Giving Voice to Non-traditional Students “Walking” the Narative Mediation Path. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Abstract

The growing phenomenon of disadvantaged and non-traditional students increases the risk of educational underachievement and drop-out in universities in Europe. Within the European funded project INSTALL (Innovative Solutions to Acquire Learning to Learn) researchers developed a qualitative methodology - Narrative Mediation Path (NMP) - consisting of a group training process targeted to disadvantaged students. NMP, based on the psychological concept of ‘mentalization’ also known as ‘reflexive competence’, combines into one methodology four discursive modules: Metaphoric, Iconographic, Written and Bodily. In this chapter, we present the findings from an evaluative study about how participating students experienced the NMP training process, how NMP is able to support non-traditional students and the implications for policy makers. The results suggest that the use of different discursive modules supports the students in developing their reflexive competence during a formative experience which enables them to better adjust to the university context. Several propositions are made as to how NMP methodology can be integrated in various institutional contexts, and some key issues about policies and practice in supporting non-traditional students are made available for policy makers.