Learning from experience

This is a timeline of 10 boxes, dated and connected to each other, mostly along a horizontal line, which depict the high points and low points in Mo’s life as shown in Figure 2.2. Extra boxes have been added to show Mo’s key learning points at specific times in his life. The timeline moves from left to right, with the two low points represented by boxes below the main line. The timeline starts on the left with a box dated 2004, when Mo graduated with a BSc from university in Iran. The timeline then moves to the right to a point when he worked on a research project at university in Iran between 2004 and 2006. The third box is below the line, representing a low point when Mo fled to the UK in November 2006. Box four is back up on the horizontal path for 2007 when he settled in Glasgow, where there were no ESOL places at college. The first learning point here is that there are lots of barriers – language, other people, finance – and it takes time to overcome them, but Mo did, as he then moves on. The fifth box reflects 2008 when he was granted refugee status and started an HNC in computing. The timeline dips to a later time in 2008 (for the sixth box) when he had problems in Glasgow and moved to London. The timeline then rises to 2009 when Mo went on a New Voices course, met with Bridges, began OU study and restarted his HNC in computing. In 2010 (box 8), he volunteered with Venture Scotland, finished his HNC in computing and began his HND in computing. This time (2009–2010) represents another learning point where Mo is trying a new direction by studying and volunteering. In 2011 he finished his HND and started university. Finally, box 10 shows that in 2012 he got a summer job at the London Olympics, entered his third year as a university student and his family knew he was safe. Between 2011 and 2012 Mo learns that through resilience and hard work, and not being afraid to try new things, that ‘he can do it’ and can achieve things, though it is not easy. This is the final learning point.

This is a timeline of nine boxes, mostly arranged in a horizontal line depicting high points and low points in Ying’s life where time increases from left to right, as shown in Figure 2.3. Extra boxes have been added to show Ying’s key learning points at specific times in her life. Unlike Mo’s timeline, it is not dated. It starts with school in China. The second box represents the time when she worked in a factory, and her first learning point where Ying realised that she was unhappy at work and needed a new career goal. Box three represents when she set up a clothes shop. This provided her second learning point as she learned new business skills. The fourth box is about her arrival in the UK, after which box five represents the high point when her baby was born. The timeline then dips to box six, representing the low point and the time before Ying learned English. All these events are associated with her third and fourth learning points of experiencing a new culture and lifestyle, realising that family is a priority for her. The timeline then rises again to the period when she learned English at college, as she learned that English skills are necessary to succeed in the UK. Box 8 represents the time when she studies at the OU, learning that study must be a priority, and the timeline ends at box nine when she gets a job as a bookkeeper. Her final learning points are that compromises may be needed to achieve goals, but these bring confidence, skills and self-awareness.