Regular school attendance has been identified as being of paramount importance for social, economic, educational and emotional well-being. However, UK schools have experienced high levels of school non-attendance for several years. Government legislation and research highlight the importance of early intervention to combat non-attendance. They also emphasise the need to involve pupils in decisions affecting their lives. However, despite much research into non-attendance, currently there is a paucity of research eliciting the views of non-attenders, particularly non-clinical samples and those at the early stages of non-attendance. There is also a lack of updated qualitative research around school staff experiences of working with non-attenders. This study gained an understanding of the perceptions and experiences of secondary school non-attenders during their early stages of attendance difficulties particularly regarding support they had been offered or used. The study also explored the views of secondary school staff regarding their experiences working with non-attenders and their perceptions of the support available to help these pupils attend school regularly. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twelve pupils and six staff members and their perceptions were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that there are several factors impacting on pupils’ unwillingness to attend school, particularly those negatively influencing their sense of school belonging and academic self-concept. Despite supportive strategies in place, non-attenders do not always perceive them as effective. However staff face clear challenges to implement more supportive measures. The key findings emphasised the importance of using an interactionist and systemic perspective to support non-attenders rather than a within-child or family perspective. School issues included a lack of opportunities to gain pupils’ views, poor pupil-teacher relationships and ineffective school systems. The research provides useful recommendations for educational professionals and educational psychologists to promote attendance through collaborative working, pupil participation and early intervention.

research examines the development of a self-evaluation model within a secondary school environment. The study investigates the contributing factors that influence the development of a school and suggests an evaluative model that measures pupil performance, encourages school staff to be self-reflective and enables a trustworthy indication of school attainment and improvement. Data collection included the use of surveys at the beginning and end of the investigation and also in-depth individual semi-structured interviews with school staff and local authority educational advisers. The outcome of the research provided a self-audit model that enabled judgements to be made on pupil progress across the full range of the curriculum and measured the strengths and weaknesses of the school compared with national standards. Emerging from the research was the realisation that managing the process of change was fundamental to the success of the model. It is this change process and its management that are the key findings of this research.

Mentoring for secondary school headteachers in their first year in post was first proposed as a systematic strategy in the 1980s following research into the first years of headship (Weindling and Earley, 1987). Coaching and mentoring were introduced as part of a response to the concern that new headteachers were not sufficiently prepared before taking up the post. Coaching and mentoring are now incorporated into all National College for School Leadership (NCSL: currently the National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children‟s Services) leadership programmes. However, there is a dearth of current research exploring how secondary school headteachers use coaching and mentoring in their first year in post. Systematic reviews show that previous research has generally focused on improving coaching and mentoring schemes and thus is mainly evaluative. In contrast, this study focuses on the headteacher perspective. The study works within a social constructivist paradigm, taking a grounded theory approach because of the dearth of available theory. Data were collected from six newly appointed secondary school headteachers. Each was interviewed three times during their first year in post. After transcription each interview was analysed and coded and the results informed subsequent interviews. NVivo was used to manage the data and to develop codes. Preliminary findings were discussed with practising coaches and their comments contribute to the discussion. The study finds that new headteachers exercise significant agency in their coaching and mentoring engagements, including the choice of coach mentor, and the coach mentoring agenda. It finds that new headteachers seek coaching and mentoring beyond the assumed formal dyadic arrangements. Contributions to knowledge include the Confidence Loop model; three new models of coaching and mentoring; and a deeper questioning of the place the theory and practice of performativity should have in the coach mentoring relationship.

This study explores the influences of female under-representation in senior leadership positions in community secondary schools in rural Tanzania. Key issues include factors contributing to women under-representation in leadership, the perceptions of members of school communities of women leaders and the challenges facing current women leaders that deter other women teachers from taking leadership posts. The empirical study included interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires and involved 259 participants at schools and district level in one district in rural Tanzania. Twenty schools were involved and included 20 heads of schools, teachers, members of school boards, parents and a District Educational Officer. The empirical study found that, at the individual level, familial responsibilities and rejecting the post due to poor social services in rural areas deterred women from taking leadership posts. At the organisational level, the lack of transparent procedures for recommending, recruiting and appointing heads also contributed to poorer access by women. At the societal level, negative perceptions and stereotypes of female leaders, conservative expectations of women in the private domain rather than in professional and public roles, and deep-seated beliefs in some rural areas pertaining to issues such as witchcraft, at times resulted in physical risk and exploitation of female leaders. These proved to be strong barriers to leadership succession and resulted in on-going, significant challenges for incumbent female leaders. Overall, the study concludes that female under-representation in school leadership in rural Tanzania is influenced by a number of interrelated factors at the individual, societal and organisational level (Fagenson, 1990a), with dominant social norms and values having a cross-cutting influence on the access, experience and perceptions of female school leaders. The study thus suggests a number of measures for improving female representation in community secondary school leadership in Tanzania at the professional and personal development level, recruitment level and policy level.

The modern and post-modern world has tried to attend to the factors that lead to effective schooling. The School Effectiveness (SE) movement investigates the characteristics of effective schools and how these characteristics may lead to improved pupil achievement. This study explores the characteristics of effective secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context, together with the effectiveness of their leaders from the perspective of these schools’ stakeholders, namely principals, teachers, students and parents. In particular, the main aims of the study are first to identify the key factors that contribute to effective schools in UAE secondary education and second to outline the strategies for improving schools and school leadership professional development requirements. The study employs a mixed-methods, sequential, exploratory strategy to understand the perceptions of UAE key education stakeholders. Firstly, 46 principals, 138 teachers, 136 parents and 142 pupils filled in questionnaires and then, for added validity and reliability, ten school principals were also interviewed in the second part of the study. What is striking about the study’s findings is that the two instruments – the survey and the interview – did not, in most cases, lead to the same homogeneous results, as the results deduced from the questionnaire did not totally corroborate those realised from the interviews. Key education stakeholders in the UAE proposed three strategies – vision, teamwork and school climate – in order to improve SE in Abu Dhabi. Induction leadership programmes, internal self-evaluation and external evaluation are not considered by the majority of principals and their subordinates to be salient and efficient strategies for improving schools. This is due, presumably, to the lack of logistical procedures and evaluation organisms in place through which schools can internally gauge their degree of effectiveness against lucid standards, indicators and benchmarks.

Although multi-agency working isn’t a new concept, the previous Labour government encouraged professionals and services to work collaboratively and in partnership to address issues of social exclusion, poverty and deprivation in order to provide support and interventions to children, young people and their families. As a result, a range of initiatives and programmes under the banner of multi-agency working were developed in health, education and social services aimed at addressing these issues. One such initiative was the development of the multi-agency Behaviour and Education Support Teams (BEST). Previous research into multi-agency working has tended to focus on the structural development of the multi-agency service, including the barriers and benefits to multi-agency working. Less research has been undertaken on the perceptions, experiences and views of the individuals working within those multi-agency teams. Using a grounded theory approach this thesis explores the perceptions and experiences of individuals working in a multi-agency team, considering the impact multi-agency working has had on individual team members, their interactions with one another and selected school staff, co-located within a secondary school. In analysing the data (content analysis, observations and semi-structured interviews) the use of a qualitative research methodological approach has enabled the research to identify an emerging category of professional identity and three properties; roles and responsibilities, knowledge and skills and terminology. Running through the discussion of each of these three properties is the issue of co-location. The research will draw on examples taken from the data to illustrate and to inform throughout. Using Wenger’s (1998) ‘communities of practice’ as a theoretical framework, this research then considers the emerging theme of professional identity and how multi-agency teams and selected school staff negotiate the experience of self [identity]. Finally the research asks and answers the question ‘Is BEST a ‘community of practice’?

The purpose of this study is to better understand the classroom experiences of current secondary school students, in light of the present policy drive towards participation. Using an approach with ethnographic intent (participant observation, interviewing, shadowing and field notes) this research explores six students’ experiences, in one secondary school in Scotland. Emerging themes from the literature, regarding participation and participatory approaches, suggest that these can be understood in different ways, ranging from economic instrumentalism to democratic renewal. This study took a fresh theoretical approach, employing an ecological, temporal-relational understanding of the achievement of agency. This understanding acknowledges a young person’s awareness of, and capacity to engage with, a range of different possible actions, by means of a particular context at a particular time. This approach provided theoretical tools, with which to interpret aspects of these students’ school experiences. The findings are detailed in terms of teacher-student relationships, the cultural realm, and young people’s aspirations. Students’ achievement of agency in the school setting is complex, but one major finding is that the quality and type of teacher-student relationship are significant in enabling these students to achieve agency. Peer relationships and ties beyond the school gates are also significant. The ecological understanding of agency provides a basis for educators to better understand the interdependence of the individual and the environment and to explore how participation might afford a wider range of possibilities for young people. This reflection on participation is important if we want to shape educational ecologies to encourage practices which facilitate the achievement of agency by young people.

Thesis (M.A.) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / The study was undertaken because the researcher was concerned about the denial of poor learners the right to education, as their parents could not afford to pay School Fees due to high unemployment and poverty in rural schools. The researcher noticed that schools sent learners home to collect school fees and also withheld learner reports until the required amount was paid. As a result, “Fee Exemption policy” was available to exempt poor parents from paying School Fees, but it was not effective because schools did not inform them to apply for this policy. As a result, poor learners decide to dropout. The government introduced “no-fee-schools” policy to end marginalisation of poor learners. Further, it appeared that School Allocations are little because rural schools have a shortage of school facilities and some of the facilities are too expensive.A purposive sampling strategy was used to select 3 public secondary schools as research sites and 26 respondents as a sample of the target population. Respondents consisted of 8 members; the principal, SGB member and 6 educators from School A; Nine (9) respondents; the principal, 2 SGB members and 6 educators from School B; the principal, 2 SGB members and 6 educators from School C. Twenty-six respondents were considered to be sufficient because my focus was not on representation. The respondents were considered to be key informants with required data. Interviews and document analysis were used as data collection methods. The researcher used semi-structured interviews because they are interactive, and they also give the respondents a voice associated with their perspectives and experiences. Document analysis was used to supplement data collected through interviews. The interviewees discovered that learners were denied the right to education, despite the departmental policies formulated to help poor learners and theirparents. Furthermore, “no-fee-schools” policy was formulated to enable poor students to access education, but it is problematic because School Allocation is not deposited to school accounts on time and does not cover all the school costs. The study recommends that poor learners should not be denied the right to education and that the departmental policy (viz., Fee Exemption Policy) should be monitored to ensure that marginalised learners benefit from this scheme. This policy should also be budgeted for so as to enable poor schools to purchase modern facilities to improve the quality of teaching and learning and employ extra educators so as to reduce the educator-learner ratios and so on.

The aim of this practitioner research is to explore and analyse how headteachers reflect on their own professional practice to help them sustain themselves and improve secondary schools. The research has two aspects: the first is an action participative enquiry between 2006 and 2009 into the realities of secondary headship; the second is an analysis of the significance of reflexivity in other headteachers and the participant headteacher researcher. Whilst there is a significant literature concerning school improvement and leadership there is very little of a longitudinal nature which examines the experience of secondary headteachers in depth. Therefore this research has significantly enhanced that body of knowledge. It is also appropriate in terms of professional practice as the government increasingly empowers headteachers to be free from the collaborative structures of Local Education Authorities. This (almost) four year study of seven secondary school headteachers within the same metropolitan area takes the form of 25 extended conversations between practising headteachers who established strong “conversational partnerships” (Rubin and Rubin, 2005 p79) over the study. The analysis from the data identified how headteachers sustained good practice in their schools and how they formed co-coaching or mentoring relationships with one another over time. The research is characteristic of a social constructivist tradition. It generated rich, qualitative data gathered through the use of interviews, the participant researcher’s field notes, Ofsted inspection reports and “naturally occurring” material. The research identified a range of themes in the area of school improvement common in the literature such as the importance of focusing on teaching and learning and appointing the ‘right’ staff. It also confirmed much of the existing research in the field of school leadership. It established that these headteachers readily engaged in reflexive practices which impacted positively in supporting the individual professionals and their schools. The research also identified the existence of meta-reflection (Burge et al., 2000, Watson, 1998b) in an educational setting. A definition of meta-reflection would be a type of reflective practice used by of Headteachers in a professional ‘power neutral’ context. It is commonly found in the analysis of headteacher dialogues and requires the passage of time for Headteachers to reflect on these dialogues which allowed allow some headteachers to access a reflective state which supported their professional sustainability and improved their decision making. This ultimately had a positive impact on their schools. The research found that all headteachers reflect on their professional practice at an operational level. It also found that they all were able to be reflexive almost to the degree of co-researching with the participant researcher headteacher. Finally a majority of the sample were also able to use meta-reflection to help then process decision making in their schools. Existing models of leadership (Bush 2011), research analysis (Layder 1993) and reflexivity (Archer 2007) have been used and adapted to illuminate meta-reflection in the headteachers in the sample and to re-define “authentic” headship in this context. This study is relevant not only to headteachers but also to policymakers and educationalists interested in how to improve schools over the long-term and sustain the workforce of headteachers in a manner which benefits all stakeholders.

The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of selected high school administrators and schoolteachers regarding the extent to which schoolteachers should be involved in making educational decisions in light of the recent educational reform initiatives in the State of Qatar. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews that centered on schools’ developmental and implemental decisions related to educational goals and policies, curriculum and instruction, schools’ administrative policies for teachers, and for students. Participants included 182 school administrators and 480 schoolteachers who completed the 40-item questionnaire while five school administrators and five schoolteachers participated in the interviews. Findings demonstrate that school administrators were more enthusiastic than schoolteachers about schoolteachers’ involvement in making decisions related to school’s educational goals and policies. School administrators and schoolteachers recorded some similar responses regarding schoolteachers’ involvement in decision-making in the area of curriculum and administrative policies for students but there were differences between schoolteachers and administrators in several areas related to administrative policies for teachers. Findings also indicate differences between the perspectives of male and female school administrators, male and female schoolteachers, and the citizen and expatriate schoolteachers. A number of recommendations are made that highlight the importance of considering schoolteachers’ involvement in any educational reform attempting to improve the decision-making process and the educational system.