This thesis is concerned with 1) establishing the origins of sex-gender differences and with ascertaining if these are changeable; 2) the structure and function of the postmodern patriarchal family and its role in sex-gender development and sex-gender stereotyping; 3) the role of education in sex-gender/other stereotyping; 4) the development of an holistic inclusive pedagogy; and 5) the implementation of this pedagogy. The thesis is structured around six research questions. The first three research questions What are the origins of sex-gender differences?, What is the structure of the postmodern patriarchal family and what functions does it have? and What role do the patriarchal family and its patriarchal structure play in sex-gender development and sex-gender stereotyping? guide an interdisciplinary enquiry that provides the basis for the development of an holistic inclusive pedagogy. The fourth question What role does education play in sex-gender stereo-typing? delineates the context out of which an holistic inclusive pedagogy is developed. The last two research questions What kind of pedagogy is needed to ameliorate the injustices students suffer as a result of sex-gender/other stereotyping? and How can an holistic inclusive pedagogy raise learner’s-teacher’s awareness of sex-gender/other stereotyping? are concerned with the creation of an holistic inclusive pedagogy, its salient features, philosophical and epistemological assumptions and aims, etc.

Co-location involves the physical placement of two schools onto one site. By some it is seen as a ‘compromise policy’ which prevents inclusion, whilst other authors argue that it offers ‘the best of both worlds’ in allowing pupils with special needs to access both mainstream and special school environments. The teacher-research presented here focused on the co-location of a special school with a mainstream secondary school. It used formal interviews and questionnaires to explore the attitudes of staff and parents towards the co-location and a ‘mosaic’ (Clark and Moss, 2001, p.1) of child-friendly methods to access the opinions of pupils from both schools. The research also included case studies of two co-located special schools which further explored the concept of co-location and considered the relationship of co-location to broader literature relating to the educational placement and inclusion of children with special needs. The research discovered that participants from the mainstream school were generally less concerned about the co-location than the special school participants. Participants from the special school were concerned about bullying, inequality and educational failure as a result of the co-location. Participants from all groups spoke with enthusiasm about the potential of the co-location to deconstruct prejudices and offer staff and pupils opportunities to learn together. The research concludes that co-located schools can be ‘autonomous’ and joined only by their physical placement on the same site, or that the schools can become ‘collaborative’ and work together to offer a unique inclusive learning environment.

This thesis ‘opens up’ an exploration of the relationship between identity and achievement in reading, taking as its focus a case study of 16 – 19 year olds studying at Black Country further education colleges. As a group Black Country young people are often characterised through quantitative measurement, league tables and inspection reports, as underachieving in ‘schooled’ literacy. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives from Bourdieu, Bernstein and Foucault this project seeks to explore, problematize and challenge these representations offering a more dynamic account of young people’s engagement with textual experience that is grounded in young people’s own accounts of their experience of their out of school literacies. At the same I offer a critically reflexive account of the process of researching and representing research and attempt to achieve homology between the theoretical perspectives I put to use in my analysis and the practices of writing a PhD. I aim to present a reflexive piece of work that explores the situatedness of the PhD, and its authoring, as product and process.

There has been a significant increase in interest in the recruitment crisis in the United Kingdom. Many schools have had to re-advertise jobs for head teachers. This study therefore focuses on why headship roles are proving to be so difficult to fill. What are the possible drivers or barriers that deputy head teachers face on their journey to headship? It also considers the support and guidance that head teachers give their deputies. The study produced data that described the reasons why some deputies want to progress to headship (described as drivers) and why some do not (described as barriers). It also gave insight into head teacher’s perceptions of the support that they provided their deputies and whether these correlated with what deputies perceived. In this first study three groups appear to emerge: those who want to progress to headship; those who do not want to progress to headship and those who are unsure about their progression. Applying established models of journey to headship such as Gronn’s (1999) process of leader accession, a suggested extended model of ‘accession’ is offered for consideration and will be applied to deputy head teachers for the first time. Whilst being subject to further research and development, these findings can be used to further understand the trajectory of deputy heads and has potential implications for the management of talent within organisations. This has important implications when developing potential leaders.

This thesis is concerned with the ways in which curriculum continuity and progression of children’s learning occurs in the geography curriculum both within and between Key Stages 2 and 3. It explores the current attempts to achieve continuity and progression within and between these two Key Stages as well as the extent of cross-phase liaison in four Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in the Midlands. To set curriculum continuity and progression in context, a consideration of the geography being taught and delivered in primary and secondary schools is undertaken and the impact of pressures upon the Geography National Curriculum at Key Stages 2 and 3 are investigated. To understand the present nature and status of geography in primary and secondary schools, the place of geography as a school subject both prior to and following the introduction of the Geography National Curriculum is examined. In addition, the degree of continuity and progression that has existed during these periods is evaluated, together with previous attempts at cross-phase liaison in geography. The thesis concludes with an analysis of the ways in which continuity, progression and cross-phase liaison within and between Key Stages 2 and 3 might be enhanced in the future.

Research indicates that children with hearing loss face a number of difficulties academically, socially and emotionally. Although there has been much research with the severe to profound deaf population there has been little research into the life experiences of children with moderate hearing loss who attend mainstream secondary schools. This research sought to address this by examining the experiences of five Year nine children with moderate hearing loss. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews in the young person’s school setting and was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Although each participant had unique experiences there seemed to be a number of common themes arising including; coping and support, social acceptance, self-concept and confidence, auditory factors and teachers and learning. This study indicates that young people with moderate hearing loss continue to face social, emotional and academic challenges. With educational psychologists regularly visiting schools there appears to be a role for them in increasing deaf awareness and checking that young people with a hearing loss are receiving the necessary support.

This research relates to a recent government policy to create new school buildings in the United Kingdom. It seeks to examine whether stated national aspirations have had the prescribed outcomes on teaching professionals, their professional lives and their motivation, morale and job satisfaction. This qualitative research, using semi-structured interviews, has focused on two new schools in a rural/urban target authority located in the West Midlands of England: School A, a small rural primary and School B, a larger than average urban primary school. This study has involved teaching professionals alongside members of staff related to the national building school creation body, local authority inspectors and architects linked to the creation of new schools. The study supports the notion that national aspirations have been met at a local level and that these schools promote the desired outcomes stated in government literature. These schools have also positively affected teachers in terms of their motivation, morale and job satisfaction. This has led to changes in teachers’ professional identities and positive feelings towards their levels of retention. This study illustrates how not all central policies lead to disempowerment and the effects contextual factors have in managing the pool of talent within our schools.

This thesis explores the views of History Post Graduate Students on the relationship between the study of history, with an emphasis at key stage three (KS3; Appendix A), and its possible role in developing perceptions of ‘British National Identity’ (BNI), ‘Patriotism’ and ‘Fundamental British Values’ (FBV). Their views are influenced by the political, media and academic discourse planes. The relationship between the students and other discourse planes are analysed using the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and the approaches it offers; namely Discourse Historical Analysis (DHA) and Social Actor Approach (SAA).

The aim of this research was to investigate how the emotions and emotional difficulties of secondary aged girls are constructed by teachers and the girls themselves, through the investigation of the discourses surrounding girls’ emotions. The rationale for choosing this topic was the difference in the numbers of girls and boys referred to educational support services in the U.K. in order to access support and provision for behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The research used ideas from social constructionism (Gergen,2001) and feminist poststructuralism (Weedon, 1999), in order to explore how the emotions of secondary aged girls are constructed. Two research methods were used; focus groups with Year 9 girls and semi-structured interviews with their teachers. Discourse analysis was used in order to explore the discourses that were employed by the girls and their teachers when constructing the emotions and emotional difficulties of pupils. The findings suggest that the analysis of constructions of emotion and gender in schools can contribute to an understanding of gender differences in referral rates to support services. The limitations of the research findings and their relevance to the role of the educational psychologist are also considered.

This thesis critically explores: “Perspectives on the educational experiences of African Caribbean boys”. It draws upon the earlier literature in the field of secondary schools (Mac an Ghaill, 1988 and 1994, Gillborn, 1995, Sewell, 1997, Blair, 2001, LDA 2003). But this study adopts a comparative approach, specifically focusing on Black boys current experiences of both state secondary schooling and other areas of education, namely, a supplementary school and a youth organisation. Recent statistics have indicated a continuing high level of underachievement among African-Caribbean boys studying in British schools. The DFES 2006 reports that only 39% of Black pupils achieve 5+ A*-C GCSE grades which denotes that Black boys are among the lowest achievers at secondary school level as compared with pupils of other ethnic minority communities. The DFES further reports that Black pupils are more likely to be excluded from schools than pupils from any other group (Education and Skills, 2006). This study will go beyond the statistics by examining the reasons as to why Black boys have negative experiences in their secondary school education which is linked to their historically-based underachievement in secondary schools. The literature review of the study explores the academic literature/reports concerning African-Caribbean pupils’ underachievement (Mac an Ghaill, 1988, Wright, 1992, Benskin 1994, Gillborn, 1995, Sewell 1997, Ofsted, 1999, Blair 2001, LDA 2003, Education and Skills, 2006). The discussion reflects a number of inter-related issues that are shaped by the intersection of race, class and gender. These issues include: racialisation and accompanying negative stereotypes of the Black community and more specifically portraying Black masculinity as a problem, lack of respect for Black boys and their culture, peer group influence, and differences in treatment by teachers towards Black boys, as some of the significant factors affecting Black boys’ negative experiences at secondary schools and their resulting underachievement. In addition to examining the impact of these factors, as indicated above, this thesis critically examines two other areas of education, a supplementary school and a youth organization. Earlier studies have identified such sites as a powerful source of positive experiences for secondary school Black boys. This comparative, multidisciplinary approach enables original data to be gathered, in probing into the reasons as to why these institutions are successful in making Black boys educational experiences more meaningful. Over a course of six months, 36 participants were involved in this research study. The boys, their parents and their teachers were interviewed at the secondary and supplementary school. At the youth organisation, the Black boys and their youth workers were interviewed. The research used a wide range of methods, such as semi-structured interviews, participant-observation and non-participant-observation. This process provided the researcher with the bigger picture, giving insight into why Black boys have negative and positive experiences of education. The study makes a number of recommendations based on the findings, which include: actively recruiting more Black teachers to provide Black pupils with positive role models who understand their culture; employing Black culture/history in schools for the benefit of Black boys and teachers in state secondary schools learning from the other educational sites in terms of curriculum, pedagogy and relations between educators and Black male pupils. Such recommendations have been proposed in potentially being a step towards removing institutional racism within schools and promoting the career paths of these boys into successful professions.