Research illustrates that deaf and hard of hearing people generally experience more unemployment, are often underemployed and have lower incomes than the hearing population (MacLeod-Gallinger, 1992; RNID, 2006; The Papworth Trust, 2014). However, whilst there are increasing numbers of deaf students entering Higher Education (HESA 2014/15, 2013/14), there is a dearth of literature regarding the employability experiences of deaf graduates. This thesis presents an exploration of deaf graduate employability within the context of successive government policies designed to encourage HEIs to enhance the employability skills of their graduates. This qualitative research study focusses on the lived experiences of eight deaf graduates whilst at university, and their subsequent search for employment upon graduation. Semi-structured interviews, followed by a thematic analysis of the data, were employed to explore the graduates’ employability journeys. The key themes that emerged from the data included accessibility to the wider university curriculum, acquisition of employability skills, additional challenges which deaf graduates face when seeking employment, social networking and the significance of employment within the deaf community. This thesis provides some insight into the little-researched areas of the deaf undergraduate experience and deaf graduate employment. It uncovers some of the inherent challenges of being deaf and seeking work, including the ‘interpreted interview’ and disclosure. It highlights gaps in the provision of support for both deaf students whilst at university and deaf graduates upon graduation, and it seeks to understand the prevalence of employment outcomes within the deaf community. Finally, this study begins a discourse on how support for deaf students and graduates must be enhanced if they are to compete with non-deaf job-seekers in entering the workplace.

This practitioner research has explored the past and present educational experiences of mainly mature female students who are labelled as ‘non-traditional’ in a College-based Higher Education (HE) establishment in the 13th most deprived borough of the United Kingdom (UK). Semi-structured interviews with 19 student participants labelled as ‘non-traditional’ were undertaken to investigate their experience of compulsory and post-compulsory education. Further data was collected to understand staff experience of teaching ‘non-traditional’ students and relevant college documents were analysed to provide understanding of policy. This research was undertaken within the interpretivist paradigm utilising elements of the bricolage approach and phenomenography. Student data was analysed using elements of phenomenological methods, I-Poems and Word Clouds, which allowed emphasis to be placed on personal rather than collective experience. The intention of the research was to allow the ‘voices’ of the student participants to be foregrounded in order to portray their individual stories. This research offers insight into personal educational experiences of students labelled as ‘non-traditional’ and their decisions and choices regarding the pursuit, or not, of HE. The inclusion of analysis of staff participant data and college documents informs this study, setting the educational experiences of the students in wider context. The primary findings of this study propose that there are often multiple factors to be considered when contemplating progression to HE study by students from lower socio-economic (LSE) groups who are labelled as ‘non-traditional’. Decisions whether to progress to post-compulsory education are often based on personal circumstances at the time, and not because the student is suffering from ‘low aspirations’ as is often suggested in the literature. However, when students from LSE groups do engage with HE study, this is often due to a number of factors such as support offered, diagnosis of learning difficulties, increased confidence, change in personal circumstances and local provision of HE courses. This research contributes to the understanding of personal motivations of LSE students who are labelled as ‘non-traditional’ when considering HE study and the barriers they may face in doing so. It contends that education is a very personal journey, and policy makers should take a less linear approach to education provision, avoiding the use of language, which detrimentally portrays those who they are attempting to persuade into HE. There should be recognition that there may be multiple factors, which prevent participation in HE, and non-participation should not be treated as being ‘low aspirational’ or ‘deficient’. People may engage later in life when factors conspire to allow them to enter into HE.

According to the creators of Foundation Degrees, effective employer engagement involves participation in programme design and review, together with the provision, delivery and assessment of content: also the offer of workplace learning. The principal focus of the current study is the management and assessment of workplace learning modules for full time built environment Foundation Degrees, and the participation in this of each stakeholder group: providers, employers, students and Professional Bodies. Certain factors have been identified, deemed critical to the success of this essential element of the curriculum. Nowhere in the existing literature are the perspectives of all the stakeholders, sometimes conflicting, brought together in a single empirical study, particularly one which takes account of current recessionary pressures. The current study, qualitative in nature, examines the standpoint of each stakeholder: seeking their interpretation and experience of, and satisfaction with, workplace learning in the light of their own needs and expectations, and identifying common ground. Data is drawn from questionnaires and interviews involving representatives of all stakeholder groups, focusing in particular on six providers offering contrasting examples of practice, and the employers, students and Professional Bodies associated with each. All interviewees were asked for indicators of successful workplace learning, for the factors which in their experience promoted and sustained effective engagement, and for any possible barriers to this. Various forces are found to operate upon the stakeholders, ranging from large-scale commercial pressures (particularly in time of recession) to small localised issues. Employer engagement calls for relationships involving understanding, commitment, sustained effort and effective communications on the part of all key stakeholders and not just the employer. There is room for greater standardisation of the management and assessment of workplace learning, and some form of framework is thought desirable by the majority of respondents, although nothing too prescriptive. A draft framework has been created which seeks to satisfy as much as possible the needs and expectations of all the key stakeholders, based on the critical success factors referred to above. Whilst Professional Bodies are generally respected by the other parties, their present input to and control over workplace learning appears limited. The findings of this study are intended to inform all parties to construction-related vocational education, particularly those involved in the provision of Foundation Degrees or Honours Degrees, where a period of workplace learning is a required element.

This thesis explores the extent of rationales for developmental impacts of personality disordered offenders’ engagement in education. The study investigates the educational experiences of a sample of twelve personality disordered offenders receiving interventions in a high secure hospital unit. Engaging offenders in education in prison is challenging as many offenders have apprehensions, apprehensions about joining education which stem from previous negative educational experiences. Many offenders share a common profile, they come from disadvantaged backgrounds, fail to engage at school and leave education with low levels of attainment and poor personal and social skills. Lack of skills and qualifications often leads to a pattern of repeat offending. The combination of previous experiences, offending histories and mental disorder pose particular problems for personality disordered offenders in relation to their engagement in education. A qualitative case study research method is employed to understand the educational experiences of the twelve participants, which are compared to existing theories on offender education. The findings of this research reveal that in addition to previous learning experiences, emotional, behavioural and social difficulties create barriers to learning. In particular mental health issues are found to negatively influence personality disordered offenders’ engagement in education. Although there are barriers that negatively impact on learning other factors are identified as encouraging engagement in education. The reason why individuals start education is not necessarily the reason why they continue. Therefore factors that initially engage offenders in education as well as factors that maintain offenders’ continued engagement in education are explored. Whilst there are some interrelating factors that engage offenders in initial and continued education additional factors are also realised. Engaging personality disordered offenders in education is important as education has the power to enrich, change and develop people (Meek et al, 2012). The findings determine that as well as developing academically, the outcomes of personality disordered offenders’ continued engagement in education are increased social skills and self-awareness, the greatest agent for change. The final conclusions indicate that personality disordered offenders’ engagement in education can be explained through the concept of ‘gradualness’.

This dissertation is set in the context of a private university in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. It is an exploration of the impact of the phenomenon of self-efficacy on teachers and learners and how self-efficacy influences teaching and learning in the given setting. It investigates the sources of self-efficacy for teachers and students through qualitative methodology using a case study approach. The data for this study were gathered over a period of 16 months by in-depth semi-structured interviews with teachers, focus group discussion with students, and classroom observations. By using methods and sample triangulation, the research investigates the perspectives of the teachers and the learners. The study portrays the interplay of the self-efficacy of teachers and students as having encouraging influences on both groups. High self-efficacy beliefs of teachers make them more focused, ambitious, resilient and competent. These beliefs can contribute towards making them effective on the one hand and inculcate the same qualities in their students by raising their selfefficacy beliefs on the other. Reciprocal effect of teachers' self-efficacy on learners' self-efficacy and vice-versa emerged as a prominent element of the present HE teaching/learning setting. Experiences quoted by the learners suggest that their high self-efficacy beliefs result in better learning outcomes. The study shows that sources of self-efficacy are more positive than negative. Teachers and students do get affected by negative sources but their resilience keeps them goaloriented and determined. Self-efficacy, thus, turns out to be a productive factor in making teaching and learning effective in the given context.

This comparative study considers the main causative factors for change in recent years in the teaching of modern languages in England and France and seeks to contribute, in a general sense, to the understanding of change in comparable institutions. In England by 1975 the teaching of modern languages in the comprehensive schools was seen to be inappropriate to the needs of children of the whole ability-range. A combination of the external factor of the Council of Europe initiative in devising a needs-based learning approach for adult learners, and the internal factor of teacher-based initiatives in developing a graded-objectives learning approach for the less-able, has reversed this situation to some extent. The study examines and evaluates this reversal, and, in addition, assesses teachers' attitudes towards, and understanding of, the changes involved. In France the imposition of `la reforme Haby' in 1977 and the creation of `le college unique' were the main external factors for change. The subsequent failure of the reform and the socialist government's support of decentralisation policies returning the initiative for renewal to schools are examined and evaluated, as are the internal factors for changes in language-teaching - `groupes de niveau' and the creation of `equipes pedagogiques'. In both countries changes in the function of examinations at 15/16 plus are examined. The final chapter compared the changes in both education systems.

This thesis presents a longitudinal ethnographic research study of the intercultural transition experiences of 50 engineering students in the China- UK Articulation programme. The aim is to explore the factors that have influenced their transition and the impact of their transition on the educational context on both campuses. The field work was carried out over fifteen months in China and the UK. Data have been collected mainly through participants observations, document analysis and in-depth interviews with 16 Chinese programme students (3 rounds), 5 home students, 2 international students, 10 Chinese academic and administrative staff, 8 British academic and administrative staff and 2 parents. Data were analysed by using the data analysis principles advocated in grounded theory.

Overall, this thesis provides a number of evidence-based studies to address the requirements and methods through which physical skills are developed and assessed in primary school children. With practical requirements at the fore, this work serves to aid teachers and educators in delivering a standardised, evidence based curricula of comprehensive physical education. Additionally, the thesis raises questions about the adequacy of existing theory, policy and practices that lack the empirical validation and offers a useful insight into how this might be rectified in the future.

Students undertaking taught master’s programmes comprise the largest group within postgraduate education. Dissertation supervision is recognised as being a key influence on student attainment, but there is relatively little research into this aspect of academic practice (Bruce and Stoodley, 2013). This action research project, which involved collaboration with 25 master’s dissertation supervisors in health and education, identified that it is one of the aspects of the job that even experienced academics feel least prepared for and worry about. In order to enable them to articulate their previously untapped expertise of supervision, I created a ‘communicative space’ (Kemmis and McTaggert, 2005) in which academics shared their experiences, reflected with one another on the nature of supervision, and developed materials for new supervisors. They recognised that supervisory expertise is not a definable body of knowledge but a process which involves situational judgement. Together we articulated five key messages for other supervisors which outline the complexities involved in this role. Building upon these findings, I constructed a new three sided model, which conceptualises the process of supervision. The new model developed through my research explains how these supervisors practice, using a holistic approach to promote students’ development. The core element is the supervisor’s ongoing assessment of a student’s readiness, motivation and individual situation. In response to this assessment, supervisors balance three functions in promoting student growth: Facilitating, Nurturing and Maintaining Standards. Facilitating encourages student growth through challenge or stimulation. Nurturing involves the provision of support and reassurance within a safe space in which this growth can occur. Maintaining standards ensures that academic and professional rigor are preserved. The key messages and new model contribute to the established knowledge within supervisory pedagogy and are of benefit both in the preparation of new supervisors and for future development of this academic practice.

This study aims to investigate the practice of information literacy (IL) teaching and learning in Vietnam’s upper secondary schools. The research employed a mixed-methods multiple case study approach, including three phases of data collection. It started with a paper questionnaire to investigate students’ IL level and their self-assessment of that ability. This was followed by student interviews. The third phase included professional interviews (librarians, teachers, administrators) and an analysis of documents (including educational projects, reports, teachers’ resources and textbooks). An expanded version of the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (AASL, 2007) which contains four original standards and an additional standard was used as a theoretical framework for the study. A pilot study was conducted at an upper secondary school in Vietnam in order to set up suggestions for the main study. The main study was then carried out in two upper secondary schools. The research indicates that more works need to be done to improve students’ IL, especially information evaluation skill. A number of factors affecting students’ IL were explored, including internal and external factors. Although several reasons were identified to explain the difference of students’ IL scores, the use of technology had no impact on their IL capability. The weakness of students’ IL capability might result from the absence of IL programmes in the schools. The research found that time pressure, teaching method, resource issues and students resulted in the above problem. The study proposed a preliminary IL teaching model for Vietnam’s upper secondary schools. This study has made contributions to both theory and practice. One of the most significant contributions is associated with the study context, because while IL research has been hitherto dominated by English-speaking countries, Vietnam, however, remains underrepresented. Even so, this research remains limitations that need to be addressed in future studies.