This research arose from a deep concern regarding the falling numbers of able pupils who choose to study the physical sciences beyond GCSE. The research investigates the impact of the teaching and learning methodologies used in secondary school science on the attitudes and aspirations of able pupils towards the study of science and whether enabling a more autonomous role in the classroom might be beneficial. The mixed-methods research design had two phases. The first phase surveyed year 9 pupils and their science teachers across three comprehensive schools in Staffordshire. The second phase was an action research study involving the researcher working with the science department in a fourth Staffordshire comprehensive school over the following academic year. The findings of the initial phase of the research indicated that able pupils were disaffected with the science education that they received in school. Evidence from this phase of the research suggested that the didactic nature of teaching and learning in the science classroom was partly responsible for failing to inspire the ablest pupils to further study of science. The action research classroom interventions offered more autonomous learning opportunities for able pupils within science lessons. The impact of the action research on the pupils was a reported preference for the ‘ownership of task’ afforded to them in the classroom and an increased uptake of the option to study science at advanced level. The impact on the science teachers was a greater awareness of the importance of how they teach as distinct from what they teach. It supports a constructivist approach to the learning and development of both pupils and teachers, showing that serious reform of teacher initial and continuing education is needed if progress is to be widespread The implications of this research inform the ongoing debate regarding ‘best provision’ for able pupils in science; but a greater significance is that it also informs a model of ‘best provision’ for the urgent continuing professional development of science teachers. This research is particularly relevant to recent government policy on both science education and on the provision for gifted and talented pupils.

In 2006 Spain undertook a programme of building social capital as a means of bolstering social cohesion, trust, democratic values and mutual tolerance in the country. The thesis analyses the attempt by the Spanish government, starting in 2006, to build social capital and the role assigned to Spanish secondary schools. The thesis looks at the formulation of the policy and its subsequent transposing into regional legislation and implementation at the grassroots level. The empirical analysis assesses the policy’s implementation in four secondary schools in two regions-- Aragon and Castile Leon --immediately after the relevant legislation was put into place. Focus of the investigation is on the role that the regions and schools have played in the operationalisation of the national strategy. The thesis hypothesises that in the Spanish case: if the government can provide a well formulated and structured social capital building strategy, then secondary schools will be in a position to operate as effective social capital builders. The “dependent” variable in the thesis is defined as the secondary schools’ capacity to implement the national strategy that is based on six policy pillars. Thus, the basic unit of analysis in the thesis is the individual school and its capacity to carry out the functions stipulated in the national and regional legislation. The “independent” variables represent the components of the institutional and operational context. The study has found differences in the approach adopted by the two regions in the transfer of the national policy to the regional level indicating that it takes time for lower level institutions to fully put into place national policies. Accordingly, changes need to be made in the operationalisation of the six policy pillars as well as in encouraging the schools to become more pro-active in their implementation.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is an umbrella term for the integration of content and second/foreign language learning through different models. As in a continuum, these models range from content-driven to language-driven explorations. Such a broad learning approach may be European in origin and driving aims but its influence has reached other diverse contexts outside Europe. As a teacher-researcher working in collaboration with three colleagues, I investigated the beliefs, motivations, and overall experiences of a group of teachers and learners who adopted an indigenous language-driven CLIL version in a secondary school in southern Argentina. In the year 2009, we started to include curricular content in our EFL lessons. Although these were isolated episodes, I noted the potential of content and language integration and decided to research and improve our own practices through a collaborative action research project from March to November 2011. The action research comprised three cycles over the 2011 school year. Each cycle included three stages: action (teachers developed their materials), intervention (teachers taught with those materials; lessons were audio-recorded) and evaluation (student surveys and group interview with teachers and students). Data analysis focused on a thematic approach using inductive coding as categories emerged from the data themselves. The experience revealed (1) higher levels of motivation and participation among learners and teachers, (2) teachers’ professional development through collaborative materials development and research instruments such as group interviews, (3) a rise in teachers’ autonomy, (4) reconfiguration of teachers’ identity, (5) an interest in combining a grammar-based coursebook with teacher’s materials, (6) the belief that CLIL is an approach to be adopted after students have been exposed to a more traditional language learning approach for a number of years, (7) syllabus negotiation, and (8) the development of teacher-derived principles which may constitute the backbone of CLIL didactic transposition. This action research project indicates that language-driven CLIL experiences need to create spaces for equal participation and autonomy in syllabus planning which includes lessons and materials. Furthermore, CLIL in EFL contexts may offer significant outcomes if contents are truly context-responsive.

This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of educational change in Malaysian Smart Schools on Islamic Education teachers and students. This study is trying to understand all aspects of the change process in Smart Schools and to understand the problems of students and teachers as they endeavour to improve learning and teaching in Smart Schools. Following the implementation of the Smart School pilot projects in the Malaysian secondary schools. this study is aimed at suggesting an approach that can be used to incorporate the use of computers and ICT in Islamic Education by taking into consideration the views. experiences, expectations and needs of the teachers and the students themselves. In examining the new initiative of Smart Schools, a mixed methods design was adopted to gather the data needed from Islamic Education teachers and students. A grounded theory approach was used in the early phase of the study as this approach is suitable for this relatively new field where little research has been done. This research began with an exploratory phase which involved the use of focus groups as a means to gain knowledge of respondents' views, perceptions and attitudes about Smart Schools. The results from the focus group were used as initial data to develop a structured questionnaire for a large survey study in the Smart Schools. The last phase of research involved an in-depth interviewing process to clarify and validate the previous two phases of research. This study found that the use of computers was the core feature of the change phenomenon in Smart Schools. Islamic Education teachers and students were hardly coping with the task of incorporating the use of new technology in their teaching and learning. Many barriers and obstacles in using new technology were reported by Islamic Education teachers and students. The most important barriers identified in this study are the lack of computers and available resources, lack of training, shortage of time and the pressure of a heavy syllabus and examination centred learning. This study also notes the influence of subject culture in determining the use of computer in Islamic Education. This study also suggests some recommendations for the future implementation of Smart Schools throughout Malaysia by year 2010.

This research will examine participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England, and focus on a number of case studies of teaching and learning speaking and listening in a foreign language. The question underpinning my research is: What are participant perceptions about speaking and listening in modern foreign language classes in China and England and their relationship to classroom practices? My chosen research approach is case study because this research seeks to illuminate the perceptions of teachers and learners in China and England about speaking and listening in modern foreign language and relationships between the issues within the topic of my research. For this study I have adopted a multiple case approach which included nine cases of a class, including the teacher, pupils and their perceptions about speaking and listening. In order to address the research questions in this research I used observation, questionnaire and interview to collect my data. This approach enables me to consider both my own observations and the views of the participants. When I was designing this research I did not anticipate that all nine cases would come to fruition. However all of them completed successfully. Therefore this study included 9 cases with a huge data set of 36 lesson observation charts and notes, 790 pupil questionnaires, 10 teacher questionnaires, 9 transcribed group interviews with pupils and 10 transcribed interviews with teachers. The findings of this research indicates that despite the different educational systems in China and England both the teachers and children in Chinese and English schools shared similar beliefs about the learning and teaching of a foreign language, especially speaking and listening. However there were differences between their practice and there was more variation in practice between the English teachers and children than between the Chinese teachers and pupils. Most of the Chinese teachers taught in ways which were substantially similar, but the English teachers taught in very different ways. I believe my results show that this is related to the cultural and educational differences between the two countries, in terms of time, practices of teaching and expectations about pupil activity. Although both Chinese and English teachers demonstrated similar beliefs about modern foreign language teaching and learning, especially speaking and listening, their practices were very different. My findings also suggest that the changing of teachers’ pedagogy played a very important role in changing pupils’ beliefs and their learning outcomes. The case study approach of this research has revealed very different relationships between the beliefs and practices of each teacher and their impact on the children. This research has contributed to the under-researched area of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language by providing a thorough and holistic investigation of the teaching and learning of speaking and listening in a modern foreign language in Chinese and English secondary schools and is, as far as I can tell, the only research so far in this area.

Reading is a powerful tool that could affect the students’ achievement personally and academically. Some researchers suggest that teachers are an important factor in developing students’ reading proficiency and teachers’ cognitions could be an influential factor in their teaching reading practices (Borg, 2006; Harrison, 2004; Anders et al., 2000). This study investigates English language teachers’ cognitions and practices about reading in L2 in the Malaysian context, including identifying the factors that influence their current cognitions and practices. The respondents were twelve English language secondary school teachers who have been teaching in secondary schools, and they ranged from trainees to experienced teachers. The data were obtained through stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews, and related document analysis such as researcher’s field notes and teachers’ lesson plans. The research data showed that generally all of the teachers were positive towards reading. The factors affecting the teachers’ cognitions and practices of teaching L2 reading were identified as their home reading experiences, past learning experiences (in secondary schools and teacher education programmes) and current teaching contexts. However, there is a mismatch between their beliefs and practices. Despite their beliefs that reading is an active process, these teachers taught reading using traditional practices which were passive and mostly teacher-centred, and some teachers cited the teaching context as the most influential factor of their current practices. The findings also showed that whilst the novices and transition teachers’ practices were greatly affected by their teaching context, it also influenced the beliefs of the latter group of teachers. Finally, in order to be constructivist teachers who could facilitate and motivate students’ reading, they should take on the challenges of reconstructing their practices from teacher-centred and passive, to active.

When they first appeared on England’s educational landscape, middle schools held the promise of providing a schooling environment ideally suited to the needs of pre-adolescents. This research aims to assess how far they have fulfilled that promise. As a convenient and cost-effective means of reorganising schooling along comprehensive lines, the number of middle schools steadily increased from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s. Since 1982 their numbers have declined and today they form a small minority of state schools in England. Many of the remaining middle schools are under threat of closure as local authorities opt to reorganise into the more common two-tier schooling system with transfer from primary to secondary school at age 11. Using Dorset County Council’s administrative area as a case study, I examine the educational and social aspects of middle schools for children aged 9-13, and compare these with the equivalent age ranges in the two-tier schooling system. Employing a mixed methods approach, the views of headteachers, teachers, pupils, former pupils, parents and the local authority were collected via questionnaires, an interview and a discussion group. My research uncovered evidence that children in middle schools may receive a less rich educational experience than their counterparts in the two-tier system and overall, middle school participants exhibited a more negative attitude towards the academic side of their schooling experience. These findings were particularly notable among those in the upper two years of middle schools, suggesting that children aged 11 and above would enjoy a superior educational experience in secondary schools. A clear trend was evident for middle school pupils to ‘out-grow’ their middle school as they progressed through the year groups and for many participants the transfer to a new school was well overdue by Year 8. There was little to suggest that children’s social development is better nurtured in a middle school environment, though there were indications that social relationships at the middle school are better than those at secondary schools and that children’s emotional well-being is better supported. I argue that the inception, development and downfall of the middle school has been characterised by a lack of clarity and consistency in its form and identity which has failed to make it robust enough to withstand national shifts in educational policy and pedagogy. The future of the middle school is discussed and I conclude that isolating the pre-adolescent years in a separate schooling unit might not be the best strategy, and argue instead that a recognition of the particular needs of the pre-adolescent should be an inherent part of our education system whatever form or structure our individual schools take on. My research updates our knowledge on what has been an under-researched aspect of England’s education system for many years and, unlike many previous studies, addresses the views of multiple stakeholders and compares the opinions and experiences of those associated with both the two-tier and three-tier schooling systems. It provides a broad-ranging examination of the middle school in the context of its probable eventual disappearance and encourages policy-makers and practitioners to consider the ‘middle years’ above ‘middle schools’.

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In the Preface, the focus is on the word 'standards' itself: the ineradicable human element in marking and the degree to which all marks and grades, particularly in the subject of English, are dependent upon a subjective evaluation of the quality of response - an essential component in the establishment and maintenance of standards. The various implications of the word 'standards' and the ease with with resultant ambiguities can lead the unwary commentator into wholly misleading statements are considered, and a definition is offered to serve as a touchstone for the thesis as a whole. The main body of the thesis is divided into two sections and a conclusion. Section One (containing Chapters 1-3) is largely based upon published writings about education: books, reports and papers issued by Government-appointed Committees and Councils, and officially ratified educational statistics; illustrated where appropriate by my own experience and research into the unpublished archives of Examination Boards. Section Two (containing Chapters 4-6) deals specifically with the development of GCE '0' and 'A' level examinations in English, and is very largely dependent upon my interpretation of evidence derived from examination papers, marking schemes, examiners' reports and candidates' scripts ... The Conclusion is an attempt to provide an answer to the obvious question as to why, if evidence of a widely-alleged decline in standards is as difficult to establish as the previous six chapters suggest, the charge is so widely accepted as proved. To do this it is necessary to see the matter of standards from a broader perspective than a factual focus on examination papers, candidates' scripts, examiners' reports, comparability studies and educational statistics. From the inception of the concept of a state education system there has inevitably been a political dimension to any discussion of standards, and political dimensions equally inevitably tend toward expediency and subjective reaction rather than objective assessment of perceived shortcomings. This is certainly true of the last two decades during which the political dimension has become more overt than ever before, and the gulf between political interpretation of educational achievements and that of the professionals involved has never been wider. It is the contention of the Conclusion that a key to this disparity lies in the history of the development of the National Curriculum, the nature of the political interventions therein, and the indications that these are based upon a consistent philosophy – which elevates knowledge above understanding, 'pencil-and-paper' testing above carefully weighted assessments, results above performance, and which supposes that the reintroduction of selective schools would be an automatic panacea. The Conclusion therefore looks forward beyond the stated 1988 terminal point of the study to examine the developments of the 1990s, and backward beyond the stated starting point of the 1944 Act to examine the reality of grammar school achievement. It is the final contention of this thesis that it is the fallacy and self-deception of the nostalgia for the grammar school tradition which underlies and accounts for the falsity of the claims, about declining standards.

Various skills have been considered quintessential to the scientific method. The need for these skills was highlighted by Armstrong at the beginning of the century and continues to be re-iterated to the present day within the criteria of the National Curriculum. Pupils as scientists are expected to make accurate and meaningful observations; record results from experiments formulated to test hypotheses, controlling all the relevant variables except the one under investigation; identify patterns within the results and recognise anomalies; draw valid conclusions from the data collected and extrapolate from the data to predict further results. These criteria were included in the list of thirty-two teacher assessed skills in domains five and six of the Northern Examination Association, NEA, GCSE Biology Syllabus. This research project endeavoured to test the acquisition of these skills in a large sample of students drawn from a variety of schools in an effort to establish the relative difficulty of the individual skills. The corollation of performance of the skills with a range of factors, including IQ, the influence of gender, school type, and associated subjects they studied was explored. In particular the effect of an exposure to the Warwick Process Science Scheme was investigated to establish whether a transferable long term enhancement resulted. The main body of the research was undertaken on Year ten (4th Year) pupils, the sample being drawn from ten schools of varying types. The work was extended to include both younger and older age groups, to identify the progress made with age in skill acquisition and to investigate whether success in the skills is of predictive value for the final GCSE grades of future 'A'Level achievement. The results indicated a wide variability in degrees of difficulty of the individual skills and a wide range of performance by individual candidates. Success in the skills corollated very closely with IQ, so to eliminate this effect samples cross-matched for IQ were investigated to establish the effect of other variables. Only the study of the three separate sciences and tuition within a selective school proved to have a significant effect on the outcome. Only skill 30 devising three separate hypotheses to explain a complex set of results, had predictive value for GCSE and none were of value for predicting capital 'A'Level success.