This thesis is an in-depth ethnographic study of the lives and multiple identities of six third generation British born Bangladeshis from Tower Hamlets. I argue that they find it difficult to be both British and Bangladeshi and are presented with difficult identity choices. Marginalised by mainstream British society due to ethno-cultural differences, many are also excluded from the Bangladeshi community due to their adoption of a seemingly more Western lifestyle. This complex situation brings into sharp focus the question of identity or identities. Are British born third generation Bangladeshis: • Bangladeshi ? • British ? • Muslim ? • A fusion of the three ? The central argument of this study is that this dual exclusion from both wider British society and Bangladeshi culture has forced many third generation Bangladeshis to seek alternative identities. In modern geo-politics, the emergence of Islam as a powerful mobilising entity for its followers, has led to the growth of religiously orientated identities in many younger generations across the Muslim diaspora. Numerous third generation Bangladeshis from Tower Hamlets have syncretised their Bangladeshi culture with their Western socialisation within an Islamic framework. The result is the construction of what I have termed a Br-Islamic identity. Enabling the subjects to identify comfortably with their multifaceted identities, Br-Islam challenges traditional Bangladeshi norms, values and rituals and also contests the complex notion of what it means to be ‘British’. Br-Islam allows many to be British, Bangladeshi and Muslim all at the same time, thus occupying more of a socio-political rather than theological space in wider society. Furthermore, as a dynamic and complex postmodern identity, Br-Islam requires a constantly changing view of ‘self’, responding to rapid social, economic and technological changes in modern society. I argue that Br-Islam is a fluid response to this crisis – a hybrid concept negotiating the complexities of modern society and providing its members with the voice, visibility, belonging, representation and confidence to partake in the wider political process.

This thesis addresses the process of meaning production through personal experiences and collective memory. It undertakes a phenomenological, historical and hermeneutic investigation of South Korean art educators’ perceptions of the purpose and meaning of teaching art formed in this specific socio-cultural context. The research uses a qualitative case study technique for collecting and analysing research data. The thesis describes the author’s experiences relating to the forming of her pedagogical identity as an art teacher exposed to Western cultural influences on Korean art education and these experiences lead to research questions which attempt to explore issues of culture and pedagogised identities in art education in South Korea. The thesis reviews a brief history of Korean art education before and after Western influences in order to investigate how selected art educators view the purpose of art education and how they position themselves as art educators. The research data consists of a series of interview transcriptions obtained through semi-structured interviews with five South Korean art educators working at different levels of art education from 1950s to the present: secondary school teacher, university professor, government administrator, policy maker and researcher. The analysis of the interview narratives is conducted by employing three different hermeneutic lenses—conservative, moderate and critical hermeneutics. Each of these lenses helps to reveal contrasting attitudes to art education which are named as cultural reproduction (conservative), cultural conversation (moderate) and critical engagement (critical). Though these theoretical lenses help to shed light on the interweaving histories of tradition and practice the interview data illustrates a complex combination of reproduction, conversation and critical reflection. The central notion of tradition illustrates the complexity of issues relating to cultural identity, pedagogy and desire. What is thought of as ‘traditional’ painting or drawing in the sense of enduring form and value is shown in fact to be composed of a series of different and subtle variations of practice. The outcomes of the research provides a direction for critical engagement with art teaching and learning indicating a sense of how particular identities are constantly positioned and re-positioned within the ideological frameworks that structure understanding of teaching and learning. The key findings provide significant implications for designing curriculum policy and practice for art education in a contemporary where futures are more transient and uncertain.

This thesis investigates the possibilities for applying Sartrean existential philosophy and Foucauldian post-structural theory to practice in art education. I have focused on Sartre’s concepts of free-will and agency, considering the subject who is capable of transforming life situations; as compared with Foucault’s theorisation of regulatory discourses, the social construction of subjectivity and his ventures into possibilities for negotiated autonomy. I have been a teacher in sixth form art education throughout this research and have concentrated on this area of education, although I think that some of my findings could be applicable in other areas. Research into the potential for applying philosophy in further education, particularly in practice, is I think an area that has not yet been developed. To explore my leading question I have analysed data from semi-structured interviews of three research groups: teachers and practitioners, policy makers and sixth form students. I gathered responses from participants in these pedagogical domains to enable a comparative approach between different angles upon issues of freedom and autonomy. I wanted to explore the interface between subjects with polarities of experience, including the precarious interface between educators and policy makers. My reflections on the extent to which policy regulates agency in art education have extended from the 2009 interviews to consider policy changes since the 2010 election. I have viewed the data presented by my focal participants through the conceptual frameworks of Sartrean and Foucauldian philosophy, comparing the stances and relevance to education of aspects of each system of thought. I have also conducted action research of my own teaching practice. I planned and taught projects for students which investigate the potential for using existential and post-structural theory as a contextual resource, and as a critical tool for encouraging discursive learning spaces and a more questioning and proactive engagement with learning.

‘Where are you from?’ This question often refers to someone’s birthplace, childhood home or a place that holds significance. The place that is offered in response to this question is more than a means of orientation, it is a lived place that has complex meanings that identify and emplace. The significance of ‘place’ and also of ‘belonging’ to our lives is often overlooked, something that is invisible or hidden, yet it is key to understanding who we are, both individually and collectively. This study explores and examines the ways that children living in a remote Australian cultural context, the bush, perform and construct their place-world, and how within this knowing and subsequent learning, they construct place and belonging. The driving questions of this study are: How do children living in a remote Australian cultural context know their place and belonging? and How do children living in a remote Australian cultural context learn place and belonging? Using the overlapping methodological approaches of critical, visual and sensory ethnography, underpinned with the theories of habitus and the bound relationship between the body and place, this study explores how the children’s, and my own, ways of knowing place emerged through embodied engagement in and with the world. This enabled an understanding of embodied (sensory perception and sensory memories) ways of knowing the place of the bush and how, through everyday practices, place and belonging are performed, constructed and learned through corporeal and socially-engaged pedagogies but also by being there. These findings may contribute to a more profound but also a subtle examination of embodiment as key to the performance and construction of social identities, the production of new analytical insights to develop the theoretical relationship between the where and the who, and knowledge and understanding of the loss of connection with place or displacement.

This study explores and examines the perceptions of students and tutors of the utilisation and purpose of student voice in higher education. It is conducted in a higher education department within a further education college. Literature form a range of secondary sources explores how student voice is visible in higher education and draws on the drivers behind its increased focus. Specific emphasis is seen in the views of student voice in terms of rights, participation and inclusivity whilst also recognising the challenges this brings. The value of the student-tutor relationship is highlighted as vital in the successful utilisation of student voice. The distribution and impact of power on the use of student voice is fundamental to the examination of literature and is further clearly reflected in the subsequent findings of my study. I have taken a critical ethnographic approach to the study and drawn on feminist research theory and auto-ethnography to collect and analyse qualitative data, using semi structured interviews, focus groups and a research journal. Demonstrated within the emerging themes, was a clear indication of the growing attention to collecting student voice and the problems this raises for students and tutors in terms of rights, participation and power inequalities. Research within the literature review supports these notions and also highlights gaps which have been explored within this study as students and tutors raise concerns regarding their position within the classroom, their unease of accountability and the value of relationships in addressing these issues. Contribution to knowledge is clearly shown in the examination of power issues within student voice work and indeed in everyday practice. This is evidenced through examination of the relationship and the examples of power inequalities raised by tutors and students. Significant findings are demonstrated in the unexpected revelation that tutors and students both feel disciplined by the other and believe the other to be the holder of the power. Whilst existing literature reports on the benefits and challenges of student voice work, my study goes further to examine the role of power in the relationship and the significance of this in terms of transformational practice. I conclude the study by presenting an action plan to outline my recommendations for transformative practice which combines literature relating to existing studies, key theory in the field of power, and emerging ideas in relation to the perceptions of students and tutors in order to establish an inclusive conclusion to the study.

In this small-scale, qualitative study, the experiences of nine teachers who support learners identified with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) in mainstream primary schools are considered. A narrative approach enabled teachers to share their complex portrayals of practices and feelings about their roles. Perspectives on models of disability and disability rights, performativity, professional identity for teachers, and SEBD, have informed analysis and understanding of the stories teachers told. The study explores how the relationship between teachers’ professional identity and well-being and the expectations imposed upon them in a neoliberal influenced education system brings about pressures and concerns. Attempts by the teachers to achieve a balance between what they feel they ought to do (to meet policy expectations) and what they feel they should do (to meet the entitlements of children) has led to excessive workloads and complex emotional responses. Reflections on the way these teachers constructed discourses about why some children exhibit disruptive and challenging behaviours provide an understanding of how their negotiation of this challenging context impacts on the relationships they form with the children. The findings suggest that teachers experience confusion due to the complexities and contradictions they are faced with when trying to support learners identified with SEBD in an education system which incorporates policies guided by different models of disability. The study concludes by suggesting that teachers’ critical reflection on the discourses they have constructed in relation to models of disability could bring about a new way of shaping their practice. It is argued that a rights-based approach to teaching children who exhibit challenging, disruptive and concerning behaviours would emancipate children from the restrictive views and beliefs teachers seem to have developed. Approaches which focus on children’s rights to inclusive learning opportunities, which reflect their entitlement to an education, would go some way to addressing the confusion, contradiction and pressures these teachers described.

The purpose of this research is to facilitate the development and understanding of inclusive education for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. The study is located within Riyadh, a city in Saudi Arabia. The culture and religion of Saudi society are central themes in this study. ASD is a complex disorder due to its characteristics, which include a lack of social skills, communication difficulties, and behaviour problems. A range of qualitative methods were adopted; interviews with twenty general education teachers (GT) and special education teachers (SET) as well as participant observation in five schools. The research seeks to identify the attitudes and practices of primary school teachers in terms of their support for children in mainstream schools. The study shows that teachers are mostly supportive and have positive attitudes toward the inclusive education of learners with ASD. The study shows barriers to inclusive education, for example, lack of time, overcrowded classrooms, curriculum, attitudes, lack of training, teaching methods and school environments and the extent to which mainstream school buildings and classrooms are suitable for inclusion of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in general and, more specifically, for students with ASD. Another factor that emerged from the study to support inclusive education was peer tutoring. All the teachers involved in the study are qualified in education but they need additional training and knowledge about inclusion and ASD. Finally, the study provides some practical recommendations as well as some ideas for future research and other activities.

This study is set in Saudi Arabia within the context of increasing national and international emphasis on inclusive education of deaf students and where policy overtly supports increasingly inclusive schools. This research is important because it is one of the few qualitative Saudi Arabian studies that have been conducted within the interpretive paradigm with a view to understanding the complexity of inclusive education. It specifically explores the factors that have influenced its theory and practice at inclusive boys’ primary schools for deaf students in the Saudi educational context. The empirical study which was set in the Local Educational Authority in Riyadh city focuses on the perceptions of schools' principals, teachers and parents of deaf students. It explores the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and experiences of these three groups of participants regarding the inclusive education of deaf students, in order to establish the factors that influence inclusive education and determine the kind of services that are needed for inclusive education of deaf students in the Saudi context. The study had two stages: the first involved exploratory focus-group interviews with schools' staff including schools' principals, teachers and parents of deaf students; and, stage two was based upon individual interviews, observations and documentary data. I adopted a purposive sampling strategy in both cases and overall 61 participants were included. A key finding was that principals of inclusive schools lacked the knowledge and understanding of inclusive education necessary for effective education for deaf students. This arguably has affected their attitudes and unconstructively influenced their attitudes towards the inclusive education of deaf students in their schools. Whilst the majority of teachers of deaf children had more knowledge and the necessary positive views towards their inclusive education and have tried to adapt classroom materials and activities to accommodate deaf students, the lack of support from principals inhibited them. In addition parents appear to lack knowledge about inclusion and its possibilities for their children and they are as such excluded from influencing educational policy and mostly do not play the role in inclusive schools to support their children that Saudi Arabian policy suggests they should. Other inhibiting factors for inclusive education for deaf students included insufficient facilities and resources, lack of training courses and lack of collaboration among school staff and between staff and parents of deaf students. My research indicates that these insufficiencies cannot be addressed without there being a symbiotic relationship between principals, teachers, parents, the Local Educational Authority, the Ministry of Education and the school environment. There is a strong need to create mechanisms to change the knowledge, attitudes and qualifications of principals, teachers and parents. Therefore in response to these findings I have developed and proposed a strategic model that focuses on the deaf student and their educational support, for the Saudi Education System. There is considerable research needed if inclusive education for deaf students is to be more grounded in an understanding of the context. The study ended with utilising its findings and previous literature to develop recommendations for theories of inclusive education and made contributions to knowledge about the role of attitudes. It also provided a set of policy guidelines and made suggestions about pedagogy. In Saudi, organisationally the Local Educational Authority need to pay more attention to funding inclusive schools and providing facilities and specialised training to school staff and parents. With work this may lead to successful inclusive education for deaf students in Saudi Arabia.

The contribution of mindfulness towards occupational stress is an under-researched aspect of primary school teaching in Ireland and internationally. The purpose of this research is to investigate the consequences for teachers who practise mindfulness. A qualitative approach was used to explore the occupational stressors experienced by primary school teachers and the contribution that mindfulness makes toward stress reduction. The research, involving interviews with 20 primary school teachers in urban and rural schools throughout Ireland, was carried out in 2013. The research provides evidence of teachers’ ability to respond to occupational stress by internally regulating thoughts and emotions. The consequences of such internal self-regulation proposed by the study include the development of internal teacher attributes, a contribution to professional practice and significant classroom outcomes which contribute to teacher coping skills and resilience. The literature review exposed that there were few frameworks or models relevant to mindfulness and teaching. The ‘Mindfulness in Teaching Model’, which is presented in this thesis, addresses this gap. Few qualitative research studies have been conducted in Ireland or internationally on how mindfulness impacts on teachers’ lives. This thesis serves to illuminate, for the first time, how the practice of mindfulness affects the effectiveness and professionalism of primary school teachers in Ireland.

A participatory action research and constructivist grounded theory-based intervention, by an educational psychologist, to determine helpful and unhelpful factors in targeted group intervention with three anxious primary school girls. The aims of this research were to explore the perceptions of anxious, reticent children, their parents and teachers of a modified and targeted intervention, implemented by an educational psychologist (EP) and based on the FRIENDS for Life programme (FRIENDS)(Barrett, 2004). A case study approach was used to gather the data necessary to address the aims. The targeted intervention was delivered weekly by the EP using an integrated, study-specific, participatory action research (PAR) and constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) (CTG) approach for data analysis and theory development. Two settings within a primary school were strategically used by the EP to dilute any stigma associated with intervention for the three anxious target group (TG) girls aged between nine and eleven (N=3). The three girls were also participant during the same period in the universal application of the programme with the rest of their class peers (N=9). The thesis takes as it starting point the fact that anxiety is thought to be one of the most common forms of psychological distress in children and young people (CYP) (Cartwright-Hatton et al., 2004) with prevalence being reported as high as twenty one per cent (Kashani and Orvaschel, 1990) and most studies estimating around ten per cent (Carr, 2006). Fortunately, the school-based programme FRIENDS for Life, (FRIENDS), based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) principles, appears to be efficacious both at a targeted and universal level with CYP. Little is known however about this programme’s application specifically with sub-clinically anxious CYP who are frequently apprehensive about verbal interaction at school and for whom mild to moderate anxiety is indicated. This study attempts to fill this gap. Modifications were made to the FRIENDS programme activities to allow for children’s non-verbal programme participation and to optimise the reticent target group children’s comfort within the group setting. The role of the EP in building therapeutic alliance with the anxious children was also explored. Study findings suggest that the intervention was positively perceived by participants and that the children perceived story-writing to be their preferred way of working with FRIENDS programme content. The use of the seven principles, based on the acronym PRECISE, was deemed useful to the EP in building therapeutic relationship with the reticent children. Findings underpin the study’s proposal for a conceptual model for EPs involved in group work with anxious children. The proposed ‘EPPPE’ model describes how EPs can use the PRECISE (P) principles in applying their skills in sensitive Programming (P) within a school community’s cognitive Ecological (E) context to support anxious children in targeted intervention.