Transitioning from further education and training to higher education in Ireland: Setting the scene for adult learner "voice"

This chapter sets the scene for critically examining further education and training (FET) learners' transition to university. It begins by locating "voice" in a historical context-specifically, in the context of Ireland's changing political, socio-cultural, economic, and educational landscapes. Analysis demonstrates how voice remains inseparable from a "history in the making" that sets both conditions of possibility and limitation on its fullest expression. In effect (and affect), voice is shown throughout time to be attached to varied forms of adult education, as well as, to the parallel and changing concept of "citizen participation." The next section of this chapter critiques the allied concept of "learner voice" (Arnstein, 1969; Fielding, 2011; Fleming, 2013; Hart, 1992; Lundy, 2007), outlining key "power-full" challenges to its cultural realization, such as recent neoliberal pressures to equate voice with "stakeholder experience." This critique of learner voice, it is argued, is central to the university's mission to act more responsively and sustainably alongside Other (e.g., FET) learners. Moreover, it is argued that by "putting the concept of learner voice to work"-in ways that are both progressive and authentic-the university can deepen Others' inclusion in the higher education (HE) community. One university's methodological and practical response to "enabling and enacting" learner voice is outlined. The Access Ambassador Group (AAG) initiative, started in University College Cork in 2022, is presented as a case study on advancing the learner voice within the university setting. While research into its development and influence is ongoing, it is hoped that this design can inspire renewed efforts to "ease" adult learners' HE transitions. The chapter concludes by prompting all those concerned with widening university access to reflexively "set the scene" to re-imagine how we might co-construct voice, for and with Others.