Special Educational Needs and Disability reforms are due to come into force in Local Authorities from September 2014. Accordingly, services need to consider how they can meet the aims of supporting Learners with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities up to age 25. Educational Psychologists currently offer support to young people whilst they attend school and many Educational Psychology Services will need to consider how to extend their support in view of the SEND reforms. This case study explores the views of professionals, within one LA, of how the EPS and local Further Education College can work collaboratively. Participants include EPs, College Tutors, the SEN Team and the Connexions service. Data was gathered using interviews with Managers and focus groups with main-grade professionals and analysed using Thematic Analysis. Implications for the EPS within this LA are proposed, considering supportive factors, potential constraints and considerations that need to be given to the relationship before it is initiated. Proposed next steps include: explaining the role of an EP to the College staff, their partners, LLDDs and families to ensure the service is used effectively and efficiently; offering consultation and training to College staff and ensuring there is sufficient EP resource to meet the needs of the College prior to establishing a relationship.

This thesis explores the experiences of women who study on a part-time Foundation degree and transition on to part-time Bachelor level study. Using Foucault’s construct of governmentality, it investigates how external and internal forms of power through discourse influence the development of academic and personal identities. Data collection involved a questionnaire given to all internally progressing students followed by two stages of in-depth interviews involving five women. The first interview involved the use of images to support the creation of narratives. The second interview reviewed these narratives and considered transitional experiences. Finally, two focus groups held one year apart offered collective transitional accounts. What emerged were ways in which the women in this study responded to personal and relational forms of power through discourse. Resilience was revealed as a personal form of resistance to power that when linked to motives for study, interdependent learning and the internal progression the women experienced on to the Bachelor degree underpinned the development of strong academic and personal identities. These identities meant the women in this study considered themselves as personally and academically transformed through their experiences of studying on the Foundation degree and their subsequent transition on to Bachelor level study.

Graduate recruitment in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) is largely neglected, overshadowed by larger enterprises more traditionally associated with graduate employment. This thesis addresses this oversight by exploring graduate employment in small firms located in the West Midlands, with a specific focus on small Business and Professional Services (BPS). The thesis examines whether attitudinal barriers deterring graduates from small firm employment, and small firm employers from recruiting graduate employees, as summarised by the concept of mutual unattractiveness, is supported by the experiences of graduates currently employed in smaller firms, and by the experiences of owner-managers that have employed them. The research specifically explores employer interpretations of graduate contributions and skills deficiencies, and graduate interpretations of training delivery and developmental practices. A qualitative approach enables the study to gain a deeper understanding of manager-graduate relations in small firms, while supplementary interviews with careers service, large firm and intermediary organisation representatives generates a multi-perspective approach appreciative of wider regional graduate employment access and engagement. The study finds that whilst graduate and employer experiences in many ways reinforce factors that deter both parties from engaging in such employment, their experience also demonstrates the positive rewards ensuing for both parties. This thesis illustrates how small firm graduate employment is complex and informed by comparative decisions. It also shows how recruitment decisions concerning small firm graduate employment require a more informed approach such that expectations may be managed accordingly.

This research focuses on the productive learning processes of students studying a blended e-learning programme for practitioners and carers of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is an ethnographic case study undertaking a holistic analysis of learning processes. It draws upon socio cultural and activity theory as theoretical lenses and using dimensions from the communities of practice framework to interpret the kinds of discourse that are suggestive of a community of practice. The study examines how learners appropriate the professional discourse, values and goals of the ASD carer and the kind of collaborative engagement students have with each other’s contributions. Findings highlight that online discussions are powerful mechanisms for the development of reflection, for giving parents a strong voice and for shaping the values of this community. The research suggests that a facilitation model that enables students to be co-learners and co-tutors together, supports the development of a community of practice, thus enabling students to acquire knowledge in one context in order to transform it to another. Recommendations include the need for further studies that examine a particular communication medium in detail and over time, that communities of practice can add value to pedagogy in higher education and that programme tutors need to consider the specific properties of different communication mediums when designing programmes.

The moving image has been a tool of education as well as a means of entertainment for over 100 years. Whilst there are many videos marketed either for, or about autism, there has been little or no research into the responses of autistic people to the medium, particularly from the participatory and emancipatory paradigm of qualitative research. This thesis examines the responses of a group of adult autistics compared with non-autistic adults, taking as a starting point the variety of psychological theories purporting to explain autistic differences in cognition and learning style. The study was of particular value in revealing the unique insights of the autistic participants and concluded that there appear to be autistic strengths that suggest that autistic people engage particularly well with the medium provided it is presented in an appropriate format. The thesis can be seen to operate at two levels. Firstly the academic consideration of the responses of a group of autistic and some non-autistic participants to visually mediated material, and secondly it is an exploration of the insider relationship of the researcher within a discourse traditionally constructed from the outside. There is an experiental and emancipatory exploration of the themes highlighted by Tregaskis (2004) in his paper on identity, positionality and power which examines the issues for Disabled Researchers. The study has revealed some interesting insights into autistic people's culture and concludes that there is scope for much more research into this topic and questions whether the ethics of autism research need reconsideration.

The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 reconstituted English Further Education colleges as incorporated institutions. This led colleges to restructure their governing bodies and leadership teams, introducing managerialist practices and embedding a marketised culture. Despite forming the majority within college workforces, women have long been under-represented within senior leadership and amongst the cohort of principals. This qualitative study gives voice to a mix of white and BME women who offer insights into their experiences as holders of college senior leadership posts. The findings contribute to understandings about women's choice of Further Education as a career and expose the barriers participants faced and the support which sustained them in different phases of their purposeful engagement with leadership transition. The study adds to leadership theory by depicting a summary of responses to these experiences and may interest other researchers in the field of leadership development. Additionally, it may be of value to policy makers and practitioners who seek to promote a more inclusive leadership discourse in the learning and skills sector in a context where a re-launch of national leadership development initiatives is taking place.

This study explored the first-year progression of a cohort of degree nursing students. A psychosocial Model of Student Progression (MoSP) was designed based on student nurse attrition literature and three theories: a student development theory by Chickering and Reisser, an identity theory by Erikson and a student departure model by Tinto. The MoSP provided a framework for the research design and a pragmatic, mixed-method approach was used to explore the progression of 59 students. Data collection included questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and first-year assessment results. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, comparisons with components of the MoSP and thematic analysis. Findings indicated that a number of factors were associated with student progression, including pre-entry attributes and experiences. End-of-year interviews indicated the importance of student preparation for university study, transitional processes related to academic skill development, social integration, levels of support and changes to student identity and purpose. In conclusion, the MoSP was found to provide a suitable framework for exploring student progression; however, further adaptions to the model are needed to reflect the dynamic and personal nature of student progression from before university study to the end of the first year of study and beyond.

This thesis concerns some of the problems which are encountered in trying to spread the knowledge of science, particularly by printed matter and lecture, to people who have had little or no formal training in science. It records the results of original investigations, the applications of those results, and suggestions based on experience in the field.

The present thesis is a report and analysis of work undertaken in an attempt to find the forces at work at the selection stage of teacher training. Applicants for admission to the University of Birmingham Education Department and the Weymouth Training College have been subjected to certain procedures. From the performances of the interviews it seemed that they behave more consistently and uniformly when working in a structured interview than when working freely, although the unreliability of the interview remained fairly high.

Little interest has been shown in the leadership of voluntary providers of informal education for young people. This is true of one of the largest providers: the Scout Association. The thesis examines the nature, diversity and sources of the knowledge and understanding of leadership of Scout Association leaders in one English Midlands city. The understanding is compared with contemporary ways of understanding leadership in education using a typology established by Gunter and Ribbins (2003) and Gunter (2005). The impact of leader training on the understanding of leadership and its perceived effect on leader performance is explored. A case study methodology is used including a questionnaire method supported by documentary evidence and drawing on personal experience. Data analysis involves factor analysis, analysis of variance and Chi-square tests. Findings indicate that leadership is understood in terms of inclusion and success and has an ethical basis pointing to a belief in shared leadership. Variations in this understanding exist amongst different groups. Understanding of leadership mainly comes from sources within the Association. There is a degree of uncertainty amongst leaders about the impact of leader training. Leadership is interpreted in a range of ways as described by the Gunter and Ribbins (2003) and Gunter (2005) typology. The findings could have implications for how the Association develops an understanding of leadership in the future and could influence the thinking and decision making of all leaders in the Association, in particular training managers and trainers from local to national levels of the organisation. The findings may also have implications for researchers interested in the impact of market forces on leadership in the formal education sector.