The study reported in this thesis investigated approaches which the higher education sector in Tanzania employs to develop a research culture, and explored views on how to improve the research capacity within Tanzanian universities. A qualitative-multiple case study informed by interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review methods facilitates the data collection process. Six research sites including the Ministry of Education, the Tanzania Commission for Universities and four leading universities were involved in the study. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to recruit participants from the group of senior government officials, senior university leaders, academic staff members and postgraduate students. The selected Stufflebeam’s CIPP framework guided the conduct of the study, as well as the discussion and interpretation of the findings. The findings show that the Tanzanian higher education policy context has feasible policies and plans that support the development of research in the country’s universities. However, the higher education policy context lacks proper mechanisms to engender practical development and the monitoring of research. Moreover, the approaches used to develop research, although reported to improve institutional research profile, were found to be less demanding in enforcing the research culture. The findings also identified factors essential in building a research culture, such as research training, research mentoring, research funding and research incentives, which serve as a framework for universities and researchers across Tanzania, Africa and the world, to guide their decisions and actions towards promoting successful research cultures. The study, therefore, concludes that Tanzania needs to develop a deep-seated research culture within its higher education system to improve the production and application of knowledge, and eventually realise the National Development Vision 2025 that the country envisages, to advance from ‘less developed’ country status into a respectable ‘middle-income’ country. In so doing, the study recommends a reform of the national higher education policy to bridge the gap between policy articulations and implementation on the ground.

This thesis explores the experience of being a male general student nurse in the feminised world of nursing in the Republic of Ireland, where only 5% of general nurses are male. The main focus of the thesis is the experienceof male general student nurses in relation to their conceptualisations of their work, their masculinities and how they negotiate gendered identities. The research questions centred on the men’s feelings, perceptions and ways of coping and therefore the overall approach was framed within a broadly interpretative perspective. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) the thesis set out to research how the male general nurses make sense of the world in which they find themselves and specifically what it is to be a male general student nurse in the female world of nursing. I carried out 10 in-depth one-to-one interviews with male general student nurses who were in their final year of training. The findings showed that the participants considered they were treated differently because of their gender. Discrimination was both positive and negative. This thesis represents a snapshot in time. It contributes to the overall knowledge of what it is like to be a male general student nurse in the feminised world of nursing in the Republic of Ireland. At the time of the thesis, there was little other research work on a similar cohort of participants. The thesis illuminates the advantages and disadvantages to being male in this world, even before they complete the programme and become registered general nurses.

In this thesis I examined the learning in practice of fourteen young volunteers at four community radio stations in the UK. I queried what learning in practice as a volunteer constituted by examining how the participants accessed support and knowledge from established members, and how practice defined their volunteering and learning. Using an interpretivist methodology applied to private blogs and group interviews, participants recorded their perspectives for between six and nine months. Communities of Practice theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991) was applied to understand how the participants developed their learning relationship with established members. Analysis reveals that established members legitimised participant practice through three phases; an initial phase of broadcasting training where participants began at the periphery of the membership; a second phase of broadcast reviews that sought to develop their relationship with members; and a third phase of non broadcast activities to establish their membership. The relationship between the participants and established members meant the phases were not linear. Participants creatively constructed their broadcasts by developing a fragile, embryonic network of active citizenship (Kenny et al., 2015) to generate community content. In doing so not all participants wanted to establish themselves as members and engage in non-broadcast activities, and drew distinctions between broadcast practice on the periphery and the community development practice of established members. My original contribution to the literature is that by examining volunteering as a learning practice the hidden pressures and conflicts in relationship between newcomers and established members are revealed. I argue that becoming an established member of a voluntary organisation may not be for everyone, but that this does necessarily mean a loss of committed practice to the organisation. Initial volunteering opportunities that are exploratory and creative can establish commitment. I therefore link commitment to practice as a volunteer, rather than as a biographic strategy as suggested elsewhere in the literature.

This thesis is based upon a case study of six higher education institutions (HEIs) and their ‘framing’ of commitment to widening participation. Using elements of Fairclough’s (1995) critical discourse analysis, the thesis analyses the discursive strategies that the HEIs used to position their widening participation work in marketing literature and open day settings, as well as via policy documents and statements made by staff. Bernstein’s (1990) notions of classification and framing are applied as a framework for understanding how widening participation work is presented as part of a ‘whole institution’ approach to marketing. The thesis argues that the discursive strategies of the pre-92 HEIs suggested a highly contingent approach to widening participation. Strong framing around standards and selectivity was coupled with weak framing of widening participation. The post-92 HEIs evidenced stronger framing of widening participation but this was positioned alongside a recruitment-oriented discourse of persuasion. Government policy appeared to have had a limited effect in terms of changing existing institutional cultures. It is recommended that the government enforce tighter regulation around widening participation work in HEIs; ensuring that widening participation is embedded into institutional structures and that marketing literature and open day settings reflect this more accessible ethos.

Today, it is encouraging that followership is regarded as a factor within the leadership equation. However, research attention on followership overall is limited and within the field of education, its study remains firmly in the shadows. Indeed, a search for published followership-centric research carried out in this field revealed just 17 studies worldwide, with Thody’s contribution (2003) the sole point of reference within the UK. This study contributes to this limited body of research by exploring the followership of schoolteachers working in the secondary education sector. Using Gronn’s Career Model (1999) as a framework to understand why teachers follow, the study used biographical-style interviews (n=15) to reveal factors that have shaped the agency of schoolteachers, influencing their journeys to followership. In addition, the study administered Kelley’s (1992) Followership Questionnaire in order to understand how teachers follow (n=69). Factors found to influence why teachers follow included the role of parents, schooling and of key people and these findings align with research carried out on the career journeys of senior educational leaders. In addition, the combined insight drawn from the quantitative and qualitative data revealed a predominance of exemplary followership among the teachers. The study suggests that this approach to followership is dominant among teachers due to them being engaged in leadership practice, both within and beyond the classroom. Further, that teachers’ commitment to task, enhanced through working in a profession that enables them to satisfy important personal values and beliefs, also encourages the practice of exemplary followership.

Mark and Nathan were two of the laziest boys I had ever had to teach in my life. Avoiding work was an art form to them – the skills they had developed to look busy, whilst actually doing very little, were legendary. This all changed when they decided that they wished to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and, upon returning from the expedition element of the Award, they were like new students. The purpose of this research was therefore to find out whether it was the participation in outdoor education and, in particular, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, that enabled young people to become better learners once back in the traditional classroom environment. This thesis explores the concepts of learning, identity and motivation through sampling a small group of Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme participants at an 11-18 mixed ability comprehensive school in Dudley. Through observational and semi-structured interview data, combined with auto-ethnographical vignettes, the changing patterns of Award Scheme participants’ behaviours have been analysed. The research argues that such activities and experiences provide students with opportunities to acquire new skills and new ways of being that become transferrable to situations back in the traditional classroom environment.

This critical inquiry explores the perceptions of seventeen Middle Leaders with regards to collegiality as a leadership strategy within 21st century education. Literature which explains and describes leadership theories is extensive, but literature exploring collegiality in England is not. To this end collegiality is conceptualised in order to allow this transformational leadership strategy to be examined and discussed. The case study is one secondary school in England whereby the data generated through semi-structured interviews was triangulated with documentary evidence, and the selected reviewed literature. Conclusions resulted in four themes in the journey of collegiality (Assimilation; Systematisation; Self-efficacy; and Educational Improvement and School Development) being identified and discussed, and collegiality being reconceptualised. A framework for being truly collegiate, and a model of the perceived key elements for a school to deliver a successful 21st century education are presented. This study indicates that collegiality has the potential to develop self-efficacy, and highlights the importance of a climate for collegiality, and emotional intelligence to improve educational improvement and school development. It is hoped that the contributions being made to knowledge may be relatable to other schools in different contexts, and be of interest to people considering the potential of transformational leadership strategies.

There is a dearth of literature about the career life courses and voices of Deputy and Assistant Headteachers in secondary schools. This thesis examines the career trajectories and the experiences of Headship from 14 Deputy and Assistant Headteachers in secondary schools in Birmingham, England. A two-phase, mixed-method study (survey and semi-structured life history interviews) was employed as part of an explanatory sequential design. This research builds upon previous work in life history studies along with career phases and stages research. The findings from this study add new insights to the senior leadership role and the perception of Headship in that the Deputy and Assistant Headteacher career stage and socialization experiences can determine whether they stay, leave or climb the career ladder to Headship. This thesis tentatively suggests that Deputy and Assistant Headteachers lean towards displaying mainly Bonder, Bridger or Leaver characteristics that contribute to aspiration and how they utilize their social capital in their career journeys. A new career stages and phases framework pertaining to Deputy and Assistant Headship in secondary schools has been forwarded which draws on the distinction between bonding and bridging social capital and career transition in school leadership and management.

The thesis provides a model for freedom in learning by developing a person-centred approach to education consolidated within a more sociological account of power relations in contemporary Higher Education. The growth and decline of humanistic and person-centred approaches in the face of a globalising and marketized education system are described. A more substantial sociological theory of power and the institutions of power is developed by making connections between the work of Carl Rogers, Martin Heidegger and Paolo Freire. Heidegger's critique of technology is used to reveal deeper structures behind contemporary educational processes which show that education has been increasingly occupied by a technological enframing, by way of assessment and the culture of efficiency, eclipsing models of education which prioritise the person in the process. Rogers’ focus on the person and his individualistic notions of ‘power’ and ‘power over’ are contrasted to Freire’s focus on the community and his Marxian awareness of and resistance to oppressive hierarchy. The theoretical framing for humanistic and empowering learning is supported by virtual, institutional and alternative educational initiatives and a call for a robust and sustainable model of education to empower the person in the process and to let learn.

The approach taken by nurture groups emphasises that difficult and often negative early experiences can be modified through alternative sources other than parents. For such children the original literature states that their difficulties are as a result of an interaction between the child and their environment, with the home emphasised. Despite previous research indicating the positive impact parental involvement can have on both parents and children, levels of parental involvement in nurture groups varies widely. Research in this area has been identified as being sparse and requiring further investigation. The purpose of this research was to contribute to the literature on parental involvement in nurture groups. This exploratory study provides an insight into the perceptions of parents and nurture group staff regarding staff-parent relationships and parental involvement in nurture groups. A constructivist paradigm was adopted, to explore the subjective realities of participants. In-depth qualitative data was collected from semi structured interviews with parents (n = 4) and staff (n = 4) involved in nurture groups. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to draw out themes from the data. Findings highlight different experiences of parents and staff, but also common themes of relationships, communication and sharing practice.