This study investigates the influence of teaching assistants (TAs) on the peer relationships of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools. Peer relationships are central to development. Whilst there is an increasing body of research into TAs’ contribution to academic outcomes, there are comparatively few studies into their social impact. The majority of studies investigating the impact of TAs on the peer relationships of pupils with SEND highlight concerns that TAs deployed in a one-to-one role inadvertently hinder pupil relationships. This study sought to explore and explain the strategies used by TAs and the underlying contextual factors which facilitate or constrain the development of positive peer relationships for pupils with SEND. The purpose of the research was to identify, from the perspective of TAs, ‘what works, for whom, in what contexts and with what outcomes’. Qualitative data from interviews with six TAs working in primary schools was analysed using a critical realist position and grounded theory methodology (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). The results propose that TAs use ‘manager’ and ‘coach’ strategies to influence pupil peer relationships, via the core category of ‘social agency’. The ‘manager’ enabled short-term reductions in pupils’ level of social ‘risk’, problems and isolation, but constrained the development of social skills and increased dependency in the longer-term. The ‘coach’ encouraged pupils to take controlled, short-term risks, but facilitated their reflective thinking, social skills and independence. Three causal factors influenced TAs’ use these strategies; the level of social need of pupils, TAs’ values, knowledge, skills and integrated experience and the school context. The concept of ‘social agency’, applied to both TAs and pupils, explains the properties of, and relationships between the above components. The theory has implications for the practice of TAs and educational professionals and provides a basis for future research.

A large number of Building Services Engineering (BSE) graduates from UK universities either already live and work abroad, or aspire to do so, and the destinations for such migrants are most often English-speaking countries or countries where English is commonly used in business. Academic programmes in BSE are usually professionally accredited by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) under licence from the Engineering Council (EC). In the common destination countries for UK BSE graduates the Washington, Sydney and Dublin Accord (WSDA) agreements prevail, meaning that there is a mutual recognition of engineering qualifications and professional accreditation of academic courses, and this facilitates international mobility. Since it is widely accepted that buildings account for as much as 50% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, it could be said that there is a worldwide sustainability agenda with respect to buildings. The common factor across national boundaries is that Building Services Engineers, as central members of building design teams, must provide much of the specialist practical knowledge to enable more energy efficient buildings to be designed and constructed, and it is therefore likely that UK educated engineers will be working in far more varied overseas locations in the near future. The main aim of the work is to synthesise an education and training model to encourage and enable international mobility of UK BSE graduates, and to carry out some evaluation of this model. This work sets out initially to question whether a UK education in BSE necessarily provides UK graduates with the best possible skillset for work abroad. The influence of the EC upon the content of BSE study programmes has been examined, and the research assesses the benefits of the EC’s influence in countries with different economic and political priorities to the UK, other western economies and to the WSDA countries. Following identification and analysis of the main issues, the model was constructed and evaluations were made using semi-structured interviews. The methodology used in this research is necessarily underpinned by a pragmatist paradigm, which has led to the use of a mixed methods blended approach. In addition to thorough review and analysis of literature, the practical methods employed include a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews in three phases: an exploratory phase, an in-depth analysis, and a concluding phase. The early conclusions indicated that the EC influence upon BSE study programmes is generally regarded as necessary and beneficial, since it provides an engineering skillset that is internationally respected and recognised. There is, however, less confidence in applying this in an international arena outside of the WSDA umbrella since different parts of the world face different economic challenges, divergent societal imperatives, and diverse attitudes to sustainability and green issues. An education and training model was constructed to address these issues and, after initial testing, was found generally to be a workable proposition to enhance the international prospects of UK BSEs, and further, could be adopted in the UK under the auspices of the Degree Apprenticeship initiatives. Such a model is, however, unlikely to be adopted in many overseas locations due to differing cultural views on the value of work-based learning and apprenticeship.

Although research studies are plentiful regarding the cognitive aspects of children’s and young people’s reading difficulties, surprisingly few consider the emotional or relational impact of those difficulties. Those which do rarely invite young people to share their experiences of struggling to master this fundamental life skill. This exploratory, qualitative study used a psychosocial methodology to explore the reading experiences of young people who find reading difficult. A psychosocial ontology and epistemology gave equal consideration to the meaning constructed through participants’ social interactions and the unconscious psychological processes at work for participant and researcher, and facilitated an understanding of the emotional experience of each participant. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two 12-year-old boys (UK school year 8) with persistent reading difficulties, using Free Association Narrative Interview (FANI) techniques. Each boy was interviewed twice, creating his own narrative in response to initial questions or prompts. The boys were also observed twice in a typical English lesson, using principles of infant observation. A reflective research diary was used to record the researcher’s personal responses to all aspects of the research. Interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Reflective process notes from each observation provided an additional perspective on each boy’s experiences. Psychosocial research supervision enabled a reflexive stance to be maintained, holding in mind the ‘whole’ person, acknowledging the researcher as psychologically defended, and considering the relevance and appropriateness of themes as they emerged. Semantic and latent themes specific to each participant were identified. Although the aim was not to generalise between the boys’ experiences, similarities were found within the following areas: ‘(un)helpful helping’, ‘believed and understood?’, ‘lazy, dumb and stupid’, and ‘smarter sisters’. The findings provide a rich account of participants’ experiences as ‘struggling readers’. Strengths and limitations of the study are discussed, together with implications for teaching and Educational Psychology practice.

This thesis considers the introduction of the free school, questioning whether the culture of such start-up schools differs to that of existing schools. The research focuses on the extent to which the founding headteacher controls the formation and continuation of culture, and by what methods. The research builds on existing theories of organisational culture to establish a current understanding of leadership of school culture within English schools and compares this it five secondary free schools. Within each case study a range of stake holders were interviewed, and documents analysed to investigate how the intended culture was planned for the schools, and what emergent culture has resulted. The findings presented show an explicit need to plan and embed a new culture and give some practical suggestions as to how to achieve this. Free schools studied demonstrated some distinctive cultural elements, unique in the consistency with which they were embedded. It is postulated these cultural facets are as a direct result of the political turmoil surrounding the free school, and largely result from the external opposition to such schools. The importance and power of the founding generation of staff and students in creating new culture has also emerged as a critical theme.

The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to examine the effects of knowledge on cognition and regulation of cognition on declarative knowledge, conditional knowledge, and procedural knowledge in geometry and (2) to examine the interrelationships among declarative knowledge, conditional knowledge, and procedural knowledge in geometry. The reciprocal relationships between metacognitive and knowledge factors were modeled by using data from tenth grade secondary school students. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships of two metacognitive factors (knowledge of cognition, regulation of cognition) and three knowledge factors (declarative knowledge, conditional knowledge, procedural knowledge). The observed variables representing the latent variables were determined by carrying out exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis for the metacognitive awareness inventory and geometry knowledge test separately. Major findings revealed: (1) Declarative knowledge significantly and positively influences conditional and procedural knowledge / (2) Procedural knowledge has a signitificant and positive direct effect on conditional knowledge / (3) Declarative knowledge has a positive indirect effect on conditional knowledge / (4) Knowledge of cognition significantly and positively influences procedural knowledge / (5) Regulation of cognition has a significant but negative direct effect on procedural knowledge / (6) Knowledge of cognition has positive indirect effects on conditional and procedural knowledge / (7) Regulation of cognition has negative indirect effects on conditional and procedural knowledge / (8) Knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition have non-significant direct effect on declarative and conditional knowledge. The results showed that knowledge of cognition has the strongest direct effect on procedural knowledge and the direct effect of declarative knowledge on conditional knowledge is stronger than on procedural knowledge. In view of the findings considerable suggestions is provided for teachers, instructional designers, and mathematics education researchers.

This research aimed to explore the extent to which young people with learning/communication difficulties see themselves affected by feeling unsafe/bullying in the community. This research also investigated the views of parents of young people with learning/communication difficulties. The researcher wished to explore the extent to which parents endeavour to support their vulnerable offspring by curtailing their exposure to potential risks, as against helping them develop coping strategies to enable them to stay safe in community settings and be competent to avoid and address potential or actual risks. Finally, the study aimed to explore the perceptions of teachers who work with young people with learning/communication difficulties, of how much the young people are at risk of being bullied in the community, and how the school curriculum seeks to minimise/prepare young people to address any such risks. Through a multiple case study design, the perceptions of six young people with learning/communication difficulties were explored, as were the perceptions of one of the parents of each of the young people. Three schools were involved: one mainstream and two special schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the young people, with their parents and with one member of staff from each school. In addition, rating scales and photographs were used with the young people. The research was collaborative in that the young people were involved in identifying which places in the community to take photographs of, and took some of the photographs themselves with the help of school staff. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis (Thomas, 2009). Findings point to the importance of taking an eco-systemic approach to the issue of how safe young people with learning/communication difficulties feel in the community, and to the issue of bullying.

Research pertaining to homophobic name-calling has largely focused on prevalence rates and the negative long-term effects on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) populations without considering the intention behind the use of the language, leading to an assumption the language used in these incidents is intentionally homophobic. This small-scale exploratory study focused on gathering the cross age and gender perspectives of male and female young people in years 7 (age 11-12) and 10 (age 14-15) from one secondary school, to illuminate whether they perceive name-calling, involving the word ‘gay’ to be bullying, harmful and intentionally homophobic. The study adopted a qualitative approach to research methodology to gain a richer understanding of young people’s perspectives, where single–sex focus groups were used to collect qualitative data, which were analysed through thematic analysis. Key findings from the study suggest there is agreement over age and between genders that using the word ‘gay’ is not intentionally homophobic or harmful. The study also highlights that the intent of the language is complex and dependent upon a number of factors including: the relationship between the user and receiver; whether they are friends or not and how the words are said. The language can be used as a form of joking, social bonding, expressing opinions and perceived as a common discourse amongst young people where there is no associated implication to sexuality. Further implications for anti-bullying and Educational Psychology practice are discussed, with a focus on developing an understanding of the use and intent of name-calling in schools at systemic and socio-cultural levels.

The study was concerned with access to science and mathematics curricula by students with visual impairment (SVI) in South-Western Nigeria. The main study adopted an action research approach. Six initial stakeholder ‘search conferences’ were organised to understand the nature and extent of the problem. They revealed evidence of inadequate accessibility to science and mathematics education by SVI due to unavailable resources and personnel. This led to the development of teaching resources and approaches (‘STEM Kit’ and the use of ‘Talking LabQuest’) and the trialling of these approaches in two selected study schools. Data were collected through classroom observation and teacher and student interviews. Findings show that the approaches enabled access of SVI to science and mathematics at a comparable level with their sighted peers, which brought about immersion in, and engagement with learning. With the multisensory teaching resources, SVI and classroom sighted teachers learn and teach with reduced specialist teacher involvement. The intervention positively challenged local views and practice regarding curriculum access and SVI and offers examples for improved provision of relevant resources and training for staff to better support SVI independence and inclusion. This study showcases the uniqueness of action research in empowering all participants to bring about change.

An examination of the trainee experience in a competency based training programme. In a high-risk industry, having highly trained personnel is taken very seriously. This four year training programme produces highly qualified and skilled individuals and this research examined the experience of progressing through the training programme through the trainees' lens. Learnings include two consistent elements contribute to a negative trainee experience: Evaluation Methods that produced a tension between memorisation and learning and Trainer Practices that lacked student-centred, research informed methods that would likely improve the trainee success rate as well as the overall trainee experience.

My original contribution to knowledge is the use of computer generated, three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds using Second Life® as a three-way sustained engagement and a mechanism for a genuinely productive dialogue between Further Education (FE) colleges, employers, employees and apprentices. This thesis shows how the use of virtual worlds creates meaningful employer engagement where Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are involved in planning and contributing to learning (Healey et al, 2014). A radical rethink is taking place about the way we should learn. That is that most learning is informal, at work, under the guidance of non-educationalists and that this situation is universal in the government's priority area of apprenticeship (HM Treasury, 2015) and among most private providers. I will discuss how virtual environments allow SMEs to work in ways they cannot in real life and juxtapose this against the real world, in order to reveal the previously misunderstood connections between the two. The question of Further Education (FE) reform has been widely debated (Bailey et al, 2015, Kelly, 2015) with former Skills Minister, Nick Boles, questioning whether the general FE college model has a future (Evans, 2015) and The Centre for Vocational Education Research (2015) reporting “FE needs to be rethought and rebuilt”. The gap in research for UK vocational education is significant, in comparison to school or university education (Coffield 2008, Grollmann, 2008) and detrimental to the UK government’s drive to recruiting 3 million apprentices by 2020 (Gov.UK, 2015a). This thesis addresses the use of virtual worlds to enhance work transitions both educationally and work related with special attention to apprentices. Specifically, I will be looking at research that pays attention to the socio-cultural context of situated learning (Lave and Wenger, 1991, Vygotsky, 1978), in order to show communities of practice in virtual worlds, transferring motivation and knowledge management. I argue working in virtual worlds bridges the gap between education and industry to develop a modern workforce for the continuation of learning across formal and informal settings (Vavoula et al, 2007) and how its use is endless and hugely enriching by allowing learning to be much more opportunistic. There are so many opportunities in the use of virtual worlds, related particularly to a three-way partnership in learning between apprentices and employees, employers and FE colleges: co-ordination of off- and on-the-job learning; real-time oversight for employers of their employees’ progress; use of virtual events at work to enrich learning, demonstrations of processes and development of learning communities.