This study aims to further an understanding of the engagement of children with learning difficulties in curricular activities, by focusing on classroom interactions within mainstream primary schools. In the current educational climate, there is a shift towards increasing the participation of children with special needs, alongside recent governmental guidance supporting the implementation of their right to participate. Consequently, there are a growing number of studies offering recognition of children's participation and their potential contribution. They focus on participation being determined by the teacher whereas this research portrays the view of the child in determining their own participation. The research was an exploratory, in-depth study of seven children within two contrasting school settings. The research process entailed the building of a knowledge base upon which to interpret classroom interactions. It drew upon multiple sources and methods of data collection, to identify emerging factors and categories pertaining to children's engagement. The emerging factors fell into three distinct categories; resource engagement, focus of engagement and engagement in the task agenda. Resource engagement is concerned with children's utilisation of social and physical resources whilst focus of engagement considered the subject of children's attention. Lastly, engagement in the task agenda covered the response of the child to the activities set by the teacher. Relevant theories were used to help further an understanding of the identified categories of children's engagement, and focused in particular on three theoretical tenets pertaining to active, subjective and interactive processes. When these three processes were used constitutively, two conclusive themes emerged. Firstly, that engagement is a demonstration of children's autonomy and self-governance and secondly, that engagement is a process by which children become more knowledgeable about their classroom environment and develop autonomous responses to external requirements.

This research is concerned with looking at how girls experience their primary education. The aim is to try and discover how the girls perceive themselves as primary school pupils and linked to this to evaluate the contribution made by their mothers. The data was gained by interviewing girls and their mothers from two suburban primary schools and one rural primary school. There are two distinct but interwoven themes: a) the girls' lives at primary school; b) the mothers' perceptions of their daughters' education and how they relate to their daughters' own schools within the education system. The main focus is on the part played by social class in determining both the attitudes of the girls and their mothers. This is linked to Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of 'cultural capital', 'habitus' and 'field'. These contextualise the social and cultural actions of the individual which are not seen in isolation and both the social groups' or social institutions' roles are balanced with that of the individual. The research argues that social class still plays a major determining role in the educational expectations for girls and affects the tensions between home and school cultures. The girls' mothers play a significant part in their daughters' perceptions and attitudes towards schooling and education - notably via the expectations they have for them. These, too, are affected by the educational background and the social class of the mothers whose views and attitudes, to a great extent, are a direct result of their own experiences.

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Le premier parc national, Yellowstone, est né en 1872, aux États-Unis. Le Canada s’est inspiré puis éloigné de ce modèle. Les points communs entre ces deux pays sont nombreux : la wilderness, la conquête et la maîtrise du territoire, la création des premiers parcs, emblèmes identitaires forts. La comparaison des parcs co-frontaliers entre les États-Unis et le Canada souligne leurs apports réciproques. Compte-tenu de ces éléments, on devrait constater de réelles dynamiques de coopération, une proximité dans le zonage et la politique de gestion des parcs, une place similaire réservée aux populations locales et peu de conflits de part et d’autre de la plus longue frontière pacifique du monde. Cependant, notre étude, fondée sur des entretiens menés auprès des employés et des résidents des parcs et sur l’analyse de documents officiels, révèle des divergences entre ces parcs co-frontaliers. La wilderness et la frontière internationale sont perçues différemment. La réalité de la coopération transfrontalière ne correspond pas aux discours officiels. De multiples frontières internes fragmentent les parcs et affectent leur capacité à coopérer. Ces limites révèlent l’importance des populations locales, allochtones et autochtones, des associations, inégalement prises en compte par les autorités gestionnaires. Les enclaves privées dans les parcs américains conduisent à des conflits importants entre leurs propriétaires et le National Park Service. Au Canada, les tensions internes sont plus limitées. Au travers d’une volonté commune de protection de la wilderness, les parcs co-frontaliers affichent une coopération inégale et des fragmentations internes qui esquissent des régions bordières donnant une autre dimension à la frontière internationale.À partir d’un même modèle, le Canada et les États-Unis se différencient en matière de gestion, de coopération et d’implication des populations locales. Les États-Unis n’étant plus l’unique modèle en matière de parcs, le Canada se pose peut-être comme un modèle alternatif… / The first national park, Yellowstone, was created in 1872 in the United States. Canada was inspired by this model, before turning away from it. These two countries have many things in common: the wilderness, the conquest and control of territory, the creation of parks as strong markers of identity… A comparison of co-border parks between the US and Canada underlines their mutual contributions. Considering these facts, a real dynamic of cooperation should be observed: similar park zonings and management policies, a similar approach of local populations and very few conflicts on each side of the longest undefended borderline in the world. However, our study, based on interviews with both employees and inholders as well as on analysis of official documents, reveals divergences between these co-border parks. The wilderness and the international borderline are perceived differently. The reality of transboundary cooperation does not correspond to the official discourse. Numerous internal boundaries are fragmenting the parks and are thus affecting their capacity for cooperation. These limits reveal the importance of local populations, non-natives and natives, as well as associations that are considered unequally by park managers. The American parks inholdings lead to significant conflicts between the inholders and the National Park Service. In Canada, private property having been banned, internal tensions are more limited. Through a common will to protect wilderness, co-border parks show an unequal cooperation and internal fragmentations which outline border regions, giving another dimension to the international border. From an identical model, Canada and the United States are becoming differentiated in the matters of management, cooperation and the implication of the local populations. The US no longer being a unique model in the matter of parks, Canada may be rising as an alternative model…