Genetic perturbations and foreign chemicals can result in a multitude of changes across a wide range of biochemical processes in a biological system. These perturbations may affect the metabolome, the small molecule metabolites in an organism. Recently, liquid-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) technology has been used to quantify large proportions of the metabolome, however standardized protocols are not yet available for use with Drosophila melanogaster. Here, I developed an ion-pairing LC-MS protocol for the metabolomic characterization of D. melanogaster and demonstrated its implementation in establishing the metabolomic profile of flies under oxidative stress and in the metabolic profiles of four different Drosophila species. I demonstrated that this new method allows for the detection of otherwise difficult metabolites and that it is repeatable and sensitive with acceptable levels of ionsuppression, matrix effects, limits of detection and quantification. I then used this method to determine and quantify the metabolomic fingerprints of loss of Superoxide dismutase activity and paraquat-induced stress. Comparing and contrasting the effects of these two sources of oxidative stress, I document both similarities and stressor-specific effects.

This thesis is divided into three chapters. A general theme running throughout concerns "the social lives of people described as having a learning disability". Chapter 1 is a critical review, focusing on the literature that has sought to understand how people described as having a learning disability negotiate their identities in the routine and mundane social interactions of their lives. In contrast to earlier research, that has attempted to explore how a "learning disabled identity" is perceived and experienced through direct interviews; the literature in this area offers a different perspective in that all of the studies critiqued use Conversation Analysis [CA] as a methodology. What they illustrate is the influential role of the environment, and more specifically, the roles that professionals and staff can play in relation to empowering or disempowering those whom they support. The contributions of these studies are assessed and clinical implications and recommendations for future research are considered. Chapter 2 is a qualitative study using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore friendship in the lives of people described as having a learning disability. For participants in the study, friendship was reported as playing an important role in their lives; however other relationships also had considerable significance. Of particular note were relationships with staff and family members. These relationships were at times spoken about as being welcomed and depended on, but at other times seen as a source of frustration. Limitations of the study are discussed, along with clinical implications and recommendations for future research. Chapter 3 is specifically related to Chapter 2, and provides a reflective account of the experience of undertaking a piece of research within the area of learning disabilities. Particular attention is given to some of the dilemmas and challenges that were encountered along the way.

The first chapter introduces the thesis and explores the historical background and trends in society and education in and since the 1940s, especially the social, theological and educational scene. Chapter two shows that the term Christian Education has sometimes referred to a particular understanding of religious education. That usage is analysed and found to be unacceptable without significant qualifications. The next four chapters clarify and analyse the understanding of the term Christian Education in four further contexts where it is used: Church schools (chapter three), longstanding independent schools (chapter four), recently established Christian schools (chapter five) and the education of people in the church context itself (chapter six). Chapter seven considers the arguments Paul Hirst has made against the acceptability of the concept of Christian Education and contends that these arguments are not valid. This chapter also points out that the five contexts where the term Christian Education is used (as explored in chapters 2 -6), do not include the county schools, except that the first usage explored was the religious education in county schools. In view of this the chapter maintains that it is important to explore the relationship of Christian values and principles to education in county schools, a task undertaken in the final chapter. The last chapter asserts that Christian values and principles still have valid implications for education in county schools and that education based on these values and principles can legitimately be described as Christian Education. Aspects of a Christian view of creation and fallenness are used as illustrations and the possibility of relating a Christian View of redemption to education in county schools is also considered.

If you ask a group of people "What are the qualities of a good teacher?" they are more likely to say that a teacher must be knowledgeable, compassionate, firm and fair. If you ask the same group of people "How do we prepare teachers to have all those good qualities?" you are more likely to get as many suggestions as there are people in the group. We all seem to agree on the quality teacher we want but we are less in agreement about the ways in which we might achieve those objectives. Over the years several models of teacher education have been suggested. These models testify to the continuous search for the best way to prepare teachers. There are varying viewpoints on whether teachers are better prepared if they spend more time in school so that their knowledge is acquired through practical means or whether teachers should receive sufficient knowledge on campus studies before they are let loose. What is sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge for the beginning teacher anyway? Do we know enough about how the participant on the teaching program makes sense of the knowledge acquired from the program when against his/her life experiences? This study explores the process of learning to teach by eight young women on the B.Ed degree link program as they prepare themselves to become English language teachers for secondary schools in Malaysia. The study follows their progress as they make the transition to beginning teachers. Specifically, the study explores the construct of their beliefs about teaching and learning prior to teaching practice, during teaching practice and in the post-training situation. Discussion of the findings from this longitudinal study is followed by recommendations for improving the preservice program and the support for beginning teachers in the novice year of teaching.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Frankfurt (Main). / Enth. Sonderabdr. aus Zeitschr. - Beitr. teilw. dt., teilw. eng. - Zsfassung in dt. und engl. Sprache.

Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 2005.

Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2009. / Zsfassung in engl. Sprache.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2008--Frankfurt (Main). / Engl. Übers. des Hauptsacht.: Evaluation of the bioavailability of Boswellic acids in vitro and in vivo by LC-MS.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Bayreuth.

This research examines the current requirements and practices of Religious Observance (RO) and spiritual development within Scotland’s ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE). The research is focussed on the nondenominational school sector - approximately 90% of Scottish schools. The CfE has brought a shift in focus from solely curricular content to greater emphasis on character formation. Four key descriptors, termed “capacities”, are used: responsible citizens, effective contributors, successful learners and confident individuals. A number of supplementary programmes are being promoted to achieve this through schemes such as the ‘Rights Respecting School Award’, ‘Inspire-Aspire’, ‘Peer Mediation’ and ‘Restorative Justice’. The CfE details certain age-appropriate experiences and outcomes which pupils are expected to attain across eight core curricular subjects. In contrast, RO and spiritual development are outlined very differently by six key ‘Sensings’ in the ‘Report of the Religious Observance Review Group’ (2004), referred to in this thesis as the RORG. These Sensings have minimal descriptions, no exact definition and do not have detailed age-appropriate experiences and outcomes. The Sensings are: sensing mystery, sensing values, sensing meaningfulness, sensing a changed quality in awareness, sensing ‘otherness’ and sensing challenge. This thesis addresses a number of questions: defining ‘spirituality’ in a way that can sit comfortably within Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE); how RO events and these Sensings are perceived by pupils in particular - their voices are given especial prominence throughout; where RO and spiritual development are perceived as ‘belonging’ or ‘fitting’ within the CfE; how the ‘success’ of Sensing-rich RO events can be assessed and measured; crucially - what the children and young people think of the RO they receive; the validity and ‘completeness’ of the Sensings; how to train school staff and school chaplains in delivering spiritual development. The research involved participant observation and interviews with policymakers (advisors, consultants, Education Scotland staff, Religious Representatives on local Council Education committees, and members of school senior management teams), practitioners (chaplains and youth workers tasked with the actual delivery of RO events), parents of Primary school and Secondary school pupils, and - crucially - pupils (from Primary 3 to Secondary 6). The goal was to record and analyse their principles, practices and lived experience of RO and spiritual development. In total qualitative data was gathered in thirty-four interview sessions from nine policy-makers, eight practitioners, nine parents, seventeen Primary school pupils and thirty-five Secondary school pupils. The practitioners, parents and pupils between them were connected to nondenominational schools covering seven Councils: City of Aberdeen, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, City of Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire. The pupils between them came from four different nondenominational Primary schools, three non-denominational Secondary schools, and one independent School (Christian faith-based, fee-paying). This gave a reasonable sample of Scottish schools. The definition of ‘spirituality’ that I developed (p 44) is that “Spirituality is that uniquely human capacity and need for a sense of identity and of integrity, of place and of purpose, which can only be fully satisfied in relationship with others and with a transcendent Other.” A full explanation for this definition is given in the text. The pilot study showed that pupils of all ages did not grasp the language and vocabulary of the Sensings as given in the RORG and in conclusion I offer an alternative “child-friendly” re-titling as follows: sensing mystery (the “Wow!” moments), sensing values (the “Now ...' moments), sensing meaningfulness (the “How ...? ” moments), sensing a changed quality in awareness (the “Aum” moments), sensing ‘otherness’ (the ‘Narnia’ moments) and sensing challenge (the “Ow!” moments) (p 54). Once reworded and explained all pupils were quick to grasp most of the Sensings though ‘a changed quality in awareness’ and ‘otherness’ - perhaps requiring higher order thinking skills - were only accessible to older pupils (though they could not always discern or define the distinctions between them). I found that Policy-makers had a clear perception of how RO fits within CfE but that the actual practitioners (many of them from faith-based backgrounds) frequently struggled to achieve clarity on this point and were often unable to articulate a clear educational purpose to their RO input (p 113). A lack of contextual awareness, of training, of time, and of ability to think beyond their theological frameworks often hampered them. Clear and positive and fruitful metaphors for RO emerge from the research: RO provides an important ‘space’ within CfE (p 119), and a place for ‘exploration’ and for ‘questioning.’ A consistent conclusion from my data reflects on how both practitioners and participants in RO events viewed them and constructed meaning from them: this was frequently done by offering opposed pairs and, almost literally, placing themselves or their RO events at some point on the continuum between two poles (p 124). A whole spectrum of opposed pairs were found: from indoctrination (RO) to education (RME); from collective (RO) to individual (RME); from emotional (RO) to intellectual (RME), though practitioners were frequently at pains to make clear that this did not mean RO was inferior or in any way anti-intellectual or lacking in intellectual rigour; from experiential (RO) to explorative (RME); and from inspirational (RO) to informational (RME). My findings were that practitioners offered a range of measures for assessing the ‘success’ of their RO events (p 139) which are critiqued: “an RO event is successful” - when I think it is, if it was enjoyed, if a school is “happy with it”, if there is pupil engagement, if pupil feedback says it has been, if your chosen quantifier says it has been, and if there are no complaints about it. I follow this with a discussion on the issues of getting RO ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ (p 152). The view of parents on the qualifications for those delivering RO to their children were also explored at this point, with the great majority strongly favouring faith-based practitioners (p 162). A major feature of this research has been to seek and to summarise the first-hand views and the authentic voices of the children and young people within CfE. Their main reactions are summarised (p 172) as “Don’t make it [RO] a policed endurance test”; “Don’t make it so boring”; “Don’t tell us what to think”; “Let us ask our big questions. Help us find some answers”; and “Don’t exclude us. Let us have a say. Let us help you.” In the light of the research two additional Sensings are strongly indicated: Sensing Stillness (p 192) and Sensing Community (p 200). Sensing Community in particular was identified as offering significant potential benefits for RO (p 206): creating a beneficial group identity or ethos for the school community, building pupil capacity as responsible citizens able to take their place in the wider community beyond the school gates, enabling individual and group resilience in the face of crisis, sharing emotional and spiritual experiences that could enrich the lives of all the participants, and the acquisition and exploration of values together in a safe and protected environment. The final section (p 210) explores the creation and use of a tool for teaching practitioners to identify and explore the Sensings: the ‘Spiritual Moments’ box. / In Educating school staff to experience and deliver the sensings (p 223), it merged that the issue is one of helping secular staff in particular to find a spiritual context for exploration and development of the sensings. In training faith representatives to experience and deliver the sensings (p 227) the issue is one of helping faith practitioners to explore and develop the sensings in the secular educational framework.