Volume One. Volume one comprises of three chapters. The first chapter is a systematic review of research into the utility of group format clinical supervision in the clinical practice of therapists. The second chapter is an empirical paper which explores the phenomenological experience of clinical supervision from the perspective of clinical psychologists. The final chapter is a public dissemination document which provides an accessible summary of the above documents. Volume Two: Volume two consists of five clinical reports. The first report presents the case of a woman with a moderate learning disability and low mood, formulated using behavioural and psychodynamic theory. The second report is a service evaluation exploring the utility of a set of easy read, adapted maternity notes for expectant mothers with learning disabilities. The third report presents an analogue assessment completed to aid a staff team in the support of a service user with agitation in the context of dementia. The fourth report presents a behavioural approach in the support of a female who experiences compulsive hair pulling. The final report is the abstract of an oral presentation describing how acceptance and commitment therapy was used to support a male with cystic fibrosis and low mood.

Research suggests that many factors contribute to the formation of the student teachers' reflective practice, including the nature of their teacher education, their experiences in a community of practice, and how they build their professional identity as adult learners. The purpose of this study is to investigate the significance and development of reflection and reflective skills for Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) student teachers from a major teacher education institute in Malaysia. The research addressed three questions: To what extent do student teachers use reflection in their lessons? In what ways do their capacities for reflective practice develop over the practicum? What facilitating factors and barriers exist in the development of their reflective practice? Adopting a purposive sampling approach, ten student teachers, three mentor teachers and a supervisor were selected. All of the student teachers were studying for a bachelor's degree in TESL. They attended three phases of semi-structured interviews during the three months of their final practicum; the interviews took place after classroom observations every month. Mentor teachers and supervisors were also interviewed. Adopting an interpretivist approach, the weekly reflective diaries of the student teachers and the transcripts from the final phase of the post-observation interviews provided highly personal information from which vignettes of the participants were drawn. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four significant issues affecting reflective practice: relational issues, such as how student teachers navigate issues arising within a community of practice; situational issues, for instance how they implement the curriculum; developmental issues, including how the quality of reflection may be judged; and experiential issues, which include how the student teachers construct their professional identities. The findings support most of the existing literature and provide valuable insights into the significance of reflection for these novice teachers, the extent to which they master reflective skills in their practice, and the factors that influence reflection. However, further analysis and discussion revealed that whilst the student teachers' use of reflection during their practicums is evident, the role and quality of this reflection is ambiguous. Similarly, whilst supervisors and mentor teachers may insist that reflection be actively encouraged, the rationale behind how and why it is used goes unexplored. The findings also highlighted the role that andragogy, communities of practice and experiential learning may play in partnership with reflection, serving to reconstruct reflective practice in teacher education. The study concludes by reviewing the implications of the research and putting forth ideas for further study.

Educational research has emphasised the importance of emotional intelligence, epistemic beliefs and academic intrinsic motivation to the teaching and learning process, with a large number of studies focusing on these areas in different contexts and at different levels of education. The contribution the present study makes to this scholarship is threefold: firstly, it fills a gap in the literature by exploring these constructs with students enrolled on teacher education courses. Secondly, the research is conducted in the context of Pakistan, where there is a paucity of educational research concerning these three constructs. This thesis argues that attention to these three significant elements of the teaching and learning process are neglected in Pakistani teacher education institutions, and thus paying attention to them may improve the quality of education in the country. Furthermore, the third contribution made by this study is its exploration of all three constructs in relation to some basic demographic variables and in investigating how the emotional intelligence scores and epistemological beliefs scores of Pakistani student teachers might relate to their academic intrinsic motivation. This extends the findings from previous research, which has tended to explore these constructs individually, and has not explored the concepts in the Pakistani teacher education context. The main aims of the present study are to explore (a) the relationship of emotional intelligence, epistemic beliefs and academic intrinsic motivation with demographic variables such as gender, age, previous area of study and previous highest educational qualification; (b) the relationship between student teachers’ epistemic beliefs and their academic intrinsic motivation; and (c) the relationship between the emotional intelligence and the academic intrinsic motivation of prospective teachers. The study used questionnaires to collect data from 617 prospective teachers in Pakistan. The questionnaire gathered basic data on four demographics variables: gender, age, previous area of study and previous educational highest qualification. The questionnaire also included a measure for each of the three constructs of emotional intelligence, epistemic beliefs and academic intrinsic motivation. The thesis begins by setting out the context of teacher education in Pakistan, arguing that the quality of education in Pakistan would be enhanced by greater attention to developing student teachers’ understanding of emotional intelligence, epistemic beliefs and academic intrinsic motivation, and how these constructs impact on their teaching as well as on students’ learning. The thesis also reviews the international literature specifically regarding the three constructs, setting out the background of each of these constructs and discussing how they have been studied in the context of educational research. The review of the literature finds that while these constructs are highly significant in educational research, they have not been extensively studied in the context of a) teacher education, b) Pakistan, and c) how emotional intelligence and epistemic beliefs dimensions predict or relate to academic intrinsic motivation dimensions. The current findings indicated that student teachers had high attributes related to emotional intelligence and academic intrinsic motivation compared to epistemic beliefs. For gender analysis in relation to the three measures, more significant results were found regarding emotional intelligence and epistemic beliefs. The age analysis in relation to the three constructs did not indicate many statistically significant differences. Differences based on the previous areas of studies of the research participants and the three constructs indicated some significant differences. The differences based on education level in relation to the three measures indicated significant results on two measures namely: academic intrinsic motivation and epistemic beliefs, however the results were very inconsistent. The analysis of the relationship between epistemic beliefs and academic intrinsic motivation revealed significant results on three dimensions, from which two were positively linked with academic intrinsic motivation dimensions. The analysis of the relationship between the emotional intelligence of student teachers and their academic intrinsic motivation revealed that all the emotional intelligence dimensions were positively linked with academic intrinsic motivation dimensions. In comparison, emotional intelligence appears to be a better predictor of academic intrinsic motivation compared to epistemological beliefs, as there were more significant results and positive associations between the dimensions of emotional intelligence and academic intrinsic motivation. Overall, the study highlights the significance of the development of emotional intelligence and epistemic beliefs of student teachers in the context of Pakistan. It is advisable that teacher education institutions in the country should focus on these areas. Finally, recommendations related to the study are presented for the attention of teacher education institutions.

New technology is increasingly part of children’s lives. While a growing body of literature has explored various aspects of nursery-aged children’s exposure to ICT, children are seldom asked about their experiences. With this in mind, this study sought to explore children’s perceptions of their experiences of ICT. This exploration was underpinned by current trends in the new sociology of childhood studies and the principles of United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child, both of which aim at giving a greater status to children’s voice. The thesis reports on a series of ethnographic case studies of three privately run nurseries in the West Midlands, England. It involved fieldwork observations, field notes, and discussions with 65 children aged three and four years old. In carrying out conversations with children, the study made use of some participatory techniques (e.g., photography and drawing). Adopting a friendly adult role, I participated with the children in their daily activities collecting information about their ideas and thoughts with regards to their experiences with new technology. Related ethical issues were discussed, and negotiated in the field. Using their own words, the study captured children’s own perspectives on their encounters with whatever technologies were available in the nurseries. The findings showed that the children tended to perceive their ICT-based activities as play under certain circumstances. Significantly, they were more likely to view these activities as play when they owned their play, felt it was fair, had fun, and felt it accorded with their gendered identities. Conversely, when the children did not have influence on the activity, they often perceived it as boring and unfair. In addition, there was a tension between a preference to conduct their play with a friend(s) and a desire for personal ownership of the experiences. Recommendations for pedagogical practice, policy and future research are suggested.

This thesis provides an in-depth interpretation of the actual learning process that occurred on a Post Professional Development programme (PPD) in Educational Leadership and Management in order to establish what constituted an effective learning environment for secondary school leaders and managers. The participants’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their learning and the impact this had on their social reality were scrutinised in detail as it is their understanding of the learning that created the social reality that the research sought to uncover. The research was based in the constructivist paradigm and so was approached from the perspective that individuals construct their own reality so there can be multiple interpretations of the same event. An in-depth longitudinal case study approach was used that incorporated qualitative analysis techniques which included semi-structured interviews with eight participants and four line managers, forty-nine anonymous unit evaluation documents and a reflexive research journal. These methods of data generation uncovered the perceptions of the participants as social constructions. The datasets, each representing an alternative interpretive angle, had presented positive perceptions of the learning experience and showed agreement between the participants and the line managers on the key role that the learning environment had played in the successful learning. In line with the constructivist position this effective learning environment was seen to have provided the necessary conditions for the participants to engage in both individual and collective meaning-making. The environment had been seen as an authentic leadership experience, characterised by pressure and support mechanisms that had operated simultaneously on both the macro-level (the programme environment) and the micro-level (the learning strategies). It had been the interplay between the 3 mechanisms on more than one level that was seen to result in the authenticity which had enacted the dynamics of leadership for the participants. This productive mix had led to the learning journey being viewed as a collaborative pursuit where meanings had been continually negotiated, individually and collectively, which had resulted in feelings of affinity and shared endeavour. This process had generated a shared bank of resources (experiences and materials) that had led the cohort to experience a sense of belonging to each other and the environment. A design had been provided for the cohort to develop into a learning community characterised by a critically reflective, collaborative culture. The creation of a learning community was viewed as an important support mechanism which provided the necessary space for the participants to engage in various forms of discourse and critical reflection (Mezirow, 2003; Hodge, 2014). The necessary conditions had been fostered to allow the cohort to engage in transformative learning and experience a changed perspective (Mezirow, 1996). The authenticity of the experience had, in this case, led to the participants’ revised leadership practice being applied habitually regardless of context which is seen to be indicative of the depth of personal and professional transformation (Hoggan, 2014). Their transformed perspective was demonstrated by a commitment to create collaborative, critically reflective cultures in their own workplaces and beyond. Therefore, this research provides a more precise interpretation of the positive role that pressure and support mechanisms can play in the creation of an effective learning environment for secondary teachers with leadership responsibilities.

This research explores how some undergraduate students’ experience reflection in their learning. The study is located within the interpretivist tradition and the research is based on two semi-structured interviews with eight undergraduate business students at two different stages in their programmes. This study indicates that both traditional and contemporary theories of reflection can contribute to an understanding of how undergraduate business students experience reflection. For example, I found that all of these students experience reflection in ways in which the self is the object of performative development and this mirrors some of the contemporary theoretical constructions of reflection. Interestingly, whilst acknowledging the wide variety of benefits associated with reflection in learning, the participants in this study provide detailed accounts of tensions and issues that remain including performance, group work and locating reflection alongside disciplinary knowledge. In terms of reflection on employment, these undergraduates indicate that third party ‘spillover effects’ are a broad dimension of their reflections indicating how attuned these business students are to the needs of employers. The undergraduate students in this study accept and operationalise notions of responsibilisation, self-governance and self-discipline. I also found that, for final year students in this study, reflection is central to the process of forming pre-professional identity. This is a small-scale study and I make no claims to generalisability or representativeness. However, this dissertation not only adds to what is known about how students’ experience reflection, but also provides some evidence that might usefully be considered by curriculum designers, educators and staff developers. Primarily, I suggest that reflection should be repositioned within the higher education business curriculum. Specifically, I propose a new paradigm for business education in which reflection within the curriculum is oriented to more critical questioning of disciplinary traditions and assumptions and offers greater opportunities to critically reflect on social relations and global injustice. Secondly, I suggest, having undertaken this study, that curriculum design should accommodate greater discussion and support for undergraduates struggling with reflection on performance, group-work or within disciplinary conventions.

The origins and developments of pre-vocational education are traditionally traced back to Prime Minister James Callaghan’s speech on 18th October 1976 at Ruskin College, near Oxford. An assertion of this study is that this is a fallacy, with evidence of the existence of pre-vocational education dating back many years before this date. Further it is contended that Callaghan’s speech was not the catalyst for change in aspects of secondary education that many have suggested. The speech was neither a deliberate attempt by Callaghan to challenge the accepted modus operandi of the educational establishment nor an effort to raise standards. On the contrary, this study will argue that Callaghan’s intervention in education was a conscious attempt to distract the attention of commentators away from the worsening social and economic conditions within the U.K, which Callaghan had inherited from Harold Wilson. The above will be argued primarily through placing the emphasis on an aspect of secondary education which has attracted very few words of analysis or explanation namely, pre-vocational education. A definition of pre-vocational education will be constructed in order to help raise the status of pre-vocational education by means of establishing a greater understanding and awareness. The emphasis on PVE will also allow for a direct comparison to be made between the content of Callaghan’s words of 18th October 1976 with the content of the Tomlinson Report published on 18th October 2004 helping to establish that Callaghan was neither a catalyst for change or making particularly original claims. The study will use the resources of the City of Birmingham as well as the local and national press to help substantiate many of the assertions, thus mimicking a practice used by the authoritative education historian Professor Roy Lowe (1988).

This thesis documents the development of nineteen student-teachers in becoming teachers of Maltese literature, initiated in a methodology study-unit over one academic year. Drawing on reader-response theories, and coupled with insights from reflective practice and assessment for learning, this study traces trajectories taken by student-teachers as they gradually move from a text- or subject-bound culture towards a more student- or response-centred approach. Methodologically, this thesis is an action-research project embracing a bricolage stance. The main analysis draws on the lecturer-researcher’s and the student-teachers’ experiences in a dialogical way. A number of reflective tasks were employed to make explicit the meandering thought processes that were taking place and shape during the duration of the study-unit. Different topics essential to any prospective teacher of literature were also critically examined. These issues were realised during a six-week block teaching practice, with some of the experiences collected in an ad hoc portfolio. Towards the end, six perspectives are analysed to illustrate broad themes and significant vignettes of what this transition entails. While mainly respecting traditional academic format, parts of the thesis are written in non-canonical genres, thus expressing an essentially exploratory, experimental approach.

There has been a significant increase in interest of the role of academic middle leaders within education in recent years. However, little research exists on the specific role of curriculum middle managers within colleges of Further Education. This study explores the role of curriculum middle managers within three colleges of Further Education situated in the West Midlands and Staffordshire region of England. A mixed method, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were use to secure the perceptions of senior managers, curriculum middle managers and lecturers. The findings show that the role of the curriculum middle manager in Further Education is complex and demanding and is still being developed to take into account the changing focus of the Further Education sector. In practical terms, the study highlights the influence that senior management are having on the enactment of the role, including the prioritisation of certain tasks. This study captures insights which should inform the future research agenda in Further Education, including highlighting possible areas for further research on this topic. Recommendations are made that encompass proposed improvements to: • the current definition of the role of the curriculum middle manager; • the range and scope of tasks expected; • staff management. It is further proposed that there is proactive dissemination and communication of the responsibilities assigned to the role if more effective working relationships are to be achieved between curriculum middle managers and their role set.

For the majority of students, the ability to work effectively with others is an important part of higher education and future employment. Outdoor adventure education (OAE) courses are therefore used in higher education to provide students with a unique and challenging environment for developing transferrable groupwork skills. Working in an action research setting and informed by the Kirkpatrick model of training evaluation, the aim of this thesis was to investigate students’ experiences of OAE and the processes that underpin learning and transfer. Following a review of existing literature (Study 1), four empirical studies were employed using mixed methods. Qualitative methods were used to explore students’ experiences whilst immersed in OAE (Study 2) and when returning to education and entering employment, from a student, alumni, academic staff, and instructor perspective (Study 3). Questionnaires were also implemented to measure changes before and after OAE (Study 4) and again at follow-up (Study 5). OAE was found to improve groupwork skills, attitudes, and self-efficacy, resulting in improved academic groupwork, greater confidence, satisfaction, integration, and employability. Transfer was not achieved in all students however, and the thesis introduces a model for optimising learning and transfer (MOLT), which outlines the personal and environmental processes through which learning and transfer was achieved. Support is provided for existing theories within the literature and practical recommendations are made to further develop OAE. Novel research methods are also introduced such as a semi-structured video diary room.