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Adult learners represent a growing population of students seeking postsecondary education. This qualitative investigation sought to understand the lived experience of the adult learner during matriculation. Through the use of semi-structured questions, 15 newly enrolled adult learners participated in a private, one-on-one interview to describe their personal matriculation experiences. Each participant's narrative dove deep into lived experience describing in detail the journey of matriculation and how it is unique to each adult learner. From these 15 participant narratives, knowledge was gained to answer four questions: (a) What emotions and motivations are experienced by adult learners during the moment the idea to matriculate is originally conceived? (b) What influences, motivations, and objectives drive adult learners' desire to matriculate? (c) What factors, resources, and supports do adult learners seek from the institution, their employer, and/or from their personal relationships in order to successfully matriculate? (d) What life experiences (academic, social, etc.) navigated adult learners away from the traditional route of enrolling into postsecondary education straight after high school graduation to place them here, matriculating now? Answering these four important questions assists in the understanding of adult learners' individuality. Better understanding adult learners not only as a group but as individual students also, influences the future of higher education by assisting with proper program development. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study examined the discourse of preservice teacher candidates in order to better identify those practices and experiences by which they shape their identity and conceptualize their role in teaching. The study's purpose was to find out (a) how secondary preservice teacher candidates conceptualize the practice of their teaching, (b) what relevant experiences frame the context of their conceptualization of teaching, and (c) how they engage with one another through classroom discourse to collectively shape their developing conceptualization of teaching? Data consisting of in-class recorded discourse (with accompanying field notes), online discourse, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups were collected from 24 pre-service secondary teacher candidates who were enrolled in an intact reading methods course at a large Midwestern university. Using Gee's (2005) integrated approach to discourse analysis helped extract several inter-related themes (e.g., connecting with texts read, using prior knowledge and experiences, negotiating conceptualization of teaching through discourse), which shed light into those personal and professional experiences that help shape their identity and conceptualization of their role in teaching. The findings underscore the importance of examining classroom discourse as a powerful lens for understanding teacher learning and development. These findings are discussed in light of existing research on teacher identity formation with implications for pedagogical research and instruction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]