Sibling relationships differ from other relationships, in that they change in different stages of an individual's life. Sibling relationships are affected by various factors such as gender, age gap between siblings and number of siblings in a family. Whether positive parent-child relationships contribute to positive sibling relationships, or whether sibling relationships can compensate for parent-child relationships is still controversial and debatable. Parent-child relationships in relation to sibling relationships were explored in this research. Various studies have suggested that siblings influence each other's social and cognitive development. However, most of these studies have focused on sibling relationships in infancy. Siblings may also influence on each other in adolescence. This study focuses on sibling relationships in adolescence. In Hong Kong, siblings tend to study in the same school. The effects of siblings studying in the same school were also explored in this study. This study aims at studying sibling relationships in adolescence, understanding the factors influencing these relationships, and exploring how these relationships influence siblings' learning.

Higher education institutions in many countries around the world are facing serious challenges from expansion, leading to a number of developments in the process of integrating information and communication technologies into university practices. E- learning is a revolutionary development that is fast becoming one of the most popular learning environments in the field of education in most universities globally, including in Saudi Arabia. In recent years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has witnessed an unprecedented growth in higher education as a result of the increasing pace of advances in technology and especially developments in the use of E-learning at University level. This research investigated male academic staff members’ perspectives of the effectiveness of the use of e-learning skills in teaching at four Saudi universities. It also provides insight into faculty members' attitudes towards the use of E-learning in the teaching and learning process, and their visions of possible and preferred usage of ICT in education in the future. In order to answer these questions, the study used a mixed method design combining a quantitative research approach with academic staff members (questionnaires), and a qualitative approach research with administrative staff and policy makers (interviews). The analysis of 375 questionnaires by academic staff members was complemented with semi-structured interviews of administrative staffs and policy makers at university level, in order to validate the questionnaire results and to gain a deeper insight in supporting the interpretation of the data so as to understand the research problem. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were checked and statistical treatments such as percentages, means, frequencies, standard deviation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted. The results indicated that academic staff members have positive attitudes towards the using of E-learning in their teaching and the educational process, with positive agreement in all three dimensions covered by the research. Significant variables within this positive rating included academic qualification and years of academy experience. This means that length of experience is important. Overall, the study shows the enthusiasm of academic staff members in terms of their motivation for the use of E-learning in their teaching, through their responses to the questionnaire. In addition, the study identifies several obstacles indicated by faculty members, which can be regarded as being at university level such as the absence of an institutional policy for e-learning. A number of other obstacles were identified, including such as a lack of integration of technical support, lack of support in instructional design for E-learning and lack of adequate training in the use of E-learning techniques. The study concludes with some recommendations, to find suitable and more effective solutions as well as suggestions for future research.

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Teacher training is at a turning point in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as more routes into the profession are opened up and government policy shifts away from university-led to school-based teacher education. These expansions of routes into teaching provide different opportunities for constructing identity. In the light of these changes, it is therefore timely to consider trainee teacher identity and the impact policy has on this, specifically, the extent to which the requirement to complete Initial Teacher Education at Masters level shapes or reflects teacher identity. Alongside this, teacher professionalism and autonomy has been significantly undermined (Sachs (2003), Whitty (2006) and Ball (2004)) and emphasis moved to the importance of academic qualifications in order to train to be a teacher (DfE 2010). The trainee teachers in this study brought with them their ideals of what it is to be a teacher, based on their own experiences of education (Beijaard et al 2000, Flores and Day 2006). This was shown to be often at odds with their experience whilst on placement. The research used a narrative case study, informed by a grounded theory approach, linking with the underlying theoretical perspective of interpretivism. Narrative inquiry is well suited to identity research (Kohler Reissman 2000) and in particular, teacher identity (Goodson 1995) as teachers individually and socially lead storied lives (Connelly and Clandinin 1990). Questionnaires, interviews and email correspondence were the main form of data collection. From this, I developed categories based on Shain and Gleeson's (1999) work to investigate how studying at Masters level shaped trainee teachers identities. Key findings from the research showed that in the narratives the trainees told, their identity was shaped by how much they valued educational research, whether or not they thought it relevant to them in their development as teachers and if they embraced the opportunity to gain Masters level credits. Head teachers were unaware of the inclusion of Masters level credits in the PGCE. Consequently the qualification trainees attained had no impact on their employment experiences. As government continues to push for increased academic qualifications in order to enter the teaching profession, and as more teacher training is moved into schools, heads voiced concerns about how well equipped the schools were to manage and deliver the theoretical aspects of teacher training. This contested context of where teacher training takes place, what should be included and the impact on the development of trainee teacher identity is an ongoing debate to which this research contributes.

This is a small scale, intrinsic case study conducted between 2007-2010 within a large further education establishment (Wenhill College). The college is located in the south west region of England encompassing a large geographical catchment area, offering full and part time programmes of study for 14 -19 year olds and adult learners aged 19 plus. The choice of study topic was based on the primary motivation to explore adolescent student lives in relation to their further education experience and the impact mental health issues have had on their lives. As a clinical practitioner teaching adolescents in further education, I had the opportunity to conduct 'insider' research, leading to the collection of original and insightful data. The study employed a qualitative research methodology underpinned by a social constructivist theoretical framework and included a diversity of participants through which data was gathered by differing means; life history interviews and life path continuums with student participants and semi-structured interviews with college staff. The former elicited rich, in-depth data (Sikes and Potts, 2008) and the latter created a flexible yet consistent structural interview framework. Both approaches facilitated the extension of ideas, opinions and perceptions; the results of which are presented and analysed narratively within the thesis. The implementation of thematic analysis resulted in the contextualisation of participant experiences and events, bounded within the social setting of Wenhill College. The overwhelming sense of participant learned helplessness and experience of surrogacy (Peterson, 1993; Bloomer, 2005; Cherry, 2013) permeated the narratives, demonstrating the link between personal experiences of mental health issues and help seeking/non help seeking behaviour; motivating factors influencing a career choice in health and social care. The outcomes of this study suggest further exploration across local and national levels around the experience of individual circumstances to enhance greater understanding of adolescent mental health and the provision of appropriate support. In addition, training for further education college staff to enable the effective management and support for adolescents experiencing mental health issues.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills are globally valued. In United Kingdom, serious concerns have long been raised over the apparently insufficient number of young people studying science and maths beyond compulsory education. A range of STEM schemes have been introduced and sustained for over a decade now to raise attainment and improve attitudes of students in school towards pursuing STEM subjects and careers. These schemes call for huge investments of time, money, and resources. Over the same period, government reports have pointed out the pressing need for large scale evaluations to understand what works in public policy including education. This is important for accountability and to achieve better results by building on the best schemes for similar or reduced investments. Increasing and widening participation in STEM are clearly priorities for UK’s education policy. However, in the absence of proper evaluations the impact of spending on STEM schemes on raising attainment or improving participation remains unclear. Addressing this gap in literature, using official datasets in the form of National Pupil Database (NPD), this project evaluates the impact of STEM enrichment and enhancement activities on all pupils, disadvantaged pupils and schools with a large share of such pupils. A part of this research project tries to understand the reasons linked to underachievement of disadvantaged pupils in school science and maths through a systematic review. To ensure comparability across evaluations, the public sector guidance for evaluation issued by the National STEM Centre was followed. Using a prospective longitudinal (2007-2014) research design, a 1000 intervention secondary schools and 80,000 students exposed to STEM interventions were followed-up from the beginning of key stage-3 to A-levels. The study uses various deprivation measures such as eligibility for free school meals (FSM), speaking English as an additional language (EAL) and ethnic minority status. The outcome measures considered are school GCSE performances in science and maths, individual pupil attainment in GCSE science and maths, and continued post-16 participation in STEM subjects. Correlation-regression approaches are used and a range of effect sizes have been calculated to estimate the impact. Results show overall science and maths results have improved for schools, students and disadvantaged pupils (since 2007). However, this success cannot be attributed to STEM enrichment and enhancement activities, because the improvements are not peculiar to schools known to have been involved in STEM interventions. Synthesising 771 research reports, the systematic review concludes that a range of individual, social, family and school related factors interact to hold back a child from realising their full academic potential. Recommendations from this evaluation research project should be of particular interest to policy makers, schools, educators, STEM activity providers and anybody working towards improvement of the learning trajectories of disadvantaged students.

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