This study applies a school effectiveness approach to determining the nature and the extent of effects of non-cognitive outcomes of schooling, specifically in relation to the SEAL programme. The focus is on the potential to evaluate gains made through universal SEAL provision, as well as via intensive Family SEAL intervention for groups of children and their parents/carers. The research was undertaken within primary and secondary schools located in one English Local Authority region. An extensive literature review of measures of student and school level academic progress in the cognitive domain shows how such measures have built on the insights of school effectiveness research and this leads to a consideration of studies of similar design focusing on non-cognitive outcomes of schooling, and the size of school and class level effects related to them. Data from around 2000 students was used to determine a measurement model for a survey of SEAL related outcomes, and across a period of approximately 18 months, over 8500 students from 55 schools were eventually surveyed. Multilevel modelling of data on 7 non-cognitive dimensions derived from the survey was used to determine the proportion of the variance located at the student, class and school levels for each of the dimensions. Associations between each dimension and a range of student and school level factors were also investigated. Significant associations were found to occur between non-cognitive outcomes and factors such as students’ age, gender and whether they had experience with bullying behaviours. There was some limited evidence of associations for peer-effects of bullying and the mean socioeconomic status for some of the non-cognitive dimensions. Class and especially school level effects were found to be appreciably smaller than those observed for cognitive outcomes of schooling which was broadly in line with the findings of previous research in this area. A small scale evaluation of the impact of Family SEAL provided tentative evidence that gains from engaging in this intervention are most likely to be made by students causing concern in their social and emotional development, and that these gains are most likely to be observed at school rather than at home. The limitations of each element of the study were considered and taken into account in making a number of recommendations for practice in schools and local and national level policy making.

This thesis examined key persons‟ views about the effect of symbolic gesturing to positively influence the emotional relationships between themselves and the infants they care for in day nursery. Having reviewed the literature, this thesis builds on both the professional and emotional key persons‟ role with the infants in their care in nursery and how symbolic gesturing as an approach during interactions might enhance those attachments. Its originality is situated in the way it explores symbolic gesturing in the context of a day nursery from an emotional perspective rather than a communicative aid to develop infants‟ literacy skills. Using a case study approach, which employed biographical accounts of three key persons‟, observations and documentation their journey was documented as they used symbolic gesturing during a three month period. It considered what impact symbolic gesturing had on their practice and whether their emotional relationships with the infants they cared for were enhanced as a result of its implementation. The thematic analysis of the biographical journeys revealed symbolic gesturing was a valuable approach in enhancing emotional relationships with infants as long as it was implemented in a flexible way and its use was navigated by the key persons. The influence of symbolic gesturing was apparent in the key persons‟ changes of perceptions and reflections within the pre and post interviews and to a lesser extent from observational data. Documentation was used to contextualise the role of the key persons in a day nursery and more widely within local and national policy and legislation. The thesis concludes by making a number of recommendations about the use of symbolic gesturing for practice in day nurseries.

This research represents a systematic investigation and analysis of student drop-out in a college of Further Education. Traditionally, this aspect of post-compulsory education has been under-researched. Colleges are beginning to recognise the benefits of curriculum research. While there remains a certain amount of hostility towards such non-traditional activity, such research resistance, in its institutional context forms part of the discussion within the thesis. Student drop-out has been defined as premature withdrawal from a course of study. The investigation focused on the experiences of drop-outs while they attended college, their school history, their family relationships and their personal explanations for leaving College. A multiple strategy method (loose triangulation) was used to gather information about drop-outs and these data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Further Education, and especially the recent changes brought about by 'incorporation' of Colleges under the aegis of 'market forces' has formed the context for the research field. The research identified several significant factors relative to student retention. The most significant being the mismatch between the prior expectations of prospective students with the reality encountered once their course commences. Other barriers to successful completion were also identified, the most significant of which was the attitude of teachers at the drop-out's previous school. Family relationships were also found to be instrumental in student completion. Four types of drop-out have been identified: 1. the early drop-out, who enroled on the wrong course, 2. the opportunist drop-out, who came to College because they had nothing better to do at the time, 3. the consumer drop-out, who buys a course (usually skills based) and leaves when they are satisfied that they have learnt enough, 4. the life crisis drop-out, who is the victim of accident, ill health or misfortune. The empirical evidence collected during this research contradicts the commonly accepted view that drop-outs are a 'drain' on society. It is shown that the word 'drop-out' has developed a power of its own and is employed in the social control of students. The research concludes that student retention can be improved and course completion rates increase. When monitoring procedures adequately reflect the real number of students dropping out, coupled with prevention methods which recognise the need for better preenrolment guidance, and meaningful intervention to reclaim these lost students and redirect their studies, drop-out could become a phenomenon of the past.

Whilst the main purpose of education is a matter for political debate, there is broad consensus that it is about the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, the development of responsible attitudes and the preparation of young people for later life and wider society (Bigger and Brown, 1999). Thus, schools, as the places where the majority of young people are formally educated (McGilchrist et al., 2004), are concerned with more than just the acquisition of knowledge. Their ultimate objective in a democratic society must be to facilitate the social, academic and identity development of young people (Verma and Pumfrey, 1988) while contributing to their personal and collective happiness (Noddings, 2003). Using a cross-sectional, mixed-methods approach with 10 secondary schools from three main school types, this study investigates how well Catholic schools in English speaking Cameroon are achieving these educational outcomes for their students. The results show that even though Catholic schools have had a longstanding reputation for achieving the highest overall academic attainment, Presbyterian schools have recently performed better on this measure. The cluster of Catholic schools which have consistently produced outstanding results have perhaps perpetuated theperception that Catholic schools are still the highest performing. Catholic schools appear to fare better than ‘government’ and ‘lay private’ schools at promoting non-academic outcomes such as nurturing the spiritual development of pupils, preparing pupils for life after school, promoting the common good of society and promoting community cohesion, but appear to fail to provide to the same extent upward social mobility for poor pupils, which is an important claim for Catholic education in the literature. This research, the first of its kind in Cameroon, should enable the Church and state authorities to engage in a properly informed way in a national debate about the contribution of Catholic schools to the education system and to society. In addition, contrary to the negative literature about faith schools generally, this study shows Catholic education to be fertile ground for cultivating the democratic potential of schools (Parker, 2008) which can only be welcome news in a country enmeshed in corruption and splintered along tribal, cultural and religious lines

This thesis explores participants' experiences of presence in virtual worlds as a specific case of mediated environments, and the factors that support that experience of presence, with the aim of developing practice when using these technologies in learning and teaching. The thesis begins with a framework that was created to bring together concepts from a range of disciplines that describe presence and factors that contribute to presence. Organising categories within the framework were drawn from a blend of Activity Theory and Communities of Practice. Five case studies in Second Life (preceded by a pilot study employing webconferencing) were conducted in order to investigate learners' experiences in these environments. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered from these cases. The data from the separate cases were analysed using a cross-case synthesis and the role of presence, and the factors that support it, were identified. An additional strand of investigation established a typology of different forms of resistance by students to learning in virtual worlds. The findings of the study were that an experience of presence is strongly linked to students' satisfaction with the learning activity. This experience of presence was more linked to students' preparedness or ability to engage with the environment than with technological limitations. Some students' resistance to learning in virtual worlds were informed by values they held about technology, but others appeared to display an inability to experience embodiment through their avatar. The experience of presence appeared to develop over time. This can be interpreted as stages in students' development of a virtual body image, body schema and virtual identity. Different learning activities are more appropriate to different stages in this development. The thesis concludes with a suggested model for supporting students' development of presence. The implications of these findings for educators and for further research are discussed.

During the past thirty years, a large body of second language research has targeted vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) from a cognitive perspective and most of this research tends to treat them as de-contextualised phenomena. In order to develop and broaden the scope of the current VLS research, I explore strategic vocabulary learning from both cognitive and sociocultural approaches and focus on its dynamic, complex and contextually situated nature. The present study, based on a multiple-case study design, investigates the processes of strategic vocabulary learning of six Chinese students who were from a pre-university course in three British universities, using three data collection methods: classroom observations, interviews and VOCABlog (including photovoice and diaries). The analysis of these six student cases shows that they managed their strategic vocabulary learning in relation to their particular settings, milieus and the British culture; they tended to select and deploy a number of strategies rather than individual strategies to improve their learning, and various types of strategy combinations were found; they appeared to operate their strategic vocabulary learning as a dynamic system and this was particularly supported by the findings about their varying degrees of consciousness, the inconsistencies between their strategic approach and their strategy use and the changes in their strategy use. Theoretical contributions for the VLS research and some practical recommendations for vocabulary learning are also provided.

This thesis is an attempt to discover and to give an account oi the origins of the (Romantic) idea of imagination which dominates English art educational theory. Though I have written what is essentially the history of an idea, I have endeavoured throughout to relate the different aspects of "imagination” to concurrent philosophical, psychological, and aesthetic theories. My method has been to read in the original (i.e. translated) sources every­thing I could find on "imagination" and closely associated concepts and, with the occasional support of expert commentaries and commentaries, to establish the relationships and differences between these findings. No work of this type or scope has hitherto been undertaken though, inevitably, work has already been done on a few aspects of the subject, (notably by M.W. Bundy and M. Wenock), so that though I cannot claim that all this thesis is entirely original, all of its seven parts contain men original work, and Parts 3,4, and 5 arc largely original. I have sought to demonstrate that "imagination" is an ancient and very broadly used concept which enjoys a prominent place in often-contradictory theoretical systems and that its contradictions, s teeming largely from Platonic metaphysics Aristotelian philosophy of mind, and even elemental cosmology, compounded and unresolved throughout subsequent history, have entered English art educational theory. The separate parts of this thesis are chronologically based this being to my mind the simplest and most direct way of dealing with the subject matter. Thus the study starts with Plato, including reflection to pre-Socratic myths, and Aristotle, traces the developing theory of imagination through Antiquity and the Middle Ages, with particular reference to Christian theology; moves to an examination of "imagination" in Renaissance magic, comparing and relating this.to the theory of art from Alberti onwards; considers the philosophers of the 17th century with specific concentration on place of "imagin­ation" in their theories, and examines the Romantic and pre-Romantic, philosophical, psychological, and aesthetic theories of imagination. Finally there is an account of some of the subsequent 19th century developments in Existentialism and Phenomenology. My conclusion is that because of the great breadth of interpretation that "imagination" bears, its undefined use at the heart of art educational theory can only perpetuate the obfuscation that exists there.

Children engage with diverse policies and practices in early years institutions. The aim of this study is to show how this relationship plays a part in children‘s construction of gender and national identities. Identity construction is a complex and ongoing process that involves both the individual themselves and others. In this process what identities schools offer and how children interpret these identities in their making meaning of themselves is the main concern of this research. Therefore it is important to understand which discourses are available for children and how they reproduce or challenge them to perform their identities. In order to understand these complex relations, this research was conducted in two preschool classrooms in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey,during a six-month period of fieldwork with intervals. The data were gathered from classroom observations, interviews with forty-seven children aged 4-5, two preschool teachers, two head teachers and two assistants of head teachers, as well as an analysis of curriculum and some policy documents. The analyses reveal that most of the time children follow and reproduce dominant discourses that are available to them. While children try to do their gender right by performing hegemonic masculinity and emphasising femininity forms, the dominant national discourse, Atatürk nationalism, is used by children to do their national identity right. However it was also found that children are aware that doing their identities right brings them advantages and by knowing this some children take risks to perform other ways of being. Conducting the fieldwork in two classrooms showed how the approaches and ideas of teachers and schools influence children‘s staying within or crossing boundaries in their identity construction. It is safe to say that the children tended to follow the dominant discourses of the teachers‘ approaches and ideas in terms of certain ways of being. At this point the Turkish education system aims to make the Other into the Same (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005) rather than offering and welcoming other ways of being.

Researchers of drama education and literacy learning in Taiwan or the majority of western countries have suggested that the application of drama strategies in literacy teaching has a significant effect on students’ capacities for literacy learning. However, most research in Taiwan has been focused on the results and effects on the learner and not the teachers’ thoughts, problems, concerns and behaviours and there is an absence of research in Taiwan dealing with the problems and difficulties of implementation that the teacher who is new to using drama might face. Hence, one important consideration in this research is to investigate what kinds of factors or difficulties might impede or assist the motivation of teachers who are willing to bring new ideas and new materials, specifically the application of drama and picture books, to their literacy teaching. Another aim of this research, therefore, is to investigate the various dynamics and difficulties that might affect the success or otherwise of in-service education in drama for elementary teachers. This research explores five situations of experienced teachers Grade 3 teachers in four elementary schools in Taiwan while applying drama strategies and picture books in their literacy teaching. The data collection procedure was divided into two phases: the first phase of three interviews with the teachers I worked with and classroom observations made while they applied three teaching schemes in their classes; the second phase moving from the classroom level to the school level, and interviews with not only the teachers but also section administrators of the curriculum in each case school. The results of this study show that fear of the new application already had a negative effect which could reduce teachers’ commitments and motivation for change; especially when they were overloaded with their existing duties. In addition, the new application also indicated that there is a need to ensure that short courses are integrated within an overall framework for in-service development in drama education if there are to be positive outcomes of in-service work. Moreover, in this study, the school culture also affected the teachers’ practice and further professional development in these schools. In conclusion, although the results of this study cannot be generalised for the greater population of the elementary school teaching in Taiwan, it has provided valuable insights that might shape future professional development in this area. Ideally, this study will enable me to help develop effective, additional innovative programmes in Taiwan and provide other researchers with a framework for carrying out further research intended to improve the standard of teachers’ professional development.

This doctoral research aimed to investigate the perspectives of teachers, principals and students on the nature and usefulness of ICT use in a Turkish special education school to support pedagogy and promote communication for students with hearing impairment. New ways of teaching and learning were assessed as a part of this study via creating an enhanced communication environment through a speech recognition program called “Dikte” which allowed participants to experience facilitated learning. Specifically, the beliefs on ICT use held by sixteen special education teachers, ten students with hearing impairment and three principals were examined. A case study was employed as a methodological approach in this study. Questionnaires, interviews and observations were the methods for data collection on participants’ views regarding ICT use and speech recognition (SR) program application. A case study approach was important in a sense that it allowed the researcher to deeply explore how ICT and SR were employed by engaging with students and teachers in their daily educational activities. The findings suggested that ICT provide some advantages in supporting communication in class through access to better-developed hearing devices, social media tools and computer programmes. ICT/SR use had implications regarding pedagogical support including developing teaching and learning resources (e.g. classroom notes, audio-visual teaching, material in audio and text formats), shifting teacher to student-centred pedagogies and enhancing students’ comprehension, motivation and social participation. The study also examined the factors that support or hinder ICT use in a special education school. Supporting factors were ICT knowledge of teachers and students (being digital natives), advanced ICT infrastructure that facilitated hearing features. Hindering factors were lack of school administration support, lack of support from the Ministry of National Education of Turkey, lack of in-service teacher training and knowledge of ICT use. The study made a novel contribution to examining users’ views about ICT as a tool for supporting teaching and learning in students with hearing impairment in Turkey, raising issues about the pedagogical and curricular implications for using ICT in special schools and the role of the state in supporting this.