This thesis studies the effect of performance pay on effort, selection and matching assortativeness in academia, using the introduction of performance pay in German academia as a natural experiment and employing a newly constructed data set encompassing the affiliations and productivity of the universe of academics in the country. I estimate the pure effort effect in a difference-in-differences framework comparing the productivity of cohorts that started their first tenured position just before the reform, and consequently do not receive performance pay, with those starting their first tenured position after the reform, and therefore do receive performance pay. I find that the effort effect is economically large; amounting to a 35% increase in academic productivity relative to the pre-reform productivity in the control group. I estimate the selection effect by analysing the rate at which academics of different productivity levels switch to the performance pay scheme and by exploiting the fact that the old and new wage scheme compare differently for academics at different ages, which gives rise to selection incentives that are inversely related to age. I find that more productive academics are more likely to select into performance pay, and that this effect is stronger for younger academics. The empirical framework to study matching assortativeness is informed by a simple matching model in which I show that performance pay increases positive assortative matching if there are positive productivity spillovers, and that this increase is larger if complementarities are stronger. I test this hypothesis in a difference-in-difference framework using a measure of complementarity strength as a continuous treatment variable and find that assortative matching increases more in fields with stronger complementarities, thus providing empirical evidence that performance related pay increases positive assortative matching. This effect is large; amounting to a two- to threefold increase in positive assortative matching.

The study reported in this thesis investigates the phenomenon of ‘presence' in teaching. Past research suggests that the relationship between the teacher and student is the “keystone in student achievement, motivation and engagement and in their capacity to trust what they know” (Midgley et al, 1989; Pianta, 1999; Roeser et al, 2000; cited in Rodgers & Raider-Roth, 2006: 266). Despite this, a comprehensive review of the literature has revealed that the notion of ‘presence', offering a holistic, relational, situated and dynamic lens through which to explore the essential elements of classroom interaction, has been strangely neglected to date in the educational research domain (Kornelsen, 2006; Meijer et al 2009; Rodgers & Raider-Roth, 2006). Moreover, in many teaching milieus, despite there being so little clarity about what the notion of 'presence' means in teaching terms, it appears as an observational criterion in both initial and developmental teacher education programmes, where it can be used to make judgements about teachers at different stages of their careers. Contextualised within an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) school over a nine month period on site, this phenomenological study employs individual and focus group interviews with teachers, teacher educators and students, alongside classroom observations and post-observation discussions. Findings generated by the study offer a new depth of understanding about the multi-dimensionality and complexity inherent in the notion of 'presence' in teaching and allow a critical interrogation of the ways in which it is currently being used in a school context. This highlights the potential power it has as a pedagogic construct and reveals a paradoxical duality, intrinsic to the ways in which it was construed; making it more suitable for developmental than assessment purposes. In short, this study offers a valuable holistic and existential contribution to understanding the nature of teaching, by augmenting the ways in which teachers and teaching have been construed to date. In addition, by illuminating the inherent ambiguity and paradoxes in the complex, dynamic and multi-layered meaning of ‘Presence in Teaching’, the findings have strong implications for teaching practice, teacher education programmes and in particular for the practice of teacher observation in respect of observer awareness, understanding and development; all of which are discussed in the final chapter of the thesis.

This dissertation uses a case study approach to investigate teachers' beliefs about the nature of reality (ontology) and knowledge (epistemology) within an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program environment. The study explores the possible impact of these beliefs on teachers' approaches to teaching. An interest in teachers' perspectives regarding the nature of reality and knowledge emerged during modular work associated with a Professional Doctorate in Teacher Education with the University of Nottingham. The final modular assignment, prior to the onset of the research stage, involved a consideration of the effect that perceptions of reality, knowledge and truth have on a researcher's philosophy of research. Due to an increased awareness of the impact that these beliefs have on my own philosophy of research, I became interested in how similar beliefs might impact the personal philosophies and pedagogies of teachers. I chose to explore the beliefs and practices of teachers at the International School of Amsterdam (ISA), the school environment in which I work. The study is positioned within the constructivist-interpretive research paradigm. It therefore allows for the emergence of a holistic and contextualized understanding of teachers' beliefs and practices. In choosing this approach, I hoped to explore whether a consideration of teachers' beliefs could play a role in the design of future professional development opportunities at ISA. The research study involved the generation of teacher profiles for each of three respondents, who are all experienced international school teachers. The respondents teach Science, English Literature, and Spanish to middle year students at ISA, which is a private and well-established IB school that offers all three IB programs through English to the children of expatriates as well as to local Dutch children. Within this teaching environment curricula and assessment are concept and process oriented, and teachers are encouraged to incorporate constructivist approaches into their personal pedagogies. The generation and comparison of the teacher profiles helped to uncover the respondents' beliefs and practices in a comprehensive way. Each teacher was observed on several occasions and these observations were followed by lengthy conversations and semi-structured interviews that occurred over an extended period of time. During the follow-up discussions, teachers' ideas and preferences were aligned with contemporary literature that explores possible links between teachers' ontological beliefs, their epistemological beliefs and their teaching practices. The findings of the research indicate that the blends of constructivism preferred by individual teachers mesh well with their ontological beliefs and their epistemological beliefs. The universal concepts they were drawn to, their impressions of the nature of learners, and their view of the learning capacity of groups all seem to connect with their beliefs. The findings suggest that there is a need to take teachers' ontological and epistemological views into account when considering and designing professional development opportunities. These findings contribute to areas of research that explore the impact of teachers' ontological and epistemological beliefs on teaching practice. They also provide direction for further discussion, exploration and research.

This study reports research into the role and deployment of teaching assistants who were implementing a literacy intervention - the Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 (FFTW3). A conceptual framework was devised to inform and support the creation, progression and interpretation of the research, drawing upon a postmodern perspective and principles associated with pragmatism and phronesis or practical wisdom. A multiple-case study approach was adopted, using interviews and observations, focusing on six teaching assistants across two local authorities, with the aim of exploring the teaching assistants' implementation of the FFTW3 programme. Analysis was informed by a grounded theory approach where a constant comparison of data was used to create themes. The findings are presented as case reports for each teaching assistant, followed by a cross-case analysis. Findings revealed that the FFTW3 programme provided unique opportunities for sustainable intervention practices which, it is argued, have implications beyond the boundaries of this research. Furthermore, there was considerable evidence that despite supportive structures for the implementation of the programme, barriers to effective deployment persisted in most contexts. The findings raise questions in relation to policy agendas which have not sufficiently clarified the ways in which teaching assistants should be deployed or supported. The implications from this study have relevance for both school systems and educational policy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate ICT-related EFL teacher development in the context of Chinese national College English reform. Four aims were established. First, to examine the current situation in a specific institution from the perspectives of: 1) teachers' attitudes towards ICT use in the context of College English reform; 2) the integration of ICT in English classes; 3) provision of ICT support within current continuing professional development (CPD) programmes for EFL teachers. Second, to assess the suitability of the CPD policies and practices for EFL teachers as a way of supporting the national College English reform. Third, to identify key issues affecting the effective provision of CPO in relation to ICT for EFL teachers. Fourth, to suggest possible solutions to problems identified and directions for future research. The study employed a case study involving quantitative and qualitative methods in order to give an in-depth account of the process of implementation of the reform at particular point in time. The findings indicated that initially the majority of teachers had held positive attitudes towards ICT use in English teaching and the national reform, but their enthusiasm was waning in the light of inadequate support and training. The national reform had, however, stimulated the improvement of ICT competence of both teachers and students. At the same time, it had challenged EFL teachers to adapt to new teaching materials, student-centred classroom teaching and how to guide students in their autonomous learning. In terms of ICT-related CPD policies and practices, there existed a gap between the current policies in the provision of CPD and demand for this. Recommendations are made for future research and for improvements in policy and practice of ICT-related CPD for EFL teachers in China.

For hundreds of years leadership of religious organisations has been dominated by males, despite the acknowledgement that much religious work and support of the institutions has been done by women. Historically, leadership carried the notion of masculinity and the belief that men were born with certain leadership traits and therefore make better leaders than women. Nevertheless, current thinking contests this view and argues that leadership can be taught and learned and it is possible to develop leader traits in any individual, regardless of gender. This research sets out to contribute in promoting women’s leadership in faith schools. The research employs a qualitative method of data collection, and adopts the critical realist and feminist theorising standpoint. This research presents results of case studies involving the Catholic, Anglican and Muslim faiths. Through in-depth interviews, an exploration on the views of religious authorities, school authorities and female teachers, regarding the role, and position, and experiences of female teachers within faith schools is presented. The research reveals the reality and complexity of barriers encountered by female teachers from a cultural, social, institutional and religious perspective that hinder women’s career advancement. These case studies provide strong first-hand evidence that is hoped to influence both practice and policy. Through the interaction and involvement of head teachers, school governors and religious authorities concerned with the management of the schools, the research aspires to support a process of enlightenment — particularly to individuals who influence decision making processes — to implement strategies that will allow equal representation among the genders in leadership positions within education in faith schools.

Background: the aim of this study is to bring a better understanding of the theory of interactive regulation. This is done by examining how learning is regulated by the teacher at a fine-grained micro level during whole class discussion. The study investigates the processes involved with the construct of ‗micro regulation‘. The decision to focus on micro regulation arose from an initial interest in formative assessment which, in its broadest sense, is concerned with how teachers elicit, interpret and use evidence of student understanding to better meet the needs of learners. The literature identifies a number of weaknesses in both the conceptualisation of formative assessment and in its provision. For example, despite an investment of £150 million pounds over three years to promote formative assessment (DCSF, 2008) it has been recognised that there remains a ‗comparative weakness in provision‘ (OFSTED, 2009) whilst in the words of Professor Paul Black, formative assessment is ‗not happening‘ (TES, 2010). Regarding how formative assessment is conceptualised, Wiliam (2011) notes the way in which formative assessment has begun to be seen (wrongly in his view) as an assessment tool rather than a continuous process. Further reading in the field led the author to begin to view the more immediate and responsive process of micro regulation as being of primary importance, especially given his perspective as a classroom teacher. The review of the literature therefore led to a shift in focus from formative assessment to micro regulation. The construct of micro regulation is conceptualised as preceding formative assessment which is more concerned with making decisions about the next steps in instruction. The view was taken that it makes sense to examine the regulation that occurs prior to formative assessment as it is this initial regulation that may serve to inform decisions regarding whether or not subsequent instruction needs to be adjusted. Whilst some studies have been carried out into this more immediate form of regulation, there remains limited understanding surrounding this level of regulation as a continuous process, hence the need for this research. The literature review comprises two chapters. The first chapter attempts to make sense of formative assessment by examining the way in which it has evolved conceptually in the literature and the second chapter examines how regulation is conceptualised and highlights the main issues that this study addresses. Research questions: the main research question asks ‗What is the nature of the teacher-led regulation that takes place during whole class discussion?‘ Subsidiary research questions are asked about (i) the mechanisms that teachers use to regulate learning (ii) the way in which these mechanisms interact with other elements of the instructional activity (iii) the extent to which regulation is a continuous feature of the instructional activity and (iv) the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the regulation that takes place during the instructional activity. Results and analysis: a qualitative methodology was developed in order to comprehensively describe the structure of both the whole class discussion activity and the regulation that exists within this activity. Teacher – student discourse that took place across 20 lessons (involving five teachers and three different curriculum subjects) was audio recorded and transcribed in full resulting in over 100,000 words of transcribed text. A qualitative content analysis was carried out using ‗analytic induction‘, an approach to data analysis that involves the initial development of an analytic scheme (i.e. coding) followed by its subsequent modification (Znaniecki, 1934). A number of ‗analysis-guiding‘ secondary research questions emerged inductively as the data analysis unfolded. During data analysis, the research literature was also been drawn upon with the result that the findings that emerged are both grounded in the data and validated by the literature. There were two distinct stages to the data analysis: descriptive and interpretive. Descriptive coding was used to describe the structure of whole class discussion activities and interpretive coding was carried out in order to identify the nature of the regulation that was evident within this structure. Findings and discussion: it was found that the structure of whole class discussion may be described in terms of a series of three-part and extended question-response-feedback (QRF) cycles. Validation for these QRF cycles was found in the literature. From a comprehensive description of the whole class discussion activity, it has been possible to identify the nature of the regulation that takes place. Micro regulation was found to comprise both regulatory questioning and regulatory feedback. In answer to the first subsidiary research question, it was found that regulatory questioning involves the use of modifiers and probes, whilst regulatory feedback involves teachers in confirming, rejecting, reformulating, providing answers to their own questions and finally by prompting students to help one another to solve a problem. In answer to the second subsidiary research question, it was found that regulation is a significant part of what a teacher does: an enlarged concept of regulation has developed in which regulation takes place both at the point at which evidence of student understanding is elicited (through teacher questioning) and also at the point at which this evidence is used to move learning forward (through feedback); regulation is both fully embedded in, and at the same time is an identifiable part of, the instructional activity. In answer to the third subsidiary research question, it was been found that regulation is a continuous feature of the whole class discussion activity. Finally, in answer to the fourth subsidiary research question, it was found that the strength of the regulation that takes place during whole class discussion activities varies greatly. Regulation remains weak if it takes place only during the three-part QRF cycle in which it is restricted to regulatory feedback alone. There is a stronger regulatory influence in the extended QRF cycle where teachers modify their questioning, however there is also evidence of a number of weaknesses in teacher questioning including the ‗guessing game‘, the ‗poorly worded question‘ and the ‗premature modifier‘. Strongest of all is the regulatory influence exerted in extended cycles through the use of probing questions. The outcome of this study is a conceptual model that shows how experienced teachers regulate learning during whole class discussion as well as a definition of the construct micro regulation. Conclusion: after summarising the main findings to come out of this study, this chapter discusses how teachers adjust the cognitive complexity of their questioning. Two further constructs emerge as a result of this discussion: regulatory questioning that has a ‗constructive‘ function and regulatory questioning that has a ‗deconstructive‘ function. A call is made for future research to focus less on regulatory feedback (which is often evaluative) and more on regulatory questioning which may be conceptualised in terms of these two functions. Such research would likely focus on emerging patterns of the adjustment of the cognitive complexity of questioning. In furtherance to this notion, a practical tool is proposed – the Regulatory Questioning Matrix – with which teachers might examine their own regulatory practice. Finally, this study draws to a close by taking a step back in order to consider the relationship micro regulation may have to other dimensions of interactive regulation.

This thesis considers the relevance of Recognition Theory to school education and contributes to the development of a body of empirical research in this field. Recognition has been defined as an essential component of a just society and a central concern of this study is the promotion of a humane form of schooling which embodies the principles and practices of a just and democratic society. The empirical data were gathered in a focus group and interviews with three new teachers working in a school in special measures. Their experiences and their stories of recognition and misrecognition are analysed using Honneth's Recognition Theory as a framework. The methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis allows the reader to gain an understanding of what the experience of being a new teacher is like for the three teachers. The combination of Recognition Theory and interpretative phenomenological analysis offers the opportunity for a critical reflection on those experiences. My findings suggest that Honneth's Recognition Theory, informed by a Deweyan understanding of education and its relationship to democracy, and broadened to incorporate an ethic of care, as well as an understanding of Klafki's criticalconstructive pedagogy, has the potential to inform a normative understanding of school as a community in which the values of a just, caring and democratic society can be put into practice. This includes recognising teachers and students as valued members of a community in which their voices are heard and respected. In addition, this thesis draws attention to the need for new teachers to gain a critical understanding of the means and ends of education.

This thesis describes an analysis of the representations of teachers in the British press during the 1990s. The research topic was a matter of personal interest to the researcher but an extensive review of educational literature revealed it to also have potential theoretical value. Analysis of the literature showed that these representations could be described conceptually according to the position of teachers' characteristics within two continua: one relating to commonality and contradiction, the other to continuity and change. These continua were used to predict the potential theoretical value of this study and to form the basis of four research questions. The study involved an empirical examination of 900 newspapers using a modified version of grounded theory. The rationale for this approach was based on precedents set by philosophy on the nature of meaning and studies on the process of communication. The examination yielded findings in the form of eight key concepts for the teacher, namely: the employee, symbol, service provider, intermediary, school functionary, classroom practitioner, source and person. The continua were applied to these findings and re-defined so as to contribute to theory. Using the continua, a comparison was drawn between the representation of teachers in the press and the literature. The comparative analysis revealed ways for research to develop a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of how the teacher is represented in different cultural contexts, mediums and tirneframes. Using different foci and emphases research could build on the contributions made by this study. The methodology was evaluated, raising suggestions for using modified grounded theory in further research on the representation of teachers.

This thesis examines what influences teachers when they engage with, or disengage from CPD at one U.K. University that is a major provider of teachers` CPD. The research has been carried out with the aim of informing the management and development of CPD programmes. The views of head teachers, teachers and local authority education specialists were captured during eleven interviews and two focus groups. Participant observation data was collected over a period of four years between 2006 and 2010. Whilst the initial incentive was to understand the relationship between CPD and professional identity among this group, what came out of my data was that teachers were seeing CPD as an oppressive form of professional discourse. The thesis thus theorises these teachers` thoughts by drawing on critical counter-hegemonic ideas, such as but not limited to those represented in the work of Michel Foucault. The inquiry concludes that the ways in which these teachers perceive power has an influence on the ways in which they engage in CPD and that this is closely entwined with how they view their professional identity. The thesis suggests that if universities are to play a significant role in the professional development of teachers, firstly they need to understand these influences and address such feelings. Secondly they need to embrace ways of working with schools and head teachers that acknowledges this understanding.