This thesis reports a case study of the final years of compulsory schooling in a multi-ethnic inner-city school (City Road Comprehensive). Data was collected during two years of intensive ethnographic field work, principally via informal interviews and participant observation. Pupils in two mixed ability form groups were studied as they moved through the subject options process of the third year, throughout their fourth year and into the final year of compulsory education. A third mixed ability form group were also studied during the subject options process. The thesis explores some of the school-based influences which shaped the pupils' experience of City Road. Following a consideration of my research methodology, and a brief description of the social composition and academic organization of the school, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 offer a detailed -analysis of the subject options process. Although the pupils' gained access to a majority of their original option choices, it was the senior staff who came to dominate the options system. However, form tutors and subject teachers also retained some influence over pupils' decisions. The options process represented a form of academic selection, resulting in significant differences between pupils' upper school curricula. Gender and the senior staff's perception of pupils' 'ability' were particularly important. Chapters 5 and 6 turn to the pupils' experience of the upper school. In a modified form the processes of differentiation and polarization, described in previous case studies (Hargreaves, 1967; Lacey, 1970; Ball, 1981), were seen to operate within City Road. The complex, negotiated character of pupil adaptations is examined, analysing the factors in the teacher-pupil relationship which placed West Indian pupils in a relatively disadvantaged position within the pupil population. I conclude by considering aspects of the 'micro-macro' problem and highlighting the need for further research arising from this study.

This research argues that the formative assessment of student coursework in free-form, diagram-based domains can be automated using CBA techniques in a way which is both feasible and useful. Formative assessment is that form of assessment in which the objective is to assist the process of learning undertaken by the student. The primary deliverable associated with formative assessment is feedback. CBA courseware provides facilities to implement the full lifecycle of an exercise through an integrated, online system. This research demonstrates that CBA offers unique opportunities for student learning through formative assessment, including allowing students to correct their solutions over a larger number of submissions than it would be feasible to allow within the context of traditional assessment forms. The approach to research involves two main phases. The first phase involves designing and implementing an assessment course using the CourseMarker / DATsys CBA system. This system, in common with may other examples of CBA courseware, was intended primarily to conduct summative assessment. The benefits and limitations of the system are identified. The second phase identifies three extensions to the architecture which encapsulate the difference in requirements between summative assessment and formative assessment, presents a design for the extensions, documents their implementation as extensions to the CourseMarker / DATsys architecture and evaluates their contribution. The three extensions are novel extensions for free-form CBA which allow the assessment of the aesthetic layout of student diagrams, the marking of student solutions where multiple model solutions are acceptable and the prioritisation and truncation of feedback prior to its presentation to the student. Evaluation results indicate that the student learning process can be assisted through formative assessment which is automated using CBA courseware. The students learn through an iterative process in which feedback upon a submitted student coursework solution is used by the student to improve their solution, after which they may re-submit and receive further feedback.

There is much current interest in children's problem-solving, both within education, and within psychology. The present study explores the development of young children's problem-solving abilities, and the cognitive factors which might be related to this. Such development is conceptualised in terms of the emergence of increasingly sophisticated and powerful cognitive strategies. In a previous study (Whitebread, 1983), which involved 20 children aged 5 and 6 years, a strong interaction was revealed between underlying cognitive factors, strategy use and performance on a reclassification task. The present work is an extension of that study with a more complex task, and with a wider age-range of children. On this occasion, children's performance on an inductive reasoning task (the multidimensional discrimination learning task) was examined. The sample consisted of 72 Leicestershire Primary school children, comprising three equal groups of 24 children aged 6, 8 and 10 years. The children were tested on a number of cognitive factors theoretically predicted to influence performance on reasoning and problem-solving tasks. These predictors included working memory capacity, metacognitive awareness and control, style of attribution, and two measures of cognitive style (cognitive tempo and field dependence-independence). Cluster analysis of strategic components revealed a pattern of 7 clusters of increasingly complex strategic behaviours used by the children on the MDL task. These Strategy Clusters appeared to be principally differentiated by an increasing ability to integrate information gained from different trials. Two stylistic variations were also identified which were related to the number of hypotheses verbalised on each trial. Further investigation involving multiple regression analyses revealed that the major factor which predicted strategic behaviour and performance on the MDL task was metacognitive awareness and control. However, correlational analyses of subgroups revealed interactions between predictors, and between predictors and strategies, in relation to performance. No significant effects were revealed relating to gender, but age effects in relation to predictors, strategies and performance were indicated. The implications for future research and for the development of children's thinking and problem-solving skills within educational contexts is discussed.

The concept of personal autonomy as an educational ideal is analysed from its etymological roots of autos and nomos. The autos is shown to be most closely associated with authenticity and this concept is explored from existentialist roots. Authenticity's points of contact with reason are examined and the authentic individual is shown to be a deep, reflective evaluator of his own motives but existentialist radical choice of self is shown to be essentially incoherent. The nomos is linked to reason and the criteria it picks out. The limits upon reason are considered but its significance to personal autonomy is shown to be considerable; reason is argued to embrace feeling and a dimension of practical reason. The adjective, personal, is not redundant within personal autonomy as an educational ideal and is held to have significant moral implications for autonomy. A Millian analysis of the 'endowment' of a person is considered and perspectives from both developmental psychology and an ancient tradition embracing persons and virtues are shown to relate to autonomy. The second part of the thesis considers the relationship of personal autonomy to three related concepts in education: authority, freedom and paternalism and points of contact are clarified. The final part examines a place for personal autonomy within educational activities in schools. It is argued that personal autonomy should be exercised in school- based education as its exercise is the only sure way to develop it. Therefore a perspective of education as a series of practices in which the learner should be enabled to engage exercising a measure of personal autonomy is the theme of the final part. However, the purpose of the thesis is a clarification of fundamentals; it does not purport to present a curriculum for personal autonomy.

Is the innovation of educational computing likely to be effective in facilitating the development of children's minds? The research reported in this thesis approached the question by investigating two issues related to the introduction of classroom computers. Firstly, is the educational environment receptive to the new technology, and secondly, can computer-based learning make significant changes in the development of children's cognitive ability? The study of attitudes to educational computing was conducted using questionnaire techniques over a three year period, sampling more than 300 teachers and teachers-in-training. There were two main goals: to measure and compare the attitudes of serving teachers and teachers-in-training, and to identify factors influencing the development of these attitudes. Four main attitudinal groups were identified by a cluster analysis, with more positive than negative statements being made, in general. Positive attitudes revolved around the potential of the computer to promote more child-centred learning, and around its usefulness across a wide spectrum of the curriculum. The investigations of the role of the computer in developing children's minds, conducted using experimental and case study techniques, also had two main strands. A series of experiments determined the children's knowledge of the ways in which data can be organised, a pre-requisite for the use of classroom databases. The experiments suggested that junior school children should be able to use two-dimensional data structures even though they might have difficulty in constructing them. The second strand in these investigations was to observe the effects of the use of computer databases upon classificatory ability, Using pre-test post-test comparisons children were found to benefit from the use of proprietary software in that their logical thought improved. The detailed observation of eighteen case studies confirmed the usefulness of data-bases in the development of children's thinking. The study by using a number of research techniques has demonstrated that the educational community is prepared to accept the innovation of classroom computers, and that significant cognitive gains will accrue by doing so.

The impetus behind the writing of this dissertation came out of informal interviews held with teachers about their actual practice of teaching. What these interviews revealed was that teachers teach in a kind of "muddledness" and confusion. Mainly this dissertation aims to define a way of being in teaching that gives teaching shape and direction. The theoretical understanding underlying the research of the dissertation is based in metaphysics and existential thought. Specifically, the content is focussed on the concept of authenticity. Authenticity has particular meaning in philosophical thought. For an understanding of the existential meaning of authenticity I have turned to European philosophy and the thinking of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre. For an understanding of how authenticity in its existential sense relates to the profession of teaching and being a teacher I explore the thinking of six contemporary Anglo-American educational theorists: William Pinar, Mary Warnock, Nel Noddings, Max van Manen, Maxine Greene, and Dwayne Huebner. Through a form of hermeneutics and reflective critical analysis I explore how authenticity is valued in the thinking of each of these six educational theorists. Drawing on the thoughts and insights offered by these selected authors I construct my own model of authenticity in teaching in the conclusion of the dissertation in an approach that I call "the multifacetted Janus face of authenticity." The dissertation is framed in the language of literature, which supports the methodology. Specifically it is the writings of Virginia Woolf that are used to formulate this investigation into the meaningfulness of teaching.

This study investigates teachers' and pupils' roles in the teaching and learning of elementary history in relation to the social studies curriculum in Turkish schools. The methodological design of the study embraces both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Questionnaires were completed by 219 elementary teachers in Istanbul and Samsun in Turkey. Seven class teachers and three head teachers took part in the interview process based in the study's three case schools in the Bafra district of Samsun. Observations took place in three fourth and three fifth grade elementary classrooms of the same schools and lasted three weeks. The study argues that children must be given a sense of the discipline of history by introducing historical enquiry as the basis of the school history teaching in order that pupils will develop the skills which make significant contributions to their cognitive development (see Chapter three). From the analysis of the data the study found that: - There were gaps between teachers' espoused child-centred curriculum theories and their classroom practices. Teachers preferred whole class teaching techniques (i. e. lecturing and questioning) as the means of delivering the curriculum. The curriculum itself was too broad and too knowledge-based. - History was seen as a vehicle in citizenship education based on the political events of national history. The subject's classroom activities were dominated by textbooks and the practice of 'pupil's recitation' which was limited to the memorisation of factual information. - Teachers mostly used a style of questioning which checked pupils' historical knowledge rather than their historical understanding. - From the analysis of interview data and Turkish curriculum documents, the study argued that the teachers could be classified as 'national utopians' and 'utilitarian/instrumentalists' in their perceptions of elementary education. This affected their teaching styles. - The analysis of video-tape data showed that teachers used three main teaching styles. On the basis of a further classification teachers were grouped as 'lecturers', 'controllers of proxy teaching' and 'questioners'. The relationship between teaching styles and teachers' perceptions of elementary education is discussed in chapters five and six. - The teachers thought that they were experts in the teaching of literacy and numeracy and argued that subject specialism was only to be considered in other areas of the curriculum. - This study also confirmed that the social studies textbooks used in the classrooms involved in the study were not appropriate to pupils' understanding and reading levels (see chapters five and six). During the observations, it was recorded that below average pupils used their textbooks less than the above average and average pupils. The textbooks were less likely to promote the task related behaviour category 'working' than other materials. The study has implications for the process of educational change beyond the teaching of history. It focuses on issues of curriculum and practice in Turkish elementary schools by analysing the factors affecting teachers' perceptions of curriculum policy and their own practices. It investigates each of these areas and presents the implications for policy, theory, practice and research in Chapter seven by concluding that the starting point for a rational educational policy should be partnership with teachers. Therefore, the study argues that teachers must be included in research projects and that such projects need to use a variety of techniques based on classroom practice, (e. g. interview analysis, observation techniques, questionnaires, document analysis, case studies and action research) explored and evaluated throughout this study.

Central Government has identified a group of schools deemed to be 'Schools facing Challenging Circumstances'. These schools tend to be low attaining schools that serve socio-economically deprived communities. A range of policy initiatives have resulted in a number of centrally driven interventions aimed at improving these schools. This thesis focuses on the relationship between external intervention and school improvement in schools facing challenging circumstances. The research strategy consisted of three phases, combining case study and survey approaches to explore two examples of centrally driven external intervention. Phases one and two adopted a case study approach to explore OfSTED inspection and the Schools facing Challenging Circumstances Initiative as mechanisms for improvement, while phase three consisted of a survey to triangulate data and explore some general questions pertaining to external interventions. Thus, this research adopted a mixed methods approach collecting interview, questionnaire and documentary evidence from a range of sources and perspectives. The findings are based on data collected from interviews with over 150 teachers in 21 schools and survey data collected from a further 94 teachers in 6 schools facing challenging circumstances in one LEA. This is the first study to explore the relationship between external intervention and school improvement in this particularly challenging group of schools. The findings suggest that if widespread reform is to be achieved a more sophisticated approach to external intervention must be developed. Rather than treating these schools as a homogeneous group, interventions must be differentiated to match individual school cultures, capacity for change and development phase. In conclusion, a typology of schools facing challenging circumstances is presented. It is argued that this typology can inform our thinking to support more sophisticated approaches to intervening and improving these schools.

Recent research, which argues that discourses shape and are shaped by social reality, has contributed to the development of Critical Literacies and Critical Language Awareness in education. Critical Language Awareness researchers argue that, unless challenged, discourses reproduce dominant ideologies based on the understanding that discourse is a social process and that it is inherently ideological. Therefore, the social aspect of language should not be ignored in literacy education. However, in the context of this study, i. e. Turkey, the current approach to literacy, and in particular to reading, is a traditional one, which does not take the social aspect of language into account. Sharing the principles of Critical Language Awareness, this study seeks to find out the impact of a critical reading course in the Turkish Anatolian High School context. The first chapter opens by exploring the theoretical foundations of Critical pedagogy, later on moving to the principles and practices of Critical Literacies and Critical Language Awareness. In this chapter, student motivation and resistance as a recurring theme in Critical Language Awareness practices is also explored together with theories on motivation. Chapter 2 reviews studies of Critical Discourse Analysis, where Critical Language Awareness has its roots, together with the use of Systemic Functional Grammar as a tool for textual analysis in Critical Language Awareness. In this chapter, I also briefly consider the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and Turkish language as a case of linguistic relativism and linguistic determinism. In Chapter 3,1 discuss the overall action research approach and particular research instruments (questionnaires, interviews and repeated reading activity) adopted in this study, and this is followed by an account of the critical reading course, given in Chapter 4. Findings of the research are presented in Chapters 5 and 6. In Chapter 5, the findings are presented in relation to the impact of the course on students' approach to written texts. 'Students involved in this study reported and showed in repeated reading activity an increase in recognition of reading as a social process and of the effect of lexicogrammatical structures in texts. In Chapter 61 present findings in relation to the impact of the course on students' motivation. There was some resistance to the course due to the current exam system, but the students who participated in this study reported increased motivation for reading lessons. in Chapter 7,1 present an overall discussion and implications of these findings. Finally, in the Conclusion, which includes limitations to the study and implications for further research.

This study has investigated the effectiveness of an initial teacher training programme provided by the Omani Colleges of Education in preparing science teachers. To understand the phenomena of this research, to give a picture as clear as possible of the topic under study and to determine the information that needs to be collected, a framework was established. A combination of qualitative and quantitative tools (questionnaires, interviews and document examination) was used to meet the aims of this study. The questionnaires and interviews were designed and tailored to relate specifically to the teachers' competencies that are required by the Omani Reformed General Education (the Basic Education: Stage Two). In addition, the importance and effectiveness of the programme's components were also investigated. The questionnaires were conducted with all the student science teachers in the final academic year, 2000/2001, and all the teacher educators in the departments of educational studies in all the six Omani Colleges of Education. Sub-samples of student teachers and teacher educators were interviewed. In addition, some newly qualified teachers were also interviewed. To carry out a careful analysis, a framework of data analysis was developed. The results are divided into three main sections. The first section addresses student teachers' competencies. The second section reports the participants' evaluation of the importance and effectiveness of the pedagogical courses. The third section covers the respondents' evaluation of the importance and the effectiveness of practicum aspects. In addition, results that emerged from the two last open-ended questions in the questionnaires and interviews and the effects of some variables on student teachers' competencies are presented. This study has indicated that while student science teachers demonstrated their ability in some competencies, they were deficient in the majority. In general, the results have indicated that approximately 86.96% of the competencies were rated to be average whereas only 10.87% of these competencies were viewed to be above average (i.e. competent). In addition, the majority of responses indicated that student teachers could use some experiential learning methods and some different assessment tools to a limited extent but not effectively. Furthermore, student science teachers are not fully prepared to use a problem-solving approach and ICT in teaching science. This research has produced interesting and useful data about the student teachers' competencies and the curriculum of the colleges and the manner in which it was implemented. It has not only shown a serious gap between the actual needs of science teachers (importance) and their preparation (effectiveness) by the colleges but identified also the areas of weakness. Some factors affecting the acquisition of the student teachers' competencies are addressed. Recommendations have been made for the Ministry of Higher Education for the development of the existing science teacher education programmes, and for the Ministry of Education (in-service teacher training). Issues for further research are also addressed