This doctoral study explores the use of playful collaborative learning in computer science. The researcher undertook a pilot and an iterative main study, using a design-based research method, through which to investigate a fresh approach for teaching computer science to secondary age students (11-16). The design was realised through collaboration with school-based colleagues, resulting in a responsive sequence of lessons, each evaluated and adapted. An explorative picture was drawn of the students’ experience through live observation, and through analysis of audio data. It was expected that the approach would capitalise on the benefits of play and collaboration as described by the influential theorists Bruner (1976) and Mercer (2007). The initial framework for the analysis was based on Mercer’s ‘sociocultural discourse analysis’ to evaluate collaboration, and on a qualitative analysis of the presence of ‘play’ as defined by Bruner (1976). Close analysis of the recorded transcripts of the students’ paired discussions, however, revealed little exploratory talk and the type of ‘play’ present did not often conform to Bruner’s specific characteristics. It was instead frequently humorous or ‘ludic’. This suggested a need for further elaboration of types of play, beyond Bruner’s categories. Moreover, thematic analysis of the collaboration between the teachers engaged in the design and ongoing evaluation of the sessions suggested a tension between the teachers’ personal pedagogy of play and their professional performance in the classroom. This tension influenced the extent to which playful and collaborative learning could be designed for. The tension is particularly marked in a phenomenon here newly named as ‘play-stops’, which occur when a student embarking on a playful episode is diverted back to the ‘task’ in hand by a fellow student or a teacher. A number of approaches for further developing and nurturing knowledge of computer science are articulated in the latter phase of the thesis. These recommendations respect the restrictions of contemporary computer science education while also valuing a contemporary playful pedagogy that understands the need for time, space and personal motivation to be developed and shared with the students.

This study explores the impact of government-driven change (DfEE, 198; DfES, 2006, DCSF, 2008; DfE, 2017b), within a sector largely comprising privately owned and managed organisations, on how individual practitioners understand their role and their professional identity. Workforce reform strategies included the introduction of sector-endorsed degrees to promote the use of critical reflection to raise the quality of practice, a skill understood to develop confidence, autonomy and agency in practitioners (Moss, 2006; Osgood, 2010), for which a personal vision of practice (Dyer and Taylor, 2012) is required. This raises a potential tension between the empowering nature of reflection, and expectations of compliance with government-led standards and practice guidance. This study explores how this shapes graduate practitioners’ understanding and articulation of professional identity, and their understanding of their professional status and agency. 23 semi-structured interviews were conducted, within which participants shared narratives of their practice experience, discussing what they considered to be strong and weak practice, and how they prioritised the different aspects of their role. These were analysed using the Listening Guide (Doucet and Mauthner, 2008), an approach selected for its effectiveness in drawing attention to the voice and the stories of narrators, to understand how they perceive their world and themselves within it. The data analysis draws on literature exploring the nature of early years practice, power relations within the sector, and the formation of professions. This study shows that these participants understand professionalism and their role in terms of the relationships they form within their own organisations, privileging interpersonal skills over abstract, high level knowledge, and presenting these as personal values rather than professional ethics. By using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; 1986), this study identifies that these participants engage with their sector largely within the micro-and meso-systems of early years practice, limiting their agency as a professional workforce. It is isolation, rather than lack of knowledge, that restricts their agency, from other practitioners within the workforce, from the politics that drive change within the sector, and also from the research community that produces the knowledge they use to underpin their practice. This study concludes with curricular and pedagogic implications for professional educators within the sector, and also identifies how the workforce itself might more closely engage with the wider systems that impact on their sector.

This thesis aims to develop an understanding and explanation about what Libyan teachers think and believe about teaching English. It examines how they regard themselves as English language teachers, addresses their beliefs about classroom practices and the current curriculum, and what might be regarded as professionalism within the Libyan educational context. This interpretive qualitative case study was conducted in the southern part of Libya and involved fifteen teachers of English from seven public schools who were purposively chosen and then observed and interviewed to generate data. Four inspectors and the head of a university English department were also interviewed to elucidate the wider context. This research adopted Ajzen’s (2005) Planned Behaviour Theory (PBT) and Desimone’s (2009) model of professional development as a theoretical base for the study. PBT underpinned an exploration and explanation of teachers’ beliefs, taking into consideration a variety of motivational factors. The way teachers’ intentions acclimatised to certain practices were analysed with regard to the three main determinants of PBT: behavioural, normative and control beliefs. Desimone’s model of professional development then was implemented as a relevant basis to explore the change required with respect to teachers’ current practices and their professional development in an evolving context such as Libya. The findings of this research confirm that Libyan teachers’ pedagogical practices are largely traditional. However, it also demonstrates that this occurs, in some cases, despite initial teacher training, since there were those participants who had had a pre- service background in teaching methodologies but, nevertheless, still adopted a traditional role once in the classroom. Significant factors which influenced this were: firstly, a lack of alignment between the Libyan assessment system and the principles of the English curriculum; secondly, an inconsistency between the official inspection regime and the principles of the current curriculum; thirdly, inadequacy in initial training and in any subsequent continued professional development (CPD). The Libyan inspection regime itself also displayed inconsistencies owing to inspectors’ incongruent views about what constitutes effective teaching in Libyan English language classrooms. Moreover, the research findings regarding teachers’ beliefs, as they emerged from the data and were interpreted under the main aspects of PBT, suggest that the participant teachers hold a range of beliefs which influence their practices. Those beliefs were formed in various ways initially as a result of background factors: their previous preparatory and secondary school experiences as language learners, and then advice from inspectors and other colleagues. However, significantly, the Libyan public examining system encouraged them to teach to the test and define success solely in terms of assessment while defining their concept of professionalism exclusively as years of teaching experience. This thesis reveals then a lack of alignment between the Libyan English curriculum and its assessment. It also indicates that professionalism in Libyan education is conceived as years of experience rather than as pedagogical knowledge and understanding, and that, currently, there are few opportunities either through pre- service training or continued professional development for that to change.

This thesis explores links between lifelong learning and professional identity among a group of eighteen accountants working across three countries between 2013 and 2016. The substantive aim of this study was to contribute to existing but limited literature on lifelong learning in accountancy, by exploring ways in which professional identity features in decisions around lifelong learning. Current literature tends to focus primarily on either lifelong learning or professional identity, in which lifelong learning usually relates to CPD. However, the importance of the accountancy profession as a core institution linking state and society (a Durkheimian concept of ‘profession’) makes considerations of its learning and professional aspects important as part of a learning society. Data for this study were collected through six semi-structured interviews and thirteen separate open-ended self-administered questionnaires. The respondent accountants, drawn from UK, Ghana, and Canada had varying levels of experience, worked in different economic sectors, and were all undertaking varied forms of lifelong learning. The data obtained were analysed thematically in the main, but also drawing heavily on Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice to focus on the individual negotiation of constraining institutional structures. I find that, for these accountants, lifelong learning is an inseparable component of their professional identities; hence, they strive to be tactical in managing short-term constraints, assume much responsibility, and adapt to change in their learning practices. Through these strategies, they buy and consolidate their positions in this changing and competitive field. I argue that it is this constant process of capital negotiation that confers ‘professional’ status – that is, part of the group of experts serving as a link between state and citizenry. I hope this research will inform policy makers and inspire future researchers for further exploration.

A four year quasi-experimental, repeated measures, mixed methods study was run in one Local Authority in England. Designed to improve early childhood quality and support policy development; it aimed to capture: first, the quality of all (279) pre-school settings within the county; second, the impact of a bespoke professional development (PD) on a sample of fifty private, voluntary and independent settings with matched controls. A database of quality, pre- and post- intervention, was established using Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales (ERS) [ECERS-R and E, (Harms et al., 2005; Sylva et al., 2003)], interviews, focus groups and questionnaires provided additional information. The PD was devised to support educators' implementing: • collaborative, evidence-based practice, • their role, including interpreting and using the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (DfEE, 2000), • effective practice and research on: o the early Home Learning Environment, o children's behaviour for learning, o engaging with sustained shared thinking and o quality improvement processes. The PD data (ERS scores, focus groups, interviews and questionnaire responses) suggested that a short evidence-based PD can impact on practice predictably and consistently. Overall, quality ERS scores suggested the need for additional support and investment. Initial quality ratings (at pre-test) were predictive of modest improvements following the PD (at post-test). Ensuring the PD was accessible to all educators was an important part of the process. Where quality was extremely low at the beginning of the PD, no real progress was found, suggesting that this group of settings was unique and required more than the PD could offer. Bronfenbrenner's Bio-ecological Model of Human Development (2005) was applied to the educators' learning during the study. It supported: first, consideration of the interrelated multi-level systems that impacted on the educators' learning; and, second, the development of a new model considering the process of learning they underwent during the PD.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools continue to set an official agenda for what constitutes professional knowledge for teachers in England. The Professional Standards for Teachers (TDA, 2007) set out expectations regarding attributes, knowledge and understanding and skills for teachers at different stages in their careers. Such prescriptions have been the subject of critique by the academic community (Furlong, 2001, Phillips, 2002, Ellis, 2007) for their implicit reductionist assumptions about professional knowledge. History teacher educators (John, 1991, Husbands et al, 2003) have long recognised the need to focus on what history teachers do know, rather than what they should know. However whilst scholarship offers us rich understandings of those considered experts (Turner-Bisset, 1999) or engaged in initial teacher education (Pendry, Husbands, Arthur and Davison, 1998), little is known about the professional knowledge of early career history teachers. This study explores professional knowing of early career history teachers working in secondary schools in South East England. Through presenting twelve case studies of teachers at the end of initial teacher education, induction, experiencing the first two to three years of teaching and more experienced practitioners the study analyses the nature of professional knowing as well as its interrelations, origins and development. Two research questions are addressed: • What do beginning history teachers know? How does this relate to existing models of professional knowledge? • Where does their professional knowledge come from? What are its origins? What factors influence its development? The study draws upon a constructivist interpretation of professional knowing (Cochran et al, 1993) rejecting the static nature of knowledge and instead presents knowing as a dynamic entity. The study also draws upon Eraut's (1996, 2007) epistemology of practice, specifically the interplay between context, time and modes of cognition and reflection as well as conceptions of teaching as a craft (Cooper and McIntyre, 1996). In addition, the study acknowledges the nature of situated learning and identifies how early career teachers develop within different communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Inspired by life history research, a mixed methodology is used to examine how childhood experiences, schooling and pre-professional education combine with formal and situated learning. Interviews exploring “critical incidents” (Tripp, 1994) are used to encourage participants to reflect and associated narratives are analysed using a constructivist conceptualisation of grounded theory (Charmaz, 2005), to reveal the temporal and spacial dimensions (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) of professional knowing as well as broader “genealogies of context” (Goodson and Sykes, 2001) telling of changes in history education over the last three decades. The findings illustrate how early career history teachers draw upon their knowing of history, pedagogy, resources, learners and context as well as their beliefs and values. Whilst it will be shown that these areas of knowing can be described and illustrated discretely, they work in complex ways with each other and decisions, actions or reflections often necessarily draw upon complex inter- relationships. Whether intuitively or deliberatively, these ways of knowing are developed through interactions between personal historical forces, learning situations and shifting professional contexts. Drawing on these findings the thesis makes an original contribution in presenting a new model of professional knowing connecting historical, pedagogical, curriculum knowing, knowing about learners, the context, and ideological knowing with teacher reflectivity; all situated in an envelope that recognises the roots, complexity and fluidity of what history teachers know including personal histories, formal and informal learning experiences and their environments.

The government and funding bodies encourage researchers to develop their use of technology and related e-Infrastructure to enhance research. Due to the disciplinary nature of research, this study focuses on researchers from non-STEM areas, such as Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law, and aims to understand their experiences of using technology. The study used a phenomenographic approach to map and understand the experiences of 26 experienced researchers from 10 Further and Higher Education institutions in England. Marton and Booth’s extension of subject-object relationship (Piaget, Brentano) and the structure of awareness (Gestalt, Gurwitsch) were used to theorise the data. The findings describe researchers’ experiences of technology use by categorising them in four prominent ways: Irrelevant (in the background of research); Secondary (led by research); Integral (embedded in research); and Informing (complementing research). The thesis maps the outcome space of this phenomenographic analysis and shows that variation in the experiences of using technology amongst these researchers can be understood in terms of their structure of awareness, that is, which critical aspects are in their focus at that particular point. These critical aspects are informed by the way researchers have experienced research, and their experiences of technical support and development. The variations are also related to the subject-object relationship between the researcher and the direct object (technology) as well as between the researcher and the indirect object (aims or benefits). Furthermore, a particular researcher could experience technology use differently depending on these combinations of focus in different situations, and they could move from one way of experiencing to another by being aware of the different ways of experiencing through their peers or professional development programmes. The thesis offers insights into the range of ways in which researchers approach research tasks through the lens of technology use. It makes an original contribution through this description and analysis of the qualitatively varied ways in which researchers experience technology use in their research and the critical aspects that explain these variations. In addition, it makes a methodological contribution in relation to the use of a phenomenographic approach for understanding the issues and questions in the area of researchers’ use of technology.

Despite the laudable inclusive policies in Scotland such as Getting it Right for Every Child and Curriculum for Excellence, it is clear that some young people still do not experience equal access to educational opportunity. With education at its heart, the Capabilities Approach is a theory of social justice that starts with a commitment to the equal dignity of all human beings and focuses on choice or freedom. Offering an alternative means of measuring wellbeing or advantage rather than the traditional measurements such Gross National Product, the Capabilities Approach, particularly Martha Nussbaum’s list of capabilities, is a useful framework to assess how pupils and teachers in Scotland’s schools are faring. Using complementary sociological and philosophical perspectives and a literary thread of fictional characters from texts taught in Scottish schools, this dissertation shows how Scottish educational policies are deeply concerned with social justice and equity. However, there are barriers standing in the way of equal access to educational opportunity for some young people. As well as individual and micro structures addressed by the Capabilities Approach, macro structures in our society also play a role in perpetuating social injustice. A critical sociological perspective enriches the account by considering the economic and political institutions of society: unequal class structures and possession of the various forms of capital; austerity; precarity; the attainment agenda and the deficit ideology. Bourdieu’s notion of the various forms of capital is threaded through the dissertation, highlighting how possession of capital is advantageous to upper and middle class families whereas lack of capital can be disadvantageous to young people from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Bourdieu’s theory of habitus illuminates the inherited reproduction of social conditions and how some young people adapt their choices in accordance with what they think is appropriate for them. Oppressive societal structures and lack of agency can influence and disempower young people but there is scant recognition of this in educational policies. Teachers can and do make a difference in young people’s lives and current educational reforms such as Curriculum for Excellence are aimed at achieving better educational outcomes for all children in Scotland. However, teachers too face obstacles in achieving equality of educational opportunity, such as challenges to teacher autonomy, hegemony, crisis discourse and the attainment agenda. I argue that the Capabilities Approach can shed new light on what teachers, school management teams, local authorities and the government need to do in order to work successfully towards educational equality in twenty-first century Scotland.

The aim of this research was to find out if a specific model of education for sustainability known as the ‘Whole School Approach’ could apply successfully to formal junior secondary education in Rivers State in Southern Nigeria. The research findings show that, whilst the Whole School Approach is a commendable model for raising awareness about sustainable development, there are challenges in applying it to junior secondary education in Rivers State. These challenges arise because the Whole School Approach assumes certain criteria from formal education, which Rivers State did not meet; such as adequate funding, adequate infrastructure and adequate teacher training. The research used a qualitative, case-study strategy of four junior secondary schools in Rivers State. Methods of data collection were observations in the schools, interviews of teachers and educational policymakers, and focus groups with students at the schools. Data was also drawn from content analysis of Nigerian education policy documents and curricula in the following subject areas: basic science, basic technology, religion and national value and cultural and creative arts. The empirical research is underpinned by a theoretical evaluation of the concept of sustainable development, which shows it is a flexible rather than a fixed idea. And by a critical survey of education for sustainability pedagogies, focussing on a critical analysis of the Whole School Approach in particular. The research contributes to new knowledge in two main ways; first, by evaluating the Whole School Approach in the novel context of Nigerian secondary education; and second, by an empirical investigation into education for sustainability in Nigerian junior secondary schools. The research findings are beneficial to education policymakers in Nigeria, scholars of Nigerian education and to education for sustainability scholarship more widely.

This research compared English and Turkish Cypriot teachers’ pedagogical approaches to using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the classroom and explored differing contexts of ICT use in the two countries. Research methods included self-completed questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and three rounds of a modified Delphi technique aimed at building consensus around what constitutes a model of practice. Two secondary schools in each country participated. Findings highlighted differences in access to resources between ‘good’ and ‘improving’ schools and between Turkish Cypriot and English schools. Access to reliable technology and basic ICT training are identified issues for Turkish Cypriot teachers whilst effective integration of ICT in teaching is identified as a key issue for English teachers. Turkish Cypriot and English teachers differed in their pedagogical approaches but instructivist teaching methods continue to be a major component of teaching in both countries’ schools. The Delphi method proved a useful process to encourage mutual engagement toward shared goals, exploring different contexts of use and building consensus on a model of practice. The consensus building activity suggested some parameters for a model of practice, generated useful lesson plans and proved a potentially useful method for encouraging a sense of joint ownership for professional development in this area.