Dear Colleagues,

 

My university has special one-year study programmes (called “premasters”) for mature students who completed undergraduate study in a different field many years ago and are now returning to higher education to do a master’s degree in arts and social sciences. They range between 30 and 60, and come from various countries, including outside the EU. Some have been active in secondary education, some in the art world, in NGOs or elsewhere, but most have little experience of contemporary academic writing, and their previous study (sometimes decades ago) either involved no writing or no argumentative/research-based writing. To make matters more complicated administratively, the students are attached to the individual master’s programme they hope to join (though the courses they take are BA courses), so getting them together in a single group is not easy from a scheduling point of view.

 

We have recognized that our premasters programmes do not sufficiently address the specific writing needs of this group and would like to strengthen this aspect. I would very much like to hear from EATAW colleagues who have experience with programmes dedicated to the needs of mature students, or literature you would recommend.

 

With thanks in advance,

 

John