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The activities of OFSTED and its impact are `a matter of high public interest' (Brunel University, 1999 p. 3) constituting as they arguably do, the central plank in governmental efforts to improve contemporary primary education. However, after almost a decade since its introduction, and in spite of a growing body of research into various aspects of the inspection process, there is relatively little which actually points to sustained improvements in either standards or classroom practice which can be directly attributed to OFSTED. This research project adopted a case study approach to investigate the perceptions of those working in, and for, a sample of six Derbyshire primary schools concerning the impact of the OFSTED process of inspection. Data was gathered from headteachers, teachers, governors and classroom assistants using questionnaires, interviews and formal and informal site visits. Other data sources, including inspection reports and contextual data drawn from the sample schools were also included, providing useful information relating to each institution's culture and context. This qualitative study attempts to explore the overall impact of inspection on the teaching and learning process and its relationship to school improvement in the context of primary education. The findings from this project indicate that the OFSTED system of inspection has only a limited positive impact upon primary school practice. It also raises questions concerning the anxieties and pressures felt by schools who experience `light touch' short inspections. Ultimately, the evidence from this study would suggest that, to date, it remains difficult to justify the inspectorate's validating objective of `improvement through inspection' and that, as a result, the positive impact of inspection upon primary schools remains questionable.

The quasi-marketisation of England and Wales' education system undertaken by the Conservative Government during the 1980s has not only been consolidated but also extended by 'New' Labour. New Managerialist restructuring has now reached its zenith in national target setting, 'Education Action Zones' and the primacy of OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education). Using Archer's (1995) morphogenetic approach, this thesis provides a useful contribution to the development of critical realism in organisation theory and the sociology of education. It also adds to the international debate on school effectiveness, assessment and the generic contradiction between New Managerialism and child-centred philosophy and practice. One of the key arguments of the thesis is that there is an objective constraining contradiction between New Managerialism and child-centred philosophy, which predisposes cultural agents to act in specific ways. Part One establishes the theoretical framework, counterposing Archer's morphogenesis to Giddens' structuration theory. Here it is argued that the interplay of structure, culture and agency can be theorised via the methodological device of analytical dualism. Part Two utilises the morphogenetic approach's three-part sequential schema of Socio-Cultural Conditioning 4 Socio-Cultural Interaction 4 Socio-Cultural Elaboration/Stasis in providing an historical account of the demise of child-centred philosophy and concurrent elaboration of the New Managerialism. The Preface to Part Three critically appraises the school effectiveness movement and the managerialist cooption of Robin Alexander and others. It delineates the background to the two primary schools analysed in Part Three. Part Three provides a contemporary ethnographic analysis of how teaching staffs in two primary schools mediate the contradiction between child-centred philosophy and practice and the New Managerialism. It draws upon nine months of participant observation, tape-recorded semi-structured interviews and the relevant academic literature. The concluding chapter discusses the implications of the findings for primary school practice and underscores the need for a critical realist approach.

A review of the literature on small primary schools identified a number of problems: a lack of a definition of 'small', poor quality of evidence, a neglect of some important issues and the general picture of teachers in small schools having different work patterns from other teachers. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the work of teachers in small schools was distinctively different from those in larger schools. Data were gathered which were used to portray the work of the Key Stage Two teachers in two small Warwickshire primary schools. Of the seven individuals studied, two were headteachers with a dual teaching and management role. Participant observation, time diaries, interviews and systematic observation techniques were employed in order to gain a full picture of their working lives and to allow for triangulation. Analysis of the data suggested that for the case study teachers, their work did not differ markedly from that reported in other studies of teachers in larger schools. This was true both in terms of the length and distribution of their time and the means by which they delivered the curriculum. Differences arose as a result of individual personalities and the proportion of a full-time teaching contract which each held. It was hypothesised that teachers working in small schools may have undergone the most intensification of their work; again, there was little to suggest that this was true for the teachers in this study. Despite limitations in the data collected, evidence of the headteachers' work suggested that again school size was not the main influence upon their work School status and individual personalities were influential in shaping their working patterns and priorities.

This study seeks to answer the question: "What kinds of mental representation do children project and how may these be associated with their level of achievement in elementary arithmetic?". Drawing upon theories offering some explanation for the way in which arithmetical activity is transformed into numerical concepts and those that hypothesise the form and quality of mental representations the study suggests that qualitatively different kinds of mental representation may be associated with qualitatively different kinds of arithmetical behaviour. The evidence is drawn from the classification and categorisation of data from two series of semi-clinical interviews carried out with children aged eight to twelve who were at extremes of numerical achievement. The first, a pilot study, largely concentrated on mental representations associated with numerical concepts and skills. Its results suggest that mental representations projected by children may have a disposition towards different kinds of mental representation which transcends arithmetical and non-arithmetical boundaries. Issues raised by this study, in conjunction with a re-appraisal of the psychological evidence, informed the development of the main study. With a similar sample of children this considered the relationship between children's projections, reports and descriptions of mental representations in numerical and non-numerical contexts and in elementary arithmetic. Words, pictures, icons and symbols stimulated the projection of these representations. The evidence suggests that there is indeed a disposition towards the formation of particular kinds of mental representation. low achievers' projected mental representations which have descriptive emphasis. 'High achievers', whilst able to do the same, also project those with relational characteristics, the frequency of which increases as the stimulus becomes more 'language like'. This provides them with the flexibility to oscillate between descriptive and abstract levels of thought. The study indicates that qualitative different thinking in number processing is closely associated to a disposition towards qualitatively different kinds of mental representation. Its concluding comments suggest that these differences may have some considerable implication for the received belief that active methods may supply all children with a basis for numerical understanding.

Adopting a narrative epistemology this study uses qualitative research with children between the ages of 9 and 11 to consider the nature of children's worldviews and the place of RE in their meaning construction. In England and Wales church schools are perceived to be particularly attentive to children's personal, social, cultural, moral and spiritual development, especially through RE. Employing a case study approach with' four church schools (two Church of England and two Roman Catholic) this research utilises a broad understanding of RE (lessons, collective worship and ethos) to investigate whether these perceptions are justified. The work is informed by a range of linguistic, sociological, educational, philosophical and theological particulars and whilst it is acknowledged that this study constitutes only a small scale study it aims to authentically represent and analyse the children's narratives and experiences of RE. Pursuing a grounded theory approach that works from open interviews with children this research develops an analytical framework that considers children's meaning construction in terms of the nature and impact of different relationships. By taking account of empirical research and theorists in complementary areas the process of analysis examines the notion of the relational self and proposes a model for interrogating the structure and effect of different aspects of relationships for the individual's meaning construction. Throughout the course of the research this study also develops the concept of worldviews by inquiring into what it means to speak of worldview development. Combining these elements with narrative theory this relational analysis and conceptualisation of worldview development explores the place of nurture and the provision of RE in church schools. Taking account of the contemporary theoretical debate in this area this study offers a critical reflection of its findings at the four schools involved with this work. Highlighting the crucial role of relationships and experience, together with how this is addressed in the learning process, the fundamental distinction is made between RE that focuses on what to think in contrast to how to think. Conclusions and recommendations are drawn which address: (1) the need for better communication between those who contribute to the shaping of models of RE in church schools; (2) the need for practitioners to develop a clear understanding of their role in the classroom so that they might confidently engage in those relationships necessary for children's worldview development; (3) the need for a broader theoretical debate in relation to church schools and RE; (4) the need for further research in this area. In advancing a way of understanding children's meaning construction and worldview development this study offers a framework and suggestions for further research which speaks to both the context of church schools as well as the broader field of education generally.

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Graduation date: 1984

Thesis (M.Ed. (Literacy and Language))--University of South Australia, 1995.