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It challenges the tendency to treat working-class struggle as singularly caused by COVID-19, arguing instead that societal structures that reproduce inequality are fundamental. Through Freire’s concept of love as a political force, the paper identifies space for radical hope amid amplified daily struggles.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/storm-on-the-island-the-lived-experience-of-working-class-adult-learners-in-higher-education/589078/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/storm-on-the-island-the-lived-experience-of-working-class-adult-learners-in-higher-education/589078.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Nguyễn Văn Học","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":34},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the paper’s main focus during the COVID-19 pandemic?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The paper focuses on the lived experience of working-class adult learners in higher education during COVID-19, emphasizing how the pandemic amplified existing daily struggles.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the paper reject attributing working-class struggles solely to COVID-19?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"It argues that inequalities are rooted in societal structures that frame and reproduce disadvantage, and these structures existed long before the pandemic.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does Paulo Freire’s concept of love relate to the paper’s outlook?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The paper presents Freire’s love as a political force that enables authentic solidarity and makes space for radical hope despite devastation caused by COVID-19.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},589078,1792165509,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":34,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374402739827,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000c97e7351f1a627?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1787885694763230660","Storm on the Island – The Lived Experience of Working-Class Adult Learners in Higher Education  \nneil m speirs  \nAbstract  \nThis paper draws on both a theoretical understanding anda semi-autoethnographic approach of the lived experience of working class adult learners in higher education during the COVID-19 global pandemic. In particular, the paper warns of the doxic notion of current working class struggles being singularly attributed to COVID- 19. Rather it is vital to assert that the societal structures that frame and reproduce inequality – written by the dominant classes and cultures – are the root of the problem. The daily struggles of working class adult learners have been amplified by the pandemic, but through Freire’s love as a political force, there is space for radical hope.  \nKeywords: Working-Class, Adult Learner, Digital Exclusion, Loneliness, Inequality  \nIntroduction  \nThe global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in ‘significant psychological and social effects on the population’ (Saladino et al., 2020, p.1), through a ‘prolonged exposure to stress’ (ibid.) . However, these effects are not experienced equally throughout society, we are reminded that ‘the great public health lesson is that for centuries pandemics disproportionately affect the poor and disadvantaged’(Abrams et al., 2020, p.660). Because of the structures that frame and reproduce inequity, we find that ‘historically disadvantaged communities have reduced capacity to adopt preventive measures’ (Thakur et al., 2020, p.945) . Since the beginning of this pandemic the dominant classes and cultures of society have been enlightened on various matters related to social class and race. For example, access to information technology, the value of free school meals, the isolation and loneliness of the elderly and systemic racism. For a while, many  \nstood with the oppressed and forgotten – as these matters made the headlinesin TV news programmes and were found in editorial articles in various papers across the world. However, I would posit that the interim solidarity and allyship that was shown is beginning to wane. It is pertinent here, to be reminded of Paulo Freire’s true solidarity; Kester et al. (2010, p.501) outlines that ‘[w]hen Freire talks about true solidarity with the oppressed, he clearly distinguishes between pious gestures, or false generosity, and an act of love’. It is this genuine and gentle act of love – that is at the core of authentic solidarity and allyship – that is required to free the oppressed.  \nThe devastation caused by the storm of COVID-19 has been reported upon extensively – and rightly so. However, the impact that it has had upon the working class has yet to be properly elucidated. There have always been struggles for families during school holidays to provide lunch; digital poverty is not new; many elderly living in state pension poverty live with loneliness and isolation every day and ethnic and racial minority community groups were uncomfortably familiar with experiencing racism long before COVID-19 . The lived experience of the working class during COVID-19 cannot be uniquely tracked, traced and singularly attributed to COVID-19. What the pandemic has done is massively amplify the daily struggles of the working class. Struggles, which are the result of societal structures that frame and reproduce inequity. These structures existed long before COVID-19 and will continue to exist until we see the true necessary conditions for emancipatory dialogue to free the oppressed. Paulo Freire wrote about these conditions; profound love, humility, faith, trust, hope and critical thinking – with these, all can be renewed, after all‘I am hopeful, not out of mere stubbornness, but out ofan existential, concrete imperative’ (Freire, 1992, p.8) .  \nContext  \nThis paper will focus on the lived experience of working class adult learners in higher education during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Charles Umney (2018, p.33) reminds us that ‘thinking abo","cbCaiquKOVGbUAG6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiquKOVGbUAG6","pdf",167692,25,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Context","[{\"question\":\"What is the paper’s main focus during the COVID-19 pandemic?\",\"answer\":\"The paper focuses on the lived experience of working-class adult learners in higher education during COVID-19, emphasizing how the pandemic amplified existing daily struggles.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper reject attributing working-class struggles solely to COVID-19?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that inequalities are rooted in societal structures that frame and reproduce disadvantage, and these structures existed long before the pandemic.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Paulo Freire’s concept of love relate to the paper’s outlook?\",\"answer\":\"The paper presents Freire’s love as a political force that enables authentic solidarity and makes space for radical hope despite devastation caused by COVID-19.\"}]","Storm on the Island - The Lived Experience of Working-Class Adult Learners in Higher Education | PDF",1792066509,63]