Thesis (D.Ed.) in Education--University of Maine, 2005. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-136).

This thesis investigates the lives of young Polish migrants living in Northamptonshire, who migrated to the UK following Poland’s accession to the European Union in May 2004. Over 1.1 million Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) applications were made in the UK between May 2004 and December 2010, of which around two-thirds were made by Polish nationals. It is noted that high numbers of young people in Poland migrated to the UK, and a little under half of all WRS applications in the UK have been migrants aged between 18 and 24 years. Research exploring the lives of young migrants details strong connections between migration and life course progression. Given the relatively young ages of those migrating, this thesis is concerned with the impacts of migratory experiences upon migrants’ senses of ‘self-identity’, and transitions through the life course. Explanations for these movements have often treated migration as an ‘empirical event’ by focusing upon economic rationales, and much less attention has been given to motivations for migration, everyday experiences and future intentions of A8 migrants. To address this gap, this research explores the biographies of 40 young Polish migrants, revealing individual factors that influenced their migratory decision-making, and considering distinguishing features that set groups of Polish migrants apart. To achieve this, participants were asked to prepare a narrative of their experiences, based upon four biographical periods: life in Poland, the decision to migrate, life in the UK and perceived future pathways. Following this, 10 case studies were conducted with participants different ‘types’ of Polish migrant. Semi-structured interviews were organised and participants led ‘photo tours’ of their everyday locales. The findings show that while economic triggers were important to decision-making, it was also the case that social factors were critical, and migration to the UK for some was viewed as a means of leaving the parental home. Traditional social markers of difference, such as gender or age, were found to be of less importance: rather, participants emphasised a range of shared migratory experiences: ‘priorities’, ‘planning’, ‘stability’ and ‘language’. The themes of ‘temporariness’ and ‘trust’ were found to be central to everyday experiences, and participants indicated they were vulnerable to exploitation from other Polish migrants, as well as from known contacts pre-dating migration. Connections were identified between participants’ migratory experiences and their transitions though the life course. Four factors were found to have influenced participants’ transitions through the life course - spaces, times, self identity and support - which combine to form the relative pace(s), ‘smoothness’ and risks of such changes. The term ‘turbulent transitions’ is used to encapsulate major changes within participants’ biographies as a result of migration, which many experienced as being made quickly with limited access to support structures and in environments that contain high degrees of risk. The research calls for a more sensitive account of post-accession migration, which can only be achieved by exploring the experiences, encounters and biographies of migrants

Youth disaffection is associated with huge personal and social costs, with future trajectories typically marked by school exclusion, poverty, unemployment, youth offending, and substance abuse. Core theoretical frameworks including perspectives concerning self-determination, self-discrepancy, and achievement motivation provide explanations for the role of social-environment factors, self-concepts and cognitions in human motivation. However, there has been little work to integrate these theories into a nuanced account of the socio-motivational processes underpinning school disaffection, and our understanding of how interventions may work to re-direct the negative trajectories remains weak. This thesis includes four papers reporting on a programme of theoretical and empirical research conducted in order to address this gap in knowledge. The first, a theoretical paper, presents an integrated model of the development of school disaffection in which multiple self-construals play a key role in bridging the gap between need fulfilment and cognitive and behavioural indicators of school disaffection. The second paper reports on a thematic analysis of extensive semi-structured individual interviews with school-excluded young people and practitioners working with them. In accordance with our theoretical model, the accounts of the young people‟s emotional and behavioural profiles in achievement contexts were connected to need-thwarting social experiences, with maladaptive constructions of multiple selves appearing to mediate the relationship between these factors. The third paper presents an analysis of quantitative survey data with school-excluded and mainstream secondary school pupils that investigated the direct and mediated pathways between key processes identified by our model. Results showed that pathways between key variables were moderated by the experience of exclusion such that distinct pathways emerged for excluded and non-excluded pupils. The final paper reports on an in-depth, longitudinal, idiographic study exploring the impact of theatre involvement on marginalised young people. Results from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of interview transcripts suggested that the nurturing, creative environment of the theatre project provided optimal conditions for promoting resilience and self-development in youth at risk. Together, the findings from this programme of research highlight the crucial role played by social experiences in the development of school disaffection via the impact on self-construals, motivation and achievement goals, as well as the role they can play in supporting young people to create more positive life trajectories. This body of work has implications for further research and also carries practical implications for interventions and school-based practices seeking to both support school-disaffected children, and increase engagement in those at risk of school disaffection.

This thesis explores the significance and meaning of the countryside within mid-twentieth century youth movements. Whilst modern youth movements have been the subject of considerable historical research, there has been little attention to the rural context within which so many of them operated. Moreover, few historians have explored youth movements into the post-Second World War period. This thesis therefore makes an original contribution both in terms of its periodisation and focus. It draws on a rich seam of archival and printed sources focusing in particular upon the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements, the Woodcraft Folk and the Young Farmer's Club movement. The thesis examines the ways in which the countryside was employed as a space within which ‘good citizenship' could be developed. Mid-century youth movements identified the ‘problem' of modern youth as a predominantly urban and working class issue. They held that the countryside offered an effective antidote to these problems: being a ‘good citizen' within this context necessitated a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with the rural sphere. Avenues to good citizenship could be found through an enthusiasm for outdoor recreation, the stewardship of the countryside and work on the land. Models of good citizenship were intrinsically gendered. Girls were trained for their domestic role within the home, although this was a specifically rural form of domesticity. Chapter One explores the shifting relationship between the urban public and the countryside in the mid-century and argues that the popularity of outdoor recreation developed understandings of citizenship that were directly linked to the English countryside. For youth this country-conscious citizenship could be developed in three spheres: leisure, work and the home. Chapter Two examines the approach of youth movements to youthful leisure across the mid-century and, using concern for the juvenile delinquent as a case study, argues that through physical and mental improvement the countryside could prevent misbehaviour. Parallel to this youth movements instilled an understanding of ‘good' countryside manners and encouraged members to protect the countryside from the onslaught of urban pleasureseekers. Chapter Three explores the importance of agricultural work in meanings of ‘good citizenry' arguing that for both urban and rural boys proficiency in farming, particularly in wartime, was considered an important service to the nation. Chapter Four investigates how the sphere of the home remained central to understandings of ‘good citizenship' for girls and suggests that the distinct nature of rural domesticity should be considered here. It also considers the place of youth movements within the gendered lifecycle, understandings of female deviance and issues of agency in leisure provision for girls in the mid-century. This thesis argues that, fundamentally, the mid-century period should be seen as one of continuity in the training of youth movements. The central role of the countryside in categorisations of ‘good citizenry' supports recent understandings of a rural national identity in the mid-century. Furthermore, approaches to youth were clearly divided in terms of both class and gender. While concerns over the working classes did shift at this time understandings of innate working class deviance remained. Moreover, the persistence of gendered understandings of citizenship and the emphasis on domesticity for girls suggests that gender remained central to experiences of youth movements in the mid twentieth-century.

What does it mean to be an adult? What makes a person an adult? How have the circumstances of the lives of the six young women in my study shaped their understanding and perceptions of adulthood? These are the research questions at the heart of this thesis. I wanted to know more about the experiences of the young women that I worked with as a carer at a residential centre for young people with epilepsy and the influences that their experiences have had on how they perceive the world. This thesis begins with a puzzle in the form of fictional fieldnotes and concludes with an obligation. It charts the journey of the research from origins in a particular cultural setting to its conclusion as the beginning for the next stage, providing an opening chapter for the work that will grow from this study. The puzzle at the beginning of this thesis relates to the neurological functioning of a young woman, Evie (21). As soon revealed, Evie is a fictional character whose story has been told to represent themes from the research. Telling her story was also a way to use ‘writing as a method of inquiry' (Richardson, 2003). The methodological approach taken in this research sits within a phenomenological tradition by way of its modern guise as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as developed primarily by Jonathan Smith, Paul Flowers and Michael Larkin. The use of this methodology reflects a concern with the meaning my participants take from their experiences (Smith et al. 2009). I focused on the transition to adulthood as this was the ‘common phenomenon' that my participants seemed to hold as a central concern in their lives. Five themes emerged from the analysis: · Alcohol = Adulthood · Adulthood is - independence · Adulthood is - domestic competence · Adulthood is - a ‘code of behaviour' · Adulthood is - an achievement The findings from the phenomenological analysis have been juxtaposed with an account of the research findings written as ethnographic fiction. ‘Evie/I' is a story that includes reflections on the relationships I have had with young people in my care and the one which developed when I took on a researcher identity. It relates how knowledge of past histories shaped how I interpreted what the participants in my study revealed to me and the development of a reflexive stance as a researcher. It is my intention that the juxtaposition of these related but different accounts of the findings should enhance the reader's understanding of both. Central to this thesis are Bourdieu's concepts of species of capital, habitus and field theory and they have been used as a theoretical framework. A conceptual model has been created to map the themes developed as they fit into the ‘code of behaviour' my participants seem hold central to the achievement of adult status. The epilepsy centre where this research was conducted is a ‘field' with certain characteristics. This has been considered in relation to the ‘habitus' my participants have developed as young women in this particular situation. Feminist theory has also influenced the way in which this research was conducted. Research relating to people with epilepsy seldom includes the voices of those with the condition and qualitative research approaches are relatively scarce (Andermann, 2000). The young women in this study also have learning disabilities and this factor likewise lessens the likelihood that their views will be represented in the research literature (Walmsley, 2001; Atkinson, 2005). The rationale behind the research relates to the need to address this omission. The obligation that concludes this thesis concerns the need for further research that includes the perceptions and voices of young people such as those in my study.