The thesis is an examination of three sites of pedagogic experimentation: the pedagogic activities in the UK Occupy London movement (Occupy) as an example of organic community pedagogy and popular education; the Social Science Centre, Lincoln, as an example of democratic, cooperative pedagogy: and the University of Lincoln’s Student as Producer project, as an example of an alternatively organised Higher Education Institution. The work explores not only the pedagogic practices within the sites under enquiry, but also the claims by key participants that they are new, emergent forms of educational organisation. The pedagogical initiatives of the sites were investigated to explore whether a knowledge feedback loop could be created for knowledge exchange and support between higher education institutions, community groups and political and community activists which might afford new possibilities for activism at all levels. The thesis argues that this ‘loop of learning’, constituted in a similar but broader way to action research cycles, might enable political and pedagogical growth at all levels of education. Therefore, the key research questions were those of whether this ‘learning loop’ or broad action research-type cycle between the organisations is feasible; and what forms of pedagogy and institutions might be instigated to enable this research cycle, develop mutual support and be utilised for a popular education for social transformation. A bricolage approach to the research was adopted to enable the researcher to create an experimental approach to the research and to writing the thesis in order for it to contribute to the possibilities of this cycle and support. Occupy was utilised as the main case study for the research as it claimed by some to be an organic form of popular and critical pedagogy. It is argued that the possibility of examining and attempting to understand organic popular education as it happened could have something significant to contribute to theories of popular education and education for change. The other two sites are examined as supplementary forms of organisation to assess the feasibility of the learning loop. This entailed interviewing some of the key people in Occupy and the other sites, in addition to Internet searches on all subjects, reading academic and journalistic writings and keeping my own reflective journal about the processes and experiences. The purpose of the thesis is to create a discussion on the forms of pedagogical and educational organisation that could potentially bring about social change and support a democratic public. The research argues that the pedagogy practiced by Occupy gave some insight into approaches to organic popular pedagogy, and that within this small scale study, it could be argued that some activists are beginning to bridge the gap between activism and academia by starting to understand the role of knowledge production in the struggle for transformative democracy and social justice. The research also examines whether the two supplementary sites have the potential to assist social movements and other community initiatives by connecting the different levels of knowledge production by forming a praxis of theory and action. The research’s main contributions to knowledge are that it examines a political social movement from a pedagogical point of view and assesses the claims regarding how learning in these particular sites are constituted in the current context. The research also examines the role of the researcher in creating ‘really useful knowledge’ to be utilised by both the academic and activist communities.

This research explores informal language learning by Higher Education (HE) students in Brussels. Informal language learning is defined in this thesis as learning that takes place outside formal HE institutions. Informal language learning has been studied less than its counterpart, formal learning, because it is more difficult to observe, to quantify and to evaluate. It depends more on the learner, which makes it more difficult to grasp. Informal learning is less structured because it does not occur within a formal learning context; the learning objectives are not defined by the teacher and can vary, according to the learner’s situation. The literature review examines the difference between learning and acquisition; this study draws on Krashen’s (1976) monitor theory where learning comes from formal instruction and is a conscious process, while acquisition involves meaningful interaction in the target language and is a subconscious process. This study explores the different types of motivation to study informally and examines how reflection can be used to monitor and improve the language that has been acquired by the learner outside class. This project is situated within an experiential approach in qualitative inquiry. The students’ experience of learning outside class as it is lived by them has been studied. This is naturalistic rather than experimental research as normal learning situations are examined from the learners’ point of view. Mixed methods were used to collect the data: questionnaires, interviews and self-reports to analyse the informal learning process in more detail. The self-report was an adaptation of the ‘European Language Portfolio’ (ELP) (Council of Europe 2009), which is a tool that links informal to formal learning. Recommendations based on the findings of this study suggest new methods and strategies for language learning to students and that teachers should be aware of what students do, what motivates them and how learners reflect upon the language learning process, in order to help them learn in class and beyond.

Provided that valuable knowledge is: collected from all existing sources including people, systems, databases, file cabinets, etc.; it is stored, categorized and organized; and it is disseminated to those people and systems that need it; “The right knowledge would reach the right person or system at the right time” (Seiner, 2000) and businesses would be transformed into knowledge organizations and economies into knowledge economies. This is in fact the global business phenomenon of our modern world economy (Malhotra, 2003); or at least we aspire that it will be. The wealth of today’s businesses and modern nations lies on their competences and capabilities as knowledge-based economies (Boisot, 1998). Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are increasingly exposed to marketplace pressures, in a similar way to other businesses, and the environment in which they are operating today has also changed drastically (Kara & DeShields, 2004), (Cranfield & Taylor, 2008); they experience intense pressure and are required to respond to the global integration (Blose, et al., 2005). The strategic management of knowledge of a university may provide the competitive advantage that universities need and has potentially several benefits to offer to higher education in general. Knowledge Management (KM) which includes management strategies, and methods, as well as the necessary information and communication technologies may potentially leverage intellectual capital and know-how in order that businesses can benefit from gains in human performance and competitiveness. Examples and best practices are available in the literature but very few of them are specific to higher education and involve the use of KM by HEIs. Amongst those who believe that KM has a lot more to offer to Higher Education (HE) is Rowley (Rowley, 2000) who said that “we are a long way from a scenario in which each member of the university community has access to the combined knowledge and wisdom of others in the organization, and has access to that knowledge in a form that suits their particular needs”. This study was initiated to study KM practices in a HEI and create a case study of a KM implementation specific to a HEI following a stakeholder approach. The HEI under study is the largest (over 5,000 students) private HE institution in Cyprus. While involving all areas required for the successful introduction of KM in a HEI, the study delivers a KM solution to satisfy the need of internal stakeholders, being the administration, faculty and staff members and the students. All aspects of KM are examined in the study which being exploratory in nature carries out an organization-wide survey to explore the HEI’s stakeholders’ perceptions of the “knowledge organization”, their current practices including strategy, leadership style, and culture and their needs and expectations relating to KM. Research objectives are satisfied with the utilization of focus groups and surveys conducted via questionnaires and personal interviews for the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. As data are analyzed the results and recommended actions lead to a case study which describes the implementation of a kick-off KM project in the HEI. The case study has an explanatory nature and takes the reader through all of the steps, from the initiation to the completion, of the KM project. It may be replicated, customized, and re-used as necessary for other KM implementations in the HEI under study, other HEIs, or other organizations with similar needs.

Graduate attributes have been used in Europe since the early 1980s. They were highlighted by the Dearing report in 1997 as a fundamental learning outcome of university education in the light of the concerns raised by UK employers who claimed that many graduates lacked the necessary attributes for employment, causing what is known as the skills gap. Many authors agreed that graduate attributes are at the nexus of a number of complexities that affect teaching and learning in taught courses. These could be conceptual, pedagogical, epistemological, structural or cultural. However, many of their studies overlooked the role of context in the implementation of graduate attributes in taught courses which explains why the skills gap still exists. In Egypt earlier this century, the government recognised the importance of reforming its higher education sector to meet the challenges of the new era. One of these challenges was Egyptian employers’ dissatisfaction with graduate attributes which were described as not meeting employment demands. To address such a problem, the Egyptian government, through a reform strategy, initiated a number of projects which among other things aimed to improve graduates’ readiness for the labour market and thus reduce the skills gap. Yet, with all the initiatives achieved to date the problem still persists. This research has sought to study the skills gap problem in depth but within the scope of computer engineering undergraduate studies. It aims to understand the contextual factors affecting the effective implementation of graduate attributes in taught courses in Egyptian universities. To do this, a number of questions were posed, using semi-structured interviews, to a purposive sample of academics and graduates belonging to two different computer engineering undergraduate programmes; one private and the other public. To ensure the validity of the data, more information was collected from Egyptian employers as well as the documents that represent the different educational policies and practices implemented in both private and public programmes of study. Through thematic data analysis and by applying complexity theory as a conceptual framework, the research arrived at its contribution to knowledge; namely, identification of the different contextual factors that affected Egyptian academics’ performance when teaching and learning graduate attributes in computer engineering undergraduate courses. These factors: were academics’ recruitment; promotion and progression procedures; department/faculty culture which has an orientation towards disciplinary knowledge; lack of scholarship of learning and teaching; performance appraisal; the pay scale; fringe benefits and remuneration; no incentive to conduct industry based research; collaborative projects or industry secondments; and the fact that industrial practitioners are prohibited to teach in academia. In the light of these key findings, the main conclusion from this research is that it is possible, given the appropriate contextual conditions, that academics’ teaching and learning of graduate attributes in undergraduate degree courses could be improved. This research has shown through its results that a concept such as graduate attributes is at the nexus of a number of complexities that affect their teaching in taught courses. Yet, these complexities are not only conceptual, pedagogical, epistemological and cultural but also contextual. The research also advises higher education authorities and practitioners, through a policy document, on how to improve Egyptian higher education reform outcomes and hence graduates’ readiness for the labour market.

Successive governments’ efforts to increase participation by people from working-class households in Higher Education (HE) in the United Kingdom (UK) have had limited success. In the widening participation debate, little has been written about the place of media coverage, particularly newspaper coverage, of HE. The context of the study was the HE funding changes that were first proposed in the Autumn of 2010 by the Browne Review. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, in particular his concepts of habitus, capital, field and doxa, this study examined how, as demonstrated in newspaper coverage about HE, agents in the field of journalism responded to the proposed changes, and how they represented HE in the UK. The first main research question was: how does newspaper discourse reflect inequality that is present in the UK’s HE sector? Subsidiary research questions were how the issues of inequality in higher education were reported in the UK mainstream press, and how newspapers represented the value of HE to the individual. The second main research question was in what ways Bourdieu’s theoretical framework could contribute to the analysis of this newspaper discourse with a related subsidiary question of whether critical discourse analysis (CDA) played a useful role in this analysis in the data for this study. Two approaches to CDA were used; these were the corpus linguistics approach (CLA) and the social actors approach (SAA). The application of CDA in the context of Bourdieu’s theoretical framework demonstrated that there were mixed messages in the newspaper discourse about HE concerning the perceived merits of pre- and post-1992 universities. The politicisation of the reporting of the HE funding changes often precluded a fuller discussion of substantive effects of these changes leading to a likely detrimental effect on informed decision making among those with least cultural capital who are under-represented at the most-selective HE institutions.

Curricula in higher education is under increasing pressure to contribute to economic and societal enhancement. The National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 view higher education as not only central to economic and social advancement but also as having a fundamental role in developing learners that have a broad sense of world agency and responsibility. These challenges and obligations are delivered through appropriately designed curricula. Educators are the primary source of curricula development and thus most centrally placed to help deliver on these significant requirements for higher education. Given their central role, the aim of this research was to elucidate the voice of educators with regard to their experience of curriculum development practice and discourse in the context of higher education. The key objectives in realising this aim were to engage educators in curriculum development discourse; illuminate educators' philosophical beliefs and their influence on curriculum development; build capacity among educators in relation to their role in curriculum development; and to irradiate current curriculum development practices. The study was conducted across four higher education institutions in Ireland. Discourse analysis was used as a methodology within a post-structural theoretical framework which facilitated layered analysis and questioning of curriculum development practice and discourse. The discourses used in the analysis included transcripts from in-depth interviews and focus groups with educators involved in curricula development during 2012-14, institutional strategy documents, and validation panel reports. An advisory group was used to offer depth and validity to the analysis and interpretation and as a capacity building tool. The findings were enlightening. In some cases they echoed concerns revealed in the literature; in addition some unexpected narratives were also uncovered. In any event. the findings contribute to the current curriculum development conversation by offering a framework for curriculum development practice and discourse. I argue if this framework is used as an early discourse and planning tool tt can offer transformative potential for curricula. It does so by facilitating the development team scope out the project through questioning and challenging existing curriculum development practices across three key areas - policy for curriculum development at institutional level; practice at development level; and discourse guiding practice.

The use of remote and virtual experiments to supplement undergraduate practical science instruction has accelerated in recent decades, as isolated proofs of concept have given way to integrated suites of educational content. Online laboratories are poised to assume even greater importance for teaching. as the growing availability of distributed learning approaches, high-speed intern et access, and ambient and mobile sensors broadens opportunities worldwide for experiencing practical work. My original contribution to knowledge has been to identify - and differentiate by scientific discipline - key priorities for the design of more effective online labs as informed by students' perspectives of the technology. This dissertation is motivated by three research questions: (1) Which aspects of online labs determine whether participants perceive them as authentic learning experiences? (2) Which online lab characteristics dictate their suitability for social modes of learning? (3) How can educators use metafunctional elements - i.e. computer-mediated features impossible to implement in a proximal setting - to enhance understanding and skill acquisition? Studies of undergraduate cohorts from both distance learning and conventional institutions were carried out, with an initial emphasis on physics and astronomy coursework that was later extended to other scientific fields. A mixed methods approach was adopted, with quantitative data elicited primarily via multi-stage survey instruments and qualitative data derived principally from interviews or focus groups. Statistical and thematic analyses yielded key findings regarding the roles authenticity, sociability and metafunctionality play in the design of successful online labs. For instance, establishing professional relevance and data reliability in online labs appears far more important to achieving authenticity than photorealistic depictions of scientific sites. Moreover, interfaces that students perceive as denying them agency - including the ability to make genuine mistakes - lead to shallow engagement and worse outcomes. Students often deem social interaction a defining aspect of proximal lab work, so missing provisions for synchronous multi-user presence and communication engender feelings of isolation and helplessness in online labs. While mostly sceptical of metafunctional enhancements, students nonetheless repeatedly express a desire for practice with non-ideal scenarios and with the setup and teardown stages of practical work. Incorporating the proposed design principles will better align future online labs with student expectations, thus deepening engagement and securing improved academic outcomes.

In May 2010 a newly elected coalition government inherited a concern about widening access to higher education in the United Kingdom. As far as widening participation within higher education is concerned, research indications are that while overall participation has increased, the rate of participation from under-represented groups has remained at a consistently low level (UCAS 2012a, ESRC 2012). My study is motivated by these disparities in participation rates and by a desire to critique the assumptions made within policy. I view widening participation policy as problematic in its negative portrayal of working class students' as having low aspirations (Dearing 1997, DfES 2003a). An interpretive method of enquiry was adopted to develop a qualitative case study approach. This drew on data gathered between 2011 and 2015. Eighteen semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with four women studying on a foundation degree. Key documents including the Robbins Report (Robbins, 1963a), the Dearing Report (Dearing, 1997) and The Future of Higher Education (DfES, 2003c) were selected to discuss the assumptions that circulate in the government in order to explore how these might have shaped successive thinking. I suggest that there are implications for practice as attitudes towards education are shaped by factors which filter down from policy such as access and curriculum design. Findings from my study suggest that working class women possess future aspirations, have some support mechanisms in place and in part study 'to increase knowledge and understanding for their own sake' (Dearing, 1997, p. 72.) despite living multifaceted lives. Fluctuating levels of self-esteem and issues of engrained gender roles and conflict as the women attempt to combine family life and study are also evident. A move towards a transformative model of education where a more student-centred approach to curriculum design and delivery is developed is required. The long term benefits of such will remain unrealised as long as the economy remains the government's focal driver of societal change.

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