Learning to construct our identities over the life course: a study with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in Scotland

To date, adult educational research has had a limited focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) adults and the learning processes in which they engage across the life course. Adopting a biographical and life history methodology, this study aimed to critically explore the potentially distinctive nature and impact of how, when and where LGBT adults learn to construct their identities over their lives. In-depth, semi-structured interviews, dialogue and discussion with LGBT individuals and groups provided rich narratives that reflect shifting, diverse and multiple ways of identifying and living as LGBT. Participants engage in learning in unique ways that play a significant role in the construction and expression of such identities, that in turn influence how, when and where learning happens. Framed largely by complex heteronormative forces, learning can have a negative, distortive impact that deeply troubles any balanced, positive sense of being LGBT, leading to self- censoring, alienation and in some cases, hopelessness. However, learning is also more positively experiential, critically reflective, inventive and queer in nature. This can transform how participants understand their sexual identities and the lifewide spaces in which they learn, engendering agency and resilience. Intersectional perspectives reveal learning that participants struggle with, but can reconcile the disjuncture between evolving LGBT and other myriad identities as parents, Christians, teachers, nurses, academics, activists and retirees. The study’s main contributions lie in three areas. A focus on LGBT experience can contribute to the creation of new opportunities to develop intergenerational learning processes. The study also extends the possibilities for greater criticality in older adult education theory, research and practice, based on the continued, rich learning in which participants engage post-work and in later life. Combined with this, there is scope to further explore the nature of ‘life-deep learning’ for other societal groups, brought by combined religious, moral, ideological and social learning that guides action, beliefs, values, and expression of identity. The LGBT adults in this study demonstrate engagement in distinct forms of life-deep learning to navigate social and moral opprobrium. From this they gain hope, self-respect, empathy with others, and deeper self-knowledge.

Supporting collocated and at-a-distance experiences with TV and VR displays

Televisions (TVs) and VR Head-Mounted Displays (VR HMDs) are used in shared and social spaces in the home. This thesis posits that these displays do not sufficiently reflect the collocated, social contexts in which they reside, nor do they sufficiently support shared experiences at-a-distance. This thesis explores how the role of TVs and VR HMDs can go beyond presenting a single entertainment experience, instead supporting social and shared use in both collocated and at-a-distance contexts. For collocated TV, this thesis demonstrates that the TV can be augmented to facilitate multi-user interaction, support shared and independent activities and multi-user use through multi-view display technology, and provide awareness of the multi-screen activity of those in the room, allowing the TV to reflect the social context in which it resides. For at-a-distance TV, existing smart TVs are shown to be capable of supporting synchronous at-a-distance activity, broadening the scope of media consumption beyond the four walls of the home. For VR HMDs, collocated proximate persons can be seamlessly brought into mixed reality VR experiences based on engagement, improving VR HMD usability. Applied to at-a-distance interactions, these shared mixed reality VR experiences can enable more immersive social experiences that approximate viewing together as if in person, compared to at-a-distance TV. Through an examination of TVs and VR HMDs, this thesis demonstrates that consumer display technology can better support users to interact, and share experiences and activities, with those they are close to.