The aim of this research is to examine, from children’s perspectives, where bullying exists in their everyday experiences of school. A Foucauldian perspective is used to conceptualise bullying and perceives it as involving power which is fluid and involves struggles between individuals. Different modalities of bullying are examined (between pupils, between teachers and pupils and systemic bullying). This research also investigates different severities of bullying from clear to ‘grey’; and different perspectives and feelings children have. Traditional definitions are challenged which distinguish bullying as a specific form of aggression, experienced by a minority of people. Observations, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with children in five state schools, a private school and a pupil referral unit, 84 children in total were interviewed. This research found that although most children experienced characteristics of bullying such as name-calling and humiliation, which often caused them distress, few children considered it as bullying and no-one referred to themselves as a bully. Teachers were subject to powers of normalisation and panopticism where they were under surveillance to ensure children conformed to education norms. Although bullying was found to be multi-causal, a particular finding in this thesis is the role played by boredom. Working-class boys with learning difficulties were particularly under ‘the gaze’ and increasingly targeted for punishment, which usually increased their boredom. Some of these children wanted revenge and engaged in bullying. Because they often felt increasingly targeted for punishment, they also experienced bullying by teachers and systemic bullying. Another reason children bully is to be popular and exercise social power over others. This research is an original contribution to knowledge because of its complex and multi-faceted understanding of bullying. These findings have wider resonance and are likely to apply where these processes occur, for example, in other schools.

There has been increasing interest in occupational stress during the last two decades. While studies have been carried out in developed countries, few have been conducted in developing countries, particularly in the field of education. Since 1970s, the topic of teacher stress has generated more interest among researchers who initially studied stress in teachers in different school settings all around the world. This research study was necessitated by a general lack of knowledge about teacher stress in general, and stress in Tawjihi teachers, particularly in Jordan. The study was conducted with Tawjihi teachers (12th grade), in the city of Karak, Jordan to explore levels of stress and the main sources of stress. It also explored coping strategies adopted by them and actions that should be taken by schools and the MOE to reduce teacher stress. This research consisted of two phases. Phase one was a survey using a self-administered questionnaire involving a sample of 513 Tawjihi teachers (229 male teachers and 284 female teachers), where 314 Tawjihi teachers replied to the questionnaire with a response rate of 73.68%. Phase two was a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews based on an open-ended interview schedule. Twelve Twajihi teachers, as well as sixteen other education staff, have been interviewed, which resulted in a 60.87% response rate. Overall, results indicated approximately 95% of Tawjihi teachers revealed their work as a Tawjihi teacher was extremely to mildly stressful. Only 4.8% of Tawjihi teachers reported being a Tawjihi teacher was not stressful. The findings also showed some sources of stress Tawjihi teachers revealed were limited to them, and yet others were common among teachers in other countries. Results also showed some of the adopted coping strategies were limited to Tawjihi teachers, while others were shared with teachers in other countries. The finding regarding coping strategies also showed that Tawjihi teachers tend to use indirect actions more often than direct actions. No significant differences in the level of stress in Tawjihi teachers due to gender, age, teaching experience, qualification and marital status were found. Moreover, significant positive correlations were found between the level of stress and each main source of stress. Tawjihi teachers also revealed the actions they desire schools and the MOE to take to help them reduce stress. The increased understanding of the levels of stress, its sources, adopted coping strategies and the actions that should be taken by schools and the MOE to reduce stress will hopefully make a significant contribution to the knowledge of teacher stress, not only in Jordan particularly, but in other countries generally.

This thesis explores the participation of student teachers during their part time in-service initial teacher education course based on the campus of a higher education institution in the North West of England. It investigates the extent to which initial teacher education prepares teachers as professional practitioners in the lifelong learning sector. The research was conducted in a university campus forming part of a higher education institution, using a qualitative, reflexive methodology. The data is derived from naturally-occurring class discussions, a range of course-related artefacts and semi-structured interviews with participants. The fieldwork took place in during the period 2008-2010. The participation of student teachers is examined within the context of work-based learning (WBL) in the lifelong learning sector (LLS), drawing upon the work of John Dewey and a Bourdieusian concept of habitus. The study broadly contributes to debates about the nature of professional knowledge and practice in work based learning. The literature review presents a picture of a sector struggling to define itself and of initial teacher education (the focus of the research) buffeted by external regulation and control. It concludes that restrictive notions of confidence, a contested notion of what constitutes excellence, and routinised practices restrict and constrain the participation, experiences and development of teachers. The data suggests that participants experienced funnelled and routinised practices, resulting not only from initial teacher education curricula, but also from evidence-based practices and workplace regulation. It argues that time and space are crucial elements of the development of professional knowledge and practice, recommending that both the teacher education curricula and the workplace should work more closely to inculcate the processes and practices of an expansive educational experience for developing teachers.

The aim of this thesis is to explore Key Stage 3 (KS3) students’ experiences of Black History Month (BHM) and Black History (BH) with a particular focus on African and Caribbean students in two English secondary schools. African and Caribbean students are focused upon because they have consistently been problematised in political discourse as an underachieving group, and academic studies reveal they experience studying history negatively. This thesis is set within the context of challenges associated with teaching ‘Black’ children in English schools since the 1950s and, changes to the history curriculum in 2013 which means schools no longer have to teach BH. At Limehart Secondary School, 25 students and three history teachers participated in the research. At Parsley High School, 23 students and one history teacher participated in the research. The empirical research was split into two phases. Firstly, I conducted participant observations during BHM/BH lessons and events. Secondly, I conducted focus groups and interviews with KS3 students and their history teachers. These methods were employed to understand the current institutional pedagogies for teaching BHM/BH, what KS3 students and their history teachers understand the purpose of BHM/BH to be, how students of African and Caribbean descent experience BHM/BH and, to what extent Black students have individual or collective agency to determine the approach to BHM/BH. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, the key findings suggest that racism is a normal and embedded feature of the history curriculum including BHM/BH. As BH was never fully integrated at both schools, engagement with it was reduced to a compensatory and deficitinformed approach. This created a racialised and hierarchical understanding about Britain’s past and who should be defined as British. The originality of this thesis is achieved by positioning in-depth accounts of Black students’ negative experiences of studying BHM/BH, within wider institutional and ideological racisms.

This study deals with quality of student services and proposes a framework for managing quality in student services in Saudi universities based on key quality service requirements identified by students, staff and employers. The proposed framework seeks to address differences in quality values between the three groups while it builds on similarities in their views. This research used an inductive approach with qualitative and quantitative descriptive methods to examine the quality of services provided to students at four Saudi universities. Methodological triangulation was used, enabling discovery of different aspects through multiple methods of data collection which included focus groups, questionnaires to students and interviews. The findings reveal strong similarity and dissimilarity on many criteria between student, staff and employers, including the importance of developing skills, student services and high academic standards. Responses indicate a lack of congruence on those criteria that focus on student services’ processes. There are a number of criteria in which there is agreement between the three groups, most significantly, the importance of the teaching and learning function. Students’ engagement with the learning process through the lecturers’ ability to motivate students’ interests, facilitate subject knowledge, stimulate thought and develop transferable skills are considered by all three groups to be critical issues in managing quality. Both students and employers see the development of vocational and transferable skills as a significant issue. Pre university communications with high schools and post university communications with employers represent an area of concern by all groups. The study suggests that an approach to quality based on an understanding of key values of the main participants will facilitate shared understanding and quality consciousness within institutions.

In this thesis, the reader is invited to ‘think with the story’ (Bochner, 1997) as the issues arising from a research project undertaken by a full-time classroom teacher are explored. The study began with the intention to help children make connections in their learning. Taking an action research approach, over a span of two and a half years, ways to help children link ideas were investigated, their responses observed and their views explored through techniques such as interviews, games and stimulated recall. As the study progressed, it developed a stronger focus on practitioner research, especially in relation to teacher research with children. Following a change of school, the research focused on working with a ‘pupil research group’ over a six-month period. The thesis addresses the learning of the teacher-researcher about the connections and challenges involved, including contextual issues, different methodological strategies, power relationships, different voices and viewpoints in research and the process of change. A narrative approach is used to tell much of the story, in the form of an informal dialogue between the author as a teacher and the author as a researcher. Thus, the common and conflicting demands and benefits of research and teaching in such a project are explored in dynamic fashion. Ultimately, a framework to support practitioner researchers, based on the problems and progress in the study, is presented with some priorities for the future.

Ross × Ross 708 eggs were injected with commercial diluent containing supplemental L-carnitine at 8, 16, or 32 mg/100 μL concentrations using an automated multi-egg injector. After hatching, 1,080 male and female broiler chicks were distributed into 90 pens with chicks at each of the injected concentrations receiving feed that was or was not supplemented with 50 ppm of L-carnitine. Treatments did not affect incubation time or hatchability of fertilized eggs. Birds fed supplemental L-carnitine and injected in ovo with L-carnitine had lower body weight and ate less feed. The same birds exhibited a reduction in feed conversion compared to birds that did not receive supplemental dietary L-carnitine. Absolute breast weight was reduced in birds given L-carnitine in ovo and in the feed. Broiler diets containing 50 ppm L-carnitine appeared to be slightly toxic if provided with 8, 16, or 32 mg/100 μL of L-carnitine administered via in ovo injection.

Hydroxyproline as a modified amino acid can serve as a carbon and nitrogen source for certain microorganisms. Its primary isomer trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is found in the root nodule of legume plants. Hydroxyproline (Hyp) catabolism has been characterized in bacteria and animal cells. In bacteria, trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline (trans-4-L-proline) is converted to the central metabolite α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) by four reactions. The Hyp catabolism pathway has been identified in the nitrogen-fixing legume endosymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. hypS is one of the transcripts in the 14 hyp gene cluster on the pSymB megaplasmid, and was annotated to encode a putative malate/L-lactate dehydrogenase. In this study, purified HypS was assayed on different substrates and the reaction products were characterized. It was demonstrated that HypS can oxidize L-proline and reduce Δ1-pyrroline-2-carboxylate, but not on L-malate. Noticeably unlike the wild type strain, a hypS- mutant strain failed to grow on D-proline. The ability of D-proline to support grow of an L-proline auxotroph, together with the substrate specificity of HypS, strongly suggests that hypS is involved in the metabolism of D-proline to L-proline in S. meliloti. The possible role of HypS in the catabolism of Hyp or related compounds remains to be determined. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Fuzzy logic provides a natural way of dealing with models that require the modeler or user to interpret linguistic variables in order to make a decision. This study focuses on employing fuzzy logic methodologies in order to create an Alamo switchgrass ecological site suitability map for the state of Mississippi. The inputs in the model are available water content (AWC), slope, pH, drainage, color, and texture. All variables were examined through the fist six inches (15cm) of soil. These six variables were assigned fuzzy restrictions based on expert knowledge from plant and soil scientists, combined using the fuzzy additive weighting method, then defuzzified using the center of gravity approach. The result of the final model is a switchgrass ecological site suitability model that uses expert knowledge and classifies sites into five linguistic categories.

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