This thesis lies in the field of public policy and its purpose is to interpret the decision-making process of education funding by the Brazilian federal government during the period 1964-84. The descriptive approach is meant to leave room for original information on a recent aspect of the educational issue in Brazil. THE MAIN ARGUMENT. As from the mid-fifties the impetus of the country's industrial economy raised the standard of development as the leit motiv of policy-making. Traditional, liberal views of public responsibilities in education services on the grounds of humanistic and democratic values were increasingly replaced by considerations of education as an investment for economic development. The economic approach to education was to be central to the decisions on finance allocation to education and implied a preliminary attention to the rationalization of education administration. The 1964 authoritarian regime implemented this policy by concentrating the decision-making process in the bureaucracy, since the nature of education funding was seen as a technical matter. THE CONTENTS. The thesis scans some aspects of the federal bureaucracy's historical background on which the policy stepped (and eventually stumbled) and the origins of policies on education funding. Two crucial elements of the decision-making process are then investigated: the stance of the military towards education and the reflexion of the expansion and crisis of the Brazilian economy on the provision of tax finance to education. At its height, the research goes into several vital decisions for the education funding to find out how they were actually made and on which reasons they were based, whether giving or denying education a special budgetary treatment. Finally, a look at the poor results of planning and rationalization in relevant points of the policies unveils the importance of some cultural and social components of the organizations involved. THE CONCLUSIONS. The thesis concludes that, as far as Brazilian experience suggests, the economic Justification for funding education and rationalizing its spending is fragile and of little effect, since the allocation of public resources proves to be a political not a technical process. The cause loses rather than gains as the decisions are entrusted to economic bodies.

This research aims to explore the public–private partnership (PPP) phenomenon at the basic education and post-basic education levels in the Sultanate of Oman. Specifically, it identifies the types of existing PPPs and probes different stakeholders’ perspectives of PPPs. It also highlights the challenges that impede the effectiveness of PPPs in the Omani context and identifies approaches to alleviate them. Finally, it suggests a PPP framework for the Omani context. This study employed a case study design with a mixed-strategy approach to elicit data from a range of sources: the public education sector, the private education sector and other sectors. The research used semi-structured interviews, focus groups and documentary analysis as key data collection instruments. The public education sector participants comprised government officials, school principals and supervisors. The private education participants included school owners, school principals and chief executive officers (CEOs). Other participants were drawn from other governmental and non-governmental sectors. A total of four focus groups with 29 participants (six to nine participants in each group) and 32 semi-structured interviews covering participants from the different sectors were conducted. The research findings reveal that a range of PPPs exist in the Omani education context. These however, are predominantly informal and voluntary. They also seem to address financial aspects and rarely tackle key quality aspects such as curricula and learning outcomes. In this study, it transpires that in Oman, PPP is envisaged as a multi-stakeholder approach with reciprocal and long-term benefits rather than relating to privatisation or philanthropy. The research also concludes that PPPs in Oman seem to be challenged chiefly by political and regulatory impediments, as well as some practical barriers related to capacity and evaluation mechanisms. It is hoped that these results, together with the suggested PPP framework, will serve as a guideline for the promotion of public–private collaboration in education, as well as the development of a PPP programme at the basic education and post-basic education levels in Oman.

This dissertation is a study of university fund-raising in Romania. It examines the fund-raising activities at four state and private universities and highlights both the successes and the less successful attempts to expand their funding base. The study reveals that universities' leaders and staff are rarely aware of and tend to underestimate the scale and scope of fund-raising activities at their institution. It also reveals interesting situations of private capitalism in public universities and shows that while there is individual fund-raising the institutions are not always able to capture it. I argue that the university's capacity to fund-raise is limited by both internal and external factors. Among the external factors the limited degree of autonomy for state universities and the legal framework for personal and company giving are the most restricting. The internal factors include the governance structure and the university fragmentation (particularly at state universities), the lack of fund-raising capacity and the organizational cultures. The thesis also discusses the concept of unethical entrepreneurial ism to describe practices and activities that help generate income but are not within the generally accepted range of entrepreneurial behavior. The study also discusses the degree of isomorphism in the Romanian higher education sector and shows that universities are not as isomorphic as has been thought before.

This study, by a practising inspector, considers the implementation of the principle enshrined In article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) in respect of whole-school evaluation (WSE), model of school inspection, in Irish primary schools, Article 12 relates to the child's right to e)(press his or her views freely and to have such views given due weight. The research was undertaken in one primary school in the west of Ireland and Involved senior-grade students (aged 10-12 years) and their teachers. It explores, from the perspectives of the participants, how Inspectors could better engage with children's views during WSE. The data set, from focus-group interviews and draw-and-write activities, was analysed qualitatively. A children's rights-based approach was employed: two distinctive elements of this approach include the deliberate steps taken to build the participants' capacity in understanding I WSE and children's right to be heard; and the Involvement of a children's research advisory group (CRAG). The CRAG took part in various stages of the research including the choosing and preparing of data collection methods, analysing data, and disseminating findings. The study found that children have views about inspection and want to express them. This thesis makes a strong argument for the importance of facilitating children to e)(press their views freely during inspection and to have their views given due weight not merely as a data source for accountability and performativity but as part of an : empowering, emancipatory process benefitting students, schools and the Inspectorate. The study proved to be successful on a number of levels, notably in the development of a methodology that allowed children to contribute fully as research participants and to present their perspectlves on inspector-student consultation. Furthermore, it contributes to the existing knowledge base regarding children's rights In education focusing in this instance on their right to be heard during school inspection.

The critical component of this thesis examines the expurgation of literature textbooks produced for use in government-funded American schools in the 1970s and 80s with regards to the manner in which this affected the texts’ complexity and potential as both works of fiction and educational materials, and the present-day implications of this expurgation. It also addresses the differences and similarities in the goals and methods of the two major advocacy groups who called for the books to be altered and the manner in which methods changed as the political and cultural climate of the United States became more conservative, and challenges the arguments of earlier writers on the subject in light of new research. The creative component of the thesis is the first third of a completed novel titled Belief, which follows an American nuclear family over forty years, from when the parents come of age during the Women’s Movement to when their nearly-adult children attempt to come to terms with their restrictive religious upbringing at the turn of the century. The novel focuses on the parents’ turn to Evangelical Christianity as a way of surviving personal tragedy; their decision to educate their three children at home in reaction to the Satanic Panic and public school textbook lawsuits of the 1980s; and the ways that their children’s experiences of faith, their repressive environment, and the dissonance between their parents’ and church’s expectations and who they naturally are causes conflict both within their family and in their wider community.

The main aim of the research is to investigate how the principals of Lasallian schools in Hong Kong perceive education quality and accountability and how their conceptions are shaped by the unique Lasallian context and their relationship to different stakeholders to whom they are accountable. Education quality in Lasallian schools is traditionally based on the mission and vision of the Institute of Lasallian Brothers in which ‘Education for All’, Holistic Education and ‘Touching Hearts and Minds’ are paramount. Faced with the prospect of a lessening of the influence of the Lasallian Brothers and having to respond to external educational reform proposals, there have been calls for a renewed partnership between the various stakeholders of Lasallian Schools to achieve a consensus view on quality and accountability. These stakeholders are the Educational Development Bureau, the schools’ senior management committee, teachers, parents and students. The research is based on the interpretive paradigm and the combined use of ethnographic and phenomenological methodologies, a case study approach and purposeful and criterion sampling. Inductive methods are used to analyse data collected through one semi-structured interview with each of the ten principals supported by documentary evidence. Findings from the investigation suggest that a consensus view of education quality which would appeal to all stakeholders would include : maintaining Lasallian values ; providing a diversity of curriculum provision and holistic education ; enabling all students to achieve a level of academic attainment linked to their ability; achieving a shift from a teacher to a student centred approach, including helping students to ‘learn how to learn’. These outcomes could be achieved by the extended use of a range of strategies in all schools: distributive leadership with increased empowerment of teachers; promoting a culture of continuous improvement though development planning, self evaluation and continuing professional development; parent-school partnerships.

School education is commonly seen in national news headlines as one of the major political debating topics. Changes in policy since the introduction of the 1988 Education Reform Act have created a quasi-competitive market within which schools now operate. The 1988 EducationRefonn Act also devolved much responsibility away from Local Authorities to individual schools. More recently, the 2007 School Admissions Code incorporated mandatory provisions |fie first time, ensuring that school oversubscription policies are implemented in", so as to not disadvantage particular sections of society. This has produced an environment where Local Authorities have less direct control over schools but more responsibility to ensure that education provision is commensurate with demand in their areas, in the face of a changing pupil population. rhis PhD thesis uses advanced spatial analysis techniques to examine the Pupil Level Annual School Census data for the Leeds study area in conjunction with pupil preference data supplied by Education Leeds.

Earlier conceptualisations of educational effectiveness magnified the importance of the need for significant amounts of fiscal and material resources to attain effective education. In the past, this has seemed to be justification for resource-constrained countries to seek mainly external support to fund their educational budgets in anticipation of attaining an effective education. Indeed,on many occasions any attempt to attain effective education in resource-constrained countries has been thwarted by the perceived lack of fiscal and material resources. Nonetheless, it is emerging that resource-constrained countries can actually have access to effective education. Using hierarchical linear modelling analysis, this study draws on the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium on Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ)database to generate an effective education model for resource-constrained countries, through a critical analysis of educational process factors that account for significant variations in educational outcomes. The Rasch technique was used to construct most of the educational process indicators that were fed into the estimated multilevel models for reading and mathematics outcomes. On adjusting for pupil characteristics, contextual factors and school resource inputs, the process factors that significantly predict both mathematics and reading outcomes include opportunity to learn(OTL), school management competences, school-community relationships and school-based HIV/AIDS support. Further, for both mathematics and reading there is a significant interaction effect between teacher academic and professional capital (TAPC)and OTL; the effects of TAPC are completely mediated by OTL. On the other hand, whereas resource usage significantly predicts reading attainment, it does not predict mathematics attainment. Additionally, educational processes jointly explain more variance in mathematics attainment (16.5%) than that in reading(6%). Nonetheless, the preferred models explain about 25% and 26% of total variance in reading and mathematics, respectively. Overall, each of the two models explains more variance at Level 3(school level) than other levels. Unexpectedly, whereas there is inequity in the distribution of school inputs and opportunities for pupils to learn (OTL), there is limited evidence of inequity in the general distribution of learning outcomes by socio-economic status (SES)groupings. The findings of this study extend the theory and practice of educational effectiveness,especially in developing countries where educational effectiveness research has always been limited to examining the potential impact of easily quantifiable educational inputs (using production functions) on educational outputs. Moreover, the study provides the various educational constituencies with sound evidence ofvarious educational process factors that could positively impact educational outcomes,and implores policy makers and practitioners to abandon input-output models for system-based models, simultaneously to pursue both quality and equity dimensions within educational outcomes and, most importantly, to refocus attention on the school and teaching processes.

This thesis illuminates the educational experiences of school pupils (11-18) in a culture of performativity and accountability. It explores the tension between accountability, autonomy and performativity in English schools within an historical context and elucidates the experience of individuals within the English state school system. The study uses a biographical approach to explore the experiences of individuals who have recently experienced the English education system over the course of school years 7 to 13. Single-question narrative interviews were conducted with four participants who had recently completed compulsory education. These experiences are analysed through the lens of Literary Narrative Analysis (LNA) rather than more conventional methods. The thesis explores how the traditional methods of analysing literary texts can also provide a useful tool for the analysis of narrative interviews. The findings demonstrate that there is an orthodoxy in the narratives of participants' school lives, suggesting an unwitting acquiescence to the masterplots authored by the pervasive grammar of the broader education system. Within these masterplots there are episodes of enlightenment and equilibrium, exchanges with inspirational characters and epiphanies through friendship and engagement in music and the arts. Teachers appear as both protagonists and antagonists, but participants' narratives are also replete with dark plots of falling action and catastrophe, with their lexis replete with references to stress and anxiety, strengthened by powerful figurative representations of death and zoomorphic metaphors. The thesis concludes that government policy for surveillance and quality assurance of the school system must also enable provision for supporting young people as individuals, providing equally valued opportunities for the study of the arts as well as in the core academic subjects.

Financial behaviour is complex and difficult to measure. Existing literature on the emergency fund remains lacking in terms of its theoretical testing and modelling, not to mention its accurate definition of emergency fund behaviour itself. Prior studies also suffer from providing sufficient country-contextual evidence on emergency fund behaviour, notably in the instance of Malaysia. Compounding this, the question of how young student adults allocate their emergency fund has yet to be adequately explored by existing studies, primarily due to data limitations. The issues of financial behaviour, financial problems and financial stresses among young adults are still being addressed by many studies. These tend to argue that young adults have less ability to allocate or achieve the recommended adequate level of emergency fund holding. It is these gaps that this thesis will address. This research uses modified theory of planned behaviour as a research conceptual framework to investigate and understand the emergency fund behaviour among young student adults in Malaysia. The data were collected using online questionnaires and survey interviews. The emergency fund behaviour measurement and Emergency Fund Formation Behaviour (EFFB) models were developed. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were adopted as data analysis tools for this research. The definition of emergency fund behaviour was positioned in relation to two main financial behaviours: saving and investment. The results from the modelling revealed that attitude and propensity to plan were found to significantly contribute to emergency fund formation intentions and behaviour. The subjective norms and perceived behaviour controls were found not to be significant to fund formation intentions and behaviour. The emergency event from young student adults’ perspective was explored and contributes to additional current literature. This research also found that not all young student adults achieved the total three months expenses recommended adequacy level of emergency fund holding. Previous experience of emergency events was found to be the factor that prompted them to achieve the recommended adequacy level. Their intention was to continue to borrow from informal channels, such as family and friends,if they lacked emergency funds in future. Other factors, such as financial aid, did not necessarily determine their ability to achieve the adequacy level. This research also found that a significant proportion of young student adults chose to use savings accounts and current accounts as their emergency fund. Some also used their student loan (PTPTN) money as source of emergency fund allocation. In addition, the use of gold as an emergency fund financial instrument was also found to be relevant to the Malaysian context. The holding of gold was a behaviour found not to be gender-related. In terms of the financial instruments categories, most of the young student adults in this research were found holding intermediate fund rather than other emergency fund categories. The modelling and deeper understanding of emergency fund behaviour revealed overall of emergency fund formation behaviour and preference for financial products in response to future emergencies. This finding will help financial service providers and financial educators to offer more effective advice and fulfil the needs of their clients. Moreover, this research makes a significant contribution to the field of personal financial planning by improving our understanding of the application of behavioural finance theory, and suggesting that behavioural factors contribute to an individual’s financial planning and actions.