The premise of this thesis is that the role of the first steps in reading in courses for Young Learners of English (YL) at the beginner stage is a neglected area, with anomalies centred around the fact that ‘words on the page ’are often treated as if they were facilitative from the outset for language work in areas such as speaking while very little support is offered to children as to how to decode these words. Chapter 1 (Introduction) traces the rapid spread of YL teaching worldwide and considers the preparation of teachers for their roles. Materials are discussed as an important source of support and structure for teachers and a case is made for a focus in the main study on systems and rationales for early reading found among teachers themselves or evidenced in published materials. Chapter 2 (Literature Review) discusses relevant issues for systematic support for YL in their first steps in reading English. Areas discussed are: Teacher Cognition, Sociocultural inductions to reading, Orthographic Depth, Phonology, research on reading development across languages and influences in the YL world of established early reading methods for English native-speaking children. Chapter 3 (Research Methodology) justifies the decision to investigate the area via two main studies: (1) questionnaires and in-depth interviews with EYL professionals and (2) close analysis of course materials. It is argued that the qualitative stance of the former is not in conflict with the more objective and quantitative handling of course material data since both are appropriate ways of focusing on the same issue. A third, small-scale, study of the publishing experiences of curriculum experts and materials writers is justified and described. Chapter 4 (Findings) reports and integrates the findings of both main studies and summarizes the findings from the study with curriculum experts and materials writers. Main findings are that EYL professionals tend not to put linguistic considerations high in their priorities for decision-making and that materials analyzed had an underlay in the Alphabetic Principle but were dominated by ‘ABC’ ordering of Reading-Focal items and included activities which tended not to promote pattern-seeking or other behaviour likely to lead to ‘self-teaching’. Chapter 5 (Discussion) discusses the significance of the findings of the two main studies and uses the results of the third study to add balance to the materials analysis study. Limitations of, and reflections on, the research are discussed. Chapter 6 (Conclusions) draws implications for professional education, pedagogy and materials illustrated by examples in the Appendices. Claims are made for the contributions of the study that (1) it opens up discussion on an area of YL teaching which has been neglected both in the research literature and in practical materials creation (2) through the use of in-depth interviews it allows a voice for EYL professionals which has not been heard before (3) the concepts of Reading-Focal versus Vehicular language in YL course materials are claimed as new and useful, leading directly (4) to procedures and analysis tools which can be used with any set of YL materials. Directions for further research building on this thesis are indicated.

The study investigated parental involvement in children’s learning in Cypriot primary schools. It aimed to describe and analyse processes of policy-making and capture meanings, interpretations and reported practices of major stakeholders through document analysis, survey and interviews with élites, teachers, parents and children. The policy trajectory framework of Bowe et al. (1992) identified three interactive contexts influencing the stages of development, interpretation and enactment of policy. The adoption of this framework as a tool of analysis, contributed to the significant findings of the study. Indeed, investigation of the parental involvement policy-to-practice process provided the opportunity to identify both facilitating factors and obstacles restricting its development. Overall, the study identified the sheer political challenge associated with setting up a new educational system, translating new ideas and conceptions into an agreed text and practical challenges related to lack of professional teacher development in parental involvement, as well as ideological tensions related to relinquishing traditional professional boundaries set by teachers and psychological barriers associated with perceived threats from parental interference. The study indicated that the Cypriot educational system is in the early stages of developing parental involvement policy. It identified a weak interaction between policy contexts. The absence of mechanisms for transmitting new policies to practitioners, lack of guidance on implementation or monitoring of this process allowed headteachers and teachers to determine the type and extent of parental involvement practised. Even though findings indicated that there was an implicit recognition from teachers, parents and children of Cypriot parents’ central role in their children’s education and development, there was a lack of explicitly promoted parental involvement practices. The mismatch between policy intention, text and practice allowed the emergence of a dominant parent group whose disproportionate influence through Parent Associations seemed to be derived from the particular social and cultural capital background they occupied.

Over the last 30 years, research has consistently found that children in public care (LAC), in general, have low educational attainments. The research has tended to be from a social work standpoint with the focus on achievements at secondary school, In contrast, this study is from an education perspective and concerns the educational attainments of primary school LAC. This in-depth classroom-based research examines potentially modifiable aspects of social learning and behaviour in the education of LAC in order to generate hypotheses that can be subsequently tested. An investigation was carried out into the social perceptions of LAC, and their social perceptions of self, in the context of their mainstream primary school classrooms. The purposive sample consisted of 15 LAC aged five to 11 years, in 15 classrooms, in 11 mainstream primary schools, in one local authority. A total of 372 children and 59 school staff participated. A case study design employing mixed methods was used to ascertain and analyse sociometric status (SMS), locus of control beliefs (LCB) and self-esteem (S-E). The 15 LAC and their classmates completed two sociometric tests set in the context of the playground and the classroom, and two psychometric measures, PPNSIE (Nowicki-Duke, 1973) and B/G-STEEM (Maines & Robinson, 1983). School records were used to evaluate the children’s academic attainment, and school staff were consulted regarding the LAC’s SMS, LCB and S-E. The main non-directional hypothesis emerging from the empirical data is that there are complex relationships between the SMS, LCB, S-E, and educational attainment of LAC. Two additional factors became apparent from the findings. These were the varied emotional well-being of the LAC, and difficulties concerning language development. The findings of the case studies highlight the uniqueness of the 15 individual LAC in their specific classrooms and schools. This data calls into question the helpfulness of stereotyping other than for Governmental and local authority policymaking. For the class teacher, the value and practical methods of identifying specific social learning difficulties open to modification within individual LAC, and other ‘vulnerable children’, have been demonstrated.

This aim of this qualitative research study was to suggest an initiative for promoting professionalism in English language teaching of primary teachers, who work in rural small schools in Thailand. This study was conducted in two phases; Phase I and Phase II. By adopting convenience or opportunity sampling, ten primary teachers in one educational service area office volunteered to take part in this study. Grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 1998; Newby, 2010) was adopted for data analysis. In Phase I, data were collected from semi-structured interviews and from supplementary data sources (i.e. research journals and classroom observations). The results suggested that (1) teachers’ inadequate knowledge of English, (2) their difficulty in using the English textbooks available, (3) a problem with materials and equipment, (4) students’ knowledge of English, (5) teachers’ heavy workloads, and (6) the impact of national examinations on regular classroom learning were factors contributing to their difficulty in teaching. Moreover, the results suggested that INSET programmes failed to promote their professionalism in English language teaching, and the teachers’ comments on those programmes also provided valuable implications for the design of the professional development programme in Phase II.Exploratory Practice (EP) (Allwright & Lenzuen, 1997) was adopted as a theoretical framework for the proposed programme in Phase II. For qualitative case study research, two cases of teachers in doing EP projects were selected for in-depth investigation. Data were collected from focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews and from supplementary data sources (i.e. research journals, classroom observations, teacher diaries, recorded discussions, and documents). The results suggested that these teachers gained similar benefits from their experience in Exploratory Practice. First, Exploratory Practice helped them to gain a better understanding of their classroom context. Second, it helped them to design more appropriate lesson plans, materials, and activities for teaching their students more effectively. Third, it increased their confidence in their ability to teach. Fourth, it influenced them to increase their confidence in speaking. The teachers also had positive attitudes towards English, and higher motivation to improve themselves and sustain their professional development in English language teaching. The results also suggested that group discussions supported the teachers in preparing their project plans. These findings suggest that Exploratory Practice was useful for promoting the professional development in English language teaching of two primary teachers and it is possible that Exploratory Practice could have benefits similarly for others in this context and similar contexts where teachers work under similarly difficult circumstances.

Using exemplars from selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa, this article considers trends in curriculum reform and the related policy challenges. Particular attention is paid to aspects of the curriculum that affect quality. These include aims and objectives, moves towards outcomes-based education, new areas of concentration in response to social changes, the balance between subject-disciplinary- and learning-area-based approaches, the challenges of effective pedagogy, the move towards assessment for learning, curricular interventions that affect inclusion and equity positively, and the centrality of teachers in improving learning.

Inclusive education, a relatively new education system, provides an environment for both non-disabled and disabled children to interact and to understand each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate relevant key stakeholders’ voices and opinions by means of interviews, observations, focus groups and parental surveys. It started from providing a general background of Taiwan’s history and education to the investigating of current implementation of social policies and primary inclusive education in Taiwan. In conducting the study, an investigation into inclusive education in Taiwan was undertaken, specifically the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in Tainan region. This study obtained a great deal of information from a wide range of stakeholders: perspectives on inclusive policies were obtained by means of interviews. Non-disabled and disabled children’s daily school life and interactions among other children and teachers were recorded via observations and focus groups whilst data gathered through parental questionnaires provided parents’ opinions, reactions and responses. Starting from the pursuit of human rights in Western societies, the focus then shifted to the context of Taiwanese society. More and more attention on the issue of human rights and disadvantaged groups’ rights are paid and in general, the notion of all human beings are equal is rooted and sprouted in Taiwanese culture. The results showed that, in general, professionals believed that inclusive education was basically positive for both non-disabled and disabled children. Inclusive settings provide an environment for both non-disabled and disabled children to share their experiences so that when children grow up, they would have positive attitudes towards each other. However, some professionals were concerned about the consequences of locating disabled pupils, especially pupils with behavioural disorders, in mainstream schools. In most cases, pupils with physical impairments are more easily accepted than those with behavioural disorder ones. It is still not easy to break the barriers, such as people’s inherent notions towards disadvantaged groups, the reality that some behavioural disorder pupils are aggressive and teachers’ time might be spent more on special need pupils, in such a complicated social system. With regard to learning in inclusive settings; both non-disabled and disabled pupils, in general, felt comfortable or did not feel too much difference in the inclusive classroom. The study highlighted that, in most inclusive classrooms, both non-disabled and disabled pupils could be accepted by each other; and in some cases, non-disabled and disabled pupils liked to be located in the inclusive classroom. Parents, however, had more diverse opinions than in any other stakeholders. Inclusive education, though less than half of total respondents had heard before, was deemed basically good to both non-disabled and disabled pupils and in general, it will become future mainstream. Still, some parents, especially those whose children had been located in an inclusive classroom and had bad experiences, were strongly anti-inclusion. Their primary concern was to protect their own children. Quality of education was also their concern because some parents deeply believed that teachers’ time and attention are sometimes drawn to pupils with special educational needs. In conclusion, key stakeholders viewed inclusive education as a means of providing an environment for both non-disabled and disabled pupils to study and to share their experiences. There may however, be a need to re-think the real role of inclusive classroom because many people merely think of locating both non-disabled and disabled pupils in the same environment as inclusion instead of thinking the moral issue or equality for all when they hear about the term inclusion. This study investigated what key stakeholders’ opinions and responses were when discussing about inclusion. This study also concluded by suggesting and offering some of the main issues needing further consideration: issues related to the resources, shifting people’s impression towards disadvantaged groups and the paramount aim of inclusion. All of which are considered to be important for future implementation of inclusive education. The study concludes by a reflection on the findings in a broader context of Chinese thinking and addresses current Taiwanese education system with reference to Taiwanese culture.

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This dissertation studies the impact on classroom practice, of the unaided use of new English Language texts, based on the TASC ( Thinking Actively in a Social Context) approach, Thinking Skills and Communicative Language Teaching ( CLT ). The central aim of the study was to establish whether the use of the new materials would effect any change in the teaching methodology of the participant teachers as well as a change in the learner involvement in the English Second Language ( ESL ) classroom. The literature on Thinking Skills and Communicative Language Teaching was reviewed in order to establish the significance of incorporating Thinking Skills into the teaching of language. Issues related to school-based curriculum development were explored with a view to finding out whether the curriculum initiative undertaken could contribute to improved ESL teaching and more effective learning in primary schools. The draft materials used, viz. "Language in my World", were used collaboratively by the researcher together with the writing team from the Curriculum Development Unit ( CDU ), University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. A qualitative, participatory research method was applied. Eight teachers from two ex-Department of Education and Training ( DET ) schools, one rural, one urban ), participated in the study.The research design enabled the researcher to collect data over a period of six weeks. The research design, the fieldwork, and analysis of the lessons observed are described and recorded. The findings indicated aspects of classroom practice which hinder the effective learning and teaching of English Second Language. The implications of the findings for appropriate curriculum development and teacher training are considered. Certain recommendations from the findings for curriculum development are made which will enable teachers to develop their professional knowledge and improve their teaching practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.