Title: Why do girls get ‘excluded’ from school? A small scale qualitative investigation of the educational experiences of KS3 and KS4 girls who are ‘at risk of exclusion’. Background: Levels of both fixed term and permanent exclusion from school, have caused widespread concern over the past 20 years. Most recent figures record permanent exclusion at approximately 6,500 pupils in England in the year 2008/2009 (DCSF, 2010). However, in comparison to research interest received by their male counterparts, the needs of girls appear to have been largely overlooked. Rationale/aims: In response to a lack of research nationally, and priorities within my Local Authority, I have carried out an exploratory study, which investigates the phenomenon of KS3/KS4 girls who are judged to be ‘at risk’ of permanent exclusion. Methodology: The substantive element of the current research used semistructured interviews with a small number girls (n=2), their parents (n=2), associated school staff professionals (n=2) and external professionals involved in this area (n=4). Analysis of interview data was carried out using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework (i.e. Smith et al 2009). Findings: Following a macro-analysis of interview data, findings are discussed from a Bio-ecological Systems Theory (Process-Person-Context-Time model) perspective of development (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). Conclusions: The research concludes with a discussion of findings in the context of my employing Local Authority, offering implications for practice and future research in the area of girls and school exclusion.

Cognitive approaches to language teaching recognize conceptual metaphor awareness-raising activities as techniques that aid the understanding of metaphors in second or foreign languages (L2) such as English. However, the benefits of these techniques do not extend to the retention, production or interpretation of metaphors. These are important skills that could help language learners in their use of metaphor in the real world. This thesis focuses on the embodied nature of L2 metaphors through awareness-raising activities that incorporate bodily actions and tactile contact. Through four experimental classroom studies with university-level female EFL Saudi learners, this thesis explores the impacts of employing awareness-raising activities of conceptual metaphors and embodied metaphors. The first and second studies compare conceptual metaphor awareness to traditional semantic clustering and highlight the role of conceptual metaphor awareness in understanding metaphoric expressions. The third study introduces embodied metaphor awareness-raising activities through bodily actions and compares them to conceptual metaphor awareness and semantic clustering. The fourth study explores the benefits of using embodied tactile metaphor awareness-raising activities in the learning of linguistic and pictorial metaphors in advertising. The thesis finds that awareness-raising activities based on embodied metaphors have the potential to foster a deeper learning of metaphors in the L2.

Increasingly, Educational Psychology Services are opening their provision to parents in community settings such Children’s Centres (Davis et al 2008), but, there has been little research regarding what parents want from this provision. Eleven parents who attended a Children’s Centre in the West Midlands, participated in semi-structured interviews (including sort card activities) designed to explore what they wanted from the opportunity to meet directly with an Educational Psychologist (EP). Transcripts of interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Many parents reported wanting support at a community and personal level, (relating to a range of difficulties e.g. behaviour) and appeared to view difficulties that a child experiences as being ‘down to’ parenting skills. Parent’s therefore reported feelings of shame and embarrassment and wanted an EP to help build confidence in their parenting skills and to provide advice, information, techniques and direction. Parents valued EPs’ training, knowledge and experience and wanted this to be utilised to offer a unique/different perspective and to help them better understand their child. A solution focused consultation approach appears to be most aligned to what parents want. The findings also showed that some parents did not know what an EP does and equated EP work with psychiatry. EPs therefore need to advertise their role and to be approachable and accessible.

This study offers an understanding of the leadership learning of headteachers through an exploration of their practices and perspectives when dealing with challenging situations. The research methodology uses semi-structured interviews to capture the experiences of eighteen primary school headteachers as they describe the challenges they face and the way in which they learn from them. The findings show that primary school leadership is embedded in relationships which are complex and challenging. The strategies and coping mechanisms headteachers use to deal with challenges are similar and reflect the powerful influence of values, trust and emotional resilience. The insights presented in this study should inform the future research agenda in educational leadership and identify inadequacies in the leadership development of school leaders. Strategies which enable headteachers to experience more planned and meaningful development are presented. These include formal coaching systems, the formation of meaningful networks and guided critical reflection on experiences. A framework for integrated leadership development, which supports the aspects of leadership acquired through real-life challenges, is also proposed. This should enhance those aspects of leadership which can be learnt through challenging situations and better equip headteachers to manage and lead their schools.

Secondary school music curricula often alienate young people because of the disjuncture between their experiences of music outside and inside school (Spruce and Matthews, 2012). Music also continues having to justify its place in many secondary schools (Philpott, 2012). Offering ideas to expand music educational thinking and increase its social relevance, this research explores two secondary mainstream-special school integrative musical projects using the theoretical framework of ‘musicking’ (Small, 1998), which asserts the centrality of relationships in any form of musical performance. Using two case studies, the relationships between teacher and pupil participants are explored. Small makes no mention of musicking in the context of children with special educational needs, and this study extends his ideas by developing the notion of an inclusive form of musicking in secondary music education, achieved through the musical integration of mainstream pupils with their special school peers whose verbal communication is severely limited. The self-efficacy of participating teachers is considered an important contributing factor to the projects’ perceived success, enhancing or limiting the likelihood of their application in other secondary educational contexts. Possible ways of augmenting the self-efficacy of teachers from both settings are offered, together with suggestions for future research in this field.

Research shows that successful educational reform is multi-faceted requiring rigorous planning and investment in teacher professional development. The focus of this study is women ESL teachers in Qatar’s public school educational reform, Education for a New Era which created 36 publicly funded Independent Schools with a standards-based curriculum using English as a Second Language as the medium of instruction in mathematics and science. The research investigated the perceptions of women ESL teachers regarding Qatar’s reforms and their experiences using new approaches to teaching ESL. Professional development needs were also identified. A mixed method approach was used. A questionnaire was distributed to 233 women ESL teachers and 18 semi-structured interviews conducted. Generally, teachers valued increased freedom, but expressed a lack of support, and noted increased workloads and conflicts between professional roles and private lives. Change facilitators were seen as supportive. Views about school administrators varied.

This thesis presents a study of the motivation of UK school pupils to learn a modern foreign language. The study involved 345 year 7 pupils learning either French or German in a large inner-city school based in an urban area in central England. Anecdotal evidence and personal experience suggested a widespread decrease in motivation for modern language learning during the course of year 7. The purpose of the study was to seek evidence substantiating or refuting the hypothesis of a motivational dip and to investigate factors that might affect any perceived changes in motivation. The research design was inspired by elements of the Dynamic Systems Approach (DSA), particularly the idea of attractors and repellers. This study attempted to incorporate elements of DSA through the design of two questionnaires, which were used to collect the data in the autumn of 2007 and spring/summer 2008. The data were analysed employing both quantitative and qualitative methodology and the findings suggested that there was indeed evidence of a motivational dip occurring within the time span under investigation. Contrary to discussions in the literature and wider society the drop in motivation could not be explained through the impact of individual factors, such as the teacher, nor did any combination of factors seem to suggest predictable outcomes. However, the findings did appear to confirm characteristics of a complex dynamic system present in the construct of motivation as suggested by DSA and provided evidence that particular factors may act as strong attractors and repellers. Further to this, the importance for motivation of feelings of belonging and emotional well-being in the classroom situation was strongly implied in the pupils’ responses, suggesting that current teacher training strategies and educational policies may need to be re-focused if this is confirmed in future research.

This thesis represents an assessed requirement of the Applied Educational and Child Psychology Doctoral course at the University of Birmingham. The thesis consists of two volumes. Volume One explores the role of schools in mental health work. A literature review considers perspectives on mental health, ways in which the mental health of children and young people can be promoted or demoted, and the role that schools have in this area. Transfer from primary to secondary school has been identified as a vulnerable time for pupils. Consequently, an empirical research study was designed to explore the views of Year 7 pupils at one secondary school to identify how their school does, and could further, support their emotional health and well-being during, and following, transfer from primary school. Volume Two consists of five Professional Practice Reports that each explore different aspects of the role of the educational psychologist. Papers relate to working with teaching assistants, supporting pupils experiencing difficulties with peer relationships in school, supporting pupils who have a parent who has a mental health difficulty, supporting pupils in the early years’ who have speech, language and communication difficulties, and conducting research with children and young people.

This thesis uses experimental methods to study two topics on the effectiveness of school inputs on educational outcomes in rural China. For the first topic, I use unique administrative data from Wugang County Education Bureau (a rural county in Hunan), and a regression discontinuity methodology. I find that selective/elite schools, despite their resource advantages, only have limited effects on raising student educational outcomes. However, magnet classes are effective for the top student group. These findings imply that magnet classes provide benefits at the expense of other students, and in general that concentrating resources in a few elite schools is not an effective way to raise educational outcomes. For the second topic, this time using unique data from Shaoyang County Education Bureau (also a rural county in Hunan), I designed two RCTs to examine the effectiveness of a low cost communication intervention. The intervention used a 12-point assessment form measuring a pupil’s academic work and class behaviour. One RCT communicated these assessment results only to the students (Teacher-Student-Communication, TSC), and the other additionally to the pupil's parents (Teacher-Student-Parent-Communication, TSPC). Test score improvements before and after the 8-month intervention period (with 13 assessments) were the measure of educational effectiveness. I find that the TSPC intervention for maths for left-behind children is particularly important. In addition, TSC helped younger pupils (3d grade) more than old (5"' grade), whether left behind or not, showing the importance of early intervention.

This aim of this thesis was to critically examine the features of an elite performance centre in facilitating coaches’ professional learning experiences. In response to existing coach development literature that is negative about the formal education experiences coaches encounter, contemporary research has suggested a conceptual and practical shift towards professional learning (e.g. learning as form of social practice), which in turn has led to a greater focus on the workplace as a legitimate site for the development of professional knowledge. A focus on workplace learning requires an understanding of the social, structural, and cultural factors that facilitate or inhibit coach learning. Drawing on an ethnographic case study approach, 6 professional coaches and 3 administrative staff within an Olympic High Performance centre participated in the project over an 8 month period. Utilising a constructivist version of grounded theory, the findings build upon current understandings of coach education, suggested learning experiences are a condition of the interrelationship between negotiated personal engagement, workplace structures, and contextual mediating conditions. This relationship is captured within the model ‘Negotiated Community Transitions’, characterising coaches’ as individuals that move and participate across communities, each with its own distinct culture. As such, the coaching workplace is portrayed as a contested and fluid landscape.