The aim of this study was to explore Irish post-registration nurses’ experiences of higher education nursing programmes in terms of influences on their motives to engage and their participation in such programmes. The study is set against a backdrop of change to the entry level education for nurses in Ireland in 2002. The conceptual framework to inform this study was drawn from the community of practice theory described by Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger (1998) which provided a new perspective on the experiences of post-registration nurses’ engagement in higher education. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, 17 post-registered nurses undertaking two different higher education programmes at one Institute of Technology in the North East of Ireland were interviewed using one-to-one semi-structured interviews. Two focus group interviews were also conducted comprising of nine post-registration nursing students in two Institutes of Technology in the North West and the West of Ireland by way of triangulating the findings. Giorgi’s (1985) framework of data analysis was used to extract the natural meaning units from the data. The findings in this study revealed that post-registration nurses’ motives to engage in higher education included: educational equality, knowledge acquisition, career advancement and morale enhancement. These motives were influenced by attitudes towards higher education for nurses, resources and supports. While the nurses engaged in higher education they experienced two main challenges: lack of time and lack of confidence to do the academic work. The nurses were resourceful in terms of implementing coping strategies to deal with these challenges. These experiences were influenced by practical college and clinical supports. The findings are discussed in light of the cited literature and concepts from the communities of practice theory. The findings in this study have implications for nursing education, practice, policy and research.

Undergraduate medical education in the UK is dually funded. There is University funding through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) or the devolved governments of the UK, and a second line of funding for the teaching of medical undergraduates in National Health Service (NHS) facilities, known as the service increment for teaching (SIFT). This study traced how these monies are actually spent, by investigating the allocation plans for these funds within both Universities and the NHS. Although the functions of Universities and healthcare providers are complex, and activities such as student teaching, clinical care and research are inter-related, most of this money is not actually spent on undergraduate medical education, but instead used as a kind of general subsidy for elite institutions, be they Universities or “teaching” hospitals. This work argues that both funders and providers of medical education realized, and indeed intended, that SIFT was used for purposes peripheral to undergraduate education, by examining the reporting systems for SIFT spending, and the nature of accountability for these large sums of money. This argument is situated in the history of higher education funding. The history and evolution of both medical University funding and NHS funding for medical undergraduate education are explored. The literature reviewed relates to the history, organization and funding policy of higher education in the post-war period in the UK, with medical education as a special case within this. The effects of this funding on undergraduate medical education are substantially negative. Although large sums are committed to this activity, most of the money is used for other purposes, leaving the core activity essentially unfunded, and relying on volunteerism to actually happen. This is explored in a review of the literature as well as fieldwork, interviewing senior figures in both University and NHS who are in charge of teaching or funding allocations. Probably no organisation or set of individuals meant to disadvantage undergraduate teaching in the NHS. However, the large sums involved discouraged any major change of the SIFT formula, for fear of destabilizing hospital finances and therefore their primary function, to treat the sick. In the University sector, it is an accepted modus operandi to use student funding to invest in prestigious and income-generating activities in the University. An understanding of why the NHS and Universities acted as they did is attempted, by drawing on the field of behavioural economics, using concepts of mental accounting and fungibility of monetary income. As the funds were poorly accountable, and could be considered a type of windfall income, attitudes to spending it, and accounting for the spending, were markedly different to regular, earned income. This exploration of economic behaviour might touch on some of the root causes of the consequences and unintended consequences of the funding system for undergraduate medical education.

Recent UK Government policy means more and more two-year-old children will be entitlement to free places in a variety of funded settings in the future (DfE, 2013a). Understanding and knowledge of how two year old children’s cognition develops continues to remains an under researched area. A key achievement of this thesis is its contribution to the understanding of how two-year-old children use schemas to construct knowledge from their lived experiences This thesis contributes new knowledge through the detailed written and photographic illustrations, which portray how through day-to-day experiences four two-year-old children’s schemas are constructed and co-ordinated. This thesis also identifies what kinds of environments and pedagogy can support two-year old children’s schematic explorations and development. The thesis first reviews the literature highlighting the “preciousness” (Atherton, 2013: 6) of experiences children gain in their first few years of childhood. Followed by a critical examination of how recent research findings have intertwined to influence the evolving early years landscape. Methodological and ethical issues are identified and discussed. The thesis presents four case studies written as narrative stories of the children’s day-to-day experiences at nursery and home. Drawing mainly from Atherton, (2013); Nutbrown (2011); Athey (2007) and the various work of Piaget (1953, 1959) the stories are analysed to suggest a viable schematic interpretation of the possible developing cognitive patterns. The findings acknowledge and recognise supporting young children’s schematic motivations provides children with the space to become social actors in their own learning.

My study explores the enactments of adolescents who took on an avatar depicting a member of a marginalised group or a hidden Other in a three-dimensional virtual environment known as Second Life. I chose to examine people with disabilities as a case of the hidden Other in acknowledgement of extant social realities in the Singapore context where people with disabilities tend to be marginalised. I discover how my able-bodied participants’ enactments reflect various ways in which they identified or did not identify with the hidden Other within their discourse; I analyse the processes by which people are alienated and integrated, I investigate shifts in identification using an identification framework I developed and I trace individual trajectories of group affiliations. I also examine the affordances and limitations of Virtual Worlds for facilitating vicarious living experiences and the role of critical literacy and dramatic techniques in affording agency in identifications. I draw evidence primarily from video recordings of the role-plays within Second Life which I supplement with evidence from semi-structured interviews and various written artefacts. I present my findings largely in the form of case studies to shed light on discursive processes, moves and trajectories in relation to representation, power and affiliations. I evaluate my curricular interventions and analytical approaches and discuss their implications for future research.

Employing Bourdieu’s three-level approach to studying a field, this research investigates student experiences of widening participation (WP) in initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland. In Bourdieusian terms, ITE is conceptualised as a ‘sub-field’ and a ‘dual-field’ at the intersection of two larger fields of practice: higher education and the teaching profession. Positioned as such, ITE has been impacted by policy developments emanating from both the Higher Education Authority as well as the Irish Teaching Council. In ‘mapping the field’ of ITE with regard to WP, the study finds that participation by mature students in ITE is below the average figure for participation by mature students across all HE programmes; whereas the proportion of students entering ITE via the Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) is slightly above the average. In seeking to understand the habituses of non-traditional students in ITE, interviews were conducted with nine students from two higher education institutions (HEIs). The students entered undergraduate programmes to qualify as post-primary teachers via a non-standard entry-route, either as a mature entrant or following successful completion of an Access course. Polkinghorne’s approach to narrative analysis (1995), combined with Bourdieu’s theoretical framework informed the analysis. A schematic representation of the orientations of students within the field indicated that they were positioned as either ‘Adjusting’ or ‘Belonging’, and that these positions were independent of entry-route. It is recommended that awareness-raising among under-represented groups regarding WP entry-routes should remain a policy priority. Within HEIs, efforts need to continue in order to ensure that non-standard entry-routes are ‘normalised’, as this will serve to enhance the student experience of ITE. Finally, given that a sizeable proportion of HEAR applicants are securing non-designated HEAR places on ITE programmes, this is an issue which needs to be addressed in both policy and practice.

Research investigating Mindfulness as an approach to intervention has generally taken a quantitative approach, focusing on outcomes rather than processes (Grossman, 2008). The purpose of this research was to develop understanding of how and why Mindfulness training might influence young people. The aim was to explore the changes in narratives that occur in young people following a Mindfulness intervention, in order to provide an understanding of how such an intervention might facilitate change. Participants were young people within a secondary school who were identified as having behavioural difficulties, which allowed for investigation of the theory that Mindfulness may be particularly appropriate for individuals with these difficulties (Davis, 2012). Five participants aged eleven to fourteen took part in the ‘Mindfulness for Schools’ intervention (Cattley and Lavelle, 2009). Two of these participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule prior to and after the intervention. Their interviews were analysed using narrative analysis, in which a multi-faceted, staged approach was adopted. The following findings were discussed: • Both interviewed participants appeared to have experienced a change in their sense of self following the intervention • Both participants showed an increase in self-compassion • Both participants appeared more optimistic about their future following the intervention • Both participants made reference to Mindfulness helping them, or used Mindfulness language in their post-intervention interviews • However, one of the two participants did not show a change in non-judgmental awareness, which might have been anticipated based on literature suggesting this awareness is a component of Mindfulness (e.g. Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Potential implications of this research are discussed, including suggestions for future research and implications for the future of using Mindfulness in schools and for the practice of Educational Psychologists (EPs).

This qualitative study seeks to explore how 'the Orient' and its culture are characterised in English Language textbooks used in Libyan secondary schools. The study analyses language and images used in the textbooks. This analysis reflects and draws upon the discourses of Post-Colonialism and Orientalism. The language used in the textbooks is analysed using an adapted framework of Fairclough's (1989) approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and images are analysed using a Critical Image Analysis (CIA) framework derived from analytical approaches developed by Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) and Scholes (1985). The study establishes, among other things, that the role of the textbooks is not only to support educational processes, but to convey implicitly and explicitly the dominant culture in a systematic way. This resonates with the Post-Colonialism discourse which contends that knowledge production is restricted to the western countries where these textbooks are produced and published. The analysis indicates a substantial degree of cultural betrayal, stereotypical images and structures of non-western cultures, particularly in regard to 'the Orient'. The images and language structures indicate a positive depiction of the West while 'the Orient' and its cultures are presented in a negative manner in many instances. Overall, the study argues that altering the existing misrepresentations and pre-assumed and pre-conditioned reality, whether linguistically or visually, is a key means for the elimination of misconceptions, categorisations and essentialisations of 'the Orient'.

No description available.

The therapeutic alliance in mental health services has been researched extensively especially with regards to care provider and care receiver characteristics that may affect therapeutic outcomes. In the literature, it seems to be commonly assumed that the alliance has an inherent power imbalance in favour of the professional. Beyond this assumption, research on the knowledge-power balance in the alliance is limited. The aim of the study was to explore the dominant discourses related to the balance of knowledge and power in the therapeutic alliance in mental health services. An additional interest was the role that these identified discourses may play in the positions occupied by care providers and care receivers in the alliance. A final objective was the identification of care provider and care receiver knowledge needs in relation to the management of the knowledge-power balance in the alliance in a manner that may enhance therapeutic effects. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted involving individuals who were receiving psychiatric care in the inpatient setting at the state psychiatric hospital in Malta. The second phase of this study involved the analysis of the Medical and Nursing records that pertained to the ten participants who had been interviewed. A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis framework was used to guide the study and Foucault’s concepts of knowledge and power served as the theoretical underpinning of the study. The care receivers’ contribution to the discourses pertaining to the knowledge-power balance in the alliance led to the identification of four different types of alliances with distinguishable knowledge-power characteristics. Three discursive themes were identified from the Medical and Nursing records and these were perceived as being complementary to the findings that emerged from the care receivers’ interviews. Finally information related to the potential knowledge required by care receivers and care providers in order to manage the knowledge-power balance in an effective manner was extracted from the data and presented together with recommendations.

This thesis explores the learning careers and higher education (HE) experiences of a group of male mature students who chose to return to education in an Institute of Technology (IoT) in Ireland. Men had traditionally dominated HE in Ireland but educational transformations, which resulted in a widening of participation in HE, saw this change. By the mid-1990s, as more women began to participate in HE, men had come to be under represented in Irish HE. This became a cause for concern amongst policymakers and researchers. In the current recession men are looking to HE as a means of finding a job. The Irish government is keen to improve the HE experience for all students including mature students. As more men enter HE as mature students there is a need to understand their experiences in order to continue to widen male mature student participation in HE and provide support throughout their HE experience. The way in which men see themselves and their constructions of masculinity have a bearing on their relationship to education and participation in HE. The social constructions of masculinity, which can take many forms, are shaped by experiences and expectations at home and in school. Their experiences affect the trajectory of their learning careers and often determine whether education and HE are options in their lives at eighteen or as mature students. Masculinity, which has and is being refashioned, has brought about changes especially regarding the traditional role of the male breadwinner and female carer. The decline of the breadwinner role means that some men see the need to reposition themselves with regards to their masculine role in life, through new jobs and opportunities. Their attitudes and their social capital can, like their constructions of masculinity, change over time allowing them to cross the boundaries into HE so that they can become ‘better’ men. The study sought to identify and understand the various factors that cause men to return to education in a higher education institution (HEI). Fourteen men took part Is This What Real Men Do? The Learning Careers of Male Mature Students in HE ix in the research study and various factors influenced their decisions to return to education. The participants explained their decisions and experiences through their narratives which were collected via semi-structured interviews. The narrative approach allowed the participants to describe their individual learning careers thus framing their educational experiences. It draws on the framework of learning careers to discuss the various reasons that influenced the participants’ return to education in HE. The study analysed and provided insights into the reasons why the participants entered HE and the impact that previous educational and life experiences had on their learning careers as well as highlighting the HE experience itself. These deeper insights provide an understanding of people’s learning careers. These do not always follow a traditional linear pathway but can stop and start and so develop over time. The study reveals that the factors which impact the trajectories of a learning career include school and life experiences. For the participants a return to education was the way that they, as ‘real men’, could find jobs in order to look after themselves and their families. The study further indicates that there is a need for the HEIs to take on board the importance of catering for mature students’ current expectations that have been framed by past experiences. This HEI support should allow them the chance to fulfil their traditional ‘real men’ roles by offering them the opportunity to become (better) working men and family providers. These findings should provide a lens for Irish policymakers’ deeper understanding of the male mature student thus informing future HE planning and practice.