Cinderellas and ugly ducklings: positive turning points in students' educational careers—exploratory evidence and a future agenda

Abstract

Positive turning points touch upon the essence of education. They epitomize its power and reflect its core agenda: maximizing human capital. Paradoxically, previous studies have not looked into this important phenomenon. The current exploratory study fills this lacuna by building on extensive empirical research of key educational experiences to shed light on four aspects of turning points in students' educational careers. Data come from a sample of 3045 key educational experiences. The article uses a narrative analysis to describe four features in students' changing trajectories, suggesting that the opportunities to experience a positive turning point are organizationally produced and socially distributed to the advantage of higher socio‐economic status students. It is concluded with pointers for policy and practice and opens up questions for future studies in this important domain.

Acknowledgements

The paper was presented at the Stanford Comparative Education study group in April 2006. I wish to thank the participants for their supportive comments. Tracy Karp edited the manuscript.

Notes

1. This is most clearly seen while searching comprehensive data sets like Eric, the ISI or Google Scholar.

2. Some, however, insist that these are merely fictive post‐hoc narratives. Others argue that some situations institutionally structure the formulation of turning point biographies (e.g. application statements to universities which look out for such ‘epiphany narrations’). They therefore argue that such narratives are invalid testimonies about respondents. Yet others suggest that although we cannot realistically ascertain whether these narratives make touch with precious factual details, the mere fact that respondents are retelling these stories solidifies their identities and their personal ‘mythologies’. Therefore these narratives have practical and real consequences for those who narrate them.