Over the last 30 years, research has consistently found that children in public care (LAC), in general, have low educational attainments. The research has tended to be from a social work standpoint with the focus on achievements at secondary school, In contrast, this study is from an education perspective and concerns the educational attainments of primary school LAC. This in-depth classroom-based research examines potentially modifiable aspects of social learning and behaviour in the education of LAC in order to generate hypotheses that can be subsequently tested. An investigation was carried out into the social perceptions of LAC, and their social perceptions of self, in the context of their mainstream primary school classrooms. The purposive sample consisted of 15 LAC aged five to 11 years, in 15 classrooms, in 11 mainstream primary schools, in one local authority. A total of 372 children and 59 school staff participated. A case study design employing mixed methods was used to ascertain and analyse sociometric status (SMS), locus of control beliefs (LCB) and self-esteem (S-E). The 15 LAC and their classmates completed two sociometric tests set in the context of the playground and the classroom, and two psychometric measures, PPNSIE (Nowicki-Duke, 1973) and B/G-STEEM (Maines & Robinson, 1983). School records were used to evaluate the children’s academic attainment, and school staff were consulted regarding the LAC’s SMS, LCB and S-E. The main non-directional hypothesis emerging from the empirical data is that there are complex relationships between the SMS, LCB, S-E, and educational attainment of LAC. Two additional factors became apparent from the findings. These were the varied emotional well-being of the LAC, and difficulties concerning language development. The findings of the case studies highlight the uniqueness of the 15 individual LAC in their specific classrooms and schools. This data calls into question the helpfulness of stereotyping other than for Governmental and local authority policymaking. For the class teacher, the value and practical methods of identifying specific social learning difficulties open to modification within individual LAC, and other ‘vulnerable children’, have been demonstrated.

This aim of this qualitative research study was to suggest an initiative for promoting professionalism in English language teaching of primary teachers, who work in rural small schools in Thailand. This study was conducted in two phases; Phase I and Phase II. By adopting convenience or opportunity sampling, ten primary teachers in one educational service area office volunteered to take part in this study. Grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 1998; Newby, 2010) was adopted for data analysis. In Phase I, data were collected from semi-structured interviews and from supplementary data sources (i.e. research journals and classroom observations). The results suggested that (1) teachers’ inadequate knowledge of English, (2) their difficulty in using the English textbooks available, (3) a problem with materials and equipment, (4) students’ knowledge of English, (5) teachers’ heavy workloads, and (6) the impact of national examinations on regular classroom learning were factors contributing to their difficulty in teaching. Moreover, the results suggested that INSET programmes failed to promote their professionalism in English language teaching, and the teachers’ comments on those programmes also provided valuable implications for the design of the professional development programme in Phase II.Exploratory Practice (EP) (Allwright & Lenzuen, 1997) was adopted as a theoretical framework for the proposed programme in Phase II. For qualitative case study research, two cases of teachers in doing EP projects were selected for in-depth investigation. Data were collected from focus group interviews and semi-structured interviews and from supplementary data sources (i.e. research journals, classroom observations, teacher diaries, recorded discussions, and documents). The results suggested that these teachers gained similar benefits from their experience in Exploratory Practice. First, Exploratory Practice helped them to gain a better understanding of their classroom context. Second, it helped them to design more appropriate lesson plans, materials, and activities for teaching their students more effectively. Third, it increased their confidence in their ability to teach. Fourth, it influenced them to increase their confidence in speaking. The teachers also had positive attitudes towards English, and higher motivation to improve themselves and sustain their professional development in English language teaching. The results also suggested that group discussions supported the teachers in preparing their project plans. These findings suggest that Exploratory Practice was useful for promoting the professional development in English language teaching of two primary teachers and it is possible that Exploratory Practice could have benefits similarly for others in this context and similar contexts where teachers work under similarly difficult circumstances.

Inclusive education, a relatively new education system, provides an environment for both non-disabled and disabled children to interact and to understand each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate relevant key stakeholders’ voices and opinions by means of interviews, observations, focus groups and parental surveys. It started from providing a general background of Taiwan’s history and education to the investigating of current implementation of social policies and primary inclusive education in Taiwan. In conducting the study, an investigation into inclusive education in Taiwan was undertaken, specifically the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in Tainan region. This study obtained a great deal of information from a wide range of stakeholders: perspectives on inclusive policies were obtained by means of interviews. Non-disabled and disabled children’s daily school life and interactions among other children and teachers were recorded via observations and focus groups whilst data gathered through parental questionnaires provided parents’ opinions, reactions and responses. Starting from the pursuit of human rights in Western societies, the focus then shifted to the context of Taiwanese society. More and more attention on the issue of human rights and disadvantaged groups’ rights are paid and in general, the notion of all human beings are equal is rooted and sprouted in Taiwanese culture. The results showed that, in general, professionals believed that inclusive education was basically positive for both non-disabled and disabled children. Inclusive settings provide an environment for both non-disabled and disabled children to share their experiences so that when children grow up, they would have positive attitudes towards each other. However, some professionals were concerned about the consequences of locating disabled pupils, especially pupils with behavioural disorders, in mainstream schools. In most cases, pupils with physical impairments are more easily accepted than those with behavioural disorder ones. It is still not easy to break the barriers, such as people’s inherent notions towards disadvantaged groups, the reality that some behavioural disorder pupils are aggressive and teachers’ time might be spent more on special need pupils, in such a complicated social system. With regard to learning in inclusive settings; both non-disabled and disabled pupils, in general, felt comfortable or did not feel too much difference in the inclusive classroom. The study highlighted that, in most inclusive classrooms, both non-disabled and disabled pupils could be accepted by each other; and in some cases, non-disabled and disabled pupils liked to be located in the inclusive classroom. Parents, however, had more diverse opinions than in any other stakeholders. Inclusive education, though less than half of total respondents had heard before, was deemed basically good to both non-disabled and disabled pupils and in general, it will become future mainstream. Still, some parents, especially those whose children had been located in an inclusive classroom and had bad experiences, were strongly anti-inclusion. Their primary concern was to protect their own children. Quality of education was also their concern because some parents deeply believed that teachers’ time and attention are sometimes drawn to pupils with special educational needs. In conclusion, key stakeholders viewed inclusive education as a means of providing an environment for both non-disabled and disabled pupils to study and to share their experiences. There may however, be a need to re-think the real role of inclusive classroom because many people merely think of locating both non-disabled and disabled pupils in the same environment as inclusion instead of thinking the moral issue or equality for all when they hear about the term inclusion. This study investigated what key stakeholders’ opinions and responses were when discussing about inclusion. This study also concluded by suggesting and offering some of the main issues needing further consideration: issues related to the resources, shifting people’s impression towards disadvantaged groups and the paramount aim of inclusion. All of which are considered to be important for future implementation of inclusive education. The study concludes by a reflection on the findings in a broader context of Chinese thinking and addresses current Taiwanese education system with reference to Taiwanese culture.

This collection of articles and the book are a product of one piece of research on the careers of women in teaching. The research began with a statistical analysis of the career characteristics of women and men in teaching in one educational authority using data collated from Teachers' Service Cards. Then the research focused on women in primary teaching. Career history interviews were conducted with twenty-five married women who were headteachers of primary or infant schools from two educational areas of an English midlands county. The data for the research consisted of the Teachers' Service Cards, the interview material, together with DES official statistics on Teachers in Service. The articles appear in the order they were published. The first article contains an examination of material from the Teachers' Service Cards. Articles two, three and four are analyses of aspects of the women head teachers subjective careers based on the interview data. The fifth article examines aspects of the local labour market for primary teachers using the interview data. The sixth article argues that the use of career history material can make a significant contribution to sociological understanding about careers. The seventh article uses official statistics to explore the effects of the wider contexts of expansion and contraction on primary teachers careers. The book represents an attempt to bring together the themes and issues in the articles and to develop them further.

Writing is the act of putting thoughts into visible print, a means of articulating and refining one's thinking and a means of communicating such thinking to others. In the past twenty years, a growing number of research studies have been concerned with elucidating the mental faculties, routines and sequences involved as people compose messages in writing representing thoughts in forms which they hope will be mutually understood by intended targets of the communication. Such research has been useful in illuminating ways in which writers can express themselves, and be taught to express themselves, in ways suitable to the task in hand. The bulk of such research has been concerned with English, and it seems to be presumed that the outcomes of such studies carry relevance for languages other than English. Equally, it seems to be presumed that the findings pertain to composers using English when it is a second language of state or a foreign language. This thesis explores in a modest way the validity of these presumptions using as subjects primary school age children from Hong Kong. The study is hence concerned with English, the world's premier international language, and Chinese, the world's most commonly used language. The thesis presents research into the composing processes in English and in Chinese employed by 18 primary school pupils in Hong Kong. It offers an in-depth study of the key subprocesses of generating, transforming, pausing and revising. The research was exploratory in nature and sought to gather evidence which might throw light on what happens when primary school pupils in Hong Kong compose in Chinese and in English. The strategy employed was a multiple case study approach. Subjects were asked to write two scripts, one in Chinese and one in English. Although the mother tongue of all the subjects is Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, in school they are required to write either in Modem Standard Written Chinese or in English, the second language of Hong Kong. The subjects were given set tasks, either to write in a narrative or an expository style. The methods used to gather evidence and data were composing aloud and transcribing their utterances, video and audio-recorded observation, text analysis, on-task observational notes, cued-recall interviews and retrospective reports. The subjects' reflections were cued by being shown the video recordings.

The central focus of this study concerns the impact in Korea of an in-service teacher training (INSET) course on teachers’ classroom practice and their perception change. A qualitative case study involving observation and interviews was carried out during a period of six months before and after an INSET course. The three-week INSET course itself was observed. This was followed by the observation of five consecutive English lessons given by the two teachers. The teachers also took part in four semi-structured interviews. While the observations shed light on how the teachers implemented what they had learnt from the INSET into their teaching practice, the interviews explored a range of issues. These included their general expectations and outcomes of the INSET course, their perception changes and difficulties in putting new ideas into practice. Interviews also explored their perceptions of longer-term outcomes. The main finding in this study indicated that the two teachers faced some difficulties and challenges in implementing new ideas or knowledge obtained from the INSET course into their classroom practice, and did not do so to the same extent. The contextual differences between the INSET and real practice, the content of the INSET, and lack of school support were identified as constraining factors that limit implementation. The analysis also showed that the teachers’ confidence and motivation resulting from the INSET led to their better career prospects and affected their professional identity. Some important implications from the study for language teacher training are discussed to highlight how the potential impact of INSET could be optimised: (i) INSET should provide ongoing support to promote developmental continuity after the course; (ii) INSET should consider teaching contexts sensitively, especially large classes and limited materials; and (iii) trainees continue their professional development under their own initiative even after the INSET course.

The activities of OFSTED and its impact are `a matter of high public interest' (Brunel University, 1999 p. 3) constituting as they arguably do, the central plank in governmental efforts to improve contemporary primary education. However, after almost a decade since its introduction, and in spite of a growing body of research into various aspects of the inspection process, there is relatively little which actually points to sustained improvements in either standards or classroom practice which can be directly attributed to OFSTED. This research project adopted a case study approach to investigate the perceptions of those working in, and for, a sample of six Derbyshire primary schools concerning the impact of the OFSTED process of inspection. Data was gathered from headteachers, teachers, governors and classroom assistants using questionnaires, interviews and formal and informal site visits. Other data sources, including inspection reports and contextual data drawn from the sample schools were also included, providing useful information relating to each institution's culture and context. This qualitative study attempts to explore the overall impact of inspection on the teaching and learning process and its relationship to school improvement in the context of primary education. The findings from this project indicate that the OFSTED system of inspection has only a limited positive impact upon primary school practice. It also raises questions concerning the anxieties and pressures felt by schools who experience `light touch' short inspections. Ultimately, the evidence from this study would suggest that, to date, it remains difficult to justify the inspectorate's validating objective of `improvement through inspection' and that, as a result, the positive impact of inspection upon primary schools remains questionable.

The quasi-marketisation of England and Wales' education system undertaken by the Conservative Government during the 1980s has not only been consolidated but also extended by 'New' Labour. New Managerialist restructuring has now reached its zenith in national target setting, 'Education Action Zones' and the primacy of OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education). Using Archer's (1995) morphogenetic approach, this thesis provides a useful contribution to the development of critical realism in organisation theory and the sociology of education. It also adds to the international debate on school effectiveness, assessment and the generic contradiction between New Managerialism and child-centred philosophy and practice. One of the key arguments of the thesis is that there is an objective constraining contradiction between New Managerialism and child-centred philosophy, which predisposes cultural agents to act in specific ways. Part One establishes the theoretical framework, counterposing Archer's morphogenesis to Giddens' structuration theory. Here it is argued that the interplay of structure, culture and agency can be theorised via the methodological device of analytical dualism. Part Two utilises the morphogenetic approach's three-part sequential schema of Socio-Cultural Conditioning 4 Socio-Cultural Interaction 4 Socio-Cultural Elaboration/Stasis in providing an historical account of the demise of child-centred philosophy and concurrent elaboration of the New Managerialism. The Preface to Part Three critically appraises the school effectiveness movement and the managerialist cooption of Robin Alexander and others. It delineates the background to the two primary schools analysed in Part Three. Part Three provides a contemporary ethnographic analysis of how teaching staffs in two primary schools mediate the contradiction between child-centred philosophy and practice and the New Managerialism. It draws upon nine months of participant observation, tape-recorded semi-structured interviews and the relevant academic literature. The concluding chapter discusses the implications of the findings for primary school practice and underscores the need for a critical realist approach.

A review of the literature on small primary schools identified a number of problems: a lack of a definition of 'small', poor quality of evidence, a neglect of some important issues and the general picture of teachers in small schools having different work patterns from other teachers. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the work of teachers in small schools was distinctively different from those in larger schools. Data were gathered which were used to portray the work of the Key Stage Two teachers in two small Warwickshire primary schools. Of the seven individuals studied, two were headteachers with a dual teaching and management role. Participant observation, time diaries, interviews and systematic observation techniques were employed in order to gain a full picture of their working lives and to allow for triangulation. Analysis of the data suggested that for the case study teachers, their work did not differ markedly from that reported in other studies of teachers in larger schools. This was true both in terms of the length and distribution of their time and the means by which they delivered the curriculum. Differences arose as a result of individual personalities and the proportion of a full-time teaching contract which each held. It was hypothesised that teachers working in small schools may have undergone the most intensification of their work; again, there was little to suggest that this was true for the teachers in this study. Despite limitations in the data collected, evidence of the headteachers' work suggested that again school size was not the main influence upon their work School status and individual personalities were influential in shaping their working patterns and priorities.

This study seeks to answer the question: "What kinds of mental representation do children project and how may these be associated with their level of achievement in elementary arithmetic?". Drawing upon theories offering some explanation for the way in which arithmetical activity is transformed into numerical concepts and those that hypothesise the form and quality of mental representations the study suggests that qualitatively different kinds of mental representation may be associated with qualitatively different kinds of arithmetical behaviour. The evidence is drawn from the classification and categorisation of data from two series of semi-clinical interviews carried out with children aged eight to twelve who were at extremes of numerical achievement. The first, a pilot study, largely concentrated on mental representations associated with numerical concepts and skills. Its results suggest that mental representations projected by children may have a disposition towards different kinds of mental representation which transcends arithmetical and non-arithmetical boundaries. Issues raised by this study, in conjunction with a re-appraisal of the psychological evidence, informed the development of the main study. With a similar sample of children this considered the relationship between children's projections, reports and descriptions of mental representations in numerical and non-numerical contexts and in elementary arithmetic. Words, pictures, icons and symbols stimulated the projection of these representations. The evidence suggests that there is indeed a disposition towards the formation of particular kinds of mental representation. low achievers' projected mental representations which have descriptive emphasis. 'High achievers', whilst able to do the same, also project those with relational characteristics, the frequency of which increases as the stimulus becomes more 'language like'. This provides them with the flexibility to oscillate between descriptive and abstract levels of thought. The study indicates that qualitative different thinking in number processing is closely associated to a disposition towards qualitatively different kinds of mental representation. Its concluding comments suggest that these differences may have some considerable implication for the received belief that active methods may supply all children with a basis for numerical understanding.