This thesis explores the pedagogical practices signified by the pedagogical term ‘project;’ which have traditionally been associated with enquiry based progressive ways of working with young children aimed at facilitating levels of both child and teacher autonomy (Hadow, 1931, Plowden 1967, Rinaldi, 2006). There is an early focus upon historical project constructions bounded by the Hadow reports starting in 1921 to a key Estyn document of 1999, the year of Welsh devolution. This diachronic lens tracks the trajectory of understanding associated with ‘projects’ through an analysis of documentary evidence and is later drawn upon in the empirical study. A central aim is to make visible the perceived role of the practitioner and associated pedagogical practices utilised within ‘projects’ at different points in history; in so doing it also aims to illuminate the unstable and context laden nature of pedagogical terminology in circulation. The core of the study is the empirical focus – an embedded case study (Yin, 2009) which explored contemporary project interpretations within one Welsh local authority, as a ‘new’ (DCELLS, 2008a) and ‘radical’ (Maynard et al., 2012) early years curriculum, the Foundation Phase was introduced. Participants were located within the same ecological frame, sharing minimal dissimilarity: bounded within a specific geographical location (a five mile radius); a particular curriculum (the Foundation Phase) and at an explicit point in history. A central aim was to consider understandings of the role of the adult and associated pedagogical practices within contemporary project constructions and in so doing to further consider interpretations of the new Foundation Phase Curriculum, in which particular constructions were situated. The study was underpinned by a constructionist position with the research process viewed as dialogic and subjective in nature (Steer, 1991). Teachers were observed; exemplar documentary evidence collected and follow-up interviews used in a collaborative cycle of ‘meaning making.’ Bernsteinian notions of pedagogy and framing were utilised as analytical tools aimed at exploring how projects were interpreted, whilst Foucauldian notions of discourses were utilised to explain why projects may have been viewed in particular ways. Pedagogical practices associated with three broad project categories were made visible through analysis. Findings indicate that there were noteworthy differences particularly in relation to the varying levels of autonomy offered to the child and the associated positions adopted by the teacher. Whilst teachers used a range of progressive language such as ‘child initiated, ’ the practices noted were often constraining and resonated with a discourse of regulatory modernity (Moss, 2007) as participants succumbed to the ‘regulatory gaze’ (Osbourne, 2006). Since participants were identified because of their contextual similarities, differences in ‘project’ interpretations were deemed to be illustrative of the complex nature of the meaning making process and it is subsequently theorised that pedagogical terms are both context and value laden. This research may be significant within the Welsh context where the 'Foundation Phase' attempts to balance teacher and child agency but at the same time still retains a focus upon pre-specified outcomes. These findings may subsequently have implications for the policy to practice trajectory.

Concerns about aliterate undergraduates who seem marginally interested in academic reading and uninterested in wider reading are often blamed on their low levels of reading motivation. The proliferation of computer and internet-based resources seems also to have negatively reshaped the undergraduate reading experience. While large survey studies may point to this worrying trend, in-depth studies may be useful in explaining this phenomenon. My empirical in-depth study aimed to investigate the complexities behind multilingual undergraduates' academic and non-academic reading experiences across their past and current contexts. In order to achieve this aim, I examined the literate lives of a purposively selected group of eight multilingual Malaysian undergraduates in a British university. The eight participants are female and male, first to final year undergraduates pursuing degrees in the disciplines of Engineering, Mathematics, Law and Economics respectively. I drew mainly on a transactional theory of reading for how it acknowledges the complexities of every individual reading event. This study was methodologically designed from a constructionist epistemological stance with a phenomenologically-informed theoretical perspective. Thrice across a time-span of between four to ten months, each participant was interviewed about their past and current reading experiences. All participants were also asked to keep a reading diary for a total of eight weeks. From the data, the embodied reading experience emerged. My in-depth examination suggested that beyond simply responding to linear levels of reading motivation, the undergraduates were continuously framing and re-framing their reading choices within and across various domains. It was the continuous negotiation of choicemaking that showed how the reading experience could be critically shaped in relation to the reader's social, cultural and historical contexts.

The area of curriculum development in courses of English for Academic Purposes has received considerable attention in the curriculum literature at international level. This has been reflected through the proliferation of studies and publications which were aimed at targeting various issues of EAP curriculum development. However, in the Omani higher education context, there has been a scarcity of local research studies that have approached curriculum issues in EAP courses. The current study is aimed at investigating the perceptions of EAP teachers about existing curriculum challenges in Colleges of Applied Sciences in Oman and to further explore the nature of these challenges in minimizing the effectiveness of teaching and learning of EAP courses at the colleges. The study is informed by the interpretive constructivist paradigm. It is based on a case study methodology utilizing the merits of mixed methods research. The initial phase of data collection was quantitative and it started with distributing an on-line questionnaire to all EAP teachers across the six CAS colleges. The subsequent qualitative phase was based on conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 EAP teachers from two CAS colleges and it was intended to provide a deep investigation about EAP curriculum challenges as perceived by the EAP teachers who participated in the study. The findings indicated that the centralized top-down approach under which EAP courses are provided at CAS has been a major challenge to the development of the curriculum. It was also revealed that the role of EAP teachers has been limited to the implementation of their teaching duties and that they weren’t allowed to contribute actively in other curriculum elements. The findings highlight that curriculum development and teacher professional development are interrelated which means that focusing on the area of professional development needs more attention as indicated in the findings. The findings also allude to the significance of encouraging collaborative efforts among EAP teachers and subject area teachers.

The research described in this thesis considers the inclusion of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in mainstream primary school education in Saudi Arabia. Inclusion is a term used here to describe the practice of educating disabled pupils in mainstream schools alongside their non-disabled peers. Although the inclusion of disabled pupils in mainstream schools has increased in Saudi Arabia in recent years, the policy is in its infancy and, as of yet, many teachers are unsure about implementing inclusive educational practice. The study focuses on ASD, a developmental disorder that affects social perception and development, and the efforts made by the educational system in Saudi Arabia to introduce an inclusive educational programme to educate pupils with ASD in mainstream schools. This research focuses on the methods used to educate children with ASD in a mainstream environment, and how successful the uptake and application of inclusion has been. The research considers several aspects within the topic of the inclusion of children with ASD in Saudi Arabian mainstream primary schools: the extent to which these children are currently included; the main factors that encourage or discourage the adoption of inclusive practices in these schools; the perspectives of parents, teachers, non-SEN children, and staff regarding inclusion; and the lessons that can be learned from those schools that have adopted inclusive practices. The research takes the form of a qualitative study involving the case studies of two primary mainstream schools in Saudi Arabia (one public and one private), incorporating interviews and classroom observations. The main findings of this research are that teachers at both the public and the private schools made an effort to treat pupils with ASD equally in the mainstream classroom, and non-SEN pupils at both schools made a considerable effort to welcome and include pupils with ASD in scheduled and unscheduled activities. Also, the parents of pupils with ASD noticed that their child’s social skills improved after spending time at a mainstream school. However, several problems were found concerning the implementation of inclusive practice at both schools. It seems that teachers lacked an understanding of the needs of pupils with ASD, and auxiliary staff was not available to assist beyond the resources room. There was a lack of communication between staff and parents. Members of staff were not available to help pupils with ASD interact during unscheduled periods of the school day; as a result, the non-SEN peers of pupils with ASD, especially at the public school, felt overly responsible for the care of pupils with ASD in their class. The research contributes to current knowledge on the inclusion of pupils with ASD in mainstream primary schools by exploring how inclusive practice relating to pupils with ASD has been implemented in Saudi Arabia, the importance of staff assistance for some pupils with ASD, and by exploring how inclusion of pupils with ASD is implemented and what works in an all-female environment. The research also explores the differences between the inclusion of pupils with ASD and the integration of their needs in school life. What we now know about inclusion is that it brings out the caring side of non-SEN pupils, and through this extensive study of how the inclusion of pupils with ASD affects all participants in the school community, we are now aware that inclusion, with extra support and involvement of teaching staff, can be effectively implemented in Saudi Arabian primary schools.

The area of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) is of growing interest internationally. In Oman, where this issue is given a lot of attention, the Ministry of Education spends a lot of money each year to provide many CPD opportunities for in-service TESOL teachers. However, the effectiveness of these initiatives and the impact they have on teaching and learning is questionable. This has been reflected in a number of research studies which have been conducted locally and which focus on various issues relating to teachers’ CPD but these studies have not addressed the issue critically. Given this, the current study attempts to critically examine the CPD system in the in-service TESOL context in Oman, and to improve the Government’s applied CPD strategy through suggesting a participatory model of CPD in Education. The study is situated in the critical paradigm and followed a multi-methodology transformative design using mixed methods to develop an understanding of the investigated issues from a macro and micro level. The study started with a quantitative phase using an online questionnaire and 331 English teachers and Senior English teachers responded to it. Phase two of the study was comprised of a case study to look in detail at the CPD system in Oman. Three schools were chosen for the case study with 18 participants/teachers. Semi-structured and focus group interviews as well as observations were used to collect data at this stage. The same 18 participants joined the action research (phase three) stage of the study to introduce them to the participatory model of CPD. This phase included three workshops and online discussion sessions, following this one focus group interview and 6 individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to see teachers’ reaction to the intervention; the participatory model. The findings showed that in-service TESOL teachers in Oman who participated in this study hold different beliefs about teaching as a profession and have different reasons for becoming teachers. The findings revealed that a key source influencing teachers’ CPD participation is their beliefs, and that participants’ hold a wide range of beliefs about CPD. Moreover, the findings disclosed that participants have experienced different types of activities which were mostly offered to them through the Ministry of Education in structured ways (e.g. INSET courses); yet, these did not respond to teachers’ individual needs. The study further indicated that the centralised top-down nature of the current CPD system seems to negatively affect the success of CPD in the in-service TESOL context in Oman. The study recommends that the role of teachers themselves in the provision of CPD is significant; the way teachers are currently marginalized and seen as grateful recipients of CPD do not provide the conditions for intelligent and responsive teaching profession. Furthermore, the evaluation of the participatory model of CPD adopted in this study showed that this model has positively impacted on participant teachers’ CPD and three aspects of change were noticed: teachers’ beliefs, their practices about CPD, and change in students (e.g. their reading habits). The findings revealed that this model has enabled participant teachers to make decisions regarding their CPD and encouraged them to play the role of critical reflective practitioners as well as prepared them to be future transformative intellectuals. Therefore, recommendations include the need for more informal, participatory and collaborative forms of CPD to be added to the current CPD system in Oman. The study further calls for new policies and practices to improve the teaching force in the country. These include stringent criteria for teachers’ selection and recruitment, developing strong educational policies regarding the initial teacher formation, considering teachers’ beliefs in any in-service CPD initiative, and raising teachers’ awareness to become responsible for their life-long career development. Most significantly, on the basis of the study findings, there is a need to reform teachers’ CPD in Oman to include dedication to building character, community, humanitarianism and democracy in young people.

This study is an exploration into how Headteachers, in all-girls’ selective independent schools, construct their professional identities with the aim of gaining an insight into what it is like to be a Headteacher within this context. Whilst there is significant literature concerning leadership, and the concept and process of identity construction, there is little discernible research which explores the experiences and organisational socialisation of Headteachers within this specific context. Therefore, this research contributes significantly to the body of knowledge by studying female Headteachers leading all-girls’ selective independent schools. This study took a narrative inquiry approach to examine the process of socialisation involved in the construction of Headteacher professional identities. Photographic images were used in narrative conversational interviews with four Headteachers; this resulted in interview data which was explored and interpreted for emerging ‘themes’ and ‘signs’. Analysis was informed by theoretical themes developed within communities of practice literature (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The framework of ‘communities of practice’ was used because it underpins personal development and learning as well as the process of socialisation and hence the forming of professional identities. The underlying assumption is that the formation of professional identities occurs via participation and engagement in a context and a community of practice specific to these Headteachers. The themes, that were applied and emerged from the narratives, manifested themselves within the Headteachers’ stories as ‘signs’. Once these signs were identified within the narrative transcriptions, they were analysed for dynamic connections between the signs in order to build what I refer to in this study as ‘identities construction plots’. The findings of this study suggest that the process of socialisation and the construction of a Headteacher’s identities within leadership communities of practice are complex, multifaceted and influenced by many sociocultural and contextual aspects. The concept of a core identity with varying degrees of agency and conformity will be shown to play a part. However, the issue of negotiating multiple identities will also be shown to have caused uncertainty and a potential lack of confidence amongst these Headteachers. Although it is not possible to suggest generalisations from these findings, due to the small number of participants and the personalised nature of the data, the study will be of value to practitioners, educationalists and policymakers. This in-depth and insightful interpretation of the Headteachers’ construction of identities provides colleagues with examples from which they could begin to question, and reflect upon, their own practice and actions within their leadership role.

Mae ymchwil ym maes seicoieithyddiaeth wedi amlygu pwysigrwydd amlder mewnbwn a rhyngweithio i sicrhau caffaeliad llwyddiannus o iaith ac mae’r patrymau hyn o drosglwyddo iaith yn cael eu defnyddio i gefnogi damcaniaethau blaengar megis Tomosello (2000) a Gathercole (2007). Bwriad yr ymchwil hwn oedd archwilio dull penodol o gynyddu amlygiad plant a theuluoedd L1 Saesneg i fodelau L1 Cymraeg trwy ddefnydd o’r teledu. Gan seilio’r fethodoleg ar ddulliau ymchwil arbrofol, cymharodd Astudiaeth 1 effaith gwylio rhaglenni teledu Cymraeg, wrth neu heb ryngweithio gydag oedolyn, ag effaith gwrando ar straeon Cymraeg neu Saesneg ar ddatblygiad iaith Gymraeg plant L1 Saesneg 4 i 5 mlwydd oed tra yn yr ysgol. Dangosodd y canlyniadau gynnydd yn bennaf yn adnabyddiaeth y plant oedd wedi gwylio’r teledu o eirfa Gymraeg, gyda mymryn o gynnydd o ran gramadeg, ond roedd y cynnydd mwyaf amlwg pan roedd yr ymchwilydd yn rhyngweithio gyda'r plant yn ystod y gwylio. Edrychodd Astudiaeth 2 ar effaith rhaglenni teledu Cymraeg ar blant L1 Saesneg 2 i 3 blwydd oed yn y cartref. Er nad oedd cynnydd amlwg i’w weld o ran y Gymraeg, roedd y teledu yn fodd o amlygu’r plant i batrymau iaith nad oedd yn gyfarwydd iddyn nhw a hynny mewn ffordd lle’r oedd y plant yn cael mwynhad. Aeth Astudiaeth 3 ati i ganfod agwedd rhieni tuag at y teledu fel cyfrwng a thuag at ddwyieithrwydd a’r Gymraeg, gan ymholi am arferion gwylio teledu yn y cartref ac unrhyw ymwybyddiaeth o’r gwasanaeth @TiFiaCyw sy’n annog rhieni di-Gymraeg i ryngweithio gyda’u plant tra’n gwylio rhaglenni Cyw. Datgelodd y canlyniadau gefnofaeth i’r cysyniad y tu ôl i’r gwasaneth, ond prin oedd y defnydd o’r gwasanaeth hwnnw. Mae angen rhagor o waith i sicrhau ei fod wedi ei farchanta’n effeithiol ar gyfer y gynulleidfa darged. Mae goblygiadau'r canfyddiadau hyn ar gyfer agweddau penodol ar addysg ddwyieithog a chynllunio ieithyddol bwriadus, ynghyd â’u cyfraniad i ddamcaniaethau ymchwil, yn cael eu trafod.

In recent years, as China has embraced global trends and promoted English-language instruction throughout the country, minority-language dominated regions have been facing the challenge of incorporating three languages into the curriculum. Research has indicated that combining the minority language (L1), the national language (L2), Mandarin, and an international language (L3), English, into one curriculum has taken different forms with varied characteristics depending on the minority language context in question. While the body of literature is growing in this field, primarily in minority language areas that had pre-existing scripts prior to the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, there has been much less research into trilingual education practices in areas where minority language groups did not have pre-existing scripts. This study focuses on one such language group, the Southern Kam of Guizhou province. Adopting an ethnographic multi-case study approach, this research explores the sociolinguistic and historical context of education in the Kam region, and captures the status quo of language use practice and stakeholder attitudes towards the three languages involved in nine-year compulsory education in the current context. This research incorporated a mixed-methods approach, in which data were collected from a cohort of participants with whom the researcher had developed significant relationships. Ethnographic interviews were conducted and were complemented with site visits and classroom observations of participants teaching English. This study found that although the Kam language (L1) remains vital in the current context and at the time of the study was the dominant spoken language of Kam students; it was not used in academic instruction, nor was its use promoted in the classroom setting, though its use outside of the classroom was encouraged for cultural heritage purposes. Instead, Mandarin Chinese, the L2 of Kam students, was the dominant language of education, testing, and school functions. L3, English, was taught as an academic subject through the medium of Mandarin Chinese, but was not used as a medium of instruction in any circumstance. This study found that stakeholder perceptions and attitudes towards Kam, Mandarin, and English existed in a complex dynamic and opinions regarding language in education were largely based on misperceptions of best practices for trilingual education and a lack of awareness of beneficial demonstrated outcomes. Limitations are discussed and potential further studies are recommended. The research concludes by evaluating the findings of this study in light of previous research into additive trilingual education and recommendations are made for improving the current forms of language education in the Kam-speaking region. Most notably, this study calls for education officials in Guizhou to develop policy, in accordance with constitutional freedoms, that creates mplementational space for developing minority language students’ L1 in accordance with research-based principles of additive trilingual education that will in turn improve performance and mastery of L2, Mandarin, and adequately develop L3, English.

During the modern period the Welsh language experienced continual decline, as a result of governmental hostility, lack of official recognition, public apathy and the social upheaval of the industrial revolution. At the turn of the twentieth century, however, as Welsh became a minority language in Wales, there grew an increasing recognition that the school system was key to the safeguarding and revitalisation of the language. Welsh finally became a compulsory language up to GCSE (16+) level in all state schools in Wales in 1999. The present research project focusses on the parallel development of Welsh medium education, where all, or almost all, subjects are taught through the medium of Welsh. Although by now over one in five Welsh pupils are educated mainly in Welsh, increasing concerns have been voiced concerning the relatively low level of usage of the language by pupils outside school especially in those areas where Welsh is not widely spoken in the community. The project involved collecting data using a mixed-methods approach with Year 6 and Year 7 (age 10-12 years) pupils, their parents/guardians and school staff members in schools serving diverse areas of Wales. In the case of pupils, this was followed up by focus group discussions to explore the major issues identified in greater depth. The findings discussed include the overwhelmingly positive attitude to the Welsh language and culture among all categories of participants and a concern about the availability of opportunities to use Welsh outside school. The keen awareness of Welsh identity is also highlighted, as well as both positive experiences of feeling ‘special’ and a sense of alienation from a predominantly non-Welsh speaking community in many parts of Wales. The study concludes with a consideration of the implications of these and other findings and recommendations for future research and evidence-based action.

Despite the consistent rise in the number of young people entering university, statistics show that class-based disparity in progression continues. Those from advantaged families are over-represented at prestigious institutions to which the less-advantaged rarely apply. A gap in the literature on progression concerns the application process itself: how do young people choose the universities for their UCAS form? Using card-sort tasks within an interview format, six cohorts of Year 13 students (56 in total), described the decision-making stages that underpinned their university choices. Some had researched, longlisted and shortlisted. Others applied only to their local universities. Significant differences in knowledge and understanding were often cohort-specific. As the educational environment became more HE-oriented, students’ ability to use and evaluate resources increased. However, within-cohort variation demonstrated the power of personal motivation to expand or restrict the choice of universities. The conceptual framework drew on two theorists. Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model explores how person-process-context interactions determine developmental outcomes, whilst recognising that less-advantaged families lack capacity to manipulate social environments. Simon’s Behavioural Model of human decision-making acknowledges the need to simplify complex tasks, suggesting UCAS applicants may be satisficing, rather than optimising. Both models recognise knowledge and ‘know-how’ as determinants of behaviour. A synthesis of the two suggested that having a strong knowledge structure at the start of the process was linked to ‘cold’ reasoning and a macro-focussed approach to decision-making. A weak knowledge structure was linked to ‘hot’ reasoning and a micro-focussed approach reliant on family or friends. Pragmatising emerged as an effective decision-making style. The ‘curricular’ approach to UCAS information, advice and guidance in the independent school produced discriminating, well-informed decision-makers. The state sector, ‘opt-in’ model left some students unaware of key resources, even the UCAS website. Providing adequate support for all UCAS applicants might be a step towards achieving parity in progression.