ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 uses the work of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger to examine the extent to which Access to HE courses work as a community of practice in supporting the students to make successful transitions to HE. It also analyses how Access to HE students interact and engage on their courses, facilitated by their tutors, to develop a sense of belonging and shared repertoires of knowledge and resources that help them to (re)engage in learning successfully. The chapter discusses how for Access to HE students, the creation of collaborative and supportive learning communities was very important in terms of supporting the complex demands that the students faced in relation to learning, and in terms of their legitimate peripheral participation, in which they often developed shared practices. It concludes by highlighting how the students dealt with inequalities and power relations, largely sustained by the institutional structures and professional discourses within which the Access to HE courses were located.
