Non-formal education (NFE) has the potential to provide diverse learning opportunities for personal and professional development. Proponents of NFE conclude that it creatively and flexibly responds to ever-changing socio-economic challenges. In practice, these contributions are highly dependent upon the viability of NFE and the context in which it is delivered. This research studied US and Scottish national community education programs, designed for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth, in order to examine NFE. As a comparative case study, the research developed a model of NFE from the literature reviewed. This model was applied to explain and analyze governance, the use of social and human capital theories as well as other important concepts related to each program. Interviews (with policy leaders, community level program administrators and young people) as well as national and local documents informed the analysis. The top-down construct of community education programs demonstrated that policy influenced implementation within communities. Community level administrators could also plan programs, however, within the limits of policy. Both case studies were primarily similar in their norms and goals but also had interesting differences at national and local levels. The findings showed how history, western ideologies and youth narratives have a pervasive impact on programs. The case studies revealed contributions of NFE to lifelong learning, seen through the lens of social and human capital. Furthermore, a critical discussion was interwoven throughout the thesis and revealed challenges and tensions at all levels of the model. NFE is a complex and variable concept, and it continues to struggle for legitimacy and recognition within the wider education narrative. However, NFE’s relationship with government policy, its use within communities and the experienced outcomes for youth are testament that it is integral and influential within the narrative. Further NFE research and practices should be encouraged in order to understand its role and impact. There is an emphasis made here to expand the research on NFE because socio-economic inequality, concerns about youth transition and the importance of learning beyond the formal educational sector are universal and consistent issues.

Alternative provision schooling is an important and on‐going part of our education system. Annually around 45,000 pupils are educated in alternative provision schools and despite the existence in general of an underpinning rationale of inclusion this number does not seem to be diminishing. In fact, when New Labour focussed on and were successful in getting the number of pupils excluded from schooling down, over the same time period the number of pupils based in pupil referral units (PRUs are considered a type of alternative provision) increased significantly. Given the intransigent nature of the problem of mainstream schooling being unable to cater for all pupils there is a need to think deeply about and theorise effectively the field of alternative provision schooling. In addition to the perennial nature of the problem, the characteristics of pupils, the experiences they are more likely to have had, and the destinations and the outcomes they are more likely than the average young person to experience there is a moral imperative to develop positive and effective practice in this field. This thesis set out to explore two questions. These were the nature of alternative provision, and the effect of this kind of schooling on the young people who attend. Methods used included a survey of providers, qualitative interviews with a sub sample of this group, in‐depth life history interviews with 18 young adults and further qualitative interviews with key professionals. In doing this an articulation of mainstream and alternative provision schooling as distinct fields (using Bourdieu’s field theory) has been developed. This analysis underpins a model of the types of experience of pupils who end up marginalised and excluded from mainstream schooling and of likely trajectories of success for each of these pupil experience types. The dominant habitus in mainstream schooling necessitates that pupils internalise insignificance and inferiority in the pupil teacher relationship. In alternative provision the dominant habitus is a relationally mediated equality which influences pupils in a number of ways connected to the experiences which have led to their exclusion from mainstream schooling.

Visant « les élèves d’origine modeste », particulièrement les élèves venant d’établissements d’éducation prioritaire et de quartiers de la politique de la ville, le dispositif des internats d'excellence, issu du Plan Espoir Banlieues (2008), se donne pour but de promouvoir l’égalité des chances et de favoriser la mixité sociale au sein des établissements. Cette thèse propose une analyse qualitative de ce dispositif à partir de l'expérience adolescente. Grâce à un travail de terrain (observations, entretiens, questionnaires et analyse des dossiers scolaires) réalisé pendant deux ans dans un internat d'excellence, il sera question de montrer comment les adolescents, considérés comme des acteurs, se réapproprient les différents objectifs du dispositif. Nous réfléchirons ainsi à ce que le dispositif fait à l'expérience adolescente : les adolescents modifient leur sociabilité, leurs loisirs et leur travail scolaire, mais pas toujours comme le dispositif l'aurait espéré. Dans le même temps, nous verrons alors que l'expérience adolescente interroge le dispositif et interpelle sur ses zones d'ombre. / Intended for « pupils of disadvantaged backgrounds », especially pupils from educational priority zones and underprivileged urban areas, the dispositif of internats d’excellence (Boarding schools for excellence), created by the Plan « Espoir banlieues » (2008), aims at promoting equality of opportunities and social diversity within school structures. This thesis offers a sociological qualitative analysis of this dispositif through teenage experience. By means of fieldwork (observations, interviews, questionnaires and analysis of schoolrecords) in one internat d’excellence during two years, we will show how teenagers, considered as actors, appropriate the different objectives of the dispositif. We will consider how the dispositif affects teenage experience : teenagers change their sociability, their hobbies and their schoolwork, but not always in the way planned by the dispositif. At the same time, we will see that teenage experience questions the dispositif and reveals its grey areas.

This thesis considers the introduction of the free school, questioning whether the culture of such start-up schools differs to that of existing schools. The research focuses on the extent to which the founding headteacher controls the formation and continuation of culture, and by what methods. The research builds on existing theories of organisational culture to establish a current understanding of leadership of school culture within English schools and compares this it five secondary free schools. Within each case study a range of stake holders were interviewed, and documents analysed to investigate how the intended culture was planned for the schools, and what emergent culture has resulted. The findings presented show an explicit need to plan and embed a new culture and give some practical suggestions as to how to achieve this. Free schools studied demonstrated some distinctive cultural elements, unique in the consistency with which they were embedded. It is postulated these cultural facets are as a direct result of the political turmoil surrounding the free school, and largely result from the external opposition to such schools. The importance and power of the founding generation of staff and students in creating new culture has also emerged as a critical theme.

'The landscape of schooling in England has been transformed over the last five years' (House of Commons Education Committee, 2015:3). More than half of secondary schools in England have become academies, independent of local authorities and funded directly by central government. The programme was begun by New Labour in 2002, and by the time they left office at the 2010 General Election 203 academies had been established. The policy was considerably extended between 2010-2015 by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, and 'Free Schools' were introduced by Education Secretary Michael Gove: that is, schools 'set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community' (DfE, 2013/2015). By the time of the 2015 general election, there were 4,674 newly-sponsored or converter academies and 252 'Free Schools', representing 64% of secondary school students (47% of all state school students), and 51% of secondary schools (32% of all state schools). This research argues the hypothesis that there is a high degree of philosophical continuity on this policy across the main political parties in England. It also analyses the extent to which the policy-makers invoke historical expressions of conservatism and/or liberalism in their articulation of that convergence. Drawing on past associations with politicians, the principal expositors and key architects of the 'Free Schools' policy were interviewed, and these transcripts have given insight into how the themes of policy are conceptualised and understood. The data suggests that there are convergent philosophical views across the main political parties, and agreement on the course of history of the policy. There are, however, ethical concerns about the pace of reform, the primacy of the 'market', and the extent to which democratic public goods are consistent with schools that are 'free'.

Cette recherche sociologique propose une étude compréhensive de l’Université des Montagnes, une initiative de la société civile issue de la crise de l’enseignement supérieur au Cameroun dans les années 1990. L’enquête de terrain réalisée au sein de l’institution a permis de collecter des données quantitatives et qualitatives à partir desquelles nous avons produit une théorie ancrée (Glaser et A. Strauss) mettant en évidence les spécificités de cette institution alternative et unique en son genre au Cameroun. Une observation participante de longue durée a permis une investigation approfondie. La première ligne de rupture qui se dégage de notre analyse est que l’Université des Montagnes est entièrement conçue, pensée et mise en œuvre par un groupe de citoyens déterminé à briser le monopole de l’État sur le développement de l’enseignement supérieur au Cameroun. Pour ce faire, les promoteurs ont dans une démarche réflexive et critique par rapport au modèle existant, élaboré une philosophie éducative et pédagogique innovante qui concilie les sciences fondamentales, appliquées et professionnalisantes, ainsi qu’une pédagogie ancrée dans les cultures africaines. En somme, nos enquêtes révèlent l’émergence d’une université générale, professionnelle et citoyenne. Le projet tente ainsi d’opérer une synthèse méthodique et adaptative des modèles universitaires de référence ayant structuré l’enseignement supérieur dans le monde. Nonobstant les difficultés d’appropriation collective, cette expérience citoyenne apparait, après quinze années d’existence, comme un analyseur et un catalyseur d’innovation sociale, tant son impact est perceptible sur le paysage de l’enseignement supérieur au Cameroun. / This sociological study offers a comprehensive study of the Université des Montagnes, a civil society initiative in response to the crisis in higher education in Cameroon in the 1990’s. A field study undertaken within the institution, using a participatory approach, enabled us to collect quantitative and qualitative data which was used to produce a grounded theory (Glaser and A. Strauss) approach that highlights the specific features of this alternative institution which is unique in Cameroon. The first break shown by our analysis is that the Université des Montagnes was entirely conceived, imagined, and established by a group of citizens determined to relieve the State of its monopoly on the development of higher education in Cameroon. To accomplish this, the founders, through a method that was reflective and critical in relation to the existing model, developed an innovative philosophy of education and pedagogy that reconciles the applied and professional sciences, and pedagogy founded on African culture. In short, our study shows the emergence of a general, professional, and people’s university. The project seeks to furnish a systematic and adaptive synthesis of reference university models that have structured higher education across the world. Notwithstanding the difficulties involved in collective adoption of the project, after fifteen years of existence, this people’s experiment appears to have been an analyser and catalyst for social innovation, considering its impact in the area of higher education in Cameroon.