This thesis is an ethnographic study over an 8 year period of the leadership and management strategies involved in school improvement. The study takes place in a residential special school for pupils with BESD. The research specifically explored whether it is possible to distinguish between leadership and management activities, explores the role of the head teacher in relation to leadership and management and looks at change management against the context of school improvement. The methodology involves the interrogation of key documents covering the period from central government, local government agencies and documents produced by the School. There is a focus on identifying specific leadership approaches, matching actions to the National Standards for Head Teachers, matching change management actions to models defined by the Audit Commission. Use is made of document analysis methodologies in particular verb use to explore these matches. Findings suggest that the concept of leadership has been exploited commercially, and that leadership is defined by what an individual perceives it to be. That there is lack of clarity within central government about leadership in terms of its role and in education it has been used politically as opposed to practically. That models of leadership and management could not be clearly identified from the documents analysed. That it was not possible to identify many leadership actions through verb analysis. That verb analysis predominately identified administrative and management based actions. The findings suggest that head teachers should be able to model leadership strategies which are responsive to changing circumstances. That for change to be effective, the process needs to be considered, manageable, incremental, meaningful and owned. That Ofsted needs to measure the effectiveness of school leadership and management from an outcome based perspective which is derived from the National Standards for Head Teachers. The thesis provides a rational from which head teachers faced with leading a failing school can measure their thinking.

This research examines theory in relation to educational practice analysing how one specific group of practitioners consider the construct ‘theory’ in relation to their practice. The participants were drawn from those completing Initial Teacher Training in the post-compulsory education and training sector. The participants were all members of the same cohort; had been asked to consider a range of theories as part of their studies, and had been asked to reflect on ‘theory’ in relation to their practice in one of their examined assignments. I was drawn to study this area when, as the participants’ teacher, I found myself questioning the unexamined regard that the curriculum held ‘theory’ in. The data was collected through individual interviews, focus group discussions and the examination of written assignments. All the data was gathered at the end of the participants’ studies in order to gain a ‘snapshot’ of their perspectives at that particular moment. The data suggests that participants were inclined to consider that theory starts from practice and can be adapted by practitioners and it was found that the participants built their own personal pedagogical perspective through consideration of their subject, context and experience.

This study develops understandings of CPD leadership development in an FE college in Cambridgeshire through an exploration of the practices and perspectives of CPD and senior leaders. The research methodology used semi-structured interviews to capture accounts of the experiences and perspectives of ten CPD leaders and seven Senior Management Team members (SMT) as they described their perceptions and interpretations of the term CPD, their individual roles and responsibilities, how CPD leaders were supported in their professional development and finally the challenges and barriers they encountered while carrying out their CPD leadership roles. The findings show that CPD tended to be implemented at the college on an ad hoc basis, and seems to assume a distributed leadership style. Despite the distributed modes of leadership that appeared to underpin implementation of CPD across the college, decisions about the content of CPD provision tended to be shaped by institutional priorities identified by members of the senior management team. CPD leaders and teachers appeared to be excluded from the process of CPD planning and policy development.

In recent years there has been a significant increase in interest around career development in Educational Leadership. Through my own personal drive and leadership qualities, I began to question the idea of performance for successful leadership. Following observations of a particular leader I was even more intrigued about how one ought to perform as a leader and whether it is a conscious act dependent upon the message being delivered and the audience in which it is being enacted to. As I began to explore this concept further it became apparent that there was little research existing on how leaders perform and learn to perform. This study is set out to investigate the perception of headteachers’ from the West Midlands who are in practice to demonstrate the concept of performance ‘as’ and performance ‘is’ leadership. Semi-structured interviews were used between July 2012 and January 2013 to secure their perceptions of their own relatable understanding of performance in leaderships, including their professional development to equip them with such enactment skills, and the emotional cost that this has on their professional identity. This study captures ways in which you need to perform as a leader to be successful in delivering your messages to your followers. However, during such acts of performance there is a need to stay true to ones self and honest to the performance, resulting in an emotional cost to ensure that a professional identity is maintained. Leaders learn most of their skills through experiences, which takes time and opportunities to fine tune. This raises the questions that in todays’ current school led system do we have the experience to role model and develop such skills? This piece of research is set out to inform the future research agenda for professional development of school leaders developing strategies and opportunities for leaders to grow.

This study aims to seek trainee Educational Psychologists’ (EPs) views about their experiences of using Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP) to support the development of consultation and peer supervision skills. VERP is a new pedagogical approach. Limited research has focused on professionals’ experiences of using VERP, alongside exploring the supervisors’ views regarding VERP. Trainee EPs’ are studying a doctoral training course to become qualified EPs. Participants engaged in three cycles of VERP reflecting upon their practice, using video clips of themselves. An action research design was implemented and views from trainee EPs’ and the Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) supervisor were sought, using semi-structured interviews. A form of thematic analysis was used in order to analyse the data. Findings suggest that VERP was generally a positive experience for trainees and their experiences highlighted the impact of observing themselves in practice, as oppose to retrospective reflection. Trainee EPs’ acknowledged factors to consider within a ‘shared review’, their experiences of being filmed and using technology: the strengths and the challenges of which are considered. The findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature surrounding VERP and the potential limitations are also considered, whilst highlighting implications for educational psychology professional practice and research.

This research explicates the leadership of maritime education and training (MET) in the United Kingdom (UK). It explores how a sample of MET leaders made the transition from a professional or seafaring role into maritime education and thence to educational leadership. Twenty UK MET leaders were interviewed in a survey. Framed against a theoretical exposition of educational leadership, the respondents were asked about: their life experiences; significant people and critical incidents encountered; their move from seafaring to education and the transition between sectors; their current roles as educational leaders; and their training, personal development and styles of leadership. The findings from this sample reveal extraordinary, multi-faceted and relentless pressure on MET leaders. Career advancement is mostly serendipitous with little formal leadership development. There is scant evidence that reflective leadership is encouraged or practiced. Life experiences, and persons encountered, were significant, though the impact of critical incidents was less noteworthy. This study has closed gaps in vocational educational research. It enhances our understanding of the transition from seafaring to education and suggests the development of programmes specific to MET leadership. It will help aspiring MET leaders in their decision-making and, also, those responsible for designing personal and organisational development interventions.

This study explored how educational settings influence the experiences of students of Pakistani heritage in Birmingham. Research has highlighted the continued attainment gap that exists between White and minority ethnic students in Britain (for example, Gillborn, 2008; Strand, 2014). Public examination and National Curriculum assessment data in Birmingham demonstrated, despite improvements, gaps in achievement for Pakistani students, who were identified as a group at risk of underachieving (Birmingham City Council (BCC), 2012). The study took a phenomenological approach, specifically interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), to explore how educational settings influence the experiences, academic attainment and identity of a small sample of academically successful Pakistani students, who were currently studying at the University of Birmingham. Interview data were analysed using IPA and five emerging superordinate themes were presented: ‘multiple identities’, ‘gendered identities’, ‘learning contexts’, ‘others’ expectations and wider influences’ and ‘high status subjects and professions’. These findings were discussed in relation to extant literature and the initial research questions. Additionally, the study’s strengths and limitations were examined and areas for further research were identified. Finally, implications of the study’s findings were considered in relation to educational and educational psychology practice.

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the influence of self-assessment on the writing of inexperienced EFL Libyan university students’ writing. Data was collected from one hundred fourth year students majoring in English. The essays were each 300 words in length. The students were divided into experimental and control groups and 40 essays (20 from each group) were selected for analysis. The study uses a pre-self-assessment/post-self-assessment comparison of two groups of writers. The key research instrument was a self-assessment sheet which asked students to assess the content, organisation and language of their essays. Students were asked to revise their writing after using the self-assessment sheet. In addition to the self-assessment sheet, a post- study feedback form was given to elicit the students’ attitudes towards the use of self-assessment to guide their revision of writing. Further, a questionnaire completed by Libyans in the UK was also used in this study to elicit key contextual information about the writing context of the study. The results of the study showed that the writers in the experimental group who used self-assessment to guide their revision made more revisions than those in the control group. The result also demonstrated that the majority of students in the experimental group had a positive attitude towards the self-assessment technique. While there are limitations mainly due to the political and social climate at the time the research was conducted, this thesis demonstrates to some extent the important role of using self-assessment in developing inexperienced students’ writing.

This ethnographically-oriented study was initiated when Thai post-graduate scholarship students reported a variety of academic, medical and social problems to staff working at an education office which monitors the welfare of Thai students studying in the UK. This study is particularly timely as there was little existing research into the experiences of Thai students studying outside Thailand. Drawing on Holliday’s (1999) notion of ‘small cultures’, the study highlights challenges faced by a group of Thai students as they study for a one-year Master’s degree in the UK during 2011-2012. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and classroom observations carried out, with four Thai scholarship Master’s students studying at different UK universities. To expand the breadth of the study, a questionnaire survey of sixty-four Thai scholarship Master’s students studying at universities across the UK was administered. Additional background data were obtained from university teachers by means of semi-structured interviews. A picture emerges of the complex challenges and pressures faced by overseas students on a one-year degree programme as they seek to adapt to norms and expectations in the UK. The study highlights the individuality of international students, and resists generalisations about national groups. The study proposes implications for the support of international students at universities in the UK.

Research shows that successful educational reform is multi-faceted requiring rigorous planning and investment in teacher professional development. The focus of this study is women ESL teachers in Qatar’s public school educational reform, Education for a New Era which created 36 publicly funded Independent Schools with a standards-based curriculum using English as a Second Language as the medium of instruction in mathematics and science. The research investigated the perceptions of women ESL teachers regarding Qatar’s reforms and their experiences using new approaches to teaching ESL. Professional development needs were also identified. A mixed method approach was used. A questionnaire was distributed to 233 women ESL teachers and 18 semi-structured interviews conducted. Generally, teachers valued increased freedom, but expressed a lack of support, and noted increased workloads and conflicts between professional roles and private lives. Change facilitators were seen as supportive. Views about school administrators varied.