The modern and post-modern world has tried to attend to the factors that lead to effective schooling. The School Effectiveness (SE) movement investigates the characteristics of effective schools and how these characteristics may lead to improved pupil achievement. This study explores the characteristics of effective secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) context, together with the effectiveness of their leaders from the perspective of these schools’ stakeholders, namely principals, teachers, students and parents. In particular, the main aims of the study are first to identify the key factors that contribute to effective schools in UAE secondary education and second to outline the strategies for improving schools and school leadership professional development requirements. The study employs a mixed-methods, sequential, exploratory strategy to understand the perceptions of UAE key education stakeholders. Firstly, 46 principals, 138 teachers, 136 parents and 142 pupils filled in questionnaires and then, for added validity and reliability, ten school principals were also interviewed in the second part of the study. What is striking about the study’s findings is that the two instruments – the survey and the interview – did not, in most cases, lead to the same homogeneous results, as the results deduced from the questionnaire did not totally corroborate those realised from the interviews. Key education stakeholders in the UAE proposed three strategies – vision, teamwork and school climate – in order to improve SE in Abu Dhabi. Induction leadership programmes, internal self-evaluation and external evaluation are not considered by the majority of principals and their subordinates to be salient and efficient strategies for improving schools. This is due, presumably, to the lack of logistical procedures and evaluation organisms in place through which schools can internally gauge their degree of effectiveness against lucid standards, indicators and benchmarks.

The phenomenon of bullying and, more recently, cyberbullying, continue to be of interest to scholars, practitioners and policy makers. To date, the vast majority of research into bullying and cyberbullying has been contained to compulsory education contexts, leaving a dearth of literature in post-compulsory education. This thesis explores cyberbullying in the context of post-16 education in England, considering, in particular, four research questions relating to prevalence, involvement of particular groups, reasons for cyberbullying, and consequences on feelings, learning, and social integration. Previous research on cyberbullying is considered, including a discussion of the definition and criteria of both bullying and cyberbullying. The main contributions to knowledge are the age group and context of this research, the use of phenomenology as a philosophical framework in the research design, data collection, and analysis, and how attribution theory is related to the reasons given for cyberbullying others and being cyberbullied. A mixed methods survey methodology was used to collect data; an online questionnaire was used to collect data from 5,690 students from 41 colleges, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect in-depth data from six victims of cyberbullying. In terms of prevalence, 7.9% of those aged 16–19 years old who study in colleges in England reported being victims of cyberbullying and 1.9% admitted to cyberbullying others. The findings also show certain demographic groups statistically more likely to be disproportionately involved as cyberbullies, such as boys and those who were offline victims at school, and as cybervictims, such as girls and those who had a physical disability. A range of reasons were reported for cyberbullying others, in particular the victim’s intelligence/ability and because of feelings of anger, and for being cyberbullied, in particular because of their physical appearance and friendship groups. Various consequences for being a cybervictim were revealed, in particular on they way they felt and on their mental health/wellbeing.

Twelve aspects of the communicative language teaching approach which have placed FL reading skills development in English at discordance with L1 and L2 reading research findings and models of memory and word recognition are identified. Cognitive aspects of reading, which are not developed implicitly, are highlighted. The impact of curricular change on FL reading development since 1995 is considered in relation to theoretical models of memory and word recognition and L1 literacy development. Decoding sub-processes are identified through Goodman's (1968) model of L1 Levels of Reading Proficiency, and the teacher's role in promoting deep structure-building in the L2 mental lexicon is considered. River's (1968) Six Stage FL Reading Training Programme is re-visited in the light of the new research understandings. The crucial role of phonology and word form knowledge in FL reading development emerges unequivocally from this literature and is the focus of the empirical research reported here. The function of 'hearing' words during L1 and FL silent reading is compared. Respondents confirmed this to be 'normal' classroom reading behaviour, promoting comprehension and reader engagement with narrative L1 reading, and linked with word-level comprehension when reading in French. Inability to 'hear' words when reading in French was linked with perceptions of text difficulty. The need for helping learners to 'hear' the sound of FL print through explicit teaching of sound-spelling links and oral reading tasks is demonstrated. Rapid sight vocabulary growth, too, is vital. A Flash Card Vocabulary Presentation Task demonstrate that failure to present the written form during oral presentation of new vocabularly leads learners to form incorrect mental representations, as shown through respondents' invented spellings. Those who failed to make semantic and orthographic associations with prior L1 and L2 linguistic representations in which working memory span limitations effects were evident. Contrastingly, when phonological, orthographic, semantic and syntactical associations were made, prior knowledge was used to construe sensible 'guesses' at spelling, indicating strong structure-building in the mental lexicon. Respondent expressed a strong preference for seeing spellings during the oral presentation phase. The findings show that knowledge of the interrelationships of sounds and writing in the target language impacts on vocabulary acquisition, spelling, word recognition and reading comprehension. This supports the guiding principles of the Key Stage 3 Framework (DfES, 2003). An outline pedagogical framework for FL reading development in Key Stage 4 in England is proposed based on the research literature and empirical research findings.

This thesis comprises a critical appraisal and a collection of published works drawn largely from extensive qualitative data generated by a five-year longitudinal study of forty-four Gypsy Traveller students. Gypsy Traveller children’s disengagement and underachievement in the secondary phase of education has exercised educationalists and policy makers for over forty years. Historically, deficit theory associated with an impoverished and disadvantaged nomadic lifestyle prevailed but this is no longer sustainable. The vast majority of Gypsy Travellers in Britain today are housed or settled on established sites and the situation has barely improved. Other ‘pathological’ explanations such as the Traveller community’s determination to preserve a separate identity from the dominant population by defending cultural boundaries have also featured prominently in the literature and in professional discourses. The thesis is grounded in a social constructionist approach, which critically analyses psychosociocultural forces and their impact on relationships and human behaviour. From this analysis, a new perspective is proffered as to why Gypsy Traveller children so often find themselves out of the secondary education system. Social exclusion and cultural dissonance are identified as significant push factors that trigger certain coping responses, some of which are maladaptive

National statistics on school exclusions published annually by the Scottish Executive indicate the over-representation of particular groups within the whole group of those excluded. Official and policy accounts of school exclusion were explored and tensions found between social policy constructions of exclusion and school policy. The latter was rooted in understandings of challenging behaviour as an additional support need or as a problem of school functioning. Not only were these discourses in tension with each other, resulting in inconsistencies in practice, but both ignored the social and cultural factors structuring school exclusion statistics. In the first empirical phase of the research, key informant interviews were used to probe professional and personal experience of exclusion, to contrast these with official views, and to inform the main phase of the investigation. The second, main phase of the research used a case-study sample of twenty excluded pupils, in four secondary schools, to investigate inequitable patterns of exclusion. Data was gathered from classroom observation, from school documentation and from interviews with pupils, parents and school staff. The main focus of the enquiry was the social identities of excluded pupils. Gender was a main category of analysis in this research, and especially masculine identities since boys were so predominant in exclusion statistics. The thesis argues that school exclusions are not just an indicator of wider social exclusion but an effect of policy which pursues social justice without fair distribution of social and economic benefits. Structural inequality has ensured that children and families are differently positioned to schooling and has limited the scope of schools in fostering engagement with schooling. Increased participation particularly in curriculum planning, is nevertheless a worthwhile and realistic aim for schools seeking to minimize school exclusion.

Despite the increasing prevalence and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) and the increasing number of children and young people (CYP) with ASC in mainstream schools, there is little qualitative research exploring a common element of the condition, anxiety. This study adopts a qualitative research paradigm and attempts to develop understanding of and insight into the lives of CYP with ASC by giving a voice to these pupils, their parents/carers and members of staff who support them. Adapted, semi-structured interviews using a cognitive-behavioural framework were used to elicit participants’ views. The data were triangulated and analysed using thematic analysis to ensure detailed analysis of the topic. The themes highlighted a number of school scenarios that cause anxiety and distress for pupils, as well as the negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with such situations. Psychological explanations for these findings were examined. Pupils found talking about their anxieties and using distraction techniques to be helpful anxiety-management strategies. For school to be ‘anxiety free’ participants alluded to a setting in which the CYP would be understood and accepted. The environment would be calm and predictable. Implications of the study, its relevance to the EP profession and further areas for research are discussed.

This action research study, which is composed of three cycles, aims at understanding and helping Portuguese students in an EFL context to improve their writing skills in English through a blended-learning (b-learning) writing module, using Moodle. This research contributes towards a better understanding of a research practitioner’s perspectives of an action research study. A narrative inquiry approach is used to convey the action research process through the practitioner’s eyes. It also contributes to the framework of Communities of Inquiry (CoI). This thesis looks at b-learning, its affordances and challenges and the function of CoI within a b-learning environment and how the different components of a Community of Inquiry framework, namely Social, Cognitive and Teaching Presences, contribute, influence and enrich the learning and teaching experience. The methodology behind the learning and teaching of writing as well as the theoretical and practical development of the research methods are described within the afore-mentioned framework. Communities of Inquiry will be seen as emerging from the data, as this research initially was not designed to include them. However, during analysis of the first action research cycle, data began to show evidence of the Community of Inquiry and it thus became part of the research and an integral part of the remaining two cycles. A Community of Inquiry’s sustenance relies on students’ engagement and interaction with the learning platform and with the people who make up the learning community and this data provides evidence for the framework in this research, which exemplifies and justifies the community of inquiry framework. Data for this thesis has been gathered using a mixed methods approach and thus the sources are varied. Interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, a research diary, class recordings and field notes and online interaction through forums, emails and messages compose the sources of the data for this research.

This is a study of teachers’ and pupils’ perceptions regarding sex education in two countries, Taiwan and England. It is a mixed method comparative study of four schools, two in each country. Interviews, focus groups and surveys were undertaken in these schools during the 2007/08 academic year. There were approximately 2100 participants - all year eight pupils (aged between 12 and 14) and volunteering teachers/coordinators. It was found that sex education was taught within all four participating schools and was consistently recognised as a valuable part of the curriculum. Two distinct approaches to sex education were found in the two countries. Perceptions of sex education were consistent across both schools in Taiwan and a key reason for this was that sex education had developed through a top-down policy. There was more variation between the two schools in England reflecting more flexible policies. The strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches are discussed along with the influence of stakeholders such as policy makers and governors/ coordinators. Biographic factors such as age and gender are also explored. The two phenomena (consistent and variable sex education) uncovered in this study are further explored within a descriptive model.

This study examined the perceptions of and responses to conflict of pupils and teachers in secondary schools in England and Denmark. It also examined the responses of schools to pupil conflicts and whether pupils and teachers found these measures to be effective in addressing and/or managing such conflicts. The inquiry into perceptions and responses involved questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations and documentary data collection instruments. There were a total of 347 pupil respondents (approximately 11-16 years old) and 34 teacher respondents across four schools. The results yielded significant perceptual differences both within the individual countries and cross-culturally. In the two English schools there were significant differences amongst pupil and teacher perceptions of conflict. There were also significant differences amongst pupil perceptions and responses to conflict crossculturally. More English pupils defined conflict and identified pupil conflicts in their schools as fighting, while the majority of Danish pupils both defined and identified pupil conflicts as verbal. However, for the most part there was more consistency in responses amongst pupils and teachers in Denmark than in England. Cultural and educational differences could be two contributing factors that played a role in the differences in perceptions of, and responses to, conflict amongst respondents in England and Denmark. For example, the Danish system administers a class teacher system where the class teacher not only spends several years with the same pupils but also takes on the role of pastoral carer. Moreover, it was found that while all four schools in this study had anti-bullying policies, none had policies pertaining specifically to the management of conflict. This was potentially an area of concern as pupils described conflicts that were beyond the scope of bullying.

The phrases like ‘scientific thinking’, ‘scientific method’ and ‘scientific attitude’ are all widely used and frequently appear in school curriculum guides but the meaning of such phrases is much less clear. In addition, there is little about how such skills might be taught or assessed. In the light of this, this thesis is a study which focusses on several related areas: the meaning of scientific thinking will be explored and the features of scientific thinking which make it uniquely different from other kinds of thinking will be analysed, set in the context of what is known about how conceptual learning takes place; the measurement of scientific thinking skills will be attempted and ways by which scientific thinking can be taught in the context of physics will be developed. There are two possible hypotheses which arise in this study: genuine scientific thinking is not accessible until learners have matured developmentally and have sufficient experience of the sciences. The way the sciences are taught will encourage or hinder the development of such skills. The empirical work was conducted in three stages to explore these hypotheses. Overall, 1838 students were involved in the study. The first experimental study was carried out with students (boys and girls) aged 15-18 from various schools in the Emirates and seeks to explore the extent to which they are thinking scientifically as well as making several other measurements of their abilities and attitudes. A test for measuring scientific thinking, based on physics, was developed and used along with an established test of working memory capacity, known to be a rate determining factor in much learning. In addition, a test to measure understanding of ideas in physics was constructed and used and the national examination marks for these students in the three sciences and mathematics were considered. It was found that the test of scientific thinking, the test of understanding physics and the national examination marks measured very different outcomes which are likely to be: scientific thinking, understanding and recall, respectively. In the second stage, some of the measurements completed in the first stage were repeated to confirm the outcomes. However, the main part was the development and use of five teaching units which, together, aimed to teach the key skills which had been defined as scientific thinking. The success of this was measured by using the same test of scientific thinking and comparing the outcomes to those obtained in the previous experiment. In addition, the results from the use of two of the items in the test of scientific thinking were compared to the outcomes compared in a previous study (using the same items) which had been based on large samples of younger students (aged 12-15). A survey was also used to see how the students saw themselves in relation to their study in physics. It was found that the use of the units had improved scientific thinking significantly with the younger two groups (age 15-16 and 16-17) but no improvement was observed with the oldest group (age 17-18). It was also found that the older groups of students were significantly better in the skills measured by the items used by the previous study when compared with younger students. The outcomes of the survey showed that their self-perceptions related poorly to their abilities in thinking scientifically while the interests of boys and girls were remarkably similar, suggesting that physics could appeal equally to both genders. In addition, there is clear evidence that all students want their studies in physics to relate to the real issues of life which are important for them and that boys are less willing to memorise than girls. The third phase employed the academic game known as Eloosis (which is considered to be an excellent model of scientific thinking) with three groups: one group had completed studies in one or more of the sciences and were about to leave school; one group were studying for a degree in an arts subject and were unlikely to have had much experience in the sciences; the third group had all graduated in a science discipline recently. While all groups played the game excellently, the group who had little or no science background did not appreciate the significance of the game as it illustrated the way science works in exploring the world around while both the senior school students and the science graduates, without prompting, could express a clear conception of the way science works although the graduate group, understandably, used more sophisticated language. The overall conclusions are that the test of scientific thinking certainly measures something completely different from the other measurements and, linked to the outcomes of the academic game, it does appear that it measured something close to scientific thinking. If this is true, then such thinking can be taught but is not accessible to those younger than aged about 15-16. All of this is consistent with the type of observations made by Piaget many decades ago and suggests that any attempts to develop scientific thinking with young adolescents will be unlikely to be successful. However, with older adolescents, for the skills to develop, there needs to be some teaching of this way of thinking. With the very large sample sizes and good cross-section of the population, there is reasonable confidence that the conclusions are generalisable and can inform future practice.