Growing numbers of children are being diagnosed with autism in the UK and, against a backdrop of increased legislative and administrative provisions for educational inclusion, more autistic children are being educated in mainstream primary school settings. However, while there is evidence of the continued exclusion of autistic children, their performance in school tests seems poor, and their longer-term outcomes impoverished. Meanwhile, debates continue about the nature of autism itself. My project, informed by the social model of disability, theories of language and interpretation, inclusion, difference and aspects of feminism, aims to uncover the reasons behind the difficulties autistic children are experiencing in schools, by considering if, and how they are accessing the curriculum and tests. Employing a predominantly interpretative paradigm and a case study design, and based in five mainstream primary schools in England, the views of school staff, autistic children and their parents, as well as a sample of autistic adults, are incorporated. My findings show that by setting aside the association of autism with impairments, listening to autistic children, engaging with them meaningfully and enabling their own learning styles and particular dispositions to be manifest, educational inclusion, and positive outcomes for all, are much more likely to occur.

This study adopts an auto/biographical approach to explore episodes in the life of the teacher, author and humanitarian activist Francesca Wilson (1888-1981). It is concerned with the process of researching and telling aspects of her life history as a means of contributing to the emerging historiography of women educator activists and Quaker women in international humanitarian relief in the first half of the twentieth century. It is structured around the concept of place as an interpretative device, and explores how three particular cities - Vienna (1919-22), Birmingham (1925-39), and Murcia (1937-39) - influenced her sense of identity and self and the trajectory of her subsequent life and activism on behalf of displaced people. Among the methodological aspects considered are issues of ‘truth’ and authorial voice, archival ambiguities and silences, and the role of networks and their representation in the archive. The study analyses her use of life histories for political and educational purposes, a theme that in itself raises other issues. Consequently, the use and exhibition of children’s art as a vehicle for giving ‘voice’ to displaced children is also considered, alongside an examination of the visual and textual representation of children by humanitarian activists and non-governmental aid agencies.

This thesis comprises of a critical literature review and case study. The literature review considers, in detail, the theory underpinning emotional intelligence and emotional literacy. It begins by detailing the shift in UK Education policy, between 2000 and 2010 and considering academic research into non-cognitive aspects of education. A critical evaluation of two theories of emotional intelligence (ability theory and trait theory) is then presented and these theories are subsequently contrasted with the theory of emotional literacy, as outlined by Claude Steiner. The paper concludes by considering how each of the three theories discussed may impact upon research practice. The case study, which was completed in a city suburban primary school, is made up of two embedded units, the first uses interview to examine staff perceptions of emotional literacy. The second employs collaborative action research to consider whether emotional literacy can be used to promote organisational change. Data was analysed using thematic analysis and is presented together with discussion regarding staff perceptions of emotional literacy. The collaborative action research resulted in four identified changes in the school: development of practice and policy at lunchtimes; the introduction of elements of the SEAL curriculum; the establishment of a student council and a staff collaboration project. The mechanisms supporting these developments are discussed.

This thesis explores the issue of imaginative writing of deaf children. Thirty deaf children aged 9-11 years were recruited form Hearing Impaired Units and mainstream schools. Thirty hearing children were matched on academic performance (according to teachers) and chronological age and recruited from the same classes as the deaf children. Three sets of imaginative stories were collected from the above groups at three points during one academic year. A mixed methodology was employed in order to investigate imaginative writing of deaf children. For the evaluation of children’s stories an “Imagination Story Scale” was developed based both on the literature review and on the in-depth analyses of four children’s imaginative stories. The scale consists of four categorised divisions (story structure, story plot, linguistic imagination, originality) and one additional division (overall assessment). Assessments of both deaf and hearing children’s stories using the scale revealed little variation between deaf and hearing children’s scores in the scale, indicating that deaf children do have imagination and are able to express it in writing. However, differences were observed between the scores for the different topics (for both groups of children) suggesting that the topic of the stories influenced their scores. Imaginative writing of deaf children was not predicted by: age, gender, degree of hearing loss, type of communication used at home, or use of activities to promote children’s imagination either in the classroom or at home. Teachers’ opinions of deaf children’s imagination were explored through interviews. The Teachers of the Deaf tended to under-estimate deaf children’s ability to demonstrate imagination in their writing by comparison with the stories that the deaf children produced.

In the UK education system, an ‘audit culture’ has led to pressures being placed on students to achieve high grades in their GCSEs (Torrance, 2004). It has been suggested that schools are required to achieve good academic results and look after their students’ wellbeing, causing a conflict in relation to public examinations, such as GCSEs (Putwain, 2009). School staff support both performance and wellbeing by preparing students for exams. However, research suggests that there is a danger that many underperform, or are negatively affected (emotionally) by exam stress, or both (Putwain, 2007). The aims of this research were to explore the views of students who had recently taken GCSE exams. The research aimed to gain an understanding of how Year 12 students felt their GCSE experiences affected their wellbeing and performance, what factors contributed to or alleviated their levels of exam stress, and whether theories such as Achievement Goal Theory (Elliot and McGregor, 2001) could be used to explain the individual differences in levels of exam stress. The research questions were explored using semi-structured interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Findings and conclusions provided ways to improve the support for students during their GCSEs, improving academic performance and wellbeing.

The aim of the current thesis was to investigate athletes’ perceptions of coaching effectiveness in team and individual sport. The introduction reviews the literature on coaching effectiveness of direct relevance to this thesis. This chapter also identifies a number of theoretical frameworks to the investigation of coaching effectiveness in sport, and subsequently uses these to inform the empirical studies that follow. The first of these Chapter 2, investigated a number of antecedents of athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s effectiveness, finding athlete sex, sport type (i.e., individual vs. team) coaching behavior were all predictive of athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s effectiveness. Next, Chapter 3 focused on outcomes of athlete perceptions of their coach, showing such perceptions of coaching effectiveness were predictive of athlete-level outcomes representing all four of the key outcomes. This was shown in two separate samples of athletes representing a range of team and individual sports, one from the UK and one from Malaysia. Then, Chapter 4 investigated whether athletes’ perceptions of coaching effectiveness mediated longitudinal predictive effects of perceptions of coach’s transformational leadership behavior on three different athlete outcomes. This study demonstrated the longitudinal predictive effects of appropriate role model behaviour on antisocial teammate behavior and individual consideration behavior on trust were mediated by athletes’ perceptions of their coach’s effectiveness in character building and motivation, respectively. Finally the present thesis extend the coaching effectiveness literature by furthering our understanding on antecedents and outcomes of coaching effectiveness in team and individual sport, as well as the possible processes involved.

This study sought to gain the views of a very specific group of eight young people who attended a Nurture Group, within a special school. Through a multiple case study design using semi-structured interviews, and a model-making activity with personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955), the contrasting poles of ideal and non-ideal classrooms were elicited. The rationale guiding the study was to ensure the views of the students were included in the interior design stage of a purpose built nurture group facility at their school. Methods included two model-making activities with LEGO® for each participant, with a photograph of each model annotated together, along with a series of nine questions for both models. Thematic analysis shows that employment and independence are most important as are the opportunities for kinaesthetic learning styles. The nurture group approach to schooling, when compared with overarching themes of the ideal classrooms does reflect the ideal classroom construct of the participants from this study, except in the area of language development. The implications of the study indicate LEGO and personal construct psychology can be a useful combination in exploring contrasting poles of a theme. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse this research.

Research suggests that discourses around Muslim girls position them as having ‘wasted potential’ (Archer, 2002) and being oppressed by parental expectations around marriage (Basit, 1995/1996). In contrast, when talking about their aspirations Muslim girls themselves draw on discourses around personal choice within the bounds of parental expectations (Archer, 2002; Ahmad, 2001). This study explores the discourses used by teachers and Muslim girls, how Muslim girls are positioned within these discourses, and the implications for Muslim girls’ experiences in school. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (as described by Willig, 2008) is used to analyse semi-structured interview data from five teachers and focus group data from five Muslim girls in year 9. Discussions around race in relation to the practice of Educational Psychologists are rare, and so the usefulness of a discursive approach to the practice of Educational Psychologists in relation to race is also discussed.

There is little consensus regarding whether siblings fare better if placed together or apart in foster care or adoptive placements. This case study explored the decision-making of social workers when considering whether to place siblings together or apart. A psychological framework, the Information Processing Approach to decision-making, was used. I aimed to explore the key information that social workers attended to, the constraints they faced, which people influenced their decision-making and what heuristics they relied on. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six social workers working within one Local Authority. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings suggested that social workers attended to information regarding the individual needs of the children, the detrimental effects of separating siblings, and the positive and negative aspects of the sibling relationship. They faced constraints such as their previous experiences as a social worker and systemic issues. The social workers appeared to be influenced by a number of people during the decision-making process. As part of the assessment process, the social workers took into account published research relating to siblings. The social workers also appeared to use a number of heuristics to aid their decision-making. Implications for future practice and research are considered.

With some notable exceptions (e.g. Jones et al., 2012), current guidance regarding best practice for the education of children on the autism spectrum often reflects a medical / behavioural model approach that seeks to remediate perceived deficits (Cumine et al., 1998, Hanbury, 2005, Hewitt, 2005, Worth, 2005, Hagland and Webb, 2009). Such advice can be contrasted with that given by autistic writers (Sainsbury, 2000, Lawson, 2010) often situating itself within a social model of disability. This study utilised Q-sort methodology (n = 60), followed by qualitative interviews (n = 6) to investigate the ideology and priorities of differing stakeholders, including autistic adults, parents of autistic children, practitioners and academics working in the field, and those occupying multiple positions, regarding the education of autistic pupils of secondary-school age. Eight factors were extracted through the PoetQ application for analysis. Two of these factors were dominant within the data-set. One represented a critical radical pedagogy frequently favoured by autistic adults, the other an approach akin to a Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) model often preferred by non-autistic parents. Practitioners and academics were found to hold a less-defined eclectic approach between these two main factors. The thesis concludes with a reflection regarding this ‘three-way dispositional problem’ and offers a number of recommendations for future research and practice.