This thesis details and explores the findings of an interpretive, school-based study of pupil, teacher and parent perceptions of 'disengaged' behaviour in the primary classroom (years four to six). 'Disengagement' is defined as any recurring off-task response to learning such as chatting, playing, socialising, daydreaming, etc., that contributes directly to chronic underachievement The study is set within a social constructivist framework. The findings are discussed in relation to the educational research literature on classroom interaction, pupil and parent rights and perspective, behaviour management and emotional literacy. The work of Andrew Pollard and his theory of pupil and teacher 'coping strategies' is of particular relevance and is explored in detail. A central finding of the study is that pupil, teacher and parent perceptions of disengaged behaviour show a striking lack of intersubjectivity. In particular, the linkages between pupil and teacher surface behaviours and underlying feeling states emerge as being of critical significance. Indeed, poor emotional literacy accounts for perception gaps across the spectrum of teacher perceptions of pupil disengagement. The findings also indicate that a lack of intersubjectivity within the pupil/teacher dyad tends to skew ongoing interactions and obfuscates teacher intervention. As a corollary, the pupils and teachers in this study become locked into negative, repetitive cycles of disengagement and intervention in which coping, as defined by Pollard, completely breaks down. It is postulated that pupil and teacher 'survival strategies' replace prototypical coping mechanisms. A theory and model of the dynamic and interactive nature of pupil and teacher survival strategies is developed and explored in the final section of the thesis. The role of parents as mediators of pupil and teacher perspectives is integrated into this model. In the concluding chapter, the implications of the model are discussed with regard to the modernist and late-modernist contexts of pedagogical theory and practice. The shifting nature of the concepts of 'power' and ‘participation^’ within these contexts are highlighted as key explanatory themes.

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This thesis is a study of the ways in which hegemonic masculinity is constructed in two primary schools. Its principal perspective is feminist, though it draws heavily on the substantial body of work on masculinities within sociology. Connell's (1987) understanding of hegemonic masculinity which informs much of the work in this area, underpins the theoretical framework for conceptualising how a school constructs specific forms of masculinities which are powerfully shaped by ideologies and structures in wider society. The notion of 'critical incidents' is employed to ascertain how social processes come together in specific combinations in order to explore hegemonic and other modes of masculinities. This study is a feminist analysis of masculinities in school settings. As such, methodological/theoretical issues occupy a central role. The research on which the study is based was conducted with teachers and children in two primary schools located in different socio-economic areas of the same city. In one school the focus was on a class of 6-7 year olds, and in the other, on 9-10 year olds. The study adopts a qualitative methodology in the form of ethnography in order to explore teacher-pupil classroom behaviours and the peer relationships and social interaction of children, with a particular focus on boys. The study both confirms findings of other research on masculinities and primary schools which show the importance of locale on constructions of hegemonic masculinity and draws attention to previously unacknowledged issues. Locating the research in a middle- and a working-class school enabled a comparison of the ways in which the characteristics of a social area influence the processes of masculine constructions in a school. Also, the study considers the impact of the Education Reform Act (1988) on constructions of dominant masculinities in schools. Importantly, these two ethnographic case studies have been undertaken from a feminist position and the researcher's relationships with, and explorations of the relationships between, male teachers and boys contribute new insights into how hegemonic masculinity is constructed, at the level of the school, through various discourses.