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This thesis investigates students’ perceptions towards English classes in a Mexican public university. I argue that the lack of engagement of a small group of students taking part in English classes which are a compulsory component in their tertiary program is not a product of a lack of interest or ability as would normally be argued. This thesis establishes an alternative possibility. Through an interpretive approach to research using several ethnographic techniques and discourse analysis to make sense of the data, the thesis suggests that in order to sustain an engaged position as language learners, students and teachers should construct dialogical spaces that could lead to a better understanding of each other and as a result a more conscious position as engaged learners of a foreign language. The data demonstrate that contradictory discourses within the institution’s policies and those from different departments contribute to a disengaged attitude towards learning English where learning a second language competes with other subjects that are considered central for future professional practice within their disciplines of interest. Data also reveal that aside from the marginalized position that English appears to have, there are issues of students’ marginalization at classroom level which could be the result of monologic positions the teachers and students that participated in this study appear to construct. To better sustain an engaged attitude towards the subject, I suggest that safe spaces could become arenas to raise the awareness of what being a language learner takes. I also suggest that many of the practices within a language classroom stem from monologic discourses and might be considered the source of many of the issues raised in this study. This research challenges some views currently held about motivation as these do not fit with understandings emerging from this study.

This thesis investigated the added-value of non-nurse lecturers teaching on nursing programmes. In doing this it attempted to answer the following research questions: • To what extent is the contribution of non-nurse lecturers defined in both theory and practice? • What is their potential role in providing ‘added-value’ to pre- and post-registration nurse education? To counteract what was seen as a deficit model in considering the non-nurses’ role, an added-value approach, as defined by Woodward (1993), informed the various approaches to collecting data and the overall structure. The methodology reflected an interpretivist and critical paradigm, with the use of a number of data collection tools conforming to mixed methods research. The overall approach taken was phenomenological in nature and the data collected is largely qualitative. Five surveys were conducted; including the collection of statistics on numbers of non-nurse lecturer posts and advertisements for nurse lecturers and researchers. Other surveys included; interviews with non-nurse lecturers and an online questionnaire for pre-registration nursing students. Official quality reviews were compared to look for differences between Higher Education Institutions, and elements of reflection were used throughout, alongside an extensive critique of supporting literature. The thesis, due to its exploration of Nursing, Nurse Education and Higher Education, also explored the policy and philosophical context in some detail. The non-nurse lecturers’ present and future role was discussed comprehensively and resulted in the following recommendations: • Non-nurse lecturers need to have an equal role in facilitating interprofessional learning and encouraging interprofessional working in practice; • Non-nurses lecturers should be valued for their discipline knowledge, in the enabling of HE specific skills and the depth of information they can provide in relevant subject areas; • Non-nurse lecturers can encourage a HE culture for nurse education including the importance of research and scholarly activity; and • Non-nurse lecturers need to be seen to benefit the evolution of nursing in encouraging both nurses and students to question existing norms, and in contributing to nursing and health and social care policies.

This thesis presents a holistic description of perioperative nurses' experiences and perceptions of continuing professional education (CPE), from their decisions to study and experiences as students, to the outcomes realised from formal post-registration university courses. Some studies have explored CPE holistically; however these did not include perioperative nurses, whose views may differ from colleagues working in other specialities due to the patriarchal nature of the theatre environment. A descriptive qualitative approach was adopted and 23 unstructured interviews were conducted with 23 perioperative nurses who had recent experience of CPE. Audio-taped interviews were transcribed fully into the Ethnograph, and the data coded and analysed using both Seidel's (1998) and Dey's (1993) models for data analysis. Four themes emerged: 1) 'Background', including managers' attitudes and cultural discourses 2) 'Going In', relating to motivations and deterrents in accessing CPE 3) 'Process', including participants' experiences as students and 4) 'Going Out', describing the personal, professional and practice outcomes which resulted. Findings relating to motivations, barriers and outcomes reflected those of previous studies. Local cultures within theatres appeared to promote practical skills above academic qualifications, with managers controlling access to CPE, and horizontal violence experienced by nurses who traversed dominant cultural discourses. Participants perceived the possession of student cards as symbolic of a raised social status. Formal study did not impact directly on practice, however the development of increased confidence appeared to facilitate participants' collaboration with, and questioning of, medical colleagues and was attributed to indirectly enhancing patient care. The extent to which participants revealed their CPE lay on a continuum from telling all colleagues they were studying (public study) through to telling no one (secret study). Participants indicated the extent to which CPE was revealed, or kept secret, was crucial, based on the prevailing cultural discourse, their own academic confidence, and potential ramifications should they be unsuccessful. This study is the first to attribute significance to the concept of 'secret study'. This work contributes to the knowledge relating to CPE: It confirms the transferability of existing literature relating to motivations, barriers and outcomes of formal study to the perioperative setting, and advances knowledge with regard to participants' perceptions of their student status, and the development of inter-professional relationships following CPE. Further research is required to explore the concept of secret study, and to indicate whether the findings are transferable to areas outside of the perioperative setting. The findings are of significance to nurses working in practice, and educators involved in designing and delivering post-registration formal courses to perioperative nurses.

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