The post-compulsory education sector has undergone major changes in the last twenty years and it is likely that further changes and reorganisations will continue to characterise the sector. The role of the lecturer, in both Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE), has been affected by the changes to organisational culture, methods of working and the political climate. The increasing pressures on organisations to achieve financial targets have created a working environment where business, rather than educational, priorities appear to drive organisations. Throughout this period, the professionalism of lecturers in the Further and Higher Education sectors has been debated widely, along with professional identity. The concept of professional identity is complex but is important as it provides a framework for teachers to construct their own ideas of 'how to be', 'how to act' and 'how to understand' their work and their place in society. This research explores how six lecturers in a Maritime Education and Training (MET) Institution, who each had a previous career, express their professional identity and how they negotiate it within a professional community. Whilst there has been much research that investigates the professional identity of educators in FE and HE, this work investigates lecturers who operate at both FE and HE within a single industrial sector, the maritime industry. A local, exploratory case study approach, using interpretative inquiry, was adopted in order to develop understanding of the socio-cultural phenomenon of professional identity within the MET Institution. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic approach and four themes were identified. These were: 'becoming a professional lecturer'; 'my credibility'; 'how I communicate'; and 'my autonomy'. Of particular note was how the participants negotiate their credibility and autonomy within an Institution that operates under commercial and legislative pressures. An established theoretical model was adapted, as a result of the findings from this study, to develop an enhanced understanding of these specific lecturers' professional identity. Whilst this is a small-scale study and no claims of generalisation are being made, the model has some resonance and transferability to other similar groups, such as the teaching and medical professions in the transition from practice to Higher Education posts.

Disruptive technologies in education and particularly Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) continue to be one of the polarising and most controvertible topics in postsecondary education, as they have yet to deliver on their promises. Existing academic literature on MOOCs, the main example of disruptive technology of this thesis, is primarily concerned with student participation, persistence, completion rates and learning in MOOC platforms. There seems however to be very limited scholarly research in the UK investigating the democratising effects and impact of disruptive technologies in Higher Education, particularly the extent to which MOOCs might unlock the gates to accessibility and their impact on universities, teaching and academics, through the lens of critical theory. It is however crucial to evaluate their impact (s) to inform policy decision-making on technology enhanced-learning implementation at tertiary institutions and design of curricula. The Main Research Question (MRQ) and sub-question designed for this study were addressed by conducting eighteen semi-structured interviews (Skype and face-to-face) with participants (academic and senior administrators) from nine countries and nine institutions. The research methods used were primarily qualitative. This thesis contributes to the field of technology-enhanced learning by addressing the current pedagogical limitations of the MOOC format which seem to be the critical impediments that prevent MOOCs, as they are currently designed, from genuinely democratising Higher Education to those who most need it in developed and developing countries. My main original contribution to knowledge is an integrated and adaptive model with critical success factors that would influence the MOOC model’s effectiveness, which, to the best of the author’s knowledge, is unique in the published literature. The findings of this study indicate that MOOCs have democratised access to Higher Education to a certain degree but they are not considered comparable to an on-campus experience and not suitable, in their current form and design, to the needs of the underrepresented in higher education, in developed and developing countries. The findings also indicate that MOOCs are challenging the current economic, business and pedagogical models and delivery mechanisms of traditional Higher Education and these might have an important effect on the academic role and identity. Furthermore, this investigation finds that MOOCs have aroused institutions and academics’ interest in and exploration of technology-enhanced learning, particularly blended learning approaches. Finally, the findings of this study indicate that MOOCs have impelled institutions and academics to rethink the design of more engaging courses and programmes and refocus on student learning to improve online and face-to-face teaching and this added pressure might have created a schism between the educational conservatives and the advocates of reform.

Universities are central in the creation and diffusion of the knowledge required to advance the notion of the Knowledge Economy. This economic conceptualisation of the university has resulted in the traditional teaching and research oriented university becoming 'entrepreneurial', resulting in the university's so called third mission to innovate. Many higher education institutions, in particular the organisation under investigation, a former vocational education body, now recognised college, are only engaged in the teaching and learning function. This research explores how such institutions strive to innovate through interaction with university, industry and government actors. A case study methodology, utilising the Triple Helix Model as a conceptual theoretical lens to investigate innovation was employed. The Triple Helix Model emphasises the role of networks in the description and prescription of approaches to innovation. Eleven semi-structured interviews with participants from Industry and University were conducted. To account for the government perspective, Critical Discourse Analysis on Ireland's seminal innovation policy text was conducted. The data generated from the interviews and analysis of the policy text highlights that people have different conceptualisations of what innovation is. Most examples cited were in fact process improvements and did not conform to a triple helix conceptualisation of innovation. I contend the model does not adequately account for higher education institutions only engaged in teaching and learning. The Triple Helix Model's skewed view, favours certain disciplines over others, e.g. science, engineering, more product focused disciplines that lead to the commercialisation of its research more readily. For institutions like the Institute, innovation occurs when graduates return and apply the learning in their workplace. Most of the time it may be process improvements that result but some may produce big 'I' innovations. The model can still be used as a tool to understand the importance of networks and the power imbalance between actors. All actors are assumed equal yet what emerges in this research is the dependence of institutions such as the Institute, a college with a narrow discipline, no research remit, only engaged in human capital development on government and industry engagement. The view from Industry, Government and internally is the Institute exists to serve their needs. This resonates with the analysis of the policy text promulgating a hegemonic government position, placing higher education secondary to economic aims. The implication of this study for the Institute is recognition on their part of the need to lessen their dependency on any one relationship and become more of an active participant in networks of multiple actors.

This thesis is an empirical study of how practitioners understand the nature of public relations as an occupation in Ireland and how they view the role of higher education as a preparation for employment in this field. Given its recent history and association with higher education, there has been little research into this relationship. In addition to investigating practitioners perspectives on their own career backgrounds and the growth of undergraduate and professional education related to public relations, consideration is given to the skills, knowledge and attributes seen to be necessary for entry into the occupation. Using an interpretivist approach and design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of sixteen senior public relations practitioners in Ireland. One-half of the interview sample had received a formal public relations education and the other half had not. Drawing on a review of academic, professional and international literature on the development of public relations as an occupational field, a thematic analysis was applied to the interview data. The main findings were that, firstly, practitioners supported the hiring of a graduate with a higher education qualification, although some were less concerned that this be a specific qualification related to public relations. Some practitioners without a formal education in public relations expressed regret and frustration about how much longer it took them to develop an understanding of the occupation without such a platform. A second major finding related to the importance of theoretical understanding when public relations was located and studied within higher education. Higher education courses were held to impart more long-term depth, appreciation and criticality, in contrast to the focus on essential specific skills in many training courses and continuing education programmes. A third important finding was the recognition of the contribution of higher education to the future development, health and strength of public relations in a fast-changing global and digital world. While there were concerns about core skills such as writing, there was an overwhelming desire on the part of practitioners to assist and join with higher education in developing programmes that equipped graduates with the knowledge and capabilities to operate in a diverse range of public relations roles and settings. These perspectives were echoed in the international literature on public relations. Based on these findings, a new model of professional practice is proposed, one in which the industry, education and professional bodies work in a more integrated, collegial, collaborative manner in order to move the profession forward in Ireland. Styled the ‘Integrated Professionalism of Public Relations’, this model is designed to improve graduate capabilities and thinking, and ultimately benefit the public relations industry as a whole.

Effective written communication is an essential skill which promotes educational success for undergraduates. Argumentation is a key requirement of successful writing, which is the most common genre that undergraduates have to write particularly in the social sciences. Therefore, when assessing student writing academic tutors look for students’ ability to present and pursue well-reasoned and strong arguments through scholarly argumentation, which is articulated by meta-discourse. Today, there are some natural language processing systems which automatically detect authors’ rhetorical moves in scholarly texts. Hence, when assessing their students’ essays, educators could benefit from the available automated textual analysis which can detect meta-discourse. However, previous work has not shown whether these technologies can be used to analyse student writing reliably. The aim of this thesis therefore has been to understand how automated analysis of meta-discourse in student writing can be used to support tutors’ essay assessment practices. This thesis evaluates a particular language analysis tool, the Xerox Incremental Parser (XIP) as an exemplar of this type of automated technology. The studies presented in this thesis investigates how tutors define the quality of undergraduate writing and suggests key elements that make for good quality student writing in the social sciences, where XIP seems to work best. This thesis also sets out the changes that needs to be made to the XIP and proposes in what ways its output can be delivered to tutors so that they make use of this output to give feedback on student essays. The findings reported also show problems that academic tutors experience in essay assessment, which potentially could be solved by automated support. However, tutors have preconceptions about the use of automated support. The study revealed that tutors want to be assured that they retain the ‘power’ themselves in any decision of using automated support to overcome these preconceptions.

Existing research has largely provided attention to the HE decision-making and choices of students embarking on their post-16 studies in sixth forms and 11-18 comprehensives, with relatively little attention paid to those in Further Education (FE). This doctoral thesis addresses knowledge gaps in our understanding of underrepresented FE students’ higher education (HE) decision-making and choices, paying particular attention to the reasons and influences informing these over the course of their post-16 studies. I question whether FE students approach their HE decisions and choices as individualised, or whether they are mediated by structural limitations, given the emphasis on students making the ‘right’ choices for themselves (BIS, 2011). To explore these research questions, I conducted a qualitative longitudinal narrative inquiry over a 16-18 month period with FE students in England, using a combination of paper and audio diaries, individual semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Applying Archer’s (2003, 2007, 2012) reflexive modalities, along with Bourdieu’s (1986) forms of capital to participants’ narratives facilitated the identification of enablements and constraints as well as different responses to structure, action and social mobility in their HE decision-making and choices. Numerous reasons and influences were identified, such as the influence of ‘known others’, biographical experiences, intrinsic interests, instrumental rationality, emotional investment in HEIs, attainment and competition, which varied in intensity for individual participants over time. This was also the case for structural constraints, namely an absence of economic capital, which students appeared to realise over time. Participants’ responses to reasons, influences and structural constraints were complex and influenced by their personal projects and reflexive modes. Where individualised approaches to choice-making were identified, these were thwarted by unnegotiable constraints, which were ‘masked’ by changes in reflexivity. WP programmes and initiatives acted as an enablement in aiding some participants to overcome constraints. Yet, only a minority of participants were involved in such programmes. These findings collectively convey that the majority of participants were unable to go where they preferred in their HE decisions, and, instead, had to decipher the ‘reasonable’ option when constraints related to economic capital were realised.

Across higher education (HE) institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), the lower grades achieved by a large proportion of students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds represents one of the main entry barriers to these students. However, though students’ trajectories into university are heavily dependent on their school qualifications, these alone are limited as predictors of academic potential. The current thesis explores how these inequalities play out at the University of Liverpool (UoL), looking also at the period prior to admission as educational inequalities reflect the long-term negative effects of childhood disadvantage. Aim: To investigate socio-economic inequalities in relation to participation and attainment at the UoL. Methods: A traditional sequential mixed methods design is followed, where quantitative studies 1 and 2 were carried out prior to qualitative study 3. These studies are combined using a pragmatic approach. Two retrospective cohort studies investigate associations between the educational and socio-demographic background characteristics of students on Introduction: Socio-economic inequalities in participation and attainment are ubiquitous three year-programmes (study 1) and the medical programme (study 2) with participation and attainment at the UoL. Underpinned by phenomenology, qualitative study 3 investigates the challenges faced by thirteen socio-economically disadvantaged students throughout their educational trajectories from primary school to the UoL. Results: Studies 1 and 2 depict the on-going socio-economic differences in participation at the UoL. Regarding attainment, in both studies, entry grades were positively associated with final attainment. Most entry-level differences narrowed or disappeared at university in both studies though the variables sex, ethnicity, and school type predicted significant differences in final attainment. As such, privately educated students performed less well than comprehensive school students at university in both studies. In Study 3, two main themes were derived from the data: ‘identity’ and ‘engagement’. These themes emerged across narratives in the types of disruption, barriers and instability that were discussed by individuals and in the ways that they attempted to cope and/or adapt to disadvantage. Conclusions: The findings of the quantitative studies suggest that educational attainment at school is a good, albeit imperfect, predictor of academic attainment at university. These findings support the use of contextual background information, alongside school grades in university admissions processes as a means of refining the selection of students. In turn, individuals' narratives expose a more complex picture of what it means to be disadvantaged, depicting the factors that may affect students' trajectories to HE prior to the point of admissions. Hence, combining quantitative and qualitative studies provides a more nuanced evaluation of 'disadvantage' highlighting various mechanisms that may drive differences in the educational outcomes of socio-economically disadvantaged students. Findings advocate for further evidence using mixed methods to help address these inequalities and widen participation at universities fairly.

Current discourse on internationalization within the higher education sector has been largely fueled by pressures on colleges and universities to better prepare students for the effects of globalization. Higher education has increasingly begun to realize the importance of engaging students in global citizenship curricula to be more globally informed, prepared, responsible, and competent. This thesis presents a case study of Soka education’s philosophical and pedagogical approach to global citizenship education by examining the policies and practices of its university setting, Soka University Japan (SUJ). Past research by Stephen Reysen (Reysen & Katzarska-Miller, 2013a) provides a theoretical model for analyzing the extent to which SUJ cultivates global citizenship identity and engagement. The mixed methods approach used in this study extends the largely quantitative research methodology used by Reysen and associates by drawing on the integration of quantitative and qualitative data to enable a more complete understanding of how global citizenship is cultivated in higher education. The present research contributes important knowledge to global citizenship scholarship and practice by adding support to the value of identifying antecedents and outcomes of global citizenship identification in the implementation of global citizenship education (GCE) programs in higher education. In examining Soka education’s approach to GCE, as perceived through the varied lenses of SUJ administrators, faculty, and students, the present research contributes to the discourse on the value of global citizenship education, and sheds light on critical approaches in higher education for cultivating and manifesting global citizenship identity and engagement. SUJ appears to robustly cultivate a global citizenship identity through its extensive curricular and co-curricular activities that focus on global awareness and understanding. Student global citizenship identity was shown to be highly influenced by SUJ’s normative environment that endorses global citizenship, and by the university’s practices in promoting global awareness. Furthermore, increased global citizenship identity was shown to strongly influence student endorsement of prosocial values and behaviour. Key findings from the study suggest that, 1) SUJ students experience global citizenship identity as an emergent process that evolves over the course of their university tenure, and continues to develop throughout their life, and 2) Soka education places considerable weight on the synergies that exist when imagining the potential impact on global social justice and wellbeing whilst actively engaged in creating value within one’s local environment. Based on the study’s findings, two key implications for educational practice are proposed. It is recommended that global citizenship education in colleges and universities integrate education about global citizenship with education for global citizenship, and that students’ global citizenship identity be strengthened through enriched institutional support for intercultural experiential learning activities.

Institutional initiatives to foster networked learning practices, based on ‘Western’ models, are increasingly prominent in developing countries; yet, to date, very little research has explored campus-based students’ conceptions or experiences of those initiatives. This study investigates students’ conceptions of networked learning in a particular developing country setting: Can Tho University, Vietnam. The study started from the conviction that we should not assume that aspects of networked learning will be conceived by the students there in the same ways as in the countries where the models were developed. The study adopted a phenomenographic research approach to elicit and describe the qualitatively varied ways in which undergraduate students experienced and perceived four different (though related) phenomena that are associated with networked learning in the literature and promoted within institutional initiatives. Those four phenomena relate, in turn, to: a) learning in relation to others and resources; b) the roles of technology in mediating learning through connections; c) cooperation with others in learning; and d) working together towards a common goal. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analysed according to Dahlgren and Fallsberg’s (1991) seven-stage cycle of data analysis in phenomenography, so as to elaborate the range of ways in which the phenomena of study were perceived across the sample of participants. The findings of the study are presented as outcome spaces, representing the variation in conception of each phenomenon. With regard to learning in relation to others and resources, three categories of description were identified: resource access, knowledge transmission and knowledge construction. Regarding the roles of technology in mediating learning through connections, three categories emerged: flexibility, tool and medium. These categories are argued to demonstrate a conceptual variation in the perceived extent and sophistication of the technological mediation occurring. Concerning cooperation with others in learning, the analysis of the data led to the emergence of three categories. These categories identified that cooperation in learning was perceived as group work, exploratory learning and directing learning. vi In addition, qualitative differences in students’ accounts on their conceptions of working together towards a common goal were constituted by three issues related to benefits of working together towards a common goal (diversity awareness, increased understanding and increased performance) and three issues related to challenges of working together towards a common goal (technological availability, interpersonal differences and unproductive learning). The significance of the study derives from how it provides insight into how undergraduate students experience and perceive ‘networked learning’ in developing country contexts where learners typically have rather different values and educational histories than in the ‘West’. For example, the students in this study perceived networked learning as partially an act of knowledge transmission from teacher to students, contrary to the Western literature, where the dominant conception invokes an image of students’ active involvement in knowledge construction. On the other hand, students also experienced networked learning as making-meaning-through-connections, which is reasonably consistent with findings from studies of Western settings. It is hoped that the findings will provide new insights of value to practitioners and educators seeking to design or integrate the networked learning concept into the curriculum in higher education in the developing world; and, at a higher level of granularity, empirical knowledge of use to educators and policy makers who wish to promote more student-centred learning approaches such as networked learning in the developing world.

To promote a change in epistemic beliefs in in-service university teachers and a consequent improvement of their teaching methods to encourage students to take a more sophisticated approach to learning their subjects, I explored the relationships between epistemic beliefs and approaches to teaching in a group of 111 lecturers across different disciplines at the University, Colombia, South America. This correlational research is based on epistemic metacognition research (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997) and phenomenography research (Marton & Booth, 1997). The methodology comprised quantitative and qualitative research techniques including the participation of a selected sample in face-to-face and online interventions. I also conducted two questionnaires, the Discipline-Focused Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire (DEBQ) (Hofer, 2000) and the Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) (Trigwell & Prosser, 2004). Furthermore, I carried out interviews that were later analysed according to phenomenographic principles. Based on the findings, I concluded that the DEBQ and the ATI are suitable in measuring epistemic belief and approaches to teaching in a university setting. As I found correlations between epistemic beliefs and approaches to teaching, I concluded that epistemic beliefs do play an important role and influence the way in which teachers approach their own teaching. Additionally, as there was a statistically significant decrease in the Information Transmission/Teacher-Focused Approach through the online intervention, and as epistemic beliefs and approaches to teaching are correlated, the results indicate the possibility of a change from naive to more sophisticated epistemic beliefs. The results also indicate the possibility of changing epistemic beliefs and approaches to teaching through an online intervention or facilitated by online learning environments. The results also indicate the possibility of changing approaches to teaching through short-term interventions as well. Regarding disciplinary differences, lecturers did have different perceptions. I concluded that discipline did have an influence and an impact on epistemic beliefs and approaches to teaching. There was no statistically significant difference between genders or the number of years of experience. Finally, there were variations in lecturers‘ ways of experience learning, teaching, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and knowledge. The description of lecturers' experiences of learning, teaching, ICTs, and knowledge shows 13 qualitatively distinct categories of descriptions. Also 13 holistic views, in a form of outcome space, were derived from their various ways of experiencing those phenomena.