A learning management system (LMS) is a tool ostensibly designed to better manage, and therefore improve, the learning process. Much previous research has indicated the potential benefits for learning and pedagogy that an LMS affords (Heirdsfield, Walker, Tambyah, & Beutel, 2011; Lonn & Teasley, 2009; Morgan, 2003). This study aimed to examine the impact of LMS on teaching and learning in traditional classroom environments. More specifically, it sought to explore the experience and perceptions of faculty in the use of LMS for learning and teaching in Saudi higher education. A mixed method approach consisting of a questionnaire and in-depth interviews was used to implement the research investigation. In the first phase, quantitative data were collected, via the questionnaire, from 132 faculty members to investigate the nature of their use of the LMS, and to identify which features they used most frequently as well as their reasons. In the second phase, in-depth semi-structured interviews with eleven faculty members were conducted to explore the impact of using the LMS on teaching and learning practices from the perspective of faculty members, and to identify the challenges and/or benefits that they encountered while using this system. Generally, the study found that although the LMS was not used to its full potential by faculty, it was perceived as a useful educational tool that had a positive effect on their classes in terms of promoting communication with students, improving the quality of teaching, supporting student engagement in learning, maintaining transparency, protecting students’ privacy, and clarifying students’ responsibility. However, the study revealed some difficulties that might limit the achievement of these benefits such as the students' reluctance to use the system, the complexity of LMS interface and its reliability, as well as the lack of administrative support in terms of inadequate training programmes to meet the needs of faculty members and a lack of a system of incentives and rewards. The study suggests that the identified benefits are expected to increase when faculty become more familiar with the LMS and when the difficulties they face are resolved.

This thesis investigated the higher education experiences of Christian Arab women from the north of Israel. For some, it is their first multicultural educational experience. Israel has a complex socio-political history, and a mixed race higher education policy is bold, as Arabs and Jews are mostly segregated educationally until age eighteen. There is scant research on Christian Arab women in Israel and this study focuses on their higher education experiences as related to socio-cultural, historical, political, and religious contexts. A feminist approach gives them a respectful and legitimate platform from which to speak and thematic analysis helps create a more comprehensive picture of their aspirations, and the practical realities and implications of the multi-dimensional perspective of higher education. Data was collected from twelve (student) participants using semi-structured interviews. The participants understood the academic experience as one expected by family and cultural group, and believed that financial and social empowerment would result. Arabic has relative unimportance in Israel, and this study finds that the participants' Hebrew literacy was not strong, constraining most effective studying practices. Recommendations include changing emphases within schools, society, and higher education to offer greater opportunities regarding language development and social interactions. Identity was affiliated to religion and Christianity had a defining role in the lives of participants. Higher education as part of a Jewish culture was perceived as developmentally liberating and using the experience to identify personal qualities and challenges was acknowledged. Its significance in the social and cultural fabric of Israel indicates the importance of optimising the experience for all students. An underrepresented and involuntary minority status did not affect participants' desire to use to their advantage a structure which offers capitals to augment lifestyle choices. A unified future was the only reasonable outcome for citizens of Israel in which the participants' saw themselves as significant actors.

Young people who show sexually harmful behaviour is a growing phenomenon. There is a host of research into the characteristics of young people and effective interventions yet there is little if any research into the phenomenon within schools. Underpinned by a social constructionist epistemology this study asks what narratives are available to talk about this phenomenon within schools and how adults in school view their role and the role of the school context. Using a focus group approach this study explores the narratives of a group of adults working in an inner city secondary school. Using thematic analysis, three narratives were interpreted from the group sessions; normal and not normal, identity of young people who show SHB and professional and personal voice. In addition, a theme of uncertainty was interpreted within each theme which offered insight into dilemmas and tensions in the narratives. Teachers in this study were positive about the role of school and recognised a role in supporting holistic needs of these young people. Future ways of working are discussed in relation to schools, teachers and educational psychologists.

This thesis examines government policy on Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Nigeria, which was designed to provide equal access to quality learning for all children irrespective of their background. The underlying empirical research is a case study that focused on the issues of access to and quality of provision available to children from birth to 5 years in Early Childhood Education in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. The study explores these issues drawing on the views and lived experiences of practitioners, parents and policy makers in a group of preschools in Owerri, the state capital of Imo state. The aim is to understand how stakeholders in the case study settings perceive access to and quality of provision available to children, and also to establish if their experiences and views match or are at variance with government policy claims. Several authors have questioned the universal view of the concept of quality. For instance, the work of Dahlberg et al (2007) and, writing from an African perspective, Nsamenang (2008) have influenced the theoretical stance in this study. Employing an interpretivist approach this study explores the experiences and interpretations of various stakeholders in relation to quality and access in early years education in Owerri. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers, questionnaires administered on employees of the Ministry of Education Imo state, observation of facilities in settings and analysis of policy documents. Findings revealed significant gaps between government policy and actual practice. Key areas of disconnect between policy and practice were varied experiences for children and families, contradictions and disparities in access to funding of early years education, professional development and conditions of service of early years teachers, and a general dissatisfaction with the state and the quality of provision in early childhood education settings.

An exploratory study to investigate the usefulness of a personalised, in-school cognitive-behavioural intervention (The Homunculi Approach) in supporting emotional regulation in primary aged children with Autistic Spectrum DisorderBackground: Emotional regulation impairments are considered a key difficulty for children with ASD, and disrupted emotional regulation is likely to be a factor contributing to challenging behaviour that children with ASD often present with. There is a growing evidence base for using CBT with children with ASD. A gap in the literature highlights a need for research which explores the use of CBT with key stage two pupils with ASD, specifically to address emotional regulation difficulties. Participants: Three year 4 and 5 pupils with a diagnosis of ASD and identified difficulties with emotional regulation were recruited from two mainstream primary schools. The views of their parents and teachers were also gathered. Methods: An exploratory multiple-embedded case study design was employed involving three cases from two settings, using qualitative and quantitative data collection at three time intervals. The quantitative measures consisted of pupil, parent and teacher measures of pupil emotional regulation skills, and the qualitative measures took the form of semi-structured individual interviews with pupils and teachers. Analysis/Findings: Data were analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Each case was analysed individually followed by a cross-case analysis. Findings are discussed in relation to implications for the use of CBT with ASD for emotional regulation and the role of the EP. Conclusion/Implications: The study extends understanding about utilising CBT to support the development of emotional regulation skills in children with ASD. It also adds to the literature on adaptations needed to enable children with ASD to access CBT. Suggestions are made for future research regarding supporting emotional regulation skills in children with ASD.

Social entrepreneurs and social enterprises play a key role in society as they provide innovative solutions to society's most pressing social, cultural and environmental problems. Social entrepreneurial education is a specialized academic field with a potential to impact community issues through social and economic value creation but the complexities and uncertainties of social entrepreneurial curriculum require academics and students to balance social, environmental, and business goals. The balancing of such diverse goals coupled with the newness of the subject area creates challenges to developing and teaching social entrepreneurship (SE). Unlike entrepreneurial education, SE curriculum should reflect the social entrepreneurial business environment where emotional intelligence, compassion and empathy are skillsets that define social entrepreneurs and social enterprises. It is a complex matter, therefore, to begin teaching SE as an academic, how does one teach this subject especially for faculty used to the more traditional Business School curriculum? This study therefore aimed to elicit elements of emerging signature pedagogy for SE through semi-structured interviews with expert faculty. Signature pedagogies are the 'forms of instruction that leap to mind' (Shulman, 2005b, p.52) when thinking about a discipline, are replicated across institutions, and can reveal the core values of a discipline. Social entrepreneurship is a new academic field and this study explored common pedagogical approaches across institutions offering SE programs that may create distinctive practices - signature pedagogies. Shulman's (2005a; 2005b) emphasizes the need for sharing of knowledge across institutions to sustain signature pedagogies but his work does not address how to share knowledge. This study builds on Shulman's work investigating ways of sharing of knowledge practices among academics as a way of building an emergent signature pedagogy. In a design-based research approach, two sets of interviews were conducted in this study with faculty experienced in teaching and those that were not. A Reflection And Service Learning Design (RASL) was created following the first set of interviews and introduced to faculty new to SE in the second set of interviews. Shulman's (2005b) work identifies characteristics of signature pedagogy but does not address how signature pedagogies are formed in emerging disciplines. This design-based research approach helped test the feasibility of sharing emergent signature pedagogy in SE through a learning design which also provided insight on the development of signature pedagogies. The results of the study indicated there were both barriers to sharing and ways that building resources among faculty members could encourage a culture of sharing with the goal of establishing emergent signature pedagogy. Shulman's (2005b) work focuses on common pedagogical practices observed in the classroom by discipline but it does not address institutional support or barriers to implementation of these pedagogical practices and the findings in this study build on the institutional gap. This study concludes that the biggest influence on building social entrepreneurial pedagogy involve: institutional development of faculty around service learning and the use of student reflections in the classroom, providing administrative support for community engagement, and offering rewards for sharing resources.

Organizational identity is a key focus within Canadian Catholic higher education institutions (CHEIs). For the most part founded by religious communities, these institutions have traditionally depended upon the presence of priests and nuns to ensure the transmission of their religious institutional identities. Today’s more diverse workforce needs to be equipped to continue this tradition while also transforming it to ensure its continued socio-cultural relevance. This research project explores how individuals working within CHEIs experience, and exercise agency with regard to, the institutional identity of their workplaces. Working within the critical realist tradition, this project applies critical grounded theory to higher education research. Based on data collected through semi-structured interviews in three different CHEIs, new theory is built through an iterative dialogue between this data, the literature and the researcher’s own reflexive process. Three key findings emerge. First, institutional identity within these institutions is re-conceptualized as a balancing act between the structures and cultures of both the church and the academy. Second, a developmental process is put forward which traces how individuals – who I designate as identity-carriers – exercise agency with regard to their institutions’ identity. Third, the specific role of mission officer is analysed using Archer’s (2003) model of reflexivity. A final chapter examines how this research contributes to both the practice and theory of institutional identity development within CHEIs and beyond. As a whole, this research demonstrates that CHEIs are indeed adapting to their new contexts and finding novel ways to maintain and create their institutional identities. It also contributes to the wider discourse about how individuals connect to their institutional contexts and posits concrete ways of fostering positive relationships between personal and institutional identities in the workplace.

Designed to focus on a practice-based issue, this interpretive single case study aimed to explore the hypothesised influence of extensive US-Based accreditation experience of a UAE higher education institution in it becoming a learning organisation. Conventionally, neither institutions nor accrediting bodies intend to use QA processes for becoming a learning organisation. However, common aspects between the espoused values of QA and learning organisations suggest that institutions may make use of external QA processes as a catalyst to institute a sustainable learning and quality-focused environment. The research topic was developed considering the global significance of the concepts in higher education contexts. The broader goal of the inquiry was to generate knowledge so as to inform local, regional and international practitioners on how to best invest resources to turn the external quality assurance processes into a sustainable growth opportunity for the institutions. In order to minimise bias and maximise rigour in this interpretive case study, the researcher employed mixed methodology and data analyses based primarily on a specific framework based on three building blocks of learning organisations: supportive learning environment, learning practices and leadership that supports learning. Data was collected from three different sources in order to triangulate the findings; a) documentary analysis, b) a publicly accessible learning organisation survey, and c) semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The results of the study indicate that external QA processes may potentially be utilised to become a learning organisation. However, institutional realities, external demands, and other contextual factors might enhance or hinder the possibilities. Despite the limitations of this practice-based study being conducted in one relatively small higher education institution in the UAE, the findings are largely consistent with the relevant literature. Thus, the generated knowledge lent itself to the development of a conceptual academic leadership model. As a result, recommendations are made to local and international practitioners on how to utilise the QA processes as a catalyst for becoming a learning organisation to combat constant changes and sustain growth. Some emergent recommendations are also made for QA policy makers who may be seeking ways to focus more on the quality enhancement aspect of QA.

The possible contribution of the study lies in its reassessment at the Reading Readiness concept, away from traditional pre-reading training programmes towards an emphasis on the acquisition of print-specific concepts and skills within the context of meaningful reading, whereby the beqinner reader appears best served by a combination of holistic and elements appruaches to the teaching of reading.

Twenty-four children, their peer group, parents and teachers took part in the study. The study examined differences between success-oriented and failure-prone children and the perceptions of their peer group, parents and teachers. Much of the design of the investigation was based on attribution theory. The information was used as a basis for: (a) anobservational study of teachers and children using both systematic and unstructured approaches and (b) counselling and attributional re-training with a group of failure-prone children. The counselled, failure-prone children were compared with a control group after a period of six months and then again four months after counselling had ceased. The results of the study cover the effects of this counselling and the experience of failure as it occurred in classes. The results of counselling showed that reading trends were improved and that self-esteem increased significantly but that neither benefit was evident in the delayed post-test, suggesting that counselling would need to be provided over a longer time period. It was shown that the experience of school transmitted messages of unworthiness and helplessness. Failure-prone children had lower self-esteem, used more external causal attributions, had fewer friends, co-operated less well in class and were perceived as less worthy and less valued by themselves and their teachers. They were valued more unconditionally at home than they were at school. It is argued that the curriculum itself creates failure-prone children and that a more 'needs-based' curriculum would in the long term question the need for counselling in the first place. Such a shift in curriculum planning would represent a fundamental change in how educationalists view their own role and the range of pupil performance in school.