This study is concerned with the social production of adolescent readers of fiction and with the formation of their responses to the fiction they read. It was conceived from within the mainstream "progressive" tradition of secondary English teaching, but is written from a perspective informed by more recent developments in literary theory. The overall problem addressed is: how do adolescents become confirmed readers of fiction? It is investigated in two ways. The first seeks to identify those working practices and social relations in secondary schools most likely to promote adolescent fiction reading. The second seeks to understand the perceptions that adolescents have of the fiction that they read. The report is based upon a longitudinal study of six teaching groups in three comprehensive schools. A combination of ethnographic and survey methods was employed. In two of the schools fiction reading was found to decline sharply over the two year period. Readership patterns were closely associated with social class origins, gender and school ability grouping. In the third school, however, which had the highest proportion of working class students, fiction reading did not decline, nor was it influenced by ability grouping, gender or social class. These different reading outcomes are shown to relate closely to the working practices and the exercise of power within the schools. One school functions as a reaing community; the other two do not. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to contemporary theories of cultural and social reproduction. Schools, it is concluded, have the capacity to do very much more than reproduce and legitimate existing socio-economic differences at and by the cultural level. As for the individual response to literature, the original intention was to present case studies of representative readers from the sample. All three schools sought to initiate their students,ith varying degrees of success, into a particular discourse, the discourse of personal growth, in which fiction reading is held to contribute to the reader's enhanced understanding of the self, others and the world. This view, however, rests upon assumptions about language and texts, the reading process and subjectivity which the intervention of structuralism and later developments in literary theory have rendered untenable. In order to understand the theoretical limitations of this discourse, its disabling classroom consequences and the possibilities for its transformation to more radical and liberating approaches to texts, the case study presented here is of the discourse itself, rather than of those readers who sought access to it.

This is a largely qualitative, part quantitative, inquiry into the effectiveness of classroom modelling in helping tertiary students prepare for their AS-level examinations. Classroom modelling, a form of peer modelling developed by the author, draws substantially upon neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a discipline regarded as controversial in education. Classroom modelling involves students investigating each other's more successful practices and drawing out elements that might be woven into their own practice.

This research embraces an eco-systemic perspective of human behaviour (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and uses participatory action research methodology to explore with young people, and those 'immersed in the system' (Carr & Kemmis, 1986) of education, their views and school experiences, to facilitate increased participation, empowerment and professional collaboration to support future school transitions. This study has been carried out in the South-West of England (inner-city and suburban areas), involving young people and their families, schools, alternative placement providers and multi-agency professionals. The following research aims were addressed: 1) To improve our understanding of the views and perspective of young people who have experienced school exclusion. 2) To explore multiple stakeholder perspectives of using a person-centred planning (PCP) approach to support school transition/re-integration and the perceived ‘supports' and 'barriers’ to implementation. 3) To explore the use of PCP in supporting positive outcomes for young people, 'post transition/re-integration' to mainstream school. 4) To consider the implications for future practice and research. This was a two part study, consisting of two research papers. The participants in paper one of the study were young people (N=12) identified by their settings as having experienced prior school exclusion, with an impending transition (or re-integration) to mainstream education. Paper one explored young people’s perspective to better understand the supports and barriers that have impacted upon their educational journeys, what they attribute as causes for their school exclusion and what they believe will help them in their future. A person-centred planning approach informed the data gathering process (Smull, Sanderson, Sweeney, Skelhorn, George & Bourne, 2005) and semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis based on Braun and Clarke’s (2006) framework. The individual interviews explored 'with' each young person, their views and perspective, and contributed towards the 'preparing to plan' stage of Person Centred Planning (PCP) being implemented in paper two. Paper two explored the use of Person Centred Planning (PCP) in supporting young people (N=6) in their school transition/re-integration to mainstream education. This involved young people from study one and a range of stakeholders including their family, friends, school/placement staff and multi-agency professionals. This focussed on exploring multiple stakeholder experiences of the ‘supports' and 'barriers’ of using a PCP approach in 'real life' practice. It also explored perceptions of the impact and efficacy of the approach over time in supporting young people across key outcome areas, 'post' transition/re-integration. Findings from paper one indicated young people's capacity to express themselves clearly and reflect meaningfully upon their educational journeys. Each young person made their own decision as to how they would participate and contribute their views and how the information would be used. Key findings indicated a range of perceived 'supports' and 'barriers' that young people identified as having impacted upon them. These encompassed the systems of school, family and community and, consistent with existing research, highlighted the significance of positive and caring relationships, access to help and support and experiencing a sense of belonging (Lown, 2005; Mainwaring & Hallam, 2010; O'Connor, Hodkinson, Burton & Torstensson, 2011).Young people's causal attributions referred to negative teacher relationships, peer bullying, rejection and perceived injustice. A distinct finding from this study referred to young people's sense of isolation when they felt that help was being denied at a time when they were experiencing negativity across the contexts of family, school and community. Young people referred to not feeling understood and supported and reflected upon this impacting on their behaviour in school. Findings also indicated that whole school behavioural systems posed a barrier to young people being able to access the help and support of key adults they had identified and to their inclusion in the wider school community. Findings from paper two indicated positive support from all stakeholder groups that PCP enabled the young person to be fully involved in their transition planning, facilitating a positive ethos that embraced equality and collaboration. Exploration of stakeholder views highlighted some negative reflections on the use of PCP, particularly in relation to its 'time consuming' nature and a range of key factors were identified as supportive and/or obstructive to implementing PCP in practice. When exploring perceptions of impact and efficacy over time, there were clear indications of positive development for each young person across key outcome areas. The majority of positive reflections were consistent across stakeholders groups and related to increased school attendance, improved emotional understanding, social interaction and academic progress. All individual targets were reviewed 'post transition/re-integration' and were deemed to have 'met' or 'exceeded' the expected levels. Furthermore, there have been clear references to changes made at a systems and environmental level that have underpinned these positive changes and emphasised the role that others play as ‘agents of change’ (Fielding, 2001). These findings have been assimilated and the implications for educational psychology practice and research considered.

Students who identify as being from an ethnic minority are under-represented within school geography in England at Key Stage 4 (ages 14 – 16) and Key Stage 5 (ages 16 – 18). At these stages geography is an optional subject and how students view geographical knowledge may influence their GCSE and A level subject choices. This study uses an intersectional theoretical lens to explore representations of geographical knowledge by students of different ethnicities, the stories that relate to these representations and how the students accounted for the GCSE and A level subject choices that they made. The first part of the study reveals a lack of empirical and contemporary research into ethnic minority students’ views of geographical knowledge and subject choices. This is followed by a two-strand exploratory case study at one girls’ grammar school in England. The practitioner-researcher strand was two phase; in the first phase, 314 sixth form students (aged 16 – 18) completed a questionnaire to gauge initial views of geographical knowledge. During the second phase, eight of these students represented their views of geographical knowledge through collages, critical incident charts and semi-structured interviews that explored their stories in depth. In parallel, a group of Year 10 (aged 14 – 15) students as researchers used questionnaires to investigate the influence of parents and other factors contributing to students’ subject choices at GCSE level. In the study, geographical knowledge was represented in different ways given different methods. It was found to be diverse and individual, although it was possible for specific themes to be identified. The representations reflected the characteristics and concepts from students’ recent formal experiences of geography. Informal experiences also featured but these were not always explicit or straightforwardly definable. Unless students could see the intrinsic usefulness of their view of geographical knowledge then they were unlikely to choose the subject past GCSE level. This study expands theoretical conceptualisations of how students represent geographical knowledge and the factors affecting subject choice, engages students as researchers in a methodologically innovative way and provides a rich and detailed account of post-14 subject choice by ethnic minority students which otherwise does not exist in an English context.