This thesis is based on practitioner and action research by the author. A series of iterative case studies identified factors that contributed towards a group of low ability and disaffected pupils being engaged in learning in design and technology. The findings of each case study were analysed and conclusions used to frame the subsequent case study. Findings from these case studies were then used to develop an action research project. Discussion of the relationship between pupils' perceived relevance of an activity and their levels of engagement has appeared on the UK educational agenda, (Ofsted 2005:51-52, Davies et al, 2004:147, Daniels et al 1998:5.5, Denton, 1992), but not with the frequency which might be expected. Initial research at the school found that a group of low ability and disaffected pupils had a very positive perception of the “relevance” of design and technology. In contrast the literature reviewed suggested that pupils in their samples had a low perception of the “relevance” of design and technology. Qualitative methodology was used. This included interviewing teachers and pupils and the development of a semi-structured interview schedule. Analysis of this data was aided by the use of a Likert, (1932) rating scale. A "summated" scale, Trochim, (2006) supported the interpretation of data. Observations were used to record classroom interactions. A Delphi group (Toffler, 1970:462) explored issues emerging during the research and to limit the danger of single observer bias. Pupil understanding of the term “relevance” was explored. The findings identified strategies employed to promote the relevance of the subject. These strategies were developed into an action research project that tested the strategies in three other schools. One school, with a relatively inexperienced teacher, found the strategies had a positive impact on teaching and learning.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION PENNSYLVANIA’S LOYALISTS AND DISAFFECTED IN THE AGE OF REVOLUTION: DEFINING THE TERRAIN OF REINTEGRATION, 1765-1800 by René José Silva Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Kirsten Wood, Major Professor This study examines the reintegration of loyalists and disaffected residents in Pennsylvania who opposed the American Revolution from the Stamp Act crisis in 1765 through the Age of Federalism in 1790s. The inquiry argues that postwar loyalist reintegration in Pennsylvania succeeded because of the attitudes, behavior, actions and contributions of both disaffected residents and patriot citizens. The focus is chiefly on the legal battle over citizenship, especially the responses of the disaffected to patriot legislative measures such as treason, oaths of allegiance, attainders, confiscation, and militia service laws that revolutionaries employed to sanction dissent in the state. Loyalists and the disaffected contributed to their own successful reintegration in three ways. First, the departure of loyalist militants at the British evacuation of occupied Philadelphia in June 1778 and later substantially lessened internal political tensions associated with the rebellion. Second, the overwhelming majority of the disaffected who stayed in Pennsylvania adopted non-threatening attitudes and behaviors towards republican rule. And third, the disaffected who remained ultimately chose to embrace the new republican form of government they had earlier resisted. Patriots contributed to the successful reintegration of the disaffected chiefly through the outcome of the factional struggle for internal political supremacy between revolutionary radicals and moderates. Pennsylvania radicals used the rule of law to deny citizenship to opponents of the Revolution and pushed for their permanent exclusion from the body politic. Moderates favored a reincorporation of those who had not supported the rebellion, utilizing the law to foster inclusion. Moderate electoral victories in the decade of the 1780s led to solid majorities in the state assembly that rescinded all repressive measures against former opponents, in particular the 1789 repeal of the Test Act of 1777. The analysis stresses the activities of loyalists and the disaffected, exploring elite loyalist militants such as Joseph Galloway and the sons of Chief Justice William Allen; ordinary loyalist militants like John Connolly and the Rankin brothers of York County; Quaker pacifists such as the Pemberton siblings; loyalists whom patriots perceived as defiant, such as the Doan guerrilla gang and British collaborators Abraham Carlisle and John Roberts; and the Penn family proprietors. Each of these protagonists epitomized a particular strain of loyalism or disaffection in Pennsylvania, ranging from armed resistance to pacifism. Reintegration experiences and outcomes are therefore assessed in relation to these Pennsylvanians’ conduct before, during, and after the Revolutionary War.