Within the context of rapid expansion of higher education in Europe over the last ten years, the focus of this enquiry is to investigate the personal and professional identities of mature students returning to higher education on teacher education programmes in England and Greece, to highlight their learning needs and identify key factors affecting their progress in both academic and social spheres. Studies of mature students (Mercer and Saunders 2004) have explored the impact of returning to study on students' lives, self-confidence and identity, the negotiation of risk and change, and the inter-relationship of age, gender and academic context (Andreou et al 2006), but few studies have focused on mature student teachers' experiences, especially in the Greek context. Particular emphasis has been paid to mature women’s access, progression and experiences in higher and teacher education due to boundaries they face in private and public life (Edwards 1993). However, studies also note the positive qualities which mature women bring to teaching and stress the benefits to women undertaking teacher education, including growth in confidence and other changes in identity (Griffiths 2002). Only a few studies report findings about the experiences of both men and women mature student teachers (e.g. Quintrell and Maguire 2000). This study attempts to provide insights concerning both male and female mature student teachers in the Greek and UK contexts. Based on the above, the key questions of the study are as follows: •What is the profile of mature students in Greek and English university departments of education? •Why do these mature students decide to become primary school teachers? •What is the family and/or any other support they may have in order to meet course requirements? •How do they cope with the course demands? •What are the implications of mature student enrolment for university departments of teacher education in Europe? The theoretical background of the study is drawn from models of transitions through the lifecourse, based on adults returning to higher education and teacher education programmes. Lifecourse research presents agency as 'the ways in which people construct their own lifecourse through the choices and actions they take within the opportunities and constraints of history and social circumstance' (Ecclestone 2007 p.10). Within this framework, transitions as shifts in identity and agency through the navigation of institutionalised pathways or a process of becoming in response to wider structural changes (ibid) are particularly relevant to this study. More fluid models of transition as the construction of multiple identities are also pertinent to a consideration of mature students navigating the dual pathways of becoming students in higher education and teachers.

Within a qualitative, interpretive framework, a life history approach (Clandinin and Connelly 2000) will be taken to explore the experiences of 50 mature student teachers in England and Greece. The paper will draw on in-depth, biographical interviews of mature students in each country context, representing a range of gender, age, class, ethnicity, educational background and previous work experience. From this sample, case studies will be presented from each context, focusing in particular on the processes by which tensions between public and private spheres are negotiated. Narrative analysis (Clandinin and Connelly 2000) will also be used to examine the students own accounts of these processes, including relationships and types of support, major problems and conflicts, the day to day management of change and longer term personal, professional and academic development. It is argued that a life history approach is particularly suitable for investigating individual experience and highlighting new insights into transition processes.

Findings are expected to include the importance of prior experience and learning in enabling mature student teachers to return to and succeed in higher education, their preference for collaborative learning styles and potential contribution to future employment in schools. Major factors identified will include the value of peer and family support, the effect of the academic context and expectations of university tutors, and the difficulties of balancing study with domestic roles and responsibilities, for both male and female students. Implications for models of teacher preparation in higher education will be drawn from the findings. The potential impact of the widening participation agenda on the teaching workforce will also be highlighted. The paper makes an important contribution to studies of mature students in higher education - it will be one of the first studies of mature student teachers in Greece - as well as to comparative studies of higher and teacher education in Europe.