Morgan (1997:16) observes that any form of education aims to bring about changes in students. It must, therefore, have in view both what an educated person should be and the ideal society to whose relationship they will contribute. Such educated individuals will presumably contribute to the betterment of their society insofar as adjustments to their status quo are desirable. In line with Morgan, this study has suggested that disempowered learners in Pakistani higher secondary classroom, by taking the ownership of their learning, can emerge as independent critical thinker with a better perception of the world. This study has explored how conservative pedagogical treatment affects the learners’ understanding of texts by disempowering and having them either misperceived or incomplete information. The study has proposed an alternative route to learning which might ensure a more effective impact on the learning process and the learning outcome. For this purpose, the study critically analyses the texts of a Pakistani higher secondary English textbook to investigate how ineffective treatment of these texts influences the learners’ perception of the world and their learning outcome. The critical discourse analysis complements a questionnaire survey followed by interviews with the learners to gauge their level of understanding of the texts in line with the goals and objectives set by the national curriculum of Pakistan. Following a critical paradigmatic pattern, the study not only points out the problem but also comes up with a change agenda by advocating the case for critical pedagogy for these learners. The study proposes sample material to support how adding a critical dimension to the existing English syllabus may well achieve better results in term of academic accomplishments, in addition to broadening the learners’ vision, and preparing them to face the rapidly changing and growing world of the 21st century.

This research investigates the professional backgrounds, experiences and working conditions of teachers on the bilingual programme (English Programme) in Thailand. Its main purposes are to provide an insight into the professional lives and working situations of these teachers and to contribute to a better understanding of the current state of bilingual teaching in the country. The study adopts a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The data set comprises thirty-eight in-depth interviews with a group of Thai and foreign teachers involved in bilingual teaching in Thailand, fieldnotes from school and classroom observation conducted in a leading bilingual school in Bangkok, and an analysis of documentary evidence relevant to bilingual education and bilingual teachers in Thailand. Data analysis uses a grounded approach, employing open, axial and selective coding. The research results reveal a number of fundamental problems for bilingual teachers in Thailand and highlight several factors that undermine the implementation of bilingual education in this context. The overall picture of bilingual teaching and teachers emerging from this study reveals considerable fragmentation and an overall lack of coherence, producing a situation that falls far short of the ideal representation of bilingual education to be found in official Ministry of Education documents. The research reveals that, although bilingual teachers are regarded as a homogeneous group, considerable differences are to be found between different categories of teacher and this gives rise to a range of different problems, including the absence of a shared vision of what bilingual education actually involves, a lack of effective communication between groups and, in some groups, a feeling of not belonging to the school community. The study also reveals problems that affect the quality of educational provision, such as inefficient recruitment procedures and related problems of retention, a failure to appreciate fully the contribution made by foreign non-native speaker teachers, and tensions arising from the relationship between subject and language teaching. The thesis concludes with recommendations for responding to these problems and suggestions for further research.

The research examines a cohort of 364 16-17 year old students entering a sixth form college. The focus of the research is an examination of the relationship between academic self-concept, attainment and personality. Issues of gender and ethnicity were also examined. Data was obtained by the use of personality measures, students' self-estimates of success, examination results and information obtained from application forms, academic reports and Record of Achievement profiles. The students completed two personality measures on entry. The Student Self-Perception Scale was devised specifically for this research and was piloted on students from two sixth form colleges prior to use with the research sample. The Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale was also used as a validity measure. Basic statistics were obtained using a Pearson Product Moment correlation analysis and a frequency and cross-tabulation programme. A specific residual was generated using multiple linear regression analysis and used as a variable to indicate positive or negative attainment change. A classification of students into identifiable types was carried out using cluster analysis by relocation methods. Differences between the groups were verified by discriminant function analysis. Profiles were constructed to describe typical group members in detail and to examine outliers who failed to qualify for group membership. The hypothesis of a positive relationship between mastery and academic attainment was not sustained. Previous attainment would seem to be the major factor determining future attainment. Gender differences emerged on both the personality and attainment measures. It was found that personality measures exerted a substantial effect on performance independent of ability. Cluster analysis revealed identifiable groups of students exhibiting varying patterns of relationship between personality, self-concept and attainment, which stood up well in terms of construct validity against previous studies. The findings have implications for all providers of education for 16-19 year old students.

In relation to the learning of mathematics, algebra occupies a very special place, both because it is in itself a powerful tool for solving problems and modelling situations, and also because it is essential to the learning of so many other parts of mathematics. On the other hand, the teaching of algebra has proven to be a difficult task to accomplish, to the extent of algebra itself being sometimes considered the border line which separates those who can from those who cannot learn mathematics. A review of the research literature shows that no clear characterisation of the algebraic activity has been available, and that for this reason research has produced only a local understanding of aspects of the learning of algebra. The research problem investigated in this dissertation is precisely to provide a clear characterisation of the algebraic activity. Our research has three parts: (i) a theoretical characterisation of algebraic thinking, which is shown to be distinct from algebra; in our framework we propose that algebraic thinking IS • thinking aritmnetically, • thinking internally, and • thinking analytically. and each of those characteristics are explained and analysed; (ii) a study of the historical development of algebra and of algebraic thinking; in this study it is shown that our characterisation of algebraic thinking provides an adequate framework for understanding the tensions involved in the production of an algebraic knowledge in different historically situated mathematical cultures, and also that the characteristics of the algebraic knowledge of each of those mathematical cultures can only be understood in the context of their broader assumptions, particularly in relation to the concept of number. (iii) an experimental study, in which we examine the models used by secondary school students, both from Brazil and from England, to solve "algebraic verbal problems" and "secret number problems"; it is shown that our characterisation of algebraic thinking provides an adequate framework for distinguishing different types of solutions, as well as for identifying the sources of errors and difficulties in those students' solutions. The key notions elicited by our research are those of: (a) intrasystemic and extrasystemic meaning; (b) different modes of thinking as operating within different Semantical Fields; (c) the development of an algebraic mode of thinking as a process of cultural immersion- both in history and for individual learners; (d) ontological and symbolical conceptions of number, and their relationship to algebraic thinking and other modes of manipulating arithmetical relationships; (e) the arithmetical articulation as a central aspect of algebraic thinking; and, (f) the place and role of algebraic notation in relation to algebraic thinking. The findings of our research show that although it can facilitate the learning of certain early aspects of algebra, the use of non-algebraic models-such as the scale balance or areas-to "explain" particular algebraic facts, contribute, in fact, to the constitution of obstacles to the development of an algebraic mode of thinking; not only because the sources of meaning in those models are completely distinct from those in algebraic thinking, but also because the direct manipulation of numbers as measures, by manipulating the objects measured by the numbers, is deeply conflicting with a symbolic understanding of number, which is a necessary aspect of algebraic thinking.

This research explores the complexities of children's everyday experience, examining the common threads and distinctive textures of the lives of four children on their educational journeys from primary to secondary school. Whilst the classroom focus of the empirical work has remained with the teaching and learning of mathematics, I have retained a wider view on the overlapping social spaces in which these children are located. Hence this thesis is less to do with mathematics per se than it is concerned with the lives of children and their families, friends and teachers. This research was conducted, and this thesis constructed, in parallel to my transition into academia and so what follows narrates part of my own story of transfer and socialisation. The notion of reflexivity, of understanding my position within the research, is central to the methodological and theoretical work of the thesis and so I will begin with an account of how I have come to be doing this research, at this time, in this place. Following that personal preface I proceed to review the literature concerning the transfer from primary to secondary school. This is organised chronologically with the aim of tracing the development of the main themes during the last forty years, as well as identifying what is missing in the literature. This lays the foundations for an exploration of the stubbornly resistant, reproductive mechanisms that work to structure the social and educational experiences of children at transfer. This social structuring is part of what I have termed the learning landscape. Metaphor is a conceptual tool by which we come to understand our world and through the development of a learning landscape metaphor I will theorise the various influences upon the learner of mathematics. This will include a consideration of how government policy, school cultures, family attitudes and so on, affect the learning of mathematics in the classroom. The motivation for such theorisation arises firstly from the supposed failure of educators to ameliorate the problematic aspects of school transfer. Such accusations of teacher failure are made possible by oversimplified, decontextualised theories of the highly complex influences at this educational branching point. The literature reveals that despite decades of research there is still a relative disadvantaging at transfer of those children who come from families with lower capital resources. The second motivation for this research is my deeply held personal concern about poor attitudes to the study and use of mathematics in the UK. The learning landscape metaphor provides some insights into the culturally embedded nature of this problem. I have adopted a collective case study approach and made considerable use of the theory of practice developed by the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. Using Bourdieu's tools of habitus, field and capital I have moved to and from the macrosociological 'landscape' to a study of individual and interrelated lives. At the heart of the thesis the theoretical framework sits together with the empirical case studies and although they will be read sequentially they can only be understood together. Following Bourdieu, the theoretical and empirical cannot be separated without the risk of the practice of theorising becoming more central than the theorising of practice. Following the analytic case reports, I develop a model that describes four 'aspects' that describe the critical role played by teachers in children's experience of moving between the two schools. These aspects are teachers' subjective views of children's based upon historical, mathematical attitudinal and capital data. These aspects are used, together with the case reports, to explain the mechanisms whereby social inequality is reinforced and how those children endowed with greater capital are relatively advantaged in the transfer. Finally, I conclude with a discussion of the current state of the mathematics learning landscape and a reconsideration of whether or not school transfer could ever be described as a "fresh start". In addition, I will discuss how my theoretical perspective explains systemic and individual contributions to processes of resistance and reproduction. NB. This ethesis has been created by scanning the typescript original and may contain inaccuracies. In case of difficulty, please refer to the original text.

The thesis examines Sex Education lessons integrated to the fourth and fifth year core curriculum of a mixed comprehensive school. It studies their stated objectives, contents and implementation in the classroom and analyses how pupils interpret curricular meanings with regard to their gender expectations from sexuality, employment and domesticity. A variety of qualitative methods - in particular, participant observation and informal interviews - has been used. The first chapter argues that sexual and gender socialisations must be understood from a materialist position and that the Sex Education curriculum may be structured by the fundamental functions of schooling in a gender - and class - divided society. The second chapter locates the marginal position of Sex Education within the Health Education course of the deeply divided school. Strategies for control over curriculum and classroom social relations developed by both Sex Education teachers and pupils constitute the theme of the third chapter with illustrations from the lesson on childbirth and pregnancy. Contraception, sexual intercourse and marriage are discussed in the next three chapters which follow the same pattern. Each considers the selection of curricular meanings, their transmission in the class and boys' and girls' perceptions of these topics. The last chapter underlines the dominance of traditional views on sexuality, gender and marriage in teachers' and pupils' perceptions alongside a liberal reformist theme. Both dominant and negotiated meanings form the ideology of personal relationships which blends objective information with commonsense knowledge of sexual and gender conflicts. Consistent with the social democratic views of education, this ideology serves to negotiate the fundamental contradiction between the socialisation of pupils to ascribed positions (sexual, familial and occupational) and individuals' self-determination with regard to these. By and large, pupils' accommodative strategies based on conflicting sexual - and gender - interests validate this ideology but also give them some limited control over definitions of appropriate behaviour.

No description available.

This evaluation study sets out to investigate the effectiveness of the writing component of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) English syllabus in Bangladesh. The aims of the research were (i) to discover the needs and problems of students with regard to writing; and the purposes for which they need to communicate in writing in English; (ii) to identify their strengths and weaknesses in different aspects of writing; (iii) to gather perceptions of teachers and students on the writing process and to compare these with actual classroom practice with a view to characterising the approach to the teaching of writing in the Bangladeshi HSC context; (iv) to collect views on the syllabus and textbook and to determine if there was a match between student needs and the syllabus; and (v) to suggest recommendations for improving writing skills in the classroom. This thesis is divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1 sets the context of the study by presenting its objectives, significance and research questions. A brief account of the history of the Revised English Syllabus is also presented. Chapters 2 and 3 contain reviews of the literature relevant to the field of writing and evaluation. Chapter 2 examines writing as 'composing' and 'text' and the different approaches to writing pedagogy. Findings from a couple of studies on the implementation of the process approach in different contexts are also presented. Chapter 3 explores the different approaches to evaluation and provides the framework for this evaluation study. The design features and the procedures employed in the study are given in chapter 4. To achieve methodological triangulation a series of instruments was used as well as data collected from a range of stakeholders. For the purposes of this study a marking scheme was designed to analyse the writing samples of students. Chapters 5 to 7 present and analyse the data. More specifically chapter 5 deals with the analysis of findings about the writing process, i.e. the collation of perceptions and the actual practice of writing in class. Chapter 6 examines the purposes, needs and problems of learners with regard to writing and also concentrates on the evaluation of the HSC writing syllabus. The analysis of students' Writing Tasks and the Examination Compositions are dealt with in chapter 7. Chapter 8 focuses on the discussion of the findings, followed by recommendations. In addition, a discussion on the socio-cultural appropriateness of borrowing western methodologies for local contexts is also highlighted. Finally, a summary of the main results from the empirical evaluation study and their implications are presented in chapter 9. The limitations of the study are also acknowledged in this last chapter. The findings of the study revealed a disparity between students needs and what the HSC writing syllabus contains, and its actual implementation in the classroom. The teachers adopted an approach to writing which was overridingly form-focused and hence, product oriented. They performed roles which were traditional e.g. the teacher as purveyor of knowledge and evaluator. Teachers lack training in areas specific to the development of writing skills and are unaware of recent developments in writing approaches. There was no evidence in this study of promoting or encouraging the strategies of skilled writers in the classes observed. This study has contributed to the documentation of curriculum evaluation studies in the context of Bangladesh, as well as frameworks for the assessment of writing skills for use in this context. An awareness has been raised about the hindering and helpful factors in bringing about change and general caution is suggested in the making of foreign methodologies appropriate to the local Bangladeshi situation. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations are also made in relation to curriculum development and pedagogy.

Educational attainment is strongly associated with a person’s life chances, and poorer children most often have poorer educational outcomes, thus entrenching inequalities. It is known that living in a deprived neighbourhood can have a detrimental impact on educational outcomes. Additionally, it has been found that having a high proportion of poor pupils within a school can have a negative impact on individual educational outcomes. In Glasgow, tenure mixing, which aims to break up areas of mainly social rented housing with owner occupation, has been an objective of regeneration policy. This thesis aims to look at whether mixed tenure policy has had an impact on individual pupil educational attainment in Glasgow. A mixed methods approach was utilised. Firstly changes between two timepoints using data from Glasgow City Council, 2001 and 2011 Censuses, and Scottish Qualification Agency data were examined, focusing on educational attainment and housing tenure. Secondly, multilevel modelling was used to explore variations in educational attainment between neighbourhoods and schools in relation to housing tenure and other socioeconomic measures at each timepoint, as well as over time. Finally, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 15 teachers and pupils in two case study schools in Glasgow. This research found that the proportion of owner occupied households in a pupil’s neighbourhood had a significant impact on their educational attainment, over and above other individual, neighbourhood, school catchment area and school factors, suggesting that mixed tenure policy could have an impact on educational attainment in Glasgow. Owner occupation was seen by teachers as a way of increasing the numbers of ‘aspirational’ families in catchment areas. Without an influx of ‘aspirational’ pupils the scope for policies to raise attainment and reputation to take hold was viewed to be limited. Pupils were more likely to be negative about changes in the catchment areas, highlighting the slow pace of change, and felt that their schools and areas were stigmatised due to poor reputation. This thesis illustrates the importance of taking into account the different contexts that may impact on a person’s outcomes. It also highlights the role of policy to take a more holistic view of contextual influences.

This qualitative study explores the aspirations and expectations of fifty-two young people attending a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school in the South Wales Valleys (an area which has undergone significant and economic changes as a result of deindustrialisation). These young people were first interviewed at the start of Year 11 when they were considering their futures after compulsory education. Some of these young people were interviewed again approximately a year after to explore whether they were able to achieve their aspirations and to examine whether their long-term aspirations had changed. This study illustrates how wider trends such as the contraction of the youth labour market and increasing participation rates in further and higher education as well as transformations in the local labour market have changed the way in which young people understand their educational and employment prospects. Different to some of the young people in Brown’s (1987) Schooling Ordinary Kids study, all of the young people in this study aspired to stay in some form of education and training after Year 11. This study also identifies three types of students – The Academic Inheritors, the Academic Strivers and Vocational students – which differ in terms of their orientations to education and occupational futures. There are also variations between these types of students in terms of their social background, educational experiences and the character and usage of their social networks. The different types of students highlight the limitations of accounts which present Rational Choice Theory (associated with the work of Boudon (1974) and Goldthorpe (1998)) and Bourdieu’s Cultural Reproduction Theory as opposing/competing explanatory theories. This study also compared and contrasted the aspirations and expectations of young people who attended a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school. This study shows how school choice has an impact on the social composition of Welsh-medium and English-medium schools in South East Wales, with Welsh-medium schools on average having lower proportions of students from poorer households compared to English-medium schools. School choice provides some explanation for the differences between the aspirations of young people attending the Welsh-medium and the English-medium school in this study. This study offers a new analysis of the aspirations and expectations of young people finishing compulsory education, in a context of significant social and economic change. It also makes an original contribution by exploring the aspirations of young people who attend a Welsh-medium and an English-medium school – something which has not been explored in depth before by researchers. In addition, this study contributes towards debates regarding the extent that Rational Choice Theory and Bourdieu’s Cultural Reproduction Theory are able to explain young people’s aspirations and expectations. In attempting to explain differences in student orientations, it also shows that it is extremely difficult to empirically test the relative merits of these theories and as such contributes to existing discussions of educational opportunities and inequalities. This study also has policy implications regarding how key actors such as policymakers and schools can provide support to young people to fulfil and achieve their aspirations.