Contemporary education research identifies the quality of the teacher as a major determinant in the pace of achievement of the learners. In seeking to understand teacher quality, this study investigates teacher cognition. The premise is: how a teacher thinks during the planning phase of the lesson is paramount in establishing the level of expertise in facilitating learning. However, when presented with a lesson focus, teachers with different levels of expertise demonstrate different thought patterns. The key question is: how do expert teachers think? To attain expert performance, it is vital to capture how experts think. With English being one of the core subjects of the secondary curriculum, and also the language of instruction, it is imperative to focus on Secondary English teachers as the main articipants in this study. The Dreyfus model of expertise has been used to identify and group participants for this study. The focus is to capture the thought processes involved during the lesson planning phase and to study the patterns generated. An in-depth study of the different groups of participants, using multiple data collection methods and data analysis procedures, situates this study within multimethod research. The interpretive framework facilitates an intrinsic understanding of each group; as well as, identification and analysis of patterns across the different groups. Patterns of teacher cognition therefore become ‘overt’. The identification of patterns at different levels of expertise makes the continuum of expertise in secondary English teaching explicit. Progression on this expertise continuum becomes more ‘attainable’ as the characteristics of each level of expertise are identified. With the establishment of cognition, inherent cognitive processes and their interplay have been captured; revealing the mind of the teacher, during lesson planning, as intricate and evidence of the complexity of teaching.

Metaphor provides a potentially powerful rhetorical device to help me to tell informed and persuasive stories about mathematics education. In this ethnographic study I consider key episodes that serve to exemplify the complex experience of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students of secondary mathematics education. I use a narrative analysis to shine a spotlight on the experiences of six beginning teachers so that the metaphors in their stories expose the impact that separately situated sites of teacher education have upon their beliefs and behaviour as teachers. Tensions between school and university contributors to teacher education have been well documented over many decades, but recent policy changes in the nature of post-graduate ITE in England bring these issues to the fore. In this study, I consider the influences of school-based and university-based teacher educators upon the beliefs of student secondary mathematics teachers and interpret the students’ perceptions of these influences on their actions as novice teachers. My analysis is framed by a model of experience and education articulated by Dewey as well as a framework of representations of knowledge in a culture of education articulated by theorists concerned with the relevance of constructivism and situated cognition as theories of learning. In this study, disturbances and discontinuities relating to the location and culture of ITE, together with the development of ITE students’ professional knowledge are uncovered, warranting further research.

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) employed in schools across England is steadily increasing (Department for Education, 2015). Due to limited information on this large workforce, the ‘Deployment and Impact of Support Staff’ (DISS) project was undertaken (Blatchford et al., 2008). Concerning findings from this project have influenced further research and informed advice for changes for TA practice and deployment. Although pupils are the key stakeholders of TA support there is limited research gaining their perspectives on this area (Cajkler et al., 2007), particularly for secondary school pupils. In this study, a mixed method design underpinned by a strength-based perspective was used to investigate secondary school pupils’ perspectives on TAs. Findings suggest that supporting pupils with their learning was perceived to be a primary aspect of the TA role, in addition to several other forms of support across multiple contexts. Strategies to support learning, communication, personal characteristics and working within a context to meet the needs of the pupil, were perceived to contribute to effective TA practice and deployment. TAs were also perceived to have a positive impact on pupils’ learning and wellbeing. These findings contribute to the existing literature and have implications for research and professional practice.

This study explored the development of subject knowledge by pre-service teachers of Design and Technology (D&T) in secondary schools in England. In doing so it aimed to throw light on their lived experience of developing subject knowledge whilst on placement in schools. It was anticipated that this would help to identify the factors that shape what is learned and the ways in which pre-service teachers may be better prepared and supported for placement in the future. The study made use of phenomenology as a methodological approach in order to capture the lived experience of developing knowledge through the eyes of pre-service teachers. This was framed against an exploration of subject knowledge in Design and Technology and the extensive experience of the researcher in the field. Empirical data was gathered through a process of interviewing 11 participants three times during the course of one academic year. Processes of data reduction and explication were undertaken to explore individual experiences and aspects that they had in common. Findings from the study highlight the inadequacy of the term subject knowledge in describing the processes that take place. They demonstrate that pre-service teachers drawn on cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains in developing their understanding of materials and processes in preparation for teaching. The findings also highlight the complex, and interrelated nature of factors that affect the development of subject knowledge and the significant influence that the placement school arena, and teachers, have on shaping the nature of what can be learned. They also indicate that learning new knowledge is a central part of the experience and that developing ‘skills of knowing’ is essential. Key recommendations from the study include the preparation of pre-service teachers for their placement experiences by enabling them to understand how they learn completely new things. It is also recommended that the responsibility for the development of subject knowledge should be more in the hands of placement schools. Further work is also needed in exploring alternative ways of representing the processes that take place when knowledge is acquired by individuals as they become the teachers of the future.

This thesis investigates the use of action research and activity theory to promote the professional development of teachers in an Icelandic upper secondary school. The purpose of the research was to develop a new model to foster professional development through enhancing the participants’ agency to transform their practice. It was carried out with an action research group of twenty-one school professionals and an outside consultant. The group’s aim was to find ways to increase students’ sense of responsibility for their studies. The project combined the ideas behind the Change Laboratory, one of the methods of developmental work research established by Engeström and action research as elaborated by McNiff. I termed our approach the Change Room. There activity theory and the theory of expansive learning provided the participants with a conceptual framework, historical analysis and tools to analyse what changes might be appropriate in our classroom practice. The action research provided the participants with the method and tools to guide the participants when carrying out and evaluating these changes. The research focus was on tensions the participants experienced in their classroom practice. Through creative resolutions of these tensions the intention was to develop better practices and contribute to school development. The research used both action research and case study methodology. The research tools were documentary analysis, interviews, surveys, research diary and observations. The findings were analysed using deductive process based on activity theory. The teachers experienced tensions in their classroom practice between students’ active and passive learning, didactic and dialogic teaching methods, and the requirement to cover the syllabus and to promote deep learning. To resolve these tensions the teachers have developed teaching practices that enhanced active student learning and given more weight to the students’ voices. Participation in the action research group enhanced both individual and collective learning of the school professionals. Their agency to change practice was increased and they also developed more cross curriculum agency. The combination of activity theory and action research in the Change Room provides a new model for enhancing teachers’ professional development and collaboration that has potential to transform classroom practice.