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This thesis explored the lived experience of 'belongingness' with three boys identified with persistent literacy difficulties in mainstream education. Belongingness has been described as a fundamental human need (Baumeister & Leary, 1995), and this research takes a multiple perspective on the construct. Belongingness in school has been linked to many positive psychological and academic outcomes (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; Osterman, 2000), and also to many negative psychological, academic, and behavioural outcomes (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Lee & Breen, 2007; Sargent et al. 2002). Thus a strong sense of belongingness may be especially important for pupils with literacy difficulties (Solomon et al. 1997). This study addressed the gap in the empirical research field, seeking to understand the 'lived experience' of belongingness in school. Data was collected from three semi-structured interviews and discussion during the drawing tasks, and the findings were analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Smith, 1996) Five super-ordinate themes were identified along with accompanying sub-themes; 1. 'interpersonal relationships', 2. 'teacher practices', 3. 'emotional equilibrium', 4. 'physical illness', and 5. 'self-exclusion and disengagement'. Descriptions are presented with corresponding subordinate themes. Physical illness emerged as an unexpected master theme, and the 'importance of personal leisure time' as a sub-theme to the 'emotional equilibrium' master theme, both as yet unexplored in the belongingness domain. Although the boys' experiences of belongingness had similarities, there were also very clear differences in their accounts. These results are discussed with relevance to previous literature, and the epistemological stance of the study. The implications are discussed and recommendations for researchers and professionals in the education field are outlined. An action plan for the site school is provided. The study provided a valuable insight into the personal experience of belonging, and makes an original contribution to the body of knowledge in this area.

This thesis investigates the extent to which Thai national culture can be used to explain students' behaviour. In addition to exploring the cultural and social aspects of the classroom community, it also takes into account the importance of understanding the way students perceive their reality and as a consequence ethnographic research techniques are utilised. The research was carried out at a provincial university in Thailand, with a focal group of forty English major students. Two ethnographic research methods, namely classroom observation and interviews, were used in the research. While the classroom observations were carried out to describe the characteristics of the classroom and identify salient patterns of students' behaviours in the classroom, the interviews were conducted with the intention of allowing students to reflect on their own patterns of behaviours. The classroom observation not only showed the physical characteristics of the classroom, but also identified the teacher-student and student-student patterns of behaviour. These social aspects of the classroom revealed that while some student behaviour coincided with Thai national cultural characteristics, other patterns of behaviour deviated from commonly held beliefs about Thai students' behaviour. Pair and group interviews were then conducted to give students a chance to reflect on their interactions and their disruptive behaviour in class. While students' interviews offered insights into several personal issues, such as students' reasons to study English at the University, their transitions from high-schools to university and their self-perception, their accounts really highlighted the importance of the social interactions and relationships on their behaviour in the classroom. Social interaction, in the form of relationships with teachers, peer pressure, or peer reaction had, from the perspective of the students, significant explanatory force; these were strategically viewed and evaluated by students as the factors guiding their behaviour. Although this thesis aims to explore the influence of Thai culture on students' behaviour, it became clear during the research that unless students were made conscious of cultural influences, they were mostly unaware of the possibility that Thai culture might affect their behaviour. Because this thesis relies on the emic view of the students, the lack of students' verbal support for the influence of Thai culture on their behaviour makes the answer to the research question inconclusive. This leads to a discussion of the level of analysis students used when asked to interpret their behaviour and whether students viewed their behaviour at the social or cultural level. The study both highlights the significance of social interaction and context, and also distinguishes between a large culture and small culture paradigm. While the large culture approach views culture as essentially a feature of ethnic, national, and international groups, the small culture approach views culture as part of any social grouping. By seeing the classroom as a small culture and allowing students to explain their own behaviour, the research gains deeper insights into the students' world and their construction of their realities, the significance of which is explained and developed.