Pædagogstuderendes fortællinger om uddannelsesveje og studieliv.

This thesis, has the title “Tellings from Students from Bachelor of Social educations, about their path through the education system and becoming a student”.
The problem statement of the thesis is; What characterizes the students from Bachelor of Social educations, about their path through the education system and becoming a student?
In answering the problem statement, the emphasis is to identify characteristics in the tellings, linked to the meanings the students create, the self-representation that appear, and in which cultural tales there is reflected.
The theoretical base of the thesis is divided in two, with both a sociologically and a social psychology perspective. The theory of modernity by Thomas Ziehe, Zygmunt Bauman and Anthony Giddens is used to describe how tendencies, such as detraditionalization and individualization, affects the individual’s conditions to create an identity in the postmodern society. The social psychology perspective, contribute with a theoretical frame for understanding, the different ways of thinking the forming of identity. In the thesis, identity, will be considered as a narrative process, where identity is acquired, processed, communicated and negotiated through self tellings. In doing so, the self tellings both become the center for and the product of the individual’s self-presentation and positioning in meeting with others, and at the same time it gives an experience of who one is.
The research approach in the thesis is inspired by narrative research and the methodology is narrative interviews. There have been conducted interviews with four student of Bachelor of Social educations, and these interviews have subsequently been analyzed, first thematically and next performative. This strategy of analyses is inspired by Cathrine Riessman.
The analyses show, that the battle metaphor is used by the students, as a picture of their struggle, to not only qualify for, but also complete their education. The students use the battle metaphor both in creating meaning in earlier defeats in the education system, and also hope for that their fighting spirit, can help them to complete their education, and through this get a personal victory.
Selection and deselection is central to the students tellings, and their choice of education, largely driven by an interest to the social education profession, but coincidences also play a large role in choice of study. The students project themselves as active and responsible students, while they largely see their fellow-students as being irresponsible, and in that regard they criticize the education system for being inconsistent toward this type of behavior.
The students use many cultural tellings, to not only support their own self-representation, but also to create more general considerations on the education, Bachelor of Social educations.