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Promoting mental health and well-being for children and young people in schools has been central to contemporary government initiatives in the United Kingdom. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has been advocated as an effective intervention for psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression; its application for adolescents, through individual and group means, has been subject to increased focus. Most research has been clinically based and there is a need to expand this in order to facilitate the transfer of these methods to alternative settings with delivery by external service providers, such as Educational Psychologists (EPs). This study set out to explore what factors contribute to the outcomes of a group-CBT intervention, delivered by an EP in a school setting, for anxious adolescents. A social constructionist approach placed the focus on the participants' experiences within their social context. 19 girls aged 11-14 years participated in this study: 10 formed an experimental group and nine made up the control group. Quantitative measures were applied pre- and post-intervention in order to identify if there were any differences in changes between the groups. Qualitative measures were also used to elicit the views of all stakeholders (pupils, parents and school staff) and identify common themes. These consisted of: semi-structured interviews (for pupils and staff) and a focus group (with parents). Questionnaires were also administered as an evaluation of the intervention. Results from this mixed methods data collection highlighted the potential for EPs, with their unique psychological skills and knowledge of school systems, to contribute to the expansion of CBT services for young people through consultation, training and direct facilitation. Particular emphasis is also placed on the need to employ appropriate means of identification and assessment. The need to ensure therapist competence is maintained is also paramount. This study adds to the increasing evidence base for the application of group-CBT in a 'natural' setting (school).

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This thesis addresses the social dimensions of human knowledge by reference to recent developments in the theory of knowledge in the Anglophone analytical tradition. What might be called social epistemology is often open to the charge of relativism. However, a detailed analysis of the most basic conditions of knowledge that enable human beings to live as not merely evolved, biological creatures but as intellectual, sentient beings reveals the sense in which human knowledge is essentially social and has no necessary connection either with relativism or with the opposing but equally tenuous ideas such as strong realism and scientific naturalism. The social and pragmatic dimensions of human knowledge shed light on its essentially educational nature. This broad sense of educational aspect of knowledge encourages us to see the prevailing outlook towards the relation between philosophy and education quite differently. This is not to suggest that the philosophy of education finds a new niche in academia but rather to suggest that it form the centrepiece of the philosophical enquiry into human knowledge. Having set the scene for the subsequent chapters in Chapter 1, this thesis goes on to analyse several issues to do with human knowledge and education. Sufficient appreciation of the significance of the fully social dimensions of human knowledge makes it possible to grasp the central thrusts of these issues without collapsing into the familiar dichotomies: theory and practice (Chapters 2 and 3); truth and rational justification (Chapter 4); conceptual norm and empirical description (Chapter 5); and cognitive pursuits and their social organisation (Chapters 6 and 7). On the basis of the foregoing analysis, Chapter 8 presents a broadened conception of the philosophy of education as a key academic discipline concerned with human knowledge specifically and human development more generally, which is to be in dialogue with scientific and empirical investigations.

This thesis offers a Marxian critique of 'marketization' in school provision and schooling. The first part argues that a degree of marketization of school provision and schooling has taken place in the UK. It examines contemporary philosophical defences of these markets in the works of James Tooley and Harry Brighouse. The second part broadens the philosophical context by examining some of the philosophical ideas associated with the growth of markets which Marx, in his theory of alienation, is both influenced by, and against which he reacts. The central argument is that alienation is a necessary consequence of marketization, on account of the transfer of control (and, increasingly, ownership rights) from the public to the private sector. This results in the control of school provision and schooling necessarily being passed, even from those who are to some extent working under the direction of democratically elected institutions, to those who may well use the marketization process primarily to further their own interests. This further loss of control is bound to increase alienating relations and estrangement. The third part examines whether it is possible to escape from alienation by moving in a socialist direction while retaining markets to varying degrees. Critical accounts are given of different proposals of this kind, drawn from David Miller, Patricia White and Oskar Lange. It is argued that, because these proposals all retain market relations, these would make an unalienated form of education impossible. By contrast Mihail Markovic argues that markets, as remnants of capitalism, cannot of necessity prefigure an unalienated society. The final chapter, with reference to Marx's concept of 'the realm of freedom', distinguishes Marx from anarchist thought and illustrates the relations and conditions which would be necessary to support an unalienated society, and enable education as an 'end-in-itself'.

This thesis examines what it means to take social cohesion seriously in relation to school educational policy. Much of the literature on such policy in English speaking countries has an explicit directive to promote 'civic bonds' in schools. This thesis is a philosophical account of how we characterize these civic bonds and a consideration of the educational implications for how we best encourage and develop them. The discussion identifies the necessary facets of civic relationships within a modern democratic society. It criticises theories of social cohesion as lacking an analysis of the model of belonging used. To address this deficiency, three metaphors for the civic relationship are considered: friendship, family and market. A version of the family metaphor, democratic fraternity, it is argued, best provides the desired ideal civic bond. The research offers insight into the educational implications of civic relationships, social cohesion and school choice. It enquires into how metaphors, models and social imaginaries give a framework for considering our interrelatedness. It suggests we should extend our understanding of the interplay between, on the one hand, the models and metaphors we adopt for civic relationships, and, on the other, the institutions we choose to teach and nurture the relevant attitudes, virtues and values. As the models we adopt can have deep effects on the organisations we create, the thesis then explores, through consideration of current practices, implications for school educational policy in relation to the promotion of civic relationships.

This thesis examines Reformed epistemology as it finds expression in the writings of Abraham Kuyper, Cornelius Van Til and Alvin Plantinga. It seeks to develop three main themes of this kind of approach in order to see whether they constitute an adequate foundation for a coherent account of faith and to examine their significance for educational theory. The themes studied are: belief in God may be properly basic in a rational noetic structure; divine revelation can be selfauthenticating; and sin has noetic effects. Discussion of the third of these is focused upon rational autonomy and, in particular, upon the form it takes in the pancritical rationalism of W. W. Bartley. The position developed is a moderate form of foundationalism which seeks to ground belief in God in an immediate awareness of him speaking through the propositions of scripture. It opposes an ideal of theonomous response to divine revelation to that of unlimited rational autonomy. The study of educational issues commences with an examination of the relationship between a Reformed Christian worldview and educational (or other) theory construction and argues for the transformation from within of the areas of knowledge through the introduction into them of Christian presuppositions. In accordance with this strategy for the integration of faith and learning, a study is made of the implications of the Reformed critique of autonomy for educational aims and methods and for discussions of the issue of indoctrination. The final issue dealt with is that of whether or not it is right or necessary to set up separate schools of Reformed Christian and other outlooks in our contemporary pluralist society. The conclusion reached is that there is a place for good Reformed Christian schools but nevertheless the Reformed Christian teacher may, in good conscience, teach in a state school.

This study examines the effects of the level of schooling on National integration in English-speaking Cameroon. National integration is conceptualised as the creation of an individual's sense of identification and loyalty to the nation and his willingness to accept and integrate voluntarily with one's fellow citizens irrespective of their cultural or ethnic differences. The main hypothesis adopted for the investigation (there will be a significant increase in positive attitudes towards National integration from primary to secondary and from secondary to post-secondary education) was confirmed. However, a Step-wise Multiple Regression Analysis of all the variables indicated that urbanization and not levels of educational attainment is a better predictor of National integration as far as this study is concerned. Four scales, the Nationalism scale, the Friendship Choice scale, the Language Choice scale and the Language Use scale. A questionnaire was used to obtain data from 491 randomly selected subjects from primary, secondary and post-secondary students and also from the adult population. In addition to the demographic facts, the questionnaire used was composed of four scales, three behavioural and an attitude scale of the Likert type. These scales were modified in the field after the pilot study. The data obtained from these instruments were analysed by Gutman scale analysis, Pearson-product Moment Correlations, one way analysis of variance, factor analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and a stepwise multiple regression analysis. Comparisons were made between groups of students categorised by various demographic and educational factors(e.g. age, levels of education, urbanization etc.) in order to demonstrate the schools foster a positive attitude towards integration and to dis— cover the most effective variable that influences national integration.

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