This thesis investigates the implementation of the science curriculum in Malaysian primary schools. The study is concerned primarily with teachers' pedagogical content knowledge as a crucial determinant of teaching performance in implementing the new curriculum. The research involved the administration of a questionnaire to seven states in Malaysia to seek information regarding the implementation of the primary science curriculum. The main body of research data consists of case studies of 14 teachers. Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and its influence of the implementation of the primary science curriculum were analysed on the basis of interviews and classroom observations. The lack of science pedagogical content knowledge is indeed a problem for teachers in implementing the curriculum. That knowledge is limited and constrained by other contributing factors - science instructional needs, especially the constructivist view of science teaching; knowledge of the ways in which children learn science; and the lack of resources and support. Teachers' belief in the subject and its teaching also affect the implementation. In the light of these constraints, it would be more appropriate to identify the necessary science pedagogical content knowledge, within the primary science curriculum, that teachers need to acquire in order to implement the curriculum as the developers intended. The key question, in the Malaysian primary school context, is how science pedagogical content knowledge is to be generated and disseminated. In-service teacher education is essential if there is to be an impact in the shorter term. Another question is the kind of initial training that will be fruitful and effective and worth investing in. Conceptual understanding and science pedagogical knowledge and skills are two promising areas of teachers' understanding of the curriculum that could be developed when planning in-service provision for Malaysian primary science education. An explicit examination to teachers' beliefs about science and the teaching and learning of science is also required in pre-service and in-service courses.

This study offers an original analysis of contradictions inherent in playwork practice. It is ethnographic and political, using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and taking an interpretivist and (post-) Marxist epistemological stance. Playwork’s fundamental contradiction is that between understanding children’s play as autotelic and self-organising on the one hand, and on the other seeking and accounting for public funding that requires services to address policy agendas. In CHAT terms, this is the dialectic between playwork’s use value and exchange value. Fieldwork data comprise participant observation in an urban open access Play Centre and semi-structured interviews both with the Play Centre playworkers and playworkers practising before the introduction of the 1989 Children Act. Such services were historically funded in deprived areas to keep children off the streets and on the straight and narrow. The Children’s Fund, operational at the time of the fieldwork, was a contemporary equivalent within the totalising, future-focused ‘risk and prevention’ policy paradigm. Playwork spaces were co-produced through a dialectical triad (Lefebvre, 1991) of adult planning (assuming outcomes), spatial practices (interventions) and lived moments of playfulness that both resisted adult intentions and gave rise to a hope that temporarily made life better. Open access playwork spaces were emotionally highly charged, both because of the nature of play itself – its exuberances and tragedies – and the children. This highlighted tensions between ideals of play as inherently good and the reality of adaptation to interpersonal, structural and symbolic violence characterising the children’s lives. Play frames frequently fell apart as raw emotions seeped through, and settings operated on the edge of violence. Playwork subjectivities are performative and emotive. In particular three forms of dialectically interrelated hope were discernible: a far hope of policy projects, a revolutionary hope of emancipatory ideals, and a near, everyday hope in moments of playfulness. An ethics of playwork dispositions is proposed that moves beyond rational, universal rules or outcomes towards relational ethics, acknowledging the particularity of situations, emotions and the alterity of others (children and adults).

I began this research by identifying that poetry was sometimes a challenging subject for primary school teachers to teach. With the implementation of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) (DfEE, 1998) came extensive coverage of poetry, and I argued the necessity for independent research to investigate how teachers, without specialist training in English, interpreted the NLS for poetry sessions, and how pupils responded. My research aim was to provide an independent and historical insight into the literary experiences of two case study groups, each consisting of a teacher and six pupils in Year Six, and the impact of the recently implemented NLS. To realise this aim I used qualitative methods of data collection: observation to examine the role of poetry in the classroom; and interview, to gain a phenomenological perspective of the relationship between poetry and the research participants. Having carried out the research process it emerged that there were three interrelated areas, which had had significant impact on the literary environment that children engaged in over the Y6 school year. These were: the NLS; the Standard Assessment Tasks (SATs); and National Curriculum (NC) English Level Descriptions attributed to students. Though poetry in the NLS was present across each term, the perceived pressure of attaining certain Level Descriptions in SATs meant that poetry was omitted so that more time could be spent on refining other literary skills. When poetry was taught key issues arose in relation to the way in which each teacher interpreted the NLS. These were: lack of subject knowledge; little discussion of the meaning of the text; and, minimal reference to children's experiences of poetry outside of the classroom. It was also noted that children engaged in ludic word play under certain conditions, and that this was generated in response to interaction with the poem, and each other. I conclude by considering the implications of a socio-constructivist approach to poetry, which I suggest works with children's predisposition for playing with language and learning and engaging with others. This study also highlights that language play in the classroom is relatively unresearched, while establishing a link between ludic play, reader-response theory and the teaching and learning theory of socio-constructivism.

This study investigates national primary schools in South Korea, specifically, focusing on identifying and describing the characteristics of the micro pedagogical content of the classroom, and various socio-cultural and historical influences on classroom pedagogy. A mixed method exploratory approach was used. Eight focus group interviews were conducted with teachers and students to explore the field. Using a grounded theory methodology, the analysed results were then used to inform the quantitative survey design. As a result, 294 teacher questionnaires and 302 student questionnaire were collected from nine schools in Seoul. To check for consistency from earlier data collections, eight lesson observations and follow-up interviews from four schools were conducted. In addition, documentation and photographs were collected as supplementary materials. This study has illustrated the effects of the past on the present. Specifically, demonstrated that the learning environment at the micro classroom level was informed by the historical and socio-cultural influences of the community and beyond. Especially post-war reconstruction, Confucianism, chemyeon and the structure of the honorific language have been shown to be informative and predictive of student and teacher behaviour.

El presente artículo presenta los resultados del análisis de los gráficos estadísticos según las directrices curriculares y su implementación en dieciocho libros de texto de matemática de Educación Primaria en Perú, los que corresponden a tres series completas y de diferentes editoriales. En ellos se analizan, mediante análisis de contenido, las secciones en las que aparecen estas representaciones, identificado el tipo de actividad que se plantea, los gráficos involucrados, el nivel de lectura y el nivel de complejidad semiótica involucrado. Los libros de texto se adecúan parcialmente a las directrices curriculares en cuanto a la presentación de los gráficos por nivel educativo, el número de actividades propuestas por las tres editoriales es similar. La principal actividad que se solicita en los libros es de calcular y construir. Se observa un predominio del gráfico de barras, un nivel de lectura básico y la representación de una distribución de datos en el gráfico. / Revisión por pares

This study has at its centre the relationship between student teachers' behaviour and their underlying thoughts and beliefs as they learn to teach primary English. Following Harré's definition of personal identity as an organising principle for action (Harré, 1983), it seems that student teachers' sense of self-hood provides a key to understanding their actions in the classroom. The findings suggest that student teachers are powerfully influenced by the way they view the role of the teacher. They can be crudely identified with one of three categories. Task Managers have a restricted view of their role, concerned with organisation and management. Curriculum Deliverers relate to learning but this is defined and limited by the curriculum. Concept/Skill Builders link to an underpinning framework of concepts, which relate to learning beyond the curriculum and the classroom. An examination of the identity and knowledge held by each type of student teacher, when compared with an experienced teacher, reveals the importance of viewing teacher knowledge as a synchronised process of making connections. This highlights the centrality of school based learning and leads to conclusions about the complex nature of the support required to enhance student teachers' learning both in school and in Higher Education Institutions.

The aim of this study was to explore Cypriot primary school teachers' views on and experiences of effective and ineffective Physical Education Continuing Professional Development (PE-CPD) provision. Extensive qualitative data were collected to ensure a deep understanding of the issues from the perspectives of Cypriot teachers. Methods used were an open-ended survey distributed to all public primary schools, and interviews and focus groups with teachers and CPD providers. The survey was sent to all primary school teachers responsible for PE in Cyprus. In addition, fifteen teachers were identified as individual case studies, key CPD providers were interviewed, and a focus group comprising three CPD providers and three case study teachers was conducted to generate shared dialogue. The data indicate that from the perspective of these teachers in Cyprus, there is a widespread failure of PE-CPD to meet their learning needs. Yet, in contrast to much of the negative data that reinforces the international CPD literature, strong evidence of the powerful and positive impact of one approach to PE-CPD emerged. These data reveal interesting insights into the importance the teachers attached to passion, a focus on co-learning, and their views of themselves and their identities as teachers and learners.

Research in the area of teaching assistant (TA) deployment in UK schools has suggested TAs are not always successful in enhancing the attainment of pupils they work with, and can often experience low self-efficacy with regards to their role in supporting pupil learning. A collaborative action research (CAR) model was used to explore the influence of training three primary school TAs to use a mediation intervention entitled ‘Medi8’ to support pupils’ cognitive functions. The TAs worked with target pupils and their class teachers to mediate specific cognitive functions with which the pupil was experiencing difficulties. TAs undertook weekly solution-focused coaching sessions concentrating on embedding mediational practices in their work with the pupil. A realistic evaluation (RE) was conducted to elicit mechanisms through which the intervention had influenced TA practice and self-efficacy, as well as pupil outcomes in relation to the targeted cognitive functions. Findings suggested that TAs experienced an increase in their self-efficacy regarding supporting pupil cognitive functioning and changes to their practice to incorporate mediational strategies. The RE also suggested that pupils experienced small steps of progress in their independence in targeted cognitive skills. The research concluded with an action plan for further embedding mediational practices within the school.

In 1998 the current reform of the General Education System (GES) started in Oman. Redefining the existing or finding a suitable new school leadership model has become important to enable Omani primary headteachers to redefine and transform the existing practice of school leadership and to implement and integrate the new educational and leadership tasks which were introduced by the current reform. Studies indicate that educational reforms generally require a powerful mechanism to get things done. Thus, Omani educators (policy makers and headteachers) face a challenge in redefining the present model or choosing a suitable new one. One of the two is, however, urgently required to reform the practice of school leadership in Omani primary schools. Therefore, this research focuses on both redefining and transforming the existing practice and implementing the new tasks (in possibly a new form) of school leadership. This research focuses mainly on three major themes, as follows: (1) The historical background which underlies primary school leadership in Oman. (2) The current practice of primary school leadership. (3) Redefining the existing school leadership model or choosing a new one to develop more effective primary school leadership and ensure the success of the current development of the GES in Oman. Therefore, this research project concentrates on an examination and evaluation of the current practice of primary school management and leadership in the country’s primary schools. Furthermore, this research evaluates the practice of leadership in schools by collecting the necessary data (in a subjective approach) and by using a specially constructed scale (in an objective approach) based on transactional and transformational theories of school leadership. This provides a way of assessing to what extent the current practice of primary school leadership is effective or not in terms of these theories. Overall, this research seeks to ensure the successful and effective implementation of the current reform of the GES.

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act and the introduction of the National Curriculum soon after, many initiatives, introduced in rapid succession by governments, with very short lead-in times, have affected primary schools. These radically altered the primary school as a working context. Headteachers were charged with the implementation of these initiatives into school contexts which are complex, fluid systems, and where interpersonal and personal-contextual relationships play an important part. The schools are part of the wider government policy context, which itself has significant effects on schools. This study investigated how the government policy-initiatives impacted on the professional ideologies and identities of eight headteachers in primary schools. This was accomplished using an innovative combination of biographical narrative and ‘activity theory’ (in the sense that Engeström’s ‘activity triangle’ is used only as a heuristic device in order to structure the biographical narrative accounts). The data generated two broad professional identities: the child-centred and the curriculum-led headteacher. In response to the government initiatives, the former tended towards 'resistance'; the latter tended towards 'compliance'. The textual analysis of the narratives reveals the detailed patterns of resistance and compliance over the twenty-year period after 1985.