This thesis explores the ways in which Shakespeare is constructed historically, culturally and pedagogically as a compulsory component of the English National Curriculum. Employing a case study framework enables the investigation to encompass a dual purpose, both exploratory and illustrative, raising open questions about ways in which four different teachers construct Shakespeare discursively and pedagogically in the classroom, yet also testing out theoretical claims made by proponents of ‘active Shakespeare’. The study is situated in a wider historical and ideological framework, including an overview of educational policy since 1921 and the ways in which Shakespeare has been claimed to be of benefit in mass schooling. This research takes a multiple-case design, spanning four classrooms across two London comprehensive schools. Direct classroom observation of the teaching and reception of a set Shakespeare play, semi-structured interviews with teachers and students, and documentary data including student essays are analysed thematically, drawing on social constructivism as an epistemological perspective. This thesis concludes that National Curriculum policy encourages the construction of Shakespeare as dislocated knowledge, removed from meaningful cultural processes. For many students in this case study the reading of a set Shakespeare play has been a disabling rather than a liberating experience. This thesis argues that in the context of assessment- driven critical practice, reading a Shakespeare play is likely to be reconstituted as a passive process, where meaning must be mediated by the teacher, and students’ own experiences and cultural knowledge become irrelevant. Ultimately, even in classrooms where teachers attempt to construct Shakespeare pedagogically as ‘active’, the process of reading may remain a passive one, where Shakespeare’s iconic status and the authority of the text thus remain largely intact.

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International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes are increasingly prevalent, yet lack systematic study of their implementation and leadership. This enquiry analyses the role of IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) coordinator in implementing the MYP in a variety of school settings. Empirical research involved interviews with experienced coordinators and case studies of an international private, a national private, and a national public school. It focussed on school setting and its impact on coordination, curriculum implementation, key functions of coordinators, and approaches to accountability and professional development. The research found, first, that a primary aim of MYP coordination, facilitating links between subjects and between middle and high schools, was viewed by coordinators as compelling though ambitious. Second, schools' pre-existing organizational, resource, and external accountability settings often presented coordinators, particularly in national public schools, with difficulties, primarily logistical. Third, the subject-based structure of respondents' high schools provided avenues for disciplinary implementation but also presented structural and cultural barriers to collaborative interdisciplinary planning. Fourth, coordinators typically had much responsibility with little formal authority. They sought therefore to overcome above barriers through key functions, termed 'guide alongside', 'facilitator', and 'professional developer'. These functions were effective in developing trust and credibility with teachers, fostering constructive discourse, and enlisting the authority and structural support of senior managers. Fifth, MYP's approaches to accountability and professional development were viewed as complementary and constructive. The MYP emphasized collaborative partnership with participating schools in the evolutionary development of its curriculum framework. Accordingly, coordinators demonstrated 'creative professionalism' with this nascent programme, taking leadership opportunities within their schools and for lB. This approach differs from many depictions in middle management literature, in which subject leaders struggle with conflicting, externally-imposed, responsibilities for collaborative school improvement and teacher evaluation. Significant implications of this study include: for middle management research, the importance of school setting for understanding structural and cultural barriers to curriculum implementation; for education policy, greater consideration of 'collaborative partnership' as a means for school improvement; and for practice, the value of 'creative professional' development opportunities.

No description available.

International education with its multi facets is a fertile soil for research at present mainly due to an ever increasing interest in this field from the market worldwide. The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) consists of a curriculum for students over sixteen years old. The number of schools that deliver the IBOP is rapidly growing having reached over 2,300 in 2012. At its core is Creativity Action Service (CAS), a compulsory component. One of the claims of the IBOP is that CAS is a 'transforming' agent. CAS was designed to help students develop new talents, values, abilities and skills to become ethical beings at local, national and/or global levels. This study explores how exposure to the Service element of CAS impacts on the lives and career paths of students from one international school who successfully completed the IBOP and enables them to become global citizens. After a thorough review of the literature on international education, service-learning and citizenship, I invited alumni who successfully concluded the IBOP at St. Paul 's School, Sao Paulo, Brazil, over a ten year period, to take part in this study by completing a web-based questionnaire (WBQ). A sample of respondents were also interviewed in order to investigate further issues raised by the WBQ. Rich data were produced from both research tools, some of which brought detailed accounts on characteristics which allowed me to address the research question and objectives. Key findings arose from this research in alignment with current knowledge as described in the literature. Among the limitations of this case study is the fact that it was carried out in one school which operates in a particular cultural context. However, I believe that lessons from such observations shed light onto the wider discussion of the significance of CAS in international education. To conclude, recommendations for future research are made.

This thesis aims to elucidate the influences that determine the extent to which the National Science Curriculum of Trinidad and Tobago, as presented by teachers, engages students as critical thinkers. The interpretation of critical thinking is seen in terms of an emancipatory paradigm which leads to social justice. The work takes the form of a case study completed at a mixed gender government secondary school. The context is set within an education system that has come out of a colonial history and where critical thinking is seen as important for the economic advancement of the nation. However, the level of success necessary for achieving this advancement is not seen as being actualised within the present educational regime. A qualitative approach was taken in which critical theory and postcolonial theory were employed in establishing the nature of the power relations at play within this setting. The methods included content analysis of curriculum documents, exercise books and textbooks, lesson observations, focus group interviews with students from Forms 1 to 5 based on a video clip stimulus and structured interviews with teachers. The interviews were all subjected to NVivo coding to determine the themes related to the research questions. The main findings were that students’ skills in terms of the cognitive and affective domains and their critical thinking skills did not appear to develop significantly as they progressed through school nor were the students any more confident to engage in social activism. The pedagogical methods used were more based in direct instruction and did not fulfil the expectations of a critical pedagogy as advocated in the National Certificate of Secondary Education (NCSE) and Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) syllabuses. A neoliberal agenda is seen as influencing the maintenance of an elitist education system and suggestions are provided for changes within the administration of the system, teacher training and pedagogical methods which would result in a more appealing, relevant and motivating school science.

This empirical study, set in secondary school classrooms, examines theoretical constructs around ownership practices: looking at how personal significance and interest affect effort investment, how the role of the teacher and contextual approaches to learning provide incentives to pursue ownership and how active possession can be enhanced through opportunities for self-determined choice with tools to understand learning strategies. This study focuses mainly on the initial stages of nurturing skills towards a sense of ownership and is more about building confidence in taking steps towards controlling learning through self-regulation, process orientated approaches to improvement and help seeking strategies. Sample groups from six domains undertook the full study providing data through questionnaires completed by students at the beginning and end of the study, semi-structured interviews and observations to monitor interventions implemented by teachers, and reflective group interviews with students at the end of the study. Based on the data collected by the questionnaires and interviews, the strongest contributors to perceived change were: setting learning activities into the context of personal goals and involving students in co-constructing new knowledge; provision of choice, expectations of a readiness to learn, scaffolding and tools for managing tasks proactively; personal impact on achievement through proactive help-seeking; and action based process orientated feedback through honest, positive appraisal. The evidence provided by the data suggested that student’ attitudes towards taking ownership for their learning altered as a consequence of the interventions and the impact was not related to gender, IQ or social background. Teachers reported changes in motivation towards taking ownership in individual students, higher levels of achievement being attained than previously expected, and positive changes in whole class attitudes and learning behaviours. Taken as a whole, the data suggested a positive trend towards improvements in the quality of learning in the classroom and students taking greater active possession (ownership) of their learning.