This study explores the identity of Higher Education Lecturers in UK Further Education Colleges [HE in FE]. This sector accounts for 8-10% of HE and offers cheaper, local options to students than traditional HE, supporting successive governments’ targets to Widen Participation [WP] and increase skills (Simmons and Lea, 2013). The HE White Paper (DBIS, 2016) suggests continued growth in this area. However, HE in FE may be perpetuating macro-level inequality (Avis and Orr, 2016) and there are calls for HE in FE to be re-defined and raised in profile (Bathmaker, 2016). Lecturer identity is considered to be significant for emergent student identity (Ashwin, 2009), yet little is known about the background and identity of HE in FE lecturers (Kadi-Hanifi and Elliott, 2016). This research contributes to original knowledge by revealing experiences in background, practices, and relationships, in relation to identity, and it considers potential links to pedagogy. The qualitative methodology is informed by phenomenology (Smith et al. 2009) and a ‘diagram’ for teacher identity work (Clarke, 2009). Social-constructionist arguments that teachers engage in struggles and create discourses which become realities are central. Thirteen lecturers, from five institutions in North-West England, participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. A methodological contribution of this study is the development of a new framework, offering a structured approach for lecturer identity studies. This study finds participants are fulfilled by working with WP FE students, which these lecturers once were. The lecturers are complicit in creating demanding students, despite struggles with the subsequent workload. There is little motivation to engage in research activity, because it is not rewarded in the FE environment. However, lecturers develop confidence, gain autonomy, and position themselves in order to maintain their coveted degree of freedom. They challenge traditional academic stereotypes, broadening the scope for academic identity (Clegg, 2008).

Social anxieties surrounding the perceived deviancy of young people both within their communities and the education system have been continually reconstructed, over the past century. Burgeoning contemporary media representations and government policies which specifically draw upon the notion of an underclass (Murray: 1990) are in interplay and exacerbate public fears. Increasingly under neo-liberalism, state governance and disciplinary powers are aimed specifically at working class youth. Whilst there have been recent accounts of working-class stigmatisation through analysis of dominant discourses in political debate, policy and media, there is limited research which investigates the extent to which these representations affect the everyday lived experiences of the people to which they refer. This thesis, based on emergent themes fom ethnographic research on the 'streets' and within a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) asse1ts that working class youths lived experience is increasingly framed by stigmatising discourses of inherited cultural deficiencies. The resources that young people draw upon in response to this experienced stigma result in further governance, regulation and restriction. Both within educational institutions and in their contested use of public and community space, young people's self-identifications, are hampered by a frustrated desire to 'belong' within communities and institutions which categorise them as deviant. The thesis focuses on the PRU as a Total Institution (Goffman: 1961), the terminus for youth moved across educational spheres and considers the meaning making of working class youth subject to policy intervention. It analyses young people's everyday experiences of marginalisation and stigmatisation focusing in on tensions that arise between young people and those policing their exile. Finally, it is suggested that young people's negotiation, contestation and reaction to the problematic discourse surrounding them, impact and affect not only their social interactions but life chances and opportunities, reflecting previous findings of cultural and social reproductions (Willis: 1977).

In June 2002 the Department of Health upgraded social work training in England, resulting in the Diploma in Social Work being replaced by a new undergraduate and masters’ level qualification. The requirements outlined for the new degree in social work included the provision that programmes approved to provide the new training had to involve representatives of stakeholders, particularly service users and carers, in the selection of new students (DoH 2002). This thesis investigates the tensions implicit in this policy from the perspective of service users and carers involved in recruitment to one university between 2002 and 2005. To this end, a critical theoretical framework was employed, which recognised the importance of power relationships within the field of study. This framework draws on the work of Bourdieu, Abbott and Foucault, and incorporates feminist and critical theory, in order to conceptualise the issues raised by the study. The intended outcomes of involvement in recruitment were unclear, in contrast to the case of involvement in social work education and practice. However, the policy of involvement in recruitment exemplified various tensions in service user and carer involvement in general, which the study sought to clarify. Service users were required to operate within a cultural context that they had little part in shaping, and this tended to reinforce the asymmetrical distribution of power which is seen as characterising relationships between professionals and those who use their services. Nonetheless, there were no disagreements reported between service users, carers, agency representatives and academic staff regarding the suitability, or otherwise, of individual candidates. Service users and carers looked for candidates who were trustworthy, anti-discriminatory and could relate to service users and carers – attributes which academic staff also valued. Despite appearing beneficial to service users and carers and therefore, by default, social work within this University, the policy of involving service users and carers in admissions was not as beneficial as it appeared. It could disadvantage some service users and carers financially. The policy does not specify what service users and carers can contribute to the admissions process, and the policy can be conceptualised as one that assumes social work educators are inept at choosing social work trainees, despite the lack of evidence that this is the case. This can, in turn, be seen as both contributing to a negative discourse regarding social work, and as a means by which a more regulatory role by the State can be justified. This more duty-based role for social work, I have argued, can be at the expense of a more altruistic approach to assisting vulnerable people, which was so valued by participants.

This thesis mainly analyses the trainee teachers’ reasons for choosing the teaching profession, the problems faced by them, perceptions about the role of a teacher and views about the status of the teaching profession in Pakistan. This study considered both trainee teachers and teacher trainers from a Teacher Training Institute, to examine the reasons for choosing the teaching profession in Pakistan. To seek the answer to the research questions of this study, grounded theory procedures are used to explore the views of participants and to provide an in-depth understanding in a particular context. In this research study, the research data are collected from three groups of participants by conducting one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions. On the basis of the views of research participants, four major research categories are established and under each research category different sub categories are formed. It is reflected in the findings of this study that trainee teachers face many problems and difficulties in the Teacher Training Institute. Data analysis indicates the teaching profession is often associated with low achievers and poor people. It is also considered a respected profession and trainee teachers have a desire to bring positive changes to Pakistani society by adopting the teaching profession. Furthermore, teachers have a significant role in Pakistani society as there are very high expectations of a teacher; and many good qualities, roles and responsibilities are associated with a teacher. The results of this study indicate there is a great influence from the social, cultural and religious norms of Pakistani society on the participants' perceptions and understanding about the different aspects of this study.

This study explores the practices of higher education (HE) tutors in blended learning contexts. Their skills, qualities and competences, particularly emotional competences, are investigated. There is limited research into the personal qualities that students value in their tutors within blended learning contexts, and this study takes steps to address this gap. Students’ perceptions of their tutors are explored focusing on those taking vocationally relevant part-time degrees. A mixed methods approach was adopted to conduct a detailed exploration of eight tutors’ practice in relation to blended learning with data gathered from four principal sources. The study used the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) to assess tutors’ emotional intelligence scores and results were compared to their learners’ perceptions of quality, assessed using an attitude survey. Interviews with tutors explored their approaches to delivery and considered factors that impacted on quality. Analysis of virtual learning environment content and communications provided insight into tutor online practice. The study proposes a conceptual framework for understanding the data generated in the form of a model of the observed tutor beliefs and practices. This represents an interpretation of effective practice in a particular cultural context and this framework may also be useful in understanding other instances of blended learning. The study concludes that tutor emotional competences are important in learner perceptions of quality, although the MSCEIT’s utility in identifying effective tutors is called into question. A number of recommendations for tutor training are provided together with factors for HE institutions to consider when delivering blended learning courses. In particular, the study indicates that integrating social constructivist approaches effectively is challenging for tutors using online media. The critical importance of developing tutor/learner relationships throughout courses is recognised as a key component of practice within blended learning.

In the last decade entertainment-education has emerged as a key educational approach to promoting personal and social change amongst the general population in mass media contexts such as radio and television. Audiences of entertainment-education are commonly presented with educational messages embedded in soap-opera style dramas that are designed to prompt individuals to explore their values and beliefs and make positive choices about their actions and behaviours. Its use with learners in higher education is however limited and there is a paucity of research regarding its transferability to the online learning environment. In order to understand how nurses learn through online entertainment-education in the higher education context I interviewed nine registered nurses who had studied in these circumstances using Interview Plus technique. The interviews were taped, transcribed and subsequently analysed using Smith and Osborne’s (2003) steps for Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Parasocial learning emerged from nurse learners’ experience of entertainment-education as an active, reflective response to an emotional encounter between a nurse learner and an online character. It promoted changes in nurse learners’ attitudes leading them to act as change agents in the clinical environment. Alternatively nurse learners engaged in monophonic learning. This unilateral approach appeared lead to a reduction in their communicative capacity and their sense of therapeutic agency. The online learning environment appeared to enhance the experience of learning through entertainment-education by facilitating social support for learning. Nurse learners were able to increase their social capital through online social networking; a sense of identity concealment in the form of a virtual mask appeared to liberate them to participate. Some nurse learners however seemed to experience a sense of identity revelation in the form of a virtual window which inhibited their willingness to contribute. By promoting parasocial learning it seems entertainment-education has the potential to enrich the nursing curriculum. It places the patient voice at the centre of the educational experience and stimulates nurse learners to shape care. It seems entertainment-education can be usefully adopted in higher education with nurse learners. The online learning environment appears to be an appropriate media for learning through-entertainment-education. It affords an increase in social capital through meaningful social interaction and promotes freedom to participate through a sense of identity concealment. As liberation through identity concealment was not a universal experience approaches to identity concealment/revelation would need to be carefully considered. Monophonic learning emerged as an alternative experience of learning through entertainment-education. As the factors that influence the adoption of monophonic learning remain unclear they would benefit from further exploration.

The main purpose of this study is to explore the reasons for students' weaknesses in grammar at Jordanian schools, taking as an example the upper basic stage (ages 14-16 years) in the Al-karak district. The study consists of nine chapters; the first three chapters explain the background and context of the study, the teaching of Arabic grammar in Jordan and the heart of the problem together with an outline of previous research. The fourth chapter explains the methodology and procedures of the study. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth chapters present the findings of the study and a discussion of the findings. And finally the ninth chapter is the conclusion and recommendations of the study. This chapter points out that some further research is needed in the area of grammar learning and teaching. The methods of data collection were the questionnaire and interview. One questionnaire was developed, directed to the teachers of Arabic and the students of the upper basic stage (eighth, ninth and tenth grades). The interviews were conducted with teachers of Arabic, students and the education supervisors. The sample of the questionnaire was 700 students and 135 teachers. The sample of the interview was 10 teachers, 15 students who were selected upon their willingness to be interviewed. 7 education supervisors who form the whole population were also interviewed. The collected data was analysed based on the frequencies and percentages of the responses. They showed several reasons for students' weaknesses in grammar which attracted high percentages of the participants' acceptance. For instance, 70 per cent of students considered the unavailability of audiovisual aids one of the reasons for their weaknesses in grammar. About half (58.6 per cent) of the students considered the lack of standard Arabic being used by the teachers of other subjects as one of the reasons for the weaknesses. From the teachers' point of view, two reasons attracted the vast majority (89.6 per cent) of their agreement. The first one was students' belief that the formal assessment for students' achievement is lenient. The second one was the lack of previous knowledge of grammar amongst students. The next strong reason for the weaknesses was students' belief that grammar is difficult to understand. Students' carelessness with previous preparation for grammar lessons was also considered one of the strong reasons for the weaknesses in grammar. Education supervisors emphasised that the procedures of teachers appointments are not based on the criteria of teachers' quality and that makes it possible to nominate some teachers who are not able to teach grammar successfully. They also blamed the lack of effective preparation for grammar lessons by the teachers. The supervisors stressed the teachers' weaknesses in grammar. There were many other more subtle reasons for the students' problems which are discussed in depth. The study came up with several recommendations to develop grammar teaching in Jordan as well as some further research related to this study. The original contribution of this study is the combination between the perceptions of students, teachers and education supervisors which enriches the data. It also discussed the procedures of teachers' appointing as one of the issues most neglected by most of the previous studies.

This thesis explores the early experiences of online teaching of a group of tutors employed by a UK post-1992 University, to tutor a group of students in an online module. Using qualitative case study methodology, and drawing on the theories of Communities of Practice, Learning Cultures and Community of Inquiry, this research reveals that for most of the case-study tutors, teaching online was very different from their normal teaching practice, and some of these tutors were very anxious about the changes. Most of the tutors spoke about teaching online in terms of a deficit model, seeing it as deficient in relation to face-to-face teaching, and often tried to replicate face-to-face teaching practices online. The majority of tutors reported that the aspects they valued about teaching were missing from the online environment, such as nonverbal communication and the dynamics of a live classroom situation. Issues for the case-study tutors included building relationships with students online, time management and workload, and factors relating to role and identity. The research also reveals the importance of peer support in the transition to online teaching, and the value of tutors having experience of being an online student themselves. In addition, the study identifies the strengths and limitations of Communities of Practice and the other theoretical models used when applying them to tutors’ early experiences of teaching online.

The expansion of higher education (HE) in England has seen the rise of alternative higher level qualifications and pathways such as the sub-degree qualification - the foundation degree, which are commonly delivered in further education colleges, also known as Higher Vocational Education (HIVE). These developments are part of the widening participation agenda to increase participation in HE of traditionally underrepresented groups. Higher Vocational Education is often seen as a viable alternative to university HE and typically attracts students with vocational and non-traditional entry qualifications, such as mature students. Mature students as participants of HIVE is a relatively under researched area therefore this thesis sought to understand why mature students participate in HIVE in FE colleges. In addition, the thesis also aimed to understand how mature students understood and experienced HE and FE practices in institutions that are predominantly concerned with delivering FE provision. Relatedly, understandings of the effect of participation in HE on the identity of mature students in the context of an FE college were explored. In order to do this, an inductive approach to data generation was taken. A multiple case study was conducted of seven mature students studying HIVE at a medium sized further education college in the north of England. Informal interviews and participant observation field notes of eight mature students were conducted. Documents of focus groups that were held with their cohorts throughout the academic year 2013-14 were also used to construct the case studies. Cross-case analyses were conducted thematically using a priori themes of HE and FE practices such as independent learning, critical thinking and collective learning. However, during the analysis more nuanced and complex themes of resistance emerged such as self-exclusion and ‘othering’ of FE culture. Using theories of resistance (Giroux, 1983/2001), these different understandings were explored by capturing the ways in which the students resisted practices at the HIVE/FE interface. The thesis argues that in terms of participation, mature students are somewhat (self) diverted to this particular type of HE in spite of their understanding of its relative position in the HE sector. However, rather than blindly accepting this position, the mature students exercised agency during their experience with a view to creating parity of esteem with more traditional types of HE. Unlike studies that problematize transitions for certain types of students, it appears that the struggles these students faced were trying to engage in HE practices against the backdrop of an FE culture. The development of a distinctly ‘HE’ identity by the mature students can therefore be seen to constitute a HE counter culture to the predominantly FE culture of the College which goes some way towards shaping the (often competing) HE and FE cultures within the College. However, in some cases this HE counter culture within the dominant FE culture served to reinforce the disparity of esteem between HE and FE from within. Whilst embracing a HE culture may have transformative effects for the individuals, the footprint they leave behind drives a further wedge between HE and FE as equally valuable forms of lifelong learning.

One route to becoming a qualified teacher in England is to complete a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. The first obstacle for these potential teachers is to be successfully selected onto a course. The potential teachers need to possess the appropriate personal and intellectual qualities required to become teachers. This study has sought to uncover how the gatekeepers to the teaching profession- the subject tutors and practising teachers involved in the selection process make the decisions as to whether a potential teacher has these appropriate personal qualities. The study considered what the potential teachers own construct of a teacher was, as they arrived for the selection interview. It explored what the practising teachers and subject tutors consider as appropriate qualities for these potential teachers. This research used grounded theory as the methodology for exploring how these potential teachers are selected onto an Initial Teacher Education programme. The analysis of the research has led to five emerging themes and a possible model to illustrate how the subject tutors and teachers select these potential teachers. The research highlights that the subject tutor interviews are semi structured in nature. It suggests that subject tutors expect these potential teachers to exhibit some evidence of six groups of ‘qualities’. These include; personal qualities (including the ability to reflect on their own development), subject knowledge for teaching, enthusiasm for the subject, experiences of observing or working with pupils, some knowledge of schools settings and some knowledge of the teaching profession. The practising teachers similarly expect potential teachers to have, personal qualities, vocational qualities, some knowledge of their subject and some knowledge of teaching. The research suggests that there is congruence between what the gatekeepers to the teaching profession often refer to as their ‘gut feelings’ about the potential teachers and the qualities referred to in research studies. This may give the gatekeepers greater confidence that their professional judgements are secure, and that ‘gut feelings’ masquerading as professional judgment can be relied upon!