The education system in England has long been characterised by a distinct separation between academic or vocational pathways in the post-16 phase. Until recent policy changes this division coincided with the point at which compulsory education ended and mathematics became an optional subject for many students. Those who failed to attain the widely accepted minimum standard of a grade C in GCSE mathematics, however, were often strongly encouraged to undertake a course to improve their mathematical knowledge and skills. This study focusses aged 16-19 and examines the learning experience of those who take a functional mathematics course alongside their vocational programme, as either a recommended option or a requirement of internal college policy. Research regarding the learning of mathematics for these students within the context of Further Education is limited. The study adopts a holistic view of the situation to explore the main factors that influence the student experience, with an emphasis on gaining insight and understanding of students’ perceptions of their learning situation. Using a grounded theory approach with multiple methods, the research includes a series of case studies of seventeen student groups across three Further Education colleges, from which within-case and cross-cases themes are identified. The research findings show how the student experience of functional mathematics is affected by a complex network of inter-linking factors associated with both the organisation and the individual. Although organisational factors such as policies and systems sometimes place constraints on opportunities, social and cultural influences shape student values and perceptions of functional mathematics. There is strong influence from individual teachers through differing interpretations of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches but social structures and relationships within the classroom are also important to students. In addition, the legacy of students’ prior experiences of learning mathematics has an effect on attitudes and emotions, despite the separation of space and time, indicating the significance of both cognitive and affective factors in this interaction of multiple influences. Many students approach functional mathematics in college with prior experiences of disaffection and low attainment but the study shows how attitudes and understanding are transformed for some students within the college environment. Fundamental to these changes is the functional curriculum which, based on the application of mathematics rather than knowledge-acquisition, facilitates teaching approaches that present a new image of mathematics as a useful ‘tool for life’. Using materials such as contextualised tasks to make meaningful links to student lives increases awareness of the relevance of mathematics, leading to greater engagement and understanding. In the transition from school to college there is a marked discontinuity of curriculum and environment, accompanied by value-changes indicating a stronger orientation towards adult life and vocational employment. Students respond positively to functional mathematics lessons where these values are embraced. Academic-vocational divisions, such as differences in values, culture, curriculum and approaches to learning, are evident at multiple levels in colleges and these produce tensions in the student experience of functional mathematics. Some effective bridging is achieved through appropriate classroom practices but coherence requires a multi-level embedded approach involving college structures and departmental policies rather than simply the actions of individual teachers. The research findings suggest that reversing trends of disaffection and failure with mathematics amongst students can be achieved in post-16 education but this is dependent on changes within the curriculum and learning situation. In the light of recent policy changes in England that will increase the numbers of post-16 students taking a mathematics course and the prioritisation of GCSE mathematics over alternative curricula, this study has much to contribute to understanding students’ perceptions of mathematics and the factors that influence their learning experience.

Bakgrund: Psykisk ohälsa ses som en definition av många begrepp. Under de senaste åren har psykisk ohälsa ökat bland Sveriges befolkning. Den sjukdom som ökat markant och bidragit till ohälsa är utmattningssyndrom. Utmattningssyndrom drabbar främst personer som jobbar eller ansvarar för andra människor och har i slutändan visat sig bidra till fysisk och psykisk ohälsa. Resultatet av den psykiska och fysiska ohälsan kan vara en bidragande faktor till de långtidssjukskrivningar som ökat i dagens samhälle. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien är att beskriva personers upplevelser och hantering av att leva med utmattningssyndrom samt att beskriva undersökningsgrupperna i de inkluderade artiklarna. Metod: Den föreliggande studien är en beskrivande litteraturstudie grundad på 12 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Underlaget till studien hämtades genom sökningar i databaserna Cinahl och PsycINFO. Huvudresultat: Resultatet uppvisade ett upprepande mönster av att personer med utmattningssyndrom upplever fysiska och psykiska besvär. Dessa besvär går att relatera till kroppsliga signaler och symtom som påverkade personernas hälsa negativt samt emotionella upplevelser där självbilden och det sociala livet blev lidande. Vid tillfrisknandet upplevde personerna dock återigen en känsla av glädje och motivation. Flera olika copingstrategier beskrivs som användbara vid hanteringen av utmattningssyndrom. Alla studier redovisade deltagarantal, könet på deltagarna samt majoriteten av studierna redovisade ålder och yrke. Slutsats: Genom att personer med utmattningssyndrom uppgav egna berättelser om deras upplevelser samt hantering av utmattningssyndrom kunde syftet besvaras. Upplevelserna innebar kroppsliga symtom och signaler samt emotionella upplevelser, men även positiva upplevelser som innebar glädje. Det fanns olika copingstrategier som kunde användas vid hanteringen av utmattningssyndrom. Genom ytterligare forskning av personers upplevelser och hantering av utmattningssyndrom kan det bidra till en bättre förståelse för hur personerna känner och deras sjukdom. Genom detta kan vård och behandling förbättras. / Background: Mental illness is seen as a definition of many terms. In recent years, mental health problems has been increasing among the Swedish population. One disease that increased significantly and contributed to illness is burnout professional. Burnout professional mainly affects people who work with, or are responsible for other people and has ultimately proven to contribute to physical and mental illness. The result of the mental and physical illness can be a contributing factor to the long-term sick leave that has increased in today's society. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe people's experiences and strategies of living with burnout professional and to describe the study sample in the included articles. Method: The present study is a descriptive literature review based on 12 scientific articles with qualitative approach. The basis for the study was retrieved through searches of databases Cinahl and PsycINFO. Main Results: The results showed a repeating pattern of people with burnout professional experiencing physical and psychological trouble. These troubles are related to bodily signals and symptoms that affect people's health and contribute to negative emotional experiences where the self-image and sociability suffer. During the recovery people felt joy and motivation again. Several coping strategies are described as useful in the treatment of burnout professional. All studies reported participants, the sex of the participants, the majority of the studies reported age and profession. Conclusion: By people with burnout professional describing their own stories about their experiences and the management of burnout professional, could the aim of this study be answered. The experiences meant physical symptoms and signals and emotional experiences, but also positive experiences like joy. There are different coping strategies that can be used in the management of burnout professional. Through further research of experiences and management of burnout professional, it can gain a better understanding of how people feel and their illness. Through this, care and treatment can be improved.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how beginning teachers' personal teacher efficacy (the abbreviation PTE for personal teacher efficacy) and the organizational health of school (the abbreviation OHI for the organizational health of school) influence teachers' professional identity (the abbreviation PI for professional identity). The participants were 125 middle school teachers from China. They completed online surveys that measured these three variables and some demographics such as gender, salary and school size. The results revealed that there were significant correlations between the OHI and PI, PTE and PI, and OHI and PTE. Except for gender and salary, there was no statistically significant difference in PI between groups of different school size, educational background, type of teaching job, and years of teaching experience. The findings also indicated that OHI mediated the relationship between PTE and PI. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression model was used to predict teachers' PI based on OHI, PTE, and gender. Finally, a statistically significant difference was found on role values (subscale of teachers' professional identity) between tension group (high PTE while low OHI or low PTE while high OHI) and non-tension group (PTE and OHI are at the same level). These findings depict the interactions between PTE and OHI and its influence on PI of Chinese middle school's beginning teachers. The researcher also proposes the next question for further research and makes some practical suggestions for educational policy makers, schools, and individual teachers to improve their PI.

This thesis explores the strong support for collaboration in schools’ while synthesizing literature already conducted on the subject. The primary objectives of this thesis is to discuss possible scenarios as to why educators are not collaborating, explore characteristics and implementations of collaboration with three specific groups including colleagues, stakeholders, and practicing professionals, and identify four key benefits of collaboration which include improved health, pedagogy, autonomy, and time. Evidence supports the idea that teachers who work in isolation can hinder growth within their profession. Additional evidence provides conclusive evidence that supports the benefits of collaboration by adding responsibilities to key contributors by holding them accountable for student learning.

Language practices around the world have experienced a significant shift in the last number of years (McDermott, 2011; Walsh, 2005). Communities that continue to speak minority or heritage languages, such as Irish Gaelic, have felt the effects of the various social, political and economic pressures that have gone hand in hand with globalization, resulting in a breakdown in intergenerational transmission (Anderson, 2011; Hornberger, 1998; Norris, 2004). In the Republic of Ireland, the education system has been set as the corner stone of Irish language revitalization efforts since the 1920s, thereby assigning much responsibility to Irish language teachers. Yet, there is a dearth of existing research that gives voice to Irish teachers, and their experiences and motivations to teach a language that just 1.8% of the population speak on a daily basis remain unclear (National Census of Ireland, 2011). In this study, I engage with teachers from both Gaeltacht (where Irish is spoken as a first language) and primarily English speaking parts of Ireland, in order to give a broader account of Irish teachers’ experiences in different educational settings. In addition, I look to identify what implications a better understanding of teacher motivation could have for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs offered to Irish teachers, and situate these recommendations within the current educational policies that exist within the Irish education system. / February 2017

Tidigare forskning visar att äldreomsorgspersonal kämpar med två typer av logiker: en ekonomisk logik och en omsorgslogik. Även om båda logikerna behövs för att skapa god omsorg så utmanar de varandra. Dessa utmaningar kommer till uttryck i omsorgspraktiken där personalen ställs in för val och måste göra prioriteringar. Denna avhandling syftar till att förstå hur äldreomsorgspersonal beskriver att de arbetar för att finna balans mellan logikerna och hur de rättfärdigar sina prioriteringar i omsorgen om de äldre personerna. Frågeställningen för avhandlingen är att ta reda på hur personal och enhetschef vid ett kommunalt äldreboende förstår och hanterar interaktionen mellan de två logiker som styr omsorgsarbetet för att främja de äldre personernas välbefinnande. Syftet innehåller tre delsyften: 1) att analysera personalens erfarenheter av och meningsskapande kring de äldre personernas välbefinnande och deras reflektioner kring det omsorgsarbete de utför, 2) att belysa och problematiserade logiker som styr omsorgsarbetet samt 3) att analysera hur personalen rättfärdigar sina prioriteringar i rådande kontext och hur deras förklarbarhet påverkar deras professionella identiteter. Målet är att bidra med socialvetenskaplig kunskap om de överväganden personal gör när de ställs inför att göra prioriteringar i äldreomsorgens praktik. Material samlades in genom 12 individuella intervjuer med personal vid ett kommunalt äldreboende, en intervju med personalens enhetschef och en uppföljande gruppintervju med tre personer ur personalgruppen. Materialet analyserades med tre analysmetoder: fenomenologisk analys, reflexiv analys och positioneringsanalys. Resultatet visar att personalen definierar de äldre personernas välbefinnande som ett behov av att känna sig existentiellt berörd. Denna känsla av existentiell beröring delas in i tre delar: känsla av valfrihet, känsla av njutning och känsla av närhet till någon eller något. Arbetet för att uppnå detta välbefinnande beskrivs innebära ett balanserande av tre tvetydigheter: att vilja värna om de äldre personernas valfrihet och samtidigt hantera institutionella begränsningar, de äldre personernas behov av aktivering å ena sidan och att de inte behöver aktiveras å andra sidan samt att förstå de äldre personernas behov av rutiner samtidigt som det är svårt att veta vilka behov de har. Tvetydigheterna kontextualiserades och de två logikerna som styr omsorgsarbetet analyserades. Analysen visar att enhetschefen skapar en hybrid av den ekonomiska logiken och omsorgslogiken; ekonomi är omsorg och vice versa. Denna hybrid möter motstånd från personalen som skiljer på de båda logikerna genom att tala om ”vård och det där andra”. Personalen upplever att den ekonomiska logiken begränsar deras möjligheter att utföra omsorg i linje med omsorgslogiken. Motsättningar mellan de båda logikerna leder till prioriteringar som rättfärdigas av personalen i syfte att behålla de professionella identiteterna. Den teoretiska analysen bygger på teorier om institutionella logiker, förklarbarhet ochprofessionell identitet. Analyserna visar vikten av att väcka dialog mellan enhetschefer och personal där de diskuterar innebörder av olika värdeord som används på politisk nivå. Sådana diskussioner skulle kunna bidra till mindre motstånd och en högre överensstämmelse mellan verksamhetsmål och praktik. Avhandlingen visar även vikten av att förstå logiker som vertikala istället för horisontellt uppdelade. Alltså, att styrande verksamhetslogiker existerar uppifrån och ned i verksamheter (från politisk nivå till chefsnivå och till praktisk nivå) och att de inte kan delas in i exempelvis en professionslogik och en styrningslogik. Den senare synen kan bidra till potentiella missförstånd eftersom det gör att konflikter kan tolkas existera mellan personal och chef, medan de egentligen existerar mellan olika motstridiga värderingssystem. Slutsatsen är att de båda logikerna behövs för att stödja äldre personers välbefinnande. Ibland är logikerna samspelta och ibland är de i konflikt med varandra. När logikerna ställs mot varandra är det av vikt att komma ihåg att den ekonomiska logiken är lika förhandlingsbar som omsorgslogiken. De två logikerna existerar i samspel och om deras motstridigheter inte belyses finns risk att omsorgspraktiken inte stödjer de äldre personernas välbefinnande. / This dissertation aims at contributing to social scientific knowledge about prevailing prioritizations in eldercare practice by looking at an economic and a caring logic, and how these logics are overlapping, contradictory or come in conflict with each other. A more concrete aim is to understand how the personnel describe their work with or for balance between the logics and their justifications prioritizations made in the care of older persons. The research question is: How do personnel and care unit manager at a public nursing home understand and handle the two logics that govern care work for facilitating wellbeing of the residents. The aim and research question led to three sub-aims: 1) to analyze the personnel’s experiences of and meaning making about the care work they carry out, 2) to illuminate and problematize the two logics above, and 3) to analyze how the personnel justify their prioritizations in prevailing context, and how their accountability have an effect on their professional identities. Empirical material was gathered through 13 individual interviews with care personnel and their care unit manager at a public nursing home in Sweden. These interviews were complemented by a group interview. The material was analyzed by the use of three methods: phenomenology (Paper I and II), reflexive analysis (Paper III), and a positioning analysis (Paper IV). Paper I found that the personnel understands the residents’ well-being as being characterized by feeling of being existentially touched. This essence is constituted by feeling freedom of choice, pleasure, and closeness to someone or something. In Paper II, the work for facilitating this kind of wellbeing was characterized by three ambiguities: (i) freedom of choice for the older persons vs. institutional constraints, (ii) the residents' need for activation vs. wanting not to be activated, and (iii) the residents' need for routine vs. the eldercarers' not being able to know what the residents need. Paper III showed that the care unit manager created a hybrid of the two logics (economy is care and vice versa) and that the personnel oppose this hybrid. The opposition is shaped as the personnel divides their work in care and “those other things”. These findings showed how interaction between the logics expresses itself in practice and that it is the personnel who has to handle contradictions between the logics in their everyday care work. The positioning analysis in Paper IV had three levels. The first level showed how the carers align with their peers and that they find the organizational frame, within which they have agency, changed due to increased workload. This change led to an order of priorities. The second level showed that the carers relate to three aspects when making accounts: the care itself, the older persons, and the media. The third level showed that the carers share a view of administration, cleaning, serving meals, and filling up supplies, as not being parts of caring. The dissertation’s theoretical framework focused on theories on logics, accountability, and professional identity. The conclusion is that both logics are needed in order to facilitate the well-being of the older persons. The relationships between the two logics are not always clear and if their contradictions are not illuminated, there is a risk for a care practice that does not facilitate the well-being of their residents. An important theoretical contribution is that logics of activities should be understood vertically (form political, through management, and down to the level of practice) instead of horizontally. The practical implications emphasize the importance of supporting the personnel’s professional identity on the one hand, and discussing the logics on the other. By understanding differences between definitions on management-level and practice level, a homogeneity can be reached.

This thesis examines the relationship between professional practice and professional training of Christian ministers in post-Communist Central Asia. It responds to the call for study of the phenomenon of Protestant theological education in the post-Soviet bloc. Theological education in Central Asia has been developed without any research-led evaluation and is often found unsatisfactory by the emerging church, which calls for a more relevant, field-driven and contextualised training of its leaders. This study also responds to the gap in the literature on attitude development of ministerial students. This is a qualitative inquiry. Its primary emphasis is on in-depth semi-structured interviews of forty graduates of four major theological colleges in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, who had spent several years in pastoral ministry after graduation. This research seeks to identify the most common problems they face in professional practice; to identify the attitudes and capabilities underlying their problem-solving processes; and to analyse how their training enabled or failed to enable them to develop those qualities. This thesis argues that theological education can be viewed as a special case of professional training, with a unique cluster of spiritual qualities that are of paramount importance for the success of ministers. It also argues that, despite the graduates’ generally positive appraisal of their training, there was little connection between the training and the capabilities that the graduates needed to succeed in their current practice. It therefore argues that the institutions in Central Asia have inherited the flaws of the "schooling" paradigm of theological education. A more integrated, context-specific and missional model is needed. By developing a model for investigating the practical knowledge of ministers, this study attempts to provide the training institutions in question with a framework of capabilities and attitudes. This will allow those institutions to have a useful starting point in the reformulation of their curricula.

There has been a recent increase in the use of graphic symbols in school settings (Abbott and Lucey, 2003). However, the use of graphic symbols in schools remains, to date, an under-researched area. In order to address this and develop understanding of practitioners’ experiences of using graphic symbols in school settings, exploratory research was conducted investigating the experiences of a range of practitioners using symbols in Foundation Stage school settings. A qualitative research design was used drawing upon an interpretive phenomenological philosophical framework. The research sample consisted of three groups of practitioners; teachers, early years practitioners (teaching assistants, learning support assistants and nursery nurses) and speech and language therapists. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews which were conducted face-to-face by the researcher. In the interviews participants were encouraged to explore their experiences of using graphic symbols and their associated beliefs and attitudes about this topic. Interview data was analysed using thematic analysis which was facilitated by the use of qualitative data management software QSR NVivo2. Prolonged engagement with the data led to the development of a theoretical framework based on a set of themes and subthemes. Four major themes were identified: practitioners’ beliefs about which children to use symbols with; practitioners’ thoughts about children’s understanding of symbols; practitioners’ accounts of the ways symbols are used; and, practitioners’ experiences of the implementation of symbols. Interpretations of the data were extended further to develop two original theoretical constructs; ‘models of reasoning’ and ‘perceptions of professional roles’. These constructs were developed to provide an over-arching framework depicting the researcher’s interpretations of the data set as a whole. The findings suggest that practitioners go through a process of reasoning and decision making surrounding the use of symbols. Practitioners in this study also appeared to be influenced by their perceptions of their own professional role and those of others in their decisions surrounding the implementation of symbols. The theoretical model may provide some explanation for the ways in which individual practitioners interact and work alongside practitioners from the same and different professional groups. The findings of the research were related to existing literature in the fields of symbolic development, symbols and literacy, and, collaborative working. The findings led to the development of five suggestions for future research.

Only two years after graduating themselves, speech and language therapists are asked to act as placement educators and supervise student speech and language therapists. The role of the placement educator is to supervise, teach, support and assess the student in the clinical environment and as such is a complex and demanding role. Some previous research has suggested that the training and support provided to developing placement educators does not adequately prepare them for the role. However, the development of speech and language therapists as placement educators is a relatively under-researched area in the UK. This interpretive study explores how ten speech and language therapists feel they develop the necessary skills to be successful as placement educators, through the stories they tell about their experiences. This exploration of clinical education and professional development is set within a social constructivist perspective on learning. The participants talked at length of their own early experiences as students and described these as the starting point for their own enactment of the placement educator role. They also emphasised the importance of continuing to learn and develop their skills as they gained experience in the placement educator role itself. The themes of talk, collaboration, reflective practice and experiential learning were central to the stories told by the participants and underpin how these speech and language therapists learnt to be placement educators. It is suggested that in describing how she felt she learnt to be a placement educator each participant created a unique and dynamic map of that learning. This study contributes to the on-going discussion about the role of critical reflection in understanding and challenging established practice and reinforces the place of reflective practice as integral to both the clinical and placement educator aspects of the SLT’s role. The findings highlight the importance of peer support and shared opportunities for critical reflection with colleagues in ensuring that placement educators do not feel isolated or disillusioned.

This thesis explores the relationship between physicians’ clinical and educational roles in the context of UK General Practice (GP) education by investigating the experiences of seven GP trainers through an ethnographic approach employing Activity Theory (AT). The Introduction considers the philosophy and structures of GP education and outlines the author’s professional biography to provide context. The Literature Review focusses on the development of medical education as a discrete field and identity formation in medical educators, concluding that: specialist medical educators are a relatively new group; and there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the impact on physicians of occupying dual clinical and educational roles. The thesis then focusses on three Research Questions (RQs), namely: 1. What is the impact of GP trainers’ clinical practice upon their educational work? 2. How does GP trainers’ educational practice influence their clinical work? 3. What are the social contexts for GP trainers’ clinical and educational practice? These questions are addressed within a pragmatic theoretical framework to build up an ethnographic description of the participants’ experiences. Data collection is through semi-structured interviews and observation of video-recorded teaching. Ethical issues associated with the study are discussed in detail, in particular the challenges of “insider” research. Four approaches are used for data analysis: global impressions; word cloud analysis; thematic analysis; and analysis shaped by AT. In answer to RQs 1 and 2, the study finds that GP trainers experience their dual roles as intimately linked, intuitively transferring their skills between their clinical and educational practice. The study also finds that GP trainers reconstruct their professional identities through teaching. With regard to RQ 3, engaging in teaching can lead to internal conflict for GP trainers and tensions with their colleagues, trainees and regulators. These findings are discussed in relation to medical education research methodology and the impact the study on the researcher is explored. The thesis closes by considering the conflicted position the participants occupy, concluding that teaching offers physicians the opportunity to reconstruct their professional identities so they can approach tensions in their practice with a sense of agency and optimism.