This study investigated the beliefs of beginner learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) and also their teachers‘ beliefs, about the difficulties presented by Chinese learning and teaching, and how learners overcame the difficulties they encountered. The study compared beliefs of teachers and pupils who had different levels of experience in the context of English secondary schools. The relationship between beliefs and an individual‘s background and experience was also explored. The study was situated in a pragmatic paradigm, using a mixed method, including both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. 443 pupils and 42 teachers in over a dozen schools responded to a Likert-scale questionnaire. 68 pupils (34 individuals and 13 groups) and 13 teachers in seven schools shared their views in interviews. Many interesting findings were revealed in this study. Surprisingly, pupils thought tones and characters were ―tricky‖ to learn, but not impossible, whereas teachers thought pupils did not pay attention to tones and underestimated the difficulty of learning characters. Teachers tended to support communicative language teaching (CLT) orientations but showed somewhat inconsistent patterns between their beliefs about CLT and their teaching approaches. The learning of writing rules were concerns of teachers and pupils, indicating they believed there was some value in non-communicative learning orientation. Pupils also showed their enthusiasm for learning character, and overwhelmingly believed that, in order to make good progress in Chinese learning, they should put effort into learning characters. Some of these findings relate to particular aspects of Chinese learning such as tones and characters. However, other findings are unrelated to the language demands of Chinese and suggest that the practices of learning Chinese have a particular impact on the views of learners about who can learn Chinese and what it takes to be successful. In addition, with regard to language teaching, first language (L1) and second language (L2) Chinese teachers pointed out that the issue of students behaviour is a universal phenomenon regardless of culture or country. These findings challenge the stereotypical expectations of L1 Chinese teachers and pupils‘ performance in English schools. I suggest that these beliefs may be empowering for language learners in an English context.

Universal access to education has been an urgent concern since the establishment of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals or MDG. While aiming at ‘Education for All’, the MDG did not specify what kind of education nor how that education would be delivered. Besides the emphasis on access, apparent in the various attempts to ensure provision of education for the world’s poor, there has been also focus on material resources - especially a reliance on foreign aid. This author argues that what is needed in the long-term is a localized or Culturally Responsive approach that includes a consideration of the question of justice – particularly the issue of socio-economic inequality. The study evaluates some historical attempts towards Cultural Responsiveness (CR) in education, highlighting the efforts to filter curriculum content and teaching strategies through students’ cultural frames of reference. It eventually questions this curriculum-centred approach. Should CR not rather address the problem of elitism inherited via colonial education? The elite and the indigent, the study suggests, have become of different cultures. Hence part of the task of CR in education needs to be conceptualised as an elite-indigent dialogue. The CR dialogue is indeed of culture but must be framed in the context of justice, presented in terms of the author’s religious worldview, which includes eco-justice. To gather data on an elite-indigent interaction, the study adopts a decolonized methodology, as well as a qualitative approach employing unstructured interviews and open-ended questionnaires. Based on an interpretive case study of the relationship between an elite school in Africa and its indigenous-indigent host community, the study explores an alternative CR approach through the philosophical lens of Constructivism and the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP). The result is a three-fold learning hypothesis termed Costheanthropic Learning.

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In the 1990s, the leadership of organised, mainstream British Jewry was preoccupied with the challenge of Jewish continuity. Essentially, there were two narratives: a dominant one emphasising the dangers of assimilation and the decline of the community and a second, emerging narrative highlighting opportunities for, and indicators of, revival. During 1991-2000, attempts were made to establish a centrally-coordinated, national framework for mainstream Jewry: this inquiry focused upon Jewish Continuity (1993-98) and UJIA Jewish Renewal (1997-2000 – it continued to operate thereafter). The context of British Jewry was examined for the purposes of the study. Thereafter, the research presented an analysis of the historiographical implications, addressing ontological and epistemological issues. Positivist and post-modernist approaches were contrasted and a qualified and cautious positivist approach was adopted, recognising the concerns of more relativist/interpretative perspectives. The methodologies of interviewing and documentary analysis were also examined in terms of hermeneutic issues and practical application. It also considered the research areas of triangulation, validity, reliability, reflexivity and ethical concerns. In addition, the data-gathering process was recorded and explained. A documentary analysis was conducted with unrestricted access to the available primary organisational documents. A literature review revealed a limited body of writing specific to these events and developments. The purposive interview sample comprised thirty-five semi-structured interviews with lay and professional leaders from the organisations themselves and their partners; expert informants were also included in the sample. The Findings emerged around the following themes: Vision and Planning; Organisation and Implementation; Leadership Roles and Personalities; and the Challenges of Cross-communalism, Relations with Communal Partner Organisations, Funding and Communications and Expectations. Finally, the Conclusion was presented within the following framework: assessment of the current situation; presentation of an inspiring vision and purpose; clear articulation of compelling messages; motivate and mobilise key community leadership; develop a fundraising plan; assemble the right personnel and leadership in appropriate decision-making structures; negotiate obstacles and challenges; identify and address key stakeholders and partners; establish the educational model and operational approach; generate an implementation plan based on evidence-based strategic planning; create operational structures; encourage and enthuse people around the initiative. The research has implications and insights for youth and community education and community development practitioners, as well as academic value.

Each year in higher education institutions around the world millions of people embark on degree level study. Unfortunately many of these hopefuls, for whatever reason, fail to progress to their second year of their course. This phenomenon transcends national boundaries, and yet despite over 80 years of research, and significant investment in programmes, there remains little evidence of any sustained, systemic or operational improvements in retention performance. Just such a problem existed on the first year of the full-time business programmes at the University of Huddersfield. In 2002 and 2003 it was found that on average nearly 30% of students did not progress into year 2. This was the catalyst that initiated a seven year investigation of retention covering the academic years 2002-2009. It led to the establishment of two key objectives, firstly to establish the nature and incidence of student non-progression to year two, and following on from this to endeavour to investigate how the rate of non-progression could be reduced. The research approach taken in this thesis is a departure from traditional retention research in that it is practitioner based, i.e. it is research by an insider, in this case a year tutor. Working within a realist framework a pragmatic stance was taken, combining elements of action research to investigate the case of the first year of a business studies undergraduate programme in post-92 university. Two key episodes characterise the project, the first covering 2002 and 2003 involved the establishment of effective retention data systems and the second covering 2004-2008 involving a period of systemic intervention. Seven consecutive years of consistent quantitative and qualitative data collection and observation allowed for the construction of a detailed picture of retention. It also facilitated the effective evaluation of the subsequent retention solutions that were implemented. Over the period of the study 174 out of 753 students failed to progress to year 2. These 174 students could be classed into one of two non-progression categories: those who withdrew before the end of the academic year and those who did not withdraw but still failed to progress. Individual student withdrawal behaviour was unique and highly complex, but three types of withdrawal were identified, early leavers, late leavers and circumstantial leavers. Despite the strong interventionist and supportive policy, students identified as having problems would often actively avoid contact with the institution. Identification of the nature of student failure to progress provided a guide for potential solutions. Three general approaches were deployed: early intervention and engagement, academic skills support and institutional change in the form of teaching. Early intervention was an ongoing process and served to enable and support the key process of data collection and student-faculty contact. Academic skills support was shown to have an impact on individual student performance but its effect on retention was difficult to identify because of the need to control other variables. It was found that this type of retention programme tends to speak to students who have the relevant cultural capital or who are highly motivated and those deemed at risk are unlikely to make use of the service, a concern for all considering that the bulk of retention programmes follow this pattern. Institutional change was effected by changing the teaching delivery method and moving away from classic lecture structures to small groups. It was observed that students with lower UCAS entry points tended to benefit more under the seminar system, but it also proved to be effective in increasing student class attendance and the performance of all students. Furthermore the incidence of student academic failure was significantly reduced thus contributing to higher retention levels.

Higher Education is often cited as a key for the enhancement of the quality of graduates. In this research, the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in developing more enterprising graduates was investigated. The research specifically looked at the significance of the contribution of the learning activities embedded within the curriculum as part of experiential learning approaches, and how these contributed to equipping graduates with a range of generic transferable enterprise skills that are an essential part of employability skills. Nowadays, the idea of graduates with a bulk of knowledge, which they cannot apply, is no longer valid. Therefore, HEIs are under growing pressure to deliver graduates with the necessary range of skills that satisfy the demands of the employment marketplace. This research follows a qualitative research method through adopting an hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, and was conducted in the context of pharmacy education in the United Kingdom (UK) HEIs during 2011. The research primarily considers the views of pharmacy academics as to how pharmacy schools understand the concept of enterprise education, what efforts they place to develop students’ enterprise skills and the extent to which experiential learning activities are utilised to serve this objective. The research also considers opinions of pharmacy employers in the marketplace to evaluate their views about the need for enterprise skills by recent pharmacy graduates, and whether they are satisfied by the level of skills demonstrated by recent graduates. Furthermore, the research briefly considers views of pharmacy students to evaluate the extent to which they value the need for enterprise skills, and whether they believe the educational process is helping them in developing those skills. In order to consider the large amount of data obtained in this research, analysis of results was divided into four parts, each representing one major theme. This supported a more efficient discussion of analysis and drawing of conclusions in ways that clearly relate to the research objectives. The findings of this research show that HEIs consider the development of a range of students’ enterprise skills. However, the skills considered are generally focused around particular contexts, and are, thus, confined to certain parts of the curriculum rather than others. The research points out some gaps in the application of experiential learning approaches that possibly contribute to impeding the efficient development of graduate enterprise skills. In doing so, the research emphasises the importance of formally addressing the development of enterprise skills as part of schools’ strategies or philosophies in order to have them intentionally developed as part of the learning objectives across all modules by all academics. In conclusion, this research highlights the significance of the context in developing enterprise skills, and shows how the contexts in which enterprise skills are developed affect the way in which these skills are demonstrated, as well as the ability to demonstrate those skills in other contexts. Accordingly, the research proposes two original models suggesting that the more a person is exposed to different contexts in which he/she is allowed the opportunity to develop enterprise skills, the more that person’s skills become transferable. Last but not least, the research proposes a third original model suggesting six essential aspects of experiential learning. This model will help in implementing experiential learning approaches more efficiently in ways that could overcome the several identified gaps, and, thus, enhance the value of these learning approaches as means to develop graduates’ enterprise skills.

This thesis discusses children‘s perceptions of self and others in the context of the inclusion debate, including debates about the conceptualisation of disability from the medical/individual and social models. The chosen media to investigate children‘s perceptions are their visual and verbal representation of differences. Therefore, this investigation is concerned with the verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication, including an interest in finding spontaneously emerging metaphors. Linked to this concern with the representation of self and other in relation to differences and sense of belonging through visual and verbal activities, activities were designed to encourage the participants - young people with and without learning difficulties in more and less inclusive settings - to tell their stories using both forms of expression, following the principles of open-interview. The study is founded on notions of narrative as a means of interpreting the world and making sense of the lives of others. Therefore, the methods of inquiry are connected with narrative inquiry and auto/biographic research to some extent. Here the (life) stories are told not only in narrative form, but also in image-based representation of people, events, and meanings. An autobiographical thread is also developed alongside the presentation of the study and the process of producing it. Pursuing an agenda for social justice this research is intended to capture the participants‘ perceptions as a means to listen to their voices and ultimately to ‗turn up the volume‘ (Clough and Barton, 1998, p.129) of their voices, in the form of stories as a means of exploring ways to make the findings accessible beyond academia. The findings, that children were capable of expressing their perceptions both verbally and visually and that they visually portrayed differences between able/disabled people that they did not explicitly verbally express, contribute to methodological knowledge as well as the field of inclusive education and disability studies.

Pupils’ misbehaviour has been attracting the attention of media, educators and policy makers in many countries over the past several decades. The literature on the subject is extensive and ranges across different disciplines, foci and methodologies. However, the call for new understanding is still strong, as the interest in the topic seems not to abate. The present study adds to the literature by exploring how secondary school teachers manage incidents of minor misbehaviour in class. A case study methodology has been used, including classroom observations and interviews of six subject teachers, teaching the same year 8 bottom-set class, within one comprehensive secondary school. A third source of data is constituted by relevant school documents. Analysis of the six cases suggests a theory (the Congruence Hypothesis), which might explain why some teachers are more effective than others in tackling minor misbehaviour in school. Relying on evidence from the data, the hypothesis suggests that, among the many factors influencing pupils' behaviour, a significant element is the degree of congruence between the teachers' belief system, their classroom conduct and the school culture. The theory builds upon a social ecological perspective – which considers the individual, organization, community, and culture as spheres nested into one another like Russian dolls (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) - and takes into consideration two of those spheres: the individual (called the personal congruence level) and the organization (the institutional congruence level). It is hypothesized that the more the teachers are congruent at both personal and institutional level, the less likely it is that pupils will engage in minor misbehaviour. The concept of congruence finds sparse application within the educational field and makes almost no appearance in the area of pupils' misbehaviour. Consequently, the thesis can be considered as pioneer work. However, the aim of the study is not to present a definitive statement, but to put forward a model that could serve as a framework for further reflection and understanding. The findings are a useful addition to the knowledge-base relating to effective teaching on matter of classroom behaviour management. Potentially they have implications for a range of stakeholders in both the informal and formal educational sectors, ranging from teachers and school leaders to governors, teachers' trainers and policy makers

The integration of deaf children into mainstream schools was heralded by the 1981 Education Act, but has been dogged by conflict about the appropriateness of two dominant approaches to communication. The oral/aural approach, most often followed, is concerned with teaching deaf children to learn to listen and listen to learn. The emphasis has been on the need to 'normalize' deaf children in order to promote their learning and development. The manual/visual approach has focused on sign usage to promote a child's development as a communicator and learner and can be tailored to the child's prospective membership of Deaf/deaf and hearing cultures. The aim of this study is to explore both the oral/aural and the manual/visual approach in relation to young deaf children's experiences of integration. Rather than focusing on modality specific aspects of communication, this study examines the wide range of both resources and strategies deaf children have for interaction in a variety of educational environments, using modality independent tools. This permits a broader examination of deaf children's opportunities for communication in integrated settings than has previously been undertaken. The research involved detailed analysis of direct observation data collected in nursery and reception classes over a period of eighteen months, during which time the experiences of a group of deaf children and matched hearing peers were compared and contrasted. It is argued that the preoccupations of professionals, and their purposes in promoting particular approaches to language and communication need to be challenged if deaf children are not to be disabled by oppressive practices in the name of integration. It is recommended that further research should aim to advance inclusive and empowering education for deaf children through more adequately recognizing the contribution of Deaf/deaf people to processes of enquiry.