With a heritage rooted in the developing field of nineteenth century psychiatry, up until its classification within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Association, 2000) today, disordered eating has been dominantly conceptualized as individual psy-medical pathology (Hepworth, 1999: 2). Drawing on a feminist post-structuralist theoretical framework which views dominant understandings of disordered eating as socially constructed through discourse, this research re-situates disordered eating within the multiple, complex, gendered, classed and racialised socio-cultures within which it is produced, indicating the wider discourses and social contexts which may be implicated in its development - particularly those across the formal and informal cultures of schools. Notwithstanding the volume of interest, literature and research on disordered eating, surprisingly little detailed attention has been given to the part that pedagogical processes of formal education may play in its development, either alone or in conjunction with social practices outside of schools. Yet, increasingly, research has pointed towards the intensification of the regulation, surveillance and monitoring of young people s healthy bodies, particularly in contexts such as physical education (Webb, Quennerstedt & Öhman, 2008). More specifically, this focus has been upon young people s weight in an effort to curtail the approach of an assumed obesity epidemic (Evans, Rich, Davies & Allwood, 2008b). This study examines how discourses of the body, weight and health are being translated into pedagogies enacted across a range of cultural sites (Wright, 2009) at school and outside of school, within the lives of a group of young women experiencing disordered eating. It explores the ways in which they are interpreting these health messages, illustrating how they co-mingle with performative neo-liberal discourses at school and at home, to propel these young women towards behaviours that are, in fact, damaging to their health. Although they are well-versed in dominant obesity/health discourses and the meanings they construct, the narratives of these young women illustrate the influence of these discourses, with their narrow focus on weight , upon problematic relationships with their bodies and food. The research concludes by pointing to the need for de-centring dominant obesity/health discourses in schools and for alternative ways of thinking about the body, weight and health to be filtered into education contexts.

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Four studies were conducted to examine the nature of cyberbullying in Swedish schools using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The first two studies investigated what reasons/issues may be involved in the negative feelings that a victim of bullying may feel and how these related to different types of bullying. The content analysis yielded seven themes: helplessness, persistency, fright, anonymity, no avoidance, embarrassment and loneliness. Study Three used quantitative methods to examine various issues such as gender and age differences, but especially the distribution of the bullying material, the role of bystanders, and whether cyberbullies feel more or less remorse compared to traditional bullies. Findings showed that cyberbullies not only targeted their victims, but quite often showed the material to other people and/or uploaded it onto the Internet. The bystanders of cyberbullying mostly did nothing further to distribute the material, however when they did, they tended to help the victim more often than bully him/her further. When asked about feelings of remorse, cyberbullies expressed less remorse than traditional bullies. The findings are discussed in relation to the definition of bullying, and the need for empathy raising awareness for bullies within the cyberbullying context. Study Four, a qualitative study, involved 10 pupils and examined issues such as what the pupils had experienced (as victims, bullies or bystanders), how it felt (impact), and how it was resolved. Practical implications of the findings include the highlighted need for different coping strategies to be applied for victims of cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as starting preventive strategies for cyberbullying in pupils as young as 7 years. In addition, the need to investigate cyberbullying in a different manner than that of traditional bullying is raised. This could have practical implications for researchers, but is also a theoretical concern related to the definition of cyberbullying.

Research conducted over nearly a quarter of a century has shown convincingly that children are more successful students at all grade levels if their parents participate at school and encourage education and learning at home (Epstein and Dauber, 1991). Despite the existence of considerable evidence of the positive effect of parental involvement on students' academic success and school development, few studies have been undertaken to examine parental involvement in Kuwait. Hence, little is known about the attitudes and opinions of parents, teachers, and principals towards certain types of parental involvement practices and their willingness to establish ongoing two-way communication to foster children's success at school. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions of parents, teachers and principals about parental involvement in kindergarten through grade three in primary school in Kuwait schools in Hawalli district. Data collected from the three groups were employed to examine the ways that parents are involved and how they desire to be involved in their children's schooling. The influence of family background factors on parents' current participation at home and school as well as barriers hindering parents' participation in Kuwait schools were identified. To achieve its goals this research adopted a mixed methods design utilizing three sequential and complementary (quantitative and qualitative) methods. The study sample consisted of 12 focus groups of a total of sixty teachers, 14 interviews with principals and 430 parents who completed questionnaires. Findings from the study revealed that parents, teachers and principals agreed that parents' levels of participation in home-based involvement were generally higher than their levels of school-based involvement. The influence of family background factors was examined. Child grade level, family size, and the parent's gender, level of education and employment were each found to have a significant influence on certain types of parental involvement. The parent's lack of time and time conflicts with school schedules emerged as major barriers to family involvement as perceived by parents, teachers and principals. The findings also revealed that parents and school personnel have different perceptions of their roles. The strict nature of the educational system in Kuwait and attitudes among school staff created some limitations to the participation of parents in certain types of activities. Overall, the findings of this study could be used to provide helpful recommendations that might enhance parental involvement in a meaningful way and contribute to the success of children and improvements in schools.

This study was set in a mainstream primary school in Scotland where a group of children had been identified by their class teachers and parents as presenting as quiet, shy, withdrawn and/or anxious. The researcher was an educational psychologist in the local authority where the study took place. S primary aged children at stages PS, P6 and P7 (aged 9 to 11 years) of the Scottish Primary education system were involved in a group process in their school, consisting of 6 sessions over the course of 2 months. The intervention combined elements from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). This was a strength based approach which aimed to focus on positive strengths and increase resilience. The individual nature of the therapy required a flexible model. A qualitative research methodology was used. The general aim of this research was to investigate this combined therapeutic process within an applied psychology perspective. The research set out to study the experiences of a group of children during and after they participated in the process. A further aim of the research was to explore the process from my own perspective as the therapist and facilitator. Data was collected during and after each session and post intervention data was collected from children, parents and teachers. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (JP A) was used to analyse the data. Findings indicated that the children found the intervention helpful and they were able to identify particular aspects of SFBT and EMDR which they had found useful.

A study was undertaken using a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of a Positive Psychology intervention, on the self and collective efficacy beliefs of staff within a mainstream primary school community. Efficacy beliefs were selected as the topic of study due to their powerful and significant influence upon behaviour, such as effort and persistence; and protective factors such as resilience, personal well-being and achievement (Bandura, 1997). Positive Psychology was selected on the basis that within the UK it has received little attention to date, and since it offers a focus on the positive aspects of human experience, it could be useful in affecting positive change in relation to efficacy beliefs. A qualitative planning-phase enabled the generation of themes relating to areas of low efficacy within the experimental school; which formed the basis of a 14 item questionnaire designed to elicit views in relation to the themes. Baseline data was established through administration of questionnaires in the intervention and comparison groups. Accompanying qualitative data was also obtained from the intervention group. Preparatory activities preceded a brief Positive Psychology intervention for the intervention group; following which post-intervention data collection was undertaken (as with the baseline). Questionnaire data was analysed statistically and thematic analysis was employed with the qualitative data. Findings suggested that participants' efficacy beliefs had been enhanced in the experimental group, whereas this was not the case in the comparison group. Enhanced efficacy beliefs corresponded to the themes investigated, and significant positive differences were noted in relation to teaching and non-teaching support staff. Areas highlighted by participants related to the four sources of efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1997) and to school structure and culture. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed along with possible areas for future research.

Teachers are expected to positively impact on the emotional wellbeing of their pupils and raise their self esteem as an outcome of this impact. It has been shown that teachers can contribute to raising the self-esteem of their pupils through different aspects of their role. An element which has been shown to have a significant impact on the self-esteem of pupils is the relationship between the teacher and pupil. Exploration of what a group of year 10 pupils perceive a good teacher pupil relationship to be revealed a number of factors. There were commonalities with the humanist approach to education in that, teacher qualities such as genuineness, prizing, acceptance and trust were identified as being involved in a good relationship. An emphasis was placed on the relationship being a working relationship, involving quality pedagogy and facilitating learning. In addition to this a need for communication was identified as being a key feature of the relationship. It was concluded that it would be beneficial to strike a balance between therapeutic underpinnings and quality pedagogy, to develop a good relationship between the teacher and their pupils. It is proposed that a good working relationships could facilitate learning and also impact positively on a pupil’s self-esteem and hence their overall emotional wellbeing.

Cultural background can have an effect on communication styles which can be seen through actual behaviour and ways in which people interact with one another. In this study, it was hypothesized that notions of individualism-collectivism, selfconstruals and values have varying effects on Libyan students' communication styles with people of a British background. In particular, the more collectivistic the values of Libyan postgraduate students, the more interdependent their self-construals are; consequently, the more high-context (HC) communication styles they tend to use; and vice versa. It is also hypothesized that the predominant communication style of Libyan postgraduates tends to be HC. To test these hypotheses, a mixed method approach was used for this study (including open and closed-type questions). A selfadministered questionnaire was developed, based on Gudykunst et al. (1996), to measure low-context (LC) and high-context (HC) communication styles, selfconstruals (SC) and values. The results suggest that Libyan postgraduates tend to use LC communication styles, and their collectivistic values and interdependent selfconstruals mediate the extent of use of individualism and collectivism. On the other hand, independent self-construals and individualistic values mediate the influence of cultural individualism and collectivism in the use of LC communication styles. In general, Libyan students’ communication styles appear to be a mixture of both styles, but tend to be more LC, with an emphasis on sensitivity, over-directness, and preciseness, over silence. The findings also suggest that individuals’ self-construals and values are better reflections of LC styles of communication, rather than for HC communication styles, for Libyan students in the UK.

This study uses qualitative methodology with five male participants, aged between 14 and 18, to obtain their perceptions of what it is like to be a young man growing up in a rural community. In preparation for the research element of this piece, literature from developmental and social psychology, human geography and social policy was considered. Previous research from other countries with large rural populations, Canada, Australia and the United States was considered along with other British and European studies. Main topics of focus include notions of identity, aspiration and attachment to place, together with other concepts relating to social capital, positive youth development and subjective well-being. Current and previous UK government policy is debated together with a review of the role of educational psychologists. There is also discussion over their potential role in post school transition, with particular reference to their development in Scotland. A pilot study and main study were carried out with homogeneous populations. The findings from both pilot and main study are discussed. Data generation methods were photo elicitation and semi structured interviews. Participants generated and selected images that they wished to discuss to illustrate the research question. The research question was What is it like to be a young man growing up in a rural community? ' Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to examine the data. Findings from this study indicated that, for these participants, the experience of growing up in a rural community is complex with many factors playing their part, including family support, feelings of attachment to the locality, out of school experiences and how happy they feel about themselves. Their revelations about aspiration show that it is an holistic construct for these participants encompassing more than economic and academic goals.

This piece of research explored the construct of emotional wellbeing and how it is supported in the classroom. UK government policies and national strategies have emphasised the importance of supporting emotional development in educational contexts, yet wellbeing has proven difficult to define and the theoretical assumptions underpinning interventions shape the discourses and social practices that surround it. Evidence suggests that young people are best supported through universal approaches and, as such, teachers are being challenged to provide more than academic instruction. A systematic review of the effectiveness of teacher led emotional wellbeing interventions examined three key points: the theoretical underpinnings of the interventions, teacher practice, and how emotional wellbeing was constructed on the basis of the employed outcome measures. The findings indicated that the majority of interventions were based on behaviourist and cognitive-behavioural models. Teachers' roles were constructed as doing something to "solve" problems and reduce "social inadequacy". This assumption was based on viewing emotional wellbeing from a structuralist perspective using observable and often standardised measures. One study, in contrast, used narrative and biopsychosocial approaches indicating the promising emergence of alternative avenues for educational practitioners. The review highlighted the lack of exploration and acknowledgement of the experiences and values of individuals. My research project aimed to take a social constructionist stance to privilege individuals' voices over discourses of global truths around wellbeing. Narrative approaches fitted with this position and, as such, narrative therapeutic conversations were used as a method to collect the views of three individuals in a small case study. The stories of the young person, parent and teacher were analysed using constructionist grounded theory. The findings showed that the use of narrative approaches illuminated the possibility for change in both the understanding of emotional wellbeing outside of structuralist notions, and classroom practice in response to emotional wellbeing. The adoption of a narrative approach both as a therapeutic method and as a research framework was considered in the context of a social constructionist theory. These new understandings have implications for educational psychologists' practice in encouraging a shift away from the global knowledge constructed through categorisation, pathologising and solving, towards acknowledging local knowledges in which skills, strengths and resources are privileged.