences of transnational migrants. To date, there has been considerable focus in international comparative adult education on how national policies align and develop in relation to one another over time and to the activities of intergovernmental organisations (Milana 2017). Similarly, cross-country comparisons on education participation and outcomes using measures such as the ‘Adult Education Survey’ (AES) and the ‘Programme for International Assessment of Adult Skills’ (PIAAC) agreed with intergovernmental bodies are well developed (Rubenson 2015). The scope of this chapter is somewhat different. The chapter begins by shifting the lens of international comparative education by highlighting the contribution of narrative based adult education research in developing conceptual understanding of transnational migration and equity. The chapter discusses this conceptual frame, narrative analysis, in some detail by drawing on an example from Australia to analyse how opportunities for migrants are constructed unequally by national policies and how migrants’ narratives of their experiences reveal inequalities arising from transnationlism.