The current and past research into Trans National Higher Education (TNHE) from the experiences of teaching staff is limited and principally from the perspective of the western staff member teaching overseas students. This research bridges the gap that exists in the research literature, as the role and experiences of, and the influences upon Malaysian staff when teaching a western degree is one that is overlooked but has an important influence on the students they teach. The western learning style is very individualistic and student centred, whilst the eastern learning style is very collectivist with strong influences from Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC). The methodology chosen to investigate the views, opinions and feelings of the five volunteers from Hotec College, was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA allows the voice of the Malaysian teacher to be heard, as it is grounded in the participant’s world, it enables interpretation through Phenomenology and Hermeneutics. IPA’s ideographic approach means that one interviewee transcript is analysed at a time to elicit meaning and the development of themes, these themes allow group superordinate and subordinate themes to be generated. The results generated three superordinate themes and nine subordinate themes. Findings indicate that the Malaysian teacher exhibits three selves: eastern, transitional and western. There are also CHC effects on teaching, and strong influences of the CHC concept of Li. Additionally there are influences on the Malaysian teachers that impacts on their self, these included the CHC concept of saving face. Existing studies into TNHE demonstrate a progression of the student from an eastern self to a western self. This investigation realises that Malaysian teachers demonstrate the same acculturation to the western educational style as students, but they must also be able to revert to their eastern self as they teach in both learning styles.

The inclusion of children with Down’s syndrome in Saudi Arabian schools is in a state of stress and confusion. School leaders have a critical role in improving inclusion, and they are also well placed to understand the challenges of their own schools. This research explores the perspectives of school principals on the inclusion of pupils with Down’s syndrome in mainstream Saudi schools and factors that affect it. This study consists of a qualitative study of inclusive schools (both government and ARAMCO) in the Eastern Province. Three methods were employed for data collection: interviews with a purposive sample of principals from 20 inclusive schools, the analysis of five government documents, and participant observation in five schools. The principals lacked knowledge about inclusion-associated policy, particularly regarding children with Down’s syndrome, which influenced their perspectives and had an impact on the strategies they adopted regarding inclusive learning for children with Down’s syndrome in their schools. Principals from government schools also reported unsuitability of school buildings and lack of funding for improvements, whereas ARAMCO school buildings were better designed for inclusion. For both types of schools, additional limiting factors included the profundity of the learning difficulties of children with Down’s syndrome and the training required by principals. Recommendations are also made regarding infrastructure, apparatus and resources that aid inclusion, and for measures to foster community awareness and leadership training. Collectively, it is hoped that this will result in the fruitful inclusion of children with Down’s syndrome within education and society in Saudi Arabia.

Current trends in global economies and rankings by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have been bringing pressure to bear on Higher Education institutions to develop programmes to meet the global demands for a better qualified workforce. In the United Kingdom this has pointed at work based learning as one approach to up-skilling people that are already in work. This has raised concerns that academic rigour and standards could be compromised and scepticism about the workplace as a place for learning. Many universities are now designing and delivering work based learning programmes but there is still limited evidence of empirical research into work based learners’ experiences on these programmes. The aim of this research was to contribute towards filling this perceived gap. A phenomenographic study was conducted to determine variation in the way university work based learning was conceptualised by a group of Early Years practitioners, a workforce that has been subject to various professional development initiatives by the government in an attempt to improve outcomes for children. With the emphasis on variation, the research approach facilitated the identification of the different ways in which work based learning is perceived by learners, giving insight into a deeper understanding of learning in this context. Six conceptions of work based learning were identified which were comparable to conceptions of learning identified in various traditional university contexts, suggesting that concerns about rigour and standards expressed by some critics of university work based learning could be challenged. The findings also confirmed a number of notional principles of work based learning and theory on adult learning. There was also an indication that further research could provide a better understanding of the workplace as a place for developing knowledge and that universities may not have monopoly over this. This research made a contribution to empirical evidence on how university work based learning is experienced by the learners, suggesting the possibility of work based learning playing a bigger role in providing a university education to people who would otherwise not be able to engage at this level. The Early Years practitioners have been identified as such a workforce. One of the recommendations made was that more research into work based learning could support the development of more innovative ways of delivering higher education programmes to meet the needs of the work market. The findings from this study will become part of the discourse about higher education work based learning and the increasing thinking about the workplace as a legitimate place for generating knowledge.

The broad aim of the present research was to examine the existence and nature of work-to-home negative spillover in a sample of newly qualified teachers where men and women would be performing the same job and be subject to broadly similar work stresses. Changes in marital satisfaction were examined in relation to time, sex and status (teacher or partner) of participant, and in relation to specific variables selectal; as potential mediators or moderators of the work spillover—marital satisfaction relationship. Following a small-scale preliminary study, a group of newly qualified teachers (n92) from secondary schools all over England were tested by postal questionnaire, along with their partners, at three points during their first year, of teaching. Most female teachers experienced negative spillover in most areas of domestic lifr throughout thè year, but by the end of the year it was only in the household role and in demands on time that a majority of male teachers experienced negative spillover. Perception of high work spilover among both female teachers' and male partners was associated with high decline in marital satisfaction. Among both teachers anth partners, low general support from the main supervisor was associated with high increased marital satisfaction. General support moderated the work spillover-marital satisfaction relationship amongihe ISake teachers and dispositional optimism was the moderator among the male teachers. There was no common mediator of the work spillover-marital satisfaction relationship among the four subgroups. For fthiale teachers the mediators were: Unsinictured leisure and that with partner; for male teachers: Active leisure,-.changes in the quality of sexual activity and partners' general support; for female partners: Division of labour and changes in the quality of sexual activity; for male partners: Changes in the quality of sexual activity; These findings not only contribute to the development of a mediational model of the work-fämily interface but also have implications for the counselling of couples trying to reconcile the multiple demands of home and work and their effects on the marital relationship.

Background: Patient safety is of paramount importance in healthcare delivery. Following the inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire Health Trust (Francis 2013, 2015), there has been an increasing demand for nurses and other healthcare professionals to be open and candid in a transparent culture where harm and error are minimised. Despite this drive for openness, there is evidence that health care professionals remain reluctant to raise concerns and this includes student nurses as well as registrants. There is however paucity in research focusing upon the underlying factors which prevent student nurses from raising concerns about suboptimal practice. In an attempt to contribute to the discussion, this study will focus upon student nurses. Aim: The overall aim of this research is to understand student nurses’ perception of what they believe is a patient safety incident in their practice placements and understand the reasons that influence their willingness or reluctance to raise concerns about patient safety. Findings: Four main themes emerged from analysing the data: the context of patient safety; team culture; hierarchy and fear of retribution. Analysis and discussion of the data revealed that students were driven to raise concerns as they possessed strong moral and ethical beliefs to uphold patient safety. However, they had an overwhelming desire to fit in with their clinical colleagues and feared retribution and failure if they voiced concerns regarding care. This demonstrated that student nurses were subject to a fluctuating moral compass which was determined by psychological and sociological determinants. Conclusion: This research study has provided information which contributes to our understanding of student nurses’ beliefs about patient safety. It also helps us to recognise the factors that influence student nurses’ willingness or reluctance to speak up. This is important because with an increased understanding of their experiences and beliefs, we are better informed to broaden our teaching on this topic and develop effective policies to protect student nurses who raise concerns.

Professionalism can be a complex concept to define (McLachlan et al. 2002; Finn et al. 2009). Within nursing, the majority of studies have explored professionalism within the clinical environment, and very few examine how student nurses construct their talk regarding professionalism while they study at university, highlighting this as a distinct gap in the knowledge and understanding. The aim of this study was to uncover the discourses used by student nurses and lecturers, and offer insight into the influences on student professional language from within and outside of the nursing profession and offer an appreciation of the processes of language (discourse) adoption. The theoretical position adopted was social constructionism, where it is assumed we jointly construct our world on shared assumptions and that language is central to this process (Potter and Wetherell 2009). The methodological approach employed was Discourse and Social Psychology (DASP) (Potter and Wetherell 1987). Seventeen (17) interviews were conducted. Eight (8) of which were one-off interviews with lecturers. Seven (7) students from adult, child and mental health nursing were interviewed multiple times over the three years of their nursing programme. FIGURE 1 presents an overview of the research process. The analysis suggested that participants drew upon a number of interpretative repertoires and memes. These led to the identification of discursive threads, which were proposed as entangled within discursive knots, serving to position students and lecturers within a dynamic process of professional discourse development. The theoretical perspectives of Foucault, Goffman, Bourdieu and Harre informed the interpretation of the talk. Initially, students were positioned in a place of high surveillance through authoritative language used by lecturers. This position informed the discursive know of 'separation' which serves to maintain student nurses as 'different' and ‘special’, and to distance them from other university students. Clinical practice experience was seen as influencing students’ talk when back in University, emphasising differences. The discursive knot of 'maintaining quality and credibility' questions the 'real' place of nursing and the credibility of lecturers, and brings about a positioning of students that influences agency. The final discursive know of 'permission' is located in the talk of lecturers and final-year student nurses only. This knot illustrates students adopting the discourses of the registered nurse, including the surveillance talk used by lecturers to first-year students. This suggests that final-year students 'become' enforcers and protectors of 'difference'. This study highlights the intricacies and complexities of the 'professionalism discourses' woven into the talk of lecturers and nursing students, and their spread via both the overt and hidden curricula. Indeed, the adoption of the 'permission' discourse by third-year students suggests the perpetuation of a discourse via a socialisation process. The discursive 'knots' seem to function to instill, maintain and perpetuate wider discourses. The 'separation' and 'permission' knots may be viewed as serving to 'other' to maintain the 'specialness' of the profession, while the 'maintaining quality and credibility' knot may indicate tensions related to academic and clinical professional sub-groups and sites of knowledge development.

The current study sets out to investigate the level of Pakistani university students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English and what affects users’ willingness in a setting where English has been taught, learnt, and used as a foreign language. Pakistan is a linguistically complex society where ethnic diversity and multiple educational systems increasingly makes English language teaching (ELT) daunting and challenging. This thesis, therefore, highlights particularly the linguistic issues users of English face while perceiving their willingness to communicate in English in their day-to-day affairs. I argue that linguists and policy makers, in Pakistan, have largely neglected or failed to address the issues related to users of English ability to communicate in English. Moreover, I argue that studying these users’ willingness to communicate in English has also been essential in a sense to comprehend that how such users perceive their level of willingness to communicate under various conversational contexts with different types of interlocutors. The present study was conducted at Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur, Pakistan. Khairpur is one of the oldest cities of Pakistan with its rich cultural heritage and political history. However, the educational standard is still in its early stages of development due to the rural location and lack of interest from the government. Using mixed-method research measures, the current study recruited N=350 research participants for self-administered questionnaires and N=15 for semi-structured interviews. The findings of the present study suggested that users of English from SALU did not have a high level of WTC and their WTC was affected by a host of factors such as topic, task type, interlocutors, interactional contexts, desire to get good grades, gender, lack of self-confidence and communication anxiety, and some of the background variables. Evidence from self-report questionnaires and semi-structured interviews indicated that familiarity with interlocutors and knowledge of the interactional contexts encouraged L2 learners to be more willing to communicate. Results of the study further revealed that the influence of the combination of variables differed between individuals and interrelationship could be too complex to be predicted. At the end, acknowledging the limitations of the current study, recommendations for future research have been proposed along with possible pedagogical implications.

This submission for a PhD by publication is situated in the discipline of Applied Linguistics, focusing specifically on the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) and the relationship between theoretical and disciplinary knowledge on the one hand, and English language teachers’ understandings of such knowledge and its relevance for their own situated pedagogic practice on the other. The submitted work harnesses practitioner experiences in relation to theoretical knowledge and challenges traditional tenets of ELT thought and practice, particularly around the key pedagogic issue of own-language use in the classroom. My publications make an original contribution to the field of ELT from an Applied Linguistics perspective by: •framing a problem-posing approach to professional practice and disciplinary knowledge based on the tenet that practitioner understanding depends on teachers’ own sense of plausibility (publications b, d, and e) •contributing to the development of practitioner understanding of the theory-practice interface in ELT, by: illuminating research and research dilemmas in practice (publication a); exploring the relationship between disciplinary knowledge and local pedagogic practice (publications b, d, and e); and mapping and, where appropriate, challenging traditional assumptions underpinning ELT, particularly concerning own-language use in the classroom (c, d and e). •developing disciplinary knowledge through the collection and analysis of primary data drawn from teachers’ understanding of their own practices and pedagogic contexts (publications a, d, e) or through the shaping of academic and professional discourse through the synthesis of sources (b and c). Consequently, my publications have resulted in a range of impacts and practical applications in the field of ELT across a variety of contexts around the world, in: classroom pedagogy, materials and resource development, curriculum design, and CPD and teacher training/education programmes. Thus, the work put forward in this submission lies on the boundaries of applied linguistic theory and ELT practice, mediating disciplinary knowledge in light of real world experiences, perspectives and problems.

This thesis explores the nature of the self and how the various self-perception constructs – self-esteem, self-concept, and self-efficacy – contribute to academic functioning. The research was undertaken in three stages. The first was designed to examine how the self is represented. Bandura’s Multidimensional Scales of Perceived Self-Efficacy (1990) and Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (1988) were utilised to examine the extent to which self-efficacy and competency-related elements of the self-concept are independent constructs. Factor analysis of data provided by secondary school students revealed that when measured using domain-specific measures such as these, self-efficacy and competency self-concept do not represent totally separate, distinct aspects of the self. The second stage was designed to examine how representations of the self relate to academic performance, intrinsic motivation, and occupational and educational aspirations. Taking account of past academic performance and other factors that might impact on the self-perception–academic outcome relationship, self-efficacy was shown to be a better predictor of these outcomes than either of the other two self constructs. Self-esteem was the least predictive. These findings suggest that self-efficacy and self-concept, but not selfesteem, are important for the development of academic functioning. The third stage of this research was designed to examine whether interventions can have a positive effect on how the self is represented, and if so, whether this also impacts on academic functioning. This thesis used a widely-used and Government-supported intervention programme to explore this issue in a real-world context. There were positive effects on some aspects of self-concept but not on any other variables. These effects were not associated with any changes in the academic outcomes. The reasons why this intervention did not have a wider impact are explored, and the practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. This research provides a clearer understanding about where educators and education policy-makers should focus their efforts if the aim is to enhance self-related perceptions in school.

Participation has been defined as a ‘way of working’ rather than an event or a project, and literature demonstrates that the process of participating is as important as the impact on services. Many organisations have developed standards advising on the best ways to engage young people in sharing their voices. There is however, limited evidence revealing the impact of participation on services and on those young people who chose to take part. Where evidence does exist it tends to examine the views and report the outcomes of young people engaged in mainstream services. This study therefore aims to explore the impacts of participation on ‘marginalised’ young people and the services that affect them. The thesis is underpinned by a hermeneutic interpretive phenomenological approach and reveals how young people marginalised by society and circumstance can share their voices within the context of their very complex lives. The narrative method enables the capture of the young people’s histories and experiences of voice sharing. Key workers’ narratives additionally help describe the complexity of the young people’s lives and the constraining and enabling factors challenging successful participation. The research found that whilst participation is important in developing and improving services, young people appear to develop new skills, build confidence and self esteem, raise their aspirations and role model key workers’ positive attributes. Young people experience ‘therapeutic’ effects associated with voice sharing and for key workers the research experience was found to be beneficial and salutary. To facilitate and sustain meaningful, fulfilling and positive experiences a new model of participation generated from the data is presented.