The purpose of this research is to gain insight into how school principals make sense of and promote social justice in their schools in South Africa. Underpinned by the ontological view that knowledge of the world comes from many perspectives, and set within the interpretive, constructionist paradigms, this qualitative study explores seven principals’ attempts to promote social justice. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews with principals and staff members from schools in both the public and independent sectors. The findings reveal the principals’ interpretation of social justice. They also identify those frameworks of leadership which when applied by principals,appear to support social justice better. The thesis argues that principals’ efforts to promote social justice are constrained by government policies and further compounded by the lack of capacity, in terms of individuals’ ability and understanding, at a National or Provincial level. It is also argued that the community within which the school is positioned significantly influences the principals’ attempts to promote social justice. It was also evident that the principals have interpreted and reinterpreted social and cultural justice in light of the context within which their school is positioned. The conclusion is that despite principals’ attempts to promote social justice, both the school context and external political and economic factors significantly constrain their success. Hence education in South Africa continues to struggle to deliver social justice to the majority of learners. This research contributes to the limited literature on leadership in So uth Africa and provides a voice for school leaders to identify the reality they face, rather than expressing the rhetoric of the government.

In order to provide effective and sustained support for university managers as they learn to manage, more needs to be found out about the critical factors which underpin this process. Presenting the findings from an initial exploratory study within one institution, this thesis examines the perceptions of university managers, both academic and professional support, of how they learn within their roles. Although the study draws initially on HE based research, findings from the wider fields of management learning, professional learning and sensemaking are also incorporated as a means of recognising and then analysing the divergent factors affecting how managers learn to manage. To examine their perceptions, a series of semistructured interviews is undertaken with a purposive sample of twenty-four university managers from a range of academic and professional support roles. These interviews are supplemented by a follow-up study with four of these managers, all relatively new into their current senior posts, an interview with a member of the Executive Team, an analysis of selected institutional strategic plans, and the completion of reflective journals by five of the original group of managers. The interview transcripts are initially deconstructed using Weick's (1995) seven characteristics of sense making, and then further analysed through the lens of the integrated conceptual framework, enabling a systematic examination of the data. The evidence collated suggests that these managers are 'learning to make sense of a number of different issues such as their changing identities, the complexity within their roles, the institutional context in which they work and the expectations on them from others. Furthermore, to understand how university managers learn involves a paradigm shift which acknowledges that this process is no longer a formal acquisition ion of skills or knowledge set within a structured classroom environment. Instead it is a complex, multi-faceted and amorphous process, grounded in workplace tasks and impacted upon by the words and actions of others. Responding to the changing context of both the institution and the HE sector, this process of learning is constantly evolving, and, due to the differing characteristics of each individual manager, the way they interpret and make sense of it varies. In essence, this study offers the opportunity to rethink the way university managers learn, and questions the efficacy of conventional management development programmes to effectively support this process.

Higher Education in the UK appears to be in a state of flux with ever changing policy for the recruitment and funding of home and EU students. As the market becomes more competitive the recruitment of international students studying specialist Master’s programmes is expanding, introducing greater variability into the educational supply chain. This study has investigated the factors affecting academic success, and reviewed recruitment from a supply chain perspective. The study has then focused on the importance of having the required underpinning knowledge to study on specialist Master’s programmes in achieving academic success. A quantitative methods approach has been adopted, aligned with a realist ontology and positivist epistemology to carry out the investigation. The current criteria used for entry to the programmes at Northumbria were compared with similar HEIs. Expert opinion was used to determine the underpinning knowledge students were expected to have when enrolling on to specialist Master’s programmes and this was verified on newly enrolled post graduate students through the survey method using a test. The results were then used to identify variations in underpinning knowledge in the educational supply chain and investigate the use of a model to predict academic success. The criteria for entry to specialist Master’s programmes was identified as having varying levels of both English and academic qualifications. The level of underpinning knowledge known by graduating Northumbria undergraduate and enrolling international postgraduate students was found to be similar and can be linked to academic success. This study has contributed to knowledge by confirming that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between underpinning knowledge and academic success. A contribution to practice has been made by using supply chain theory to identify the variation in student underpinning knowledge entering the educational supply chain and providing a test that can be used to predict academic success.

The current study investigated e-Learning acceptance, adoption and implementation in the Egyptian higher education. The study also explored the attitudes and perceptions towards the acceptance and readiness for e-Learning from a variety of perspectives. The degree of meeting local needs and the main factors of improvement that e-Learning could provide to the Egyptian higher education sector are also investigated. The study achieved its aim through answering the following research questions: 1. What are the various stakeholder perspectives regarding e-Learning adoption in Egypt? 2. What are the opportunities for improving Higher Education in Egypt through the adoption of e-Learning programmes? A pragmatic research approach using mixed methods with a range of stakeholders was employed. The investigations included higher education students, employers, academics and government representatives from both public and private sectors. Investigations were conducted in two cities; Cairo and Alexandria. A total of 398 higher education students were surveyed through structured questionnaires. Two separate questionnaire forms were designed to investigate on-campus higher education students, as well as e-Learning higher education students. Quantitative data was analysed through a range of statistical techniques: patterns of frequencies were used to allow the comparison between students groups, median calculations to determine the range of opinions towards e-Learning adoption criteria, besides correlation and regression analysis to determine the strength and shape of relations between the main variables the study intended to investigate. Twenty four semi-structured interviews were conducted with a range of stakeholders that include academics, employers and higher education government representatives. Interviews were interpretively analysed through the deriving of common themes from each group of stakeholders highlighting the differences and similarities found between investigated groups. The contribution to knowledge presented in this research work emerged from the development of a conceptual framework that bridges the gap between societal acceptance and the adoption of e-Learning in Egyptian universities. Although the investigation has one country in focus, but still the analytical methodological framework could be generalised. The research identified the following: - main factors that affect e-Learning adoption; - potential obstacles faced by online degree holders in Egypt; - the role of organisational culture in e-Learning adoption, as determined by the perspective of academics, employers, government authorities and students at public, private and e-Learning universities.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a contested academic discipline and professional space, in which mid‐career entry is not uncommon, and where study and professional membership are often key to career advancement. Subsequently, engagement with study while working full‐time occurs frequently, commonly at postgraduate level. However, understanding of the student‐practitioner experience is limited due to recognised gaps around research of part‐time, taught postgraduate and mature student experience. This is an odd omission given that it represents a potential growth area following recent funding changes. This study explores these experiences in the context of constellations and landscapes of practice, focussing on issues of social identity theory and academic literacies within them. Utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore reflective accounts of the lived experiences of five practitioner‐students in one Higher Education (H.E.) Institution, the study used an innovative focus group approach, combined with semi‐structured interviews. Analysis was conducted through the development of case vignettes alongside thematic analysis supported through NVivo. For all participants studying occurred during career transition, with studying for additional qualifications intended to validate this transfer. However, in the wider personal context of career and family, study had significant impacts, with complex negotiations involved around obligations to family and employers. Participants legitimised their membership of HRM communities though their wider practice experience. Practice experience was also used to delineate between other members of both their academic and practice communities, with individuals who demonstrated experience given preference. Participants’ experience of education was characterised by comparisons between academic and practice communities, and negotiation of the boundaries between them was constant. Strength of practitioner identity affected alignment and approaches to studying. Engagement with discourse was also heavily influenced by dominant practitioner discourse patterns. This study offers insight into particular experiences of H.E. which may align to other niche student cohorts, and contributes to closing the gap around knowledge of part‐time, postgraduate and mature student experiences. It further adds to knowledge of communities of practice, constellations and landscapes and maps an example. It provides insight into how such students negotiate academic discourse engagement, and the impact balancing study with employment has on approaches to learning. Lastly, it applies this understanding to the support of practitioner‐students learning across academic‐practice boundaries, making recommendations to those facilitating these experiences.

The education of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners within Higher Education (HE) is controversial, and has attracted criticism from various quarters, yet little is known about the impact of such courses upon CAM practitioners or upon the CAM profession. A programme of online MSc courses for CAM practitioners delivered by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) offered an opportunity to explore this topic further. A case study approach using focus group and semi-structured interviews with teaching staff and graduates from the courses facilitated the generation of rich, thick data describing how CAM practitioners’ professional lives were influenced by their studies, their experience of the course and achievement of a master’s degree. Three key aspects of professional lives were selected as analytic categories, namely: professional identity, practice, and the wider CAM community of practice. This research contributes to an understanding of the impact of the dominant critical discourse relating to the use of CAM therapies and the provision of HE courses in CAM, in addition to providing valuable insights into qualified CAM practitioners’ negotiation of their professional identity in the contested CAM landscape. All participants had been affected by criticisms of CAM, leading in several cases to a devaluation and stigmatisation of their professional identity. Yet graduate participants perceived the influence of their studies and achievement of a recognised academic qualification as immensely beneficial leading to both personal and professional validation. The overall finding from this research is that study and subsequent qualification at MSc level in international online cohorts may be seen to have had a profound influence upon the CAM professionals participating in this study. There is evidence of an impact on MSc graduate participants’ frames of reference, identity, professional identity, practice, and participation in their community of practice; in addition to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in critical thinking and research. For the graduate participants in this research the experience of their MSc studies has been a transformative one. The concept of transformative learning (TL) was developed by Jack Mezirow in 1978 and has been further expanded upon by Knud Illeris. Mezirow defines TL as learning which transforms the meaning perspectives or frames of reference by which we understand the world, while Illeris proposes that TL also has an impact on identity. A contribution to the pedagogy of TL may be found in the formulation and utilisation of the analytic categories of professional identity, practice, and community of practice, which offer a new approach for researching TL in professional and/or vocational groups. This study also demonstrates that e-learning programmes can offer opportunities for transformative learning and adds to the call for an appreciation of the potential of e-learning to deliver profound and meaningful learning experiences.

The purpose of this research is to add to the teacher effectiveness research paradigm by furthering understanding about how teachers promote student learning and achievement in mathematics. Across the teacher effectiveness paradigm, there has been a great deal of research that quantitatively measures the value added by teachers to student achievement on standardised tests. However, there is a current under-representation of the voices of teachers about how and why certain factors promote student achievement in mathematics. Therefore, in order to address the complexity of the teaching and learning process, this mixed methods study draws upon secondary TIMSS 2011 data, as well as qualitative interview data from fourth class teachers in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Results from this study highlight qualitative teacher insights as an essential tool for understanding the complex process through which teacher-related factors influence student learning and achievement in mathematics. Several factors which were perceived to promote student achievement on fourth class standardised mathematics tests were revealed. These factors include promoting constant revision of mathematics concepts, engaging in a collaborative staff strategic plan for assessing and addressing student underachievement on standardised tests, communicating a strong positive attitude towards mathematics to students, and holding consecutive years of experience at the same grade level. In addition, teacher insights were instrumental for understanding TIMSS score differences between Ireland and Northern Ireland. These findings suggest that researchers within the teacher effectiveness paradigm, as well as educational policymakers, should recognise teachers as experts regarding the teaching and learning process and include their insights in future studies through use of qualitative methodology. Furthermore, quantitative teacher effectiveness studies should consider including qualitative teacher insights in order to gain a deeper understanding of quantitative findings.

This thesis investigated influences on primary school deputy-principals’ motivations to apply for principalship in the early twenty-first century in the Irish Republic. This required the exploration of both principals’ and deputy-principals’ roles in management and leadership to discover how better to prepare deputies to continue to the principalship. The research approach sat firmly within the qualitative paradigm, using semi-structured interviews with twelve primary deputy-principals exploring their construction of deputyship and principalship from their professional socialisation experiences. Findings revealed the complex relationship which exists between both roles and the extent to which the pervading school culture determines how much meaningful leadership opportunity is distributed beyond the principal. A major outcome of the study is a constructed knowledge of the nature and culture of Irish primary deputyship. Three new typologies of deputy-principalship provide a new perspective on the deputyship role, concluding that the gap in experiences and knowledge between deputyship and principalship is so great that energy should flow into the formation of formal, planned and structured preparation for a deputyship transition into principalship.

Transitioning from GCSE to ‘A’ level, students struggle emotionally and academically to meet the requirements of ‘A’ level study, drop out and fail (Hall, 2003; DfES, 2011a). The OECD (2003) found that post-16 learners rarely know how to learn on their own whereas effective learners have a positive academic self-concept related to higher attainment (Marsh, 2007). This study followed transitioning students working either collaboratively or alone asking what happens when a transitional intervention is used, such as a collaborative learning strategy, with students studying psychology and ethics for the first time and is there any impact on their academic self-concept and attainment? Rooted in a social constructivist paradigm, a mixed method, 9-month study followed 73 learners in their first 12 weeks of an ‘A’ level programme. Students chose one of three groups; a group guided by a more knowledgeable peer, dyadic pairs or alone. A concurrent triangulation strategy was employed to quantitatively and qualitatively assess students’ transitional experiences. Qualitative data revealed students valued a collaborative strategy. They felt a significant emotional attachment to their peers, which aided academic confidence and understanding. Dovetailed with quantitative data all three contexts showed increased academic self-concept correlated positively with increase in ALIS expected grades (r= +0.299). Emerging themes were the importance of choice of study group, the need for fun, that collaboration stabilised students’ emotional wellbeing, students developed a positive regard for others, an increased positive social identity and improved academic self-concept. Findings illustrate schools can facilitate students’ transition, protect them from isolation, boost their emotional wellbeing, and support their academic confidence, not only increasing their academic attainment but preparing them for life-long learning. This research is not only of value to students but also to teachers, headteachers and governors as well as academics and leaders of further education who lobby for more resilient, competent and buoyant learners.

Nowadays, marketing activities of HE institutions are increasingly important as they operate within their competitive and regulated environment. HE institutions have borrowed service industrial concepts to focus on the services they provide to students. They need to identify and implement tools to further understanding of the issues that impact on students' experiences. Apart from, focussing specifically on the learning experience in the sense of formal learning (where most of the past research has concentrated on), studies have also shown that support services are just as important in influencing students' learning experience. Hence, one of the support services, programme administration (PA) has become increasingly important due to the diversity of programmes offered and it contributes to the learning experience of students as well as indirectly impacting upon institutions' competitiveness. In order to enhance the learning experience of students and to manage the service encounter between students and programme leaders (PLs), it is argued that there must be an understanding of the service encounter behaviour (SEB) of the interacting parties and more importantly from a dyadic perspective since a service encounter is a two-way interpretive process. Thus, this research is set in the HE context, focussing particularly in PA, exploring the SEB (the situational definition and situational roles) of student-PL from a dyadic perspective (from student's and employee's perspective) to improve the management of service encounters as well as to enhance the learning experience of students. The conceptual framework is based on Czepiel et al. (1985) concept of a service encounter emphasising that it is purposeful where tasks need to be completed within a set of rules constrained by the nature of service and the behaviour bounded by roles assumed by the interacting parties. To manage a service encounter, the SEB of the interacting parties needs to be understood and from a dyadic perspective paying attention to roles represented by each participant. This research has borrowed literature from the social psychology discipline i.e. Mead (1934) SI perspective of role and McHugh's (1968) situational definition to further understanding of the dynamism of interactions to gain further understanding of the SEB (role expectations and role response of the interacting parties). Taking the social constructionist epistemology, this research seeks to understand the meanings student- PL construct when interacting and how these meaning have led to specific SEB. By adopting the interpretivists' paradigm embedded in symbolic interactionism, the researcher tries to interpret the underlying meaning of students'-PLs' SEB from a dyadic perspective. Qualitative case study methodology is employed using the critical incident technique (CIT) as a method to elicit student-PL experiences in service encounters, helping them to focus on specific situations when recounting their SEB. To make sense of these data, narrative analysis is used to interpret the constructions of students¬PLs in their interactions. The study has included 42 participants (26 students and 16 PLs) from 4 private colleges in Malaysia. It has yielded 63 service encounters categorised into 11 types of service encounter, covering most of the situations where a student would approach their PLs in a typical semester. The findings have indicated that defining a service encounter is significant and is functional in shaping the situational roles to be represented, thereby influencing the outcome of the situation. It has shown that even though service encounters can be similar, different situational roles can lead to different outcomes. These key findings are evidenced in a SEB guide, giving a bundle of possible situational roles in identified service encounters. These outcomes have implications for students, PLs and the management as well as future research.