This thesis explores individual gendered experiences of organisational elements impacting on knowledge creation processes of management consultants in an international management consultancy. There have been calls to gain further insights into knowledge creation by exploring the impact of social aspects such as work practices, participation and organisational conflict on knowing and learning processes. These calls have been addressed mainly by considering single aspects of the organisational context and their impact on knowledge creation processes or by considering a range of different aspects of the organisational context but neglecting their interrelationship. This current research explores management consultants’ experiences of various social aspects, which are understood as organisational elements, impacting on knowledge creation processes and the interrelationships between these aspects. According to the social-constructionist perspective on knowledge and learning, social interaction is integral to knowing and learning. Since gender is understood to impact on social interaction, in this thesis it is acknowledged that knowledge creation, which is inherent to knowing and learning processes, is influenced by gender. Previous research tended to neglect the impact of gender on individual experiences of knowledge creation processes. More recently, women’s inclusion and exclusion from knowledge creation processes in organisations has been explored through a theoretical analysis of a single organisational aspect, knowledge creation through networking. Drawing upon a social-constructionist perspective on knowing and learning and gender in organisations, this thesis contributes to theory in the area of knowledge creation and gender in organisations by placing special emphasis on the role of gender whilst exploring various key aspects of the organisational context impacting on individual experiences of knowledge creation processes. The theoretical potential of this research is developed through an exploratory case study of 15 men and women consultants working for the case study organisation. Through semi-structured interviews, accounts of individual gendered experiences of organisational elements impacting on knowledge creation processes were explored. Here, women, who have been neglected in previous research, received the same attention as men. New insights are offered by not only exploring women’s experiences and the potential differences between women’s and men’s experiences but also considering the differences within the women’s and men’s accounts. Following an autoethnographic approach this research also offers a view from the ‘inside’ by including the researcher’s own experiences as an insider management consultant, thus offering a further contribution. This thesis argues that career opportunities, individual acknowledgement within the organisational context, motivation and trustful relationships are key aspects impacting on knowledge creation experiences of women and men management consultants. These aspects are interlinked and impact on each other. The research offers career opportunities and individual acknowledgement as key influences to the field of knowledge creation. Further, it illustrates how individuals’ experiences of organisational elements that impact on knowledge creation processes in a knowledge-intensive organisation are gendered.

This thesis explores students’perceptions and practices within the context of a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate degree at a UK Higher Education institution. This engineering education research is situated in the pragmatic paradigm and is informed by a relational view of learning. The study explores the perceptions of students throughout the second year of their programme and also investigates their practices during the same time period. The research employs a mixed-methods exploratory methodology with data collection led by a dominant qualitative phase and followed by a quantitative phase. Data is integrated to present a holistic understanding of students’ perceptions and practices. The results demonstrate the importance for academia to consider students’ expectations and perceptions and to understand students’ actual practices. Analysis of the data has enabled the context to be defined from a student perspective; showing four key areas of context as being the staff-student relationships, students and student cultures, the teaching and assessment context, and the course contexts. The connection between students’perceptions and their practices is clearly established in the data. The integrated findings highlight the complexities involved for students in carrying out the practice of learning in a complex environment alongside their own perceptions of the discipline, the programme, their peers and staff. Combining the two data types has enabled the significance of perceptions to be highlighted, the vast elements of context to be demonstrated and finally recommendations to be produced to inform the design and execution of engineering education. Specific attention is drawn to findings which suggest further explanatory work is required to explore aspects such as; students’perceptions of importance, their participation in informal peer working, the distinction between procedural and conceptual learning for the discipline and the expectation of professionalism that students hold.

The research explores student voice in the process of designing schools, using a case study of a Buildings Schools for the Future (BSF) One School Pathfinder project, 2005 – 2007. The suggestions made by the students during the design development were compared with those raised by the staff and parents to discover if the student voice brought anything different or unique to the project. Comparisons were then made with the Student Council’s contribution on projects at two schools local to the case study school. To explore the contribution made by ‘non traditional students’ a similar exercise was conducted in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) with students who had been expelled from mainstream schools because of behavioural issues. Group interviews and focus group feedback from students at the case study school, from different stages of the design process were examined to assess the impact the student voice may have had on the completed design. Interviews were conducted with members of the design team at the case study school to establish how much impact the student voice was perceived to have had on the completed design compared with the voice of others, whether it brought innovation to the design and if involvement in the project had an impact on the students. Comparisons were then made with interviews held at a second BSF Pathfinder in a neighbouring Local Authority and the findings submitted for peer review. The findings appear to demonstrate that there is very little difference in what the student voice contributes; across schools and across time, the student voice is consistent and predictable. The impact of the student voice was found to be minimal compared with the impact of others. The process of involving students in the design process was however felt to benefit the students and the design process. Finally suggestions are made as to how the involvement of student voice can be improved, and moved from a consultation process to one of collaboration in the future; for ways to address the balance of power within the design team and for further areas of research.

The school holds particular functions for society; to credential, to contain and to shape the citizens of the future. One much discussed function is the influence of school on the morality and behaviour of young people. This thesis explores the nature of the bond between pupil and school, how it affects behaviour and how it is shaped by the school culture. The focus is derived from an integration of different disciplinary and theoretical paradigm in three previously separate fields; criminology, education and psychotherapy. This thesis is practice-based, using mixed methods research centred on a case-study school and encompasses pupil questionnaires (n=189), pupil interviews (n=5) and extensive ethnographic research. Furthermore, the study is unusual due to the 'insider' status created by my professional role within the school. In this thesis, Hirschi's bond to conformity (1969) is developed to incorporate a pupil's perceptions of the bond. This is defined as a sense of belonging. Findings indicate that a pupil's sense of belonging is significantly linked to pupil behaviour. Furthermore, elemental strands of the sense of belonging signify that the pupil's perception of the school's bond to him, are of key importance. This foregrounds the significance of a school's cultural Character (Berne, 1973) on shaping a pupil's perceptions and sense of belonging. The purpose of this study is to generate useful findings that will support academics, practitioners and policy-makers in attending to a pupil's sense of belonging and a school's culture. The findings that emerge have important implications for professional education and training, and for school development.

This thesis examines the determinants of student demand for higher education (HE) in Jordan with special attention devoted to the role of expected rates of return (ERRs) to HE. In the context of economic theory, mainly Human Capital Theory (HCT), earnings expectations lie at the heart of students' post-secondary education decisions. Therefore, the study is primarily based on final-year secondary school students' HE decisions and starting earnings expectations. The starting earnings expectations are critically analysed and used to construct short-cut ERRs to HE. Also, comparisons between expected starting earnings and actual public sector starting wage rates are carried out. The findings lend support to the economic explanations of demand and, in particular, the HCT predictions. Through applying logistic models, the study finds that ERRs influence students' post-secondary education decisions to enrol in HE positively. Students from low-income and large families are found to be less likely to consider continuing into HE. Consistent with the empirical literature, student academic ability is also reported to impact positively the likelihood to consider enrolment. Other variables such as parents' level of education and student's area of residence are proved not to be significantly associated with demand. Consumption value of education is greatly perceived, however, among both groups of the participants (i.e. those intending to undertake HE and those not). This indicates a weak prediction role of consumption motives in student demand for HE. Overall, the analysis also indicates a strong role of education in determining students' starting earnings expectations. Furthermore, the calculated ERRs show females to expect higher return from HE than males, a pattern matching with the most recent Jordanian study of rates of return (RORs) to education (Talafeh, 2003). However, students appear to be overoptimistic regarding starting earnings for both secondary education and HE. In this regard, the analysis suggests that students do not base their starting earnings expectations on the current actual wage rates, a finding to consider in future RORs and ERRs and their link with demand for HE studies in the context of Jordan. devoting more resources towards poor students, particularly those characterised with high-academic ability. Making students better-informed about HE and labour market return and conditions may also enhance the efficiency of individual decisions on HE and contribute to alleviating the mismatch between HE and the labour market in the country.

In the teaching and learning of literacy, descriptions of text have a problematic status as a result of the growing understanding of literacy as both a cognitive process and a social practice. In the teaching of academic subjects at university, student text is not usually an object of study. The research in this thesis draws on a language based theory oflearning to place textual description at the centre of the teaching and learning of both literacy and academic subjects at university. Participant observation and practice-based research methods were used to implement a form of text-oriented literacy teaching and to explore its compatibility with processes and practices orientations to literacy. Over an eighteen month period, systemic functional grammar was used to investigate and describe the texts of a film studies classroom and the descriptions were used in genre based literacy pedagogy. The effects of the pedagogy are measured in terms of students' performance in an end of course assignment, students' accounts of their writing processes, and student and subject-tutor perception of the text description and the pedagogy. In the thesis, a linguistic description of a key curriculum genre -a Taxonomic Film Analysis -is presented. An account is given of the pedagogy by means of which this essay genre was represented in the film studies classroom as a realisation of choices from linguistic, conceptual and activity systems. Systemic functional grammar-based text description is seen to have provided a means whereby a literacy tutor could collaborate with a subject tutor to provide a subject-specific form of literacy teaching which was evaluated as relevant by students and tutors. The account and the evaluation help to clarify the role that description of text can play in relation to processes and practices ofliteracy use in the teaching and learning of literacy in a film studies classroom and have implications for the teaching and learning of literacy at university more generally.

This paper enquires into the implementation of the Government’s directives for the education of the ‘gifted and talented’, as specified in the ‘Excellence in Cities’ (EiC)document. The term ‘gifted and talented’ (GaT) has been determined by government diktat and its appropriateness is examined, as are the arguments about precise definitions, the identification of such children and the rationale for the Government choice. The current concern has its roots in the past, demanding an examination of the political and educational raison d’être for the evolving policies. The assessment of the results of such policies and arrangements sheds light on their suitability and relevance for the future and are thus considered. The experience of others to provide an appropriate education and the arrangements needed to facilitate the process justify a consideration of an international perspective. The examination of the philosophy, current arrangements made elsewhere and innovative proposals for the future of the education of the able aids the establishment of the criteria with which to judge the viability and implementation of the EiC arrangements. The methodology used to obtain research data involves interviews with those responsible for implementing the EiC directives at both City and school/college level. Their answers illuminate their approach and aspirations for the education of the GaT. The success of the policy and its implementation is assessed by means of a critical analysis of the management decisions taken, and the consequences at both City and School/College level. Triangulation is accomplished by the additional use of the data gained from expert witnesses, thus helping to determine the viability and practicality of the arrangements made and envisaged. The post modernist stance of the author, coupled with a qualitative methodology, and a possible initial bias towards a revisionist view of how the education of the able should be organised, should not necessarily invalidate the conclusions reached.

The primary aim of this research is to develop my own critical perspective on oppression, marginalisation and education in Kerala, India. First, it critiques Freire’s educational thoughts including banking and problem-posing education; second, it goes on to extend Freire’s ideas to develop a dialogical methodology in the field of Education while addressing my fieldwork struggles and dialogues. Third, it addresses how Freire’s educational thoughts can also be critically understood to explore the oppressive and marginalizing nature of non-formal education and community work in Kerala; fourth, this thesis contributes to innovative knowledge mainly at theoretical, methodological and empirical levels.

ICTs, including mobile devices, are changing rapidly, and so is the application of these technologies in various disciplines. From the literature it was determined that mobile devices have an influence on information behaviour, whether it be in the form of information seeking, searching, use, sharing, collaboration, or any other information behaviour activity. This study focused on the influence of mobile devices on the information behaviour of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria. Understanding the influence that mobile devices have on information behaviour might improve the effective use of mobile devices in education, and might be of use to library services. A mixed methods approach was followed, consisting of questionnaires for the collection of quantitative data and focus group interviews for the collection of qualitative data. Convenience sampling was used to select undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Department of Information Science. This was followed by a census approach in which all students were invited to participate in completing the electronic self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire collected data on mobile devices and information behaviour, mobile devices and academic studies, mobile devices and clickUP, mobile devices and the Blackboard App and mobile devices and communication. The questionnaire was open from 06 October – 07 November 2013 and 201/923 (21.8%) students responded. Purposive sampling was used to invite focus group participants. The focus groups were guided by four topics: general use of mobile devices to find, access, share and use information; differences in using mobile devices to find, access, share and use information for academic purposes; different mobile devices used for different purposes; and recommendation(s) to other students for using mobile devices for academic purposes. Five focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 32 participants between 20 August and 09 September 2014. It was found that mobile devices have an influence on the information behaviour of students, confirming what was found in the literature. Mobile devices are used more in a general and social environment than in an academic one. They however hold much value for the academic environment. Participants in the study stressed the importance, the advantages, and the potential that the mobile devices have, and still could have in the future. Participants made use of multiple mobile devices in their day-to-day activities. Furthermore, it is clear that information should be available quickly, allowing access from anywhere and at any time in order to satisfy the changing demands of the information user. It may be because of this constant need for information in its various formats, that the lines between the different contexts are being blurred. / Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Information Science / MIT / Unrestricted

This thesis investigates how the regulation of emotions contributes to the resilience of a school’s workforce in Germany, so that teachers develop and maintain the ability to handle obstacles as they occur, while emphasising the role of the organisation in supporting this process. Two areas of literature, around resilience and emotions, respectively emotion regulation, are reviewed and critically discussed. Additionally literature on stress in the teaching profession is reviewed in order to provide the context of this study. It is found that no research has investigated to date which emotion regulation strategies are applied by individuals in an organisational (here specifically educational) context that have the potential to increase their perceived resilience. At the same time it can be shown that the teaching profession is considered a stressful profession due to its high emotional demands (Brackett et al., 2010; Johnson et al., 2005; Kyriacou, 2001) and teachers are in need of high levels of resilience (Brackett et al., 2010), making this study relevant for educational organisations. In this study, both, resilience and emotions, are understood as social constructions. Consequently this research follows a social constructionist approach. With an interpretivist perspective, this study tries to explore subjective understandings of emotion regulation and its influence on the individual’s perception of their resilience, taking a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with teachers of German schools. This data is complemented by qualitative research diaries, filled in by the interviewees. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis is the chosen framework for analysis, as it allows the exploration of individuals’ experiences and perceptions (Chamberlain, 1999; Smith & Osborn, 2003). Research participants’ reported intensity of emotional experiences in the workplace combined with the increased risks for teachers’ physical and psychological wellbeing, requires high levels of resilience (Roeser et al., 2012) and a strong capability to regulate emotions effectively (Helsing, 2007; Schutz & Zembylas, 2009). Various antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation strategies are reported. Many of these strategies can also be considered risk-, asset-, or process focused resilience-promoting strategies. Positive emotions potentially enhance resilience (Fredrickson, 2001; Hobfoll, 1989, 2001; Ong et al., 2006; Zautra et al., 2001), while the regulation of negative emotions reflects the idea that resilience is developed in the face of adversity (Gu & Day, 2007). Therefore the findings of this study contribute to closing the gap between literature focused on resilience and literature concerned with the regulation of emotions by showing how emotion regulation strategies have the potential to promote resilience. Organisational support appears as a promising avenue to promote emotion regulation strategies and consequently resilience in employees in the context of educational organisations, fostering teachers’ personal and professional development. The role of the organisation appears to be crucial in this context. Various suggestions of participants how the organisation could provide support, form the base for a possible development of a training programme which could help teachers to enhance their individual resilience for their own good and the advantage of the organisation, which is a potential practical contribution.