UK higher education has seen unprecedented fluctuations, particularly within the last decade. Policy developments and government strategies are dramatically altering the sector and irreversibly changing the student-university relationship. Of particular note, a consumerist ethos has become the prevalent mind-set amongst the student body and, consequently, students have developed clear expectations about what they want from their university experience. In order to begin to explore these perceptions and needs, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of first year undergraduate students from across three programmes of study at the University of Central Lancashire: Business Administration, Business and Management, and Business Studies. The structure and content of the interview questions were derived from the results of an earlier focus group meeting held with students from a local 'feeder institution' who were studying Business and who were considering entering university in 2017-2018 (although not necessarily UCLan). The findings from these interviews, along with those from a set of follow up meetings, are in line with the results of other, earlier studies described within the literature which suggest that students enter university with a specific set of expectations, that are, in many cases, unfulfilled. However, the empirical research presented here makes a distinctive contribution to the field in several respects: first, that psychological contract theory is employed as a useful lens through which to investigate the student-university relationship; second, the behavioural responses to dissatisfaction are examined using the Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect (EVLN) framework as a mechanism for exploring these reactions; and third, previous studies employing the EVLN framework in the context of higher education have all taken place overseas and largely used quantitative methods of investigation. Therefore, this research is distinctive in that it takes place in a UK setting and employs qualitative methods. The use of qualitative methods has added to our understanding of the student experience by highlighting some of the underlying causes of dissatisfaction and the ways in which students might respond to the breach of perceived promises. The EVLN framework has demonstrated its value as a conceptual tool in exploring students' reactions and reveals that the expectation-reality mismatch can lead to feelings of entrapment and hopelessness amongst the student body. The outcomes uncovered in this thesis have real-world implications for management practice, not only at UCLan, but for other universities that may be facing similar issues.

Esta pesquisa insere-se no âmbito dos estudos sobre formação docente. Tem como propósito ampliar a compreensão dos processos que a envolvem, focalizando as modalidades formativas que têm se configurado como etapas de concursos para o ingresso na carreira docente. A investigação abrange concursos públicos realizados no Brasil com professores de ensino fundamental e/ou médio em todas as secretarias de educação dos estados brasileiros e no Distrito Federal, no período de 2009 a 2012. Com vistas a melhor compreender como as políticas executadas por esses níveis governamentais são traduzidas em nível local, optou-se por desenvolver uma pesquisa em moldes de estudo de caso, abordando o Curso de Formação Específica do Concurso Público para provimento de cargos de PEB II do Quadro do Magistério da Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo com o objetivo de compreender seus propósitos, bem como sua função no campo da formação docente. Os procedimentos envolvem pesquisa bibliográfica e documental tomando como fontes informações e documentos provenientes de órgãos gestores das esferas citadas. Efetuou-se um levantamento bibliográfico sobre concursos públicos de ingresso na carreira do magistério, procurando-se identificar a ocorrência de processos de seleção que previssem cursos de preparação obrigatória como etapa de admissão dos candidatos aprovados para o exercício do magistério. Foram realizadas entrevistas, com roteiro semi-estruturado, junto a profissionais da Escola de Formação e Aperfeiçoamento de Professores do Estado de São Paulo Prof. Paulo Renato Costa Souza (EFAP) que participaram da execução do curso objeto deste estudo e/ou atuaram na sua implementação. Os temas abordados versaram sobre: EFAP; concurso de ingresso na carreira docente; Curso de Formação Específica; Programa Currículo e Prática Docente; estágio probatório e formação docente. Dentre os conceitos e temáticas que nortearam as análises destacam-se: argumento da incompetência (Souza); neoliberalismo (Gentili, Silva, Frigotto); políticas educacionais (Shiroma, Evangelista, Freitas, Kuenzer, Gatti, André); formação docente (Gatti, André, Freitas, Shiroma). Conclui-se que o Curso de Formação Específica estrutura-se de tal modo que pode ser considerado como uma formação tamanho único: propõe como base um currículo oficial para todas as escolas, independentemente da sua realidade e proposta pedagógica; desconsidera a experiência profissional do docente; apoia-se em apostilas e pretende uniformizar práticas pedagógicas para professores e alunos; utiliza-se de sistemas de exames padronizados baseados em referencial pré-determinado; pauta-se em sistemas de avaliação externa; e ao organizar-se dessa forma, pretende retirar do professor o controle e o planejamento sobre seu próprio trabalho. O objetivo maior desta ação, ao que tudo indica, é o alinhamento, o treinamento dos profissionais para a execução das políticas educacionais definidas pelo Estado de São Paulo, particularmente a implementação do currículo oficial nas escolas da rede de ensino paulista. / This research belongs to the field of the studies on teacher education. It has as its purpose to expand our understanding of the processes involved in teacher education, focusing on the formative modalities that have been configured as stages of entrance exams to the teaching career. The investigation covers public exams conducted in Brazil with teachers from Fundamental Education and/or Secondary Education in all Secretariats for Education of Brazilian states and of the Federal District in the period between 2009 and 2012. Aiming at a better understanding of how the policies conducted by these governmental spheres are translated at the local level, we have chosen to develop a research shaped around case studies, focusing on the Course of Specific Education of the Public Exam for Filling PEB II Posts in the Teaching Staff of the Secretariat for Education of the State of São Paulo, with the objective of understanding its purposes, as well as its function in the field of teacher education. The research procedures comprised bibliographic and document surveys, using as sources information and documents from the administrative bodies of the above-mentioned governmental spheres. A bibliographic survey on public entrance exams to the teaching career was developed, trying to identify the occurrence of selection processes that specified preparation courses as a mandatory stage for the admission of candidates approved for the exercise of teaching. Interviews with a semi-structured script were conducted with professionals from the School of Teacher Initial and Continued Education of the State of São Paulo Prof. Paulo Renato de Costa Souza (EFAP), who took part in the conduction of the course object of this study and/or worked in its implementation. The themes dealt with in the interviews included: the EFAP; entrance exam to the teaching career; Course of Specific Education; Curriculum and Teaching Practice Program; probationary period and teacher education. Among concepts and themes that guided the analysis, we should note the argument of incompetence (Souza); neoliberalism (Gentili, Silva, Frigotto); education policies (Shiroma, Evangelista, Freitas, Kuenzer, Gatti, André); and teacher education (Gatti, André, Freitas, Shiroma). We conclude that the Course of Specific Education is structured in such way that it can be seen as a one size fits all kind of education: it recommends one official curriculum as the basis for all schools, independently of their realities and pedagogic proposals; it disregards the professional experience of teachers; it is based on ready-made workbooks and seeks to homogenize pedagogic practices for teachers and pupils; it makes use of systems of standardized exams based on predetermined references; it is based on external evaluation; and by being organized in such form, it aims at taking away from teachers the planning and control over their own work. The ultimate objective of this action, it would seem, is the alignment and training of professionals in the execution of education policies devised by the State of São Paulo, particularly the implementation of the official curriculum in the São Paulo public school system.

Ao observarmos como os partidos políticos se posicionam na arena federal, podemos perceber que eles se distinguem em relação às suas prioridades estabelecidas para as políticas públicas. Entretanto, não sabemos se estas prioridades, expressas por parlamentares na arena federal, traduzemse em políticas quando seus respectivos partidos estão no controle do poder executivo local. Poucos estudos têm se dedicado à investigação da influência dos partidos políticos brasileiros sobre as políticas que são implementadas pelos governos subnacionais. O objetivo deste trabalho é dar uma contribuição para esta agenda de pesquisa mediante i) a apresentação de um modelo formal que simplifique e exponha as melhores opções dos prefeitos de diferentes partidos quando há preferências partidárias sobre políticas e quando estas preferências estão ausentes; e ii) a análise da política de educação desenvolvida pelos prefeitos e seus partidos. Os resultados encontrados indicam que a demanda por políticas, o comportamento dos diferentes níveis de governo e a existência de serviços similares ofertados por outras redes são fatores importantes que influenciam a provisão de políticas. Não há relação entre o partido do prefeito e a política de educação local, mas há relação entre a política local de educação e o partido do governador. Ainda assim, os resultados não indicam que esta relação seja constante ao longo do tempo. / When we observe how political parties position themselves in the federal arena, we can see that they differ in their priorities established for public policy. However, we do not know if these priorities expressed by legislators in the federal arena, translate into policies when their parties are in control of the local executive power. Few studies have been devoted to the investigation of the influence of Brazilian political parties on the policies implemented by subnational governments. This work aim to give a contribution to this research agenda by i) the presentation of a formal model that simplifies and exposes the best options of mayors from different parties when there are party preferences on policy and when these preferences are absent; and ii) by the analysis of the education policy developed by the mayors and their parties. The results indicate that the policies demand, the behaviour of the different levels of government and the existence of similar services offered by other networks are important factors that influence the provision of policies. There is no relation between the mayor\'s party and the local education policy, but there is a relation between the local education policy and the governor\'s party. Still, the results do not indicate that this relation is constant over time.

Unfortunately, rural Appalachia is perennially one of the poorest areas of the United States. Many scholars have offered opinions as to why this trend of poverty continues in this region, but one potential cause has not been the subject of much research: do residents in Appalachia have a functional knowledge of the financial system, or even a simple understanding of basic savings, which is necessary for achieving certain levels of financial security? We conduct a survey modeled after a national study which measures basic financial literacy in local Appalachia, expecting to find that at-risk Appalachians would have less financial literacy than the national average. While our initial response rate was too low to justify a concrete claim, our preliminary findings suggest that local at-risk Appalachians were more likely to incorrectly answer basic financial literacy questions, and we believe that a larger study into this issue is warranted. Should a concrete outcome arise in the affirmative, we offer suggestions for policy responses, including implementation of free personal finance classes to combat the issue.

abstract: Affirmative action is an education policy adopted by higher education institutions in the 1960s, where an applicant’s race is taken into account to some degree when being evaluated for admission to a college or university. The practice of affirmative action, or race conscious-admissions, has been repeatedly challenged in the legal system and remains a controversial and polarizing topic amongst the general public, campus leaders, and policy makers. Despite a vast amount of research on the effects of affirmative action policies on student and institutional behaviors and outcomes, such as college applications and enrollments, considerably less research has examined students’ attitudes towards race-conscious admissions policies. Even less research has focused on students in academic disciplines, especially STEM or engineering. Likewise, there is a paucity of research that explores students’ perceptions and knowledge of how affirmative action is implemented in practice. To address these gaps, this study investigates undergraduate engineering students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards affirmative action admissions policies in higher education. The Student Attitudes Towards Admissions Policies Survey (SATAPS) was designed to assess students’ knowledge of and attitudes regarding affirmative action practices in higher education admissions. This survey was administered to undergraduate engineering students and a comparison group of education students at 42 colleges/universities in the United States. Data were analyzed utilizing confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Results demonstrated that students have low levels of knowledge about affirmative action, and have misconceptions about how the policy functions in practice. There was no difference in engineering and education students’ level of support for affirmative action; however, underrepresented minority students in engineering were more supportive of affirmative action. Results also indicated that students’ beliefs and values were the strongest predictors of attitude towards affirmative action, so much so that this negated the significance of demographic and personal characteristics, which was observed in the majority of previous studies. Results highlight a complicated relationship between demographic characteristics, personal variables, knowledge, institutional context, beliefs/values, and attitude towards affirmative action admissions policies in higher education. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Policy and Evaluation 2019

abstract: Throughout the field of corrections in the United States, the prevalent question in regard to reentry preparation of offenders is, “what works?” With a renewed focus on providing meaningful program opportunities for offenders that enable real and sustained changes for reentry success, which has been partially driven by overcrowded prison systems and soaring corrections budgets, the quest has been energized for program models with results that are empirically based. As part of this quest, the Rand Corporation in 2014 (Davis, et al., 2014) published a comprehensive review of correctional education programs based on a meta-analysis of past studies and reported that offenders involved in education programs were significantly more likely to realize success after release from prison than those that were not involved in these programs. In their 2014 final report, the Rand Corporation made recommendations for research efforts at the state and federal levels (Davis et al., 2014). One of their recommendations was to determine what types of instruction and curriculum delivery are most effective in a correctional education setting. Another recommendation was to determine what principles from adult learning are applicable in correctional education. This study was designed to provide data for those two questions. This mixed methods, experimentally-designed study is framed in three research questions that are focused on gaining knowledge of the potential benefit of using trained peer tutors to supplement the instruction in adult basic education classes and General Education Development (GED) classes in a correctional environment. Theoretical applications are grounded in social learning theory and adult learning theories. Quantitative data were collected on academic performance, attendance, and perceived value and interest in education. Qualitative data supplemented and enhanced the quantitative data and provided an excellent insight into the thoughts of the tutors regarding their role in helping others. Statistical significance was found with the aid of the tutors in the adult basic education classes in terms of academic performance, but not with the GED class. Principles of andragogical instruction were examined, discussed, and supported by all students. Expressions of tutor support and help were repeatedly presented as beneficial during interviews. Further questions about attendance were raised. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

Relatively little research on blended learning (BL) addresses institutional adoption in higher education. Graham, Woodfield, and Harrison (2012) proposed a framework for institutional BL adoption, identifying three stages: (a) awareness/exploration, (b) adoption/early implementation, and (c) mature implementation/growth. The framework also identified key strategy, structure, and support issues universities may address at each stage. In this series of articles, the authors applied that framework to institutions of higher education implementing BL. In the first article, the authors applied the framework to 11 Next Generation Learning Challenge (NGLC) grant recipients transitioning from Stage 1 to Stage 2 of BL adoption. The authors compared U.S. institutional strategy, structure, and support approaches to BL adoption and identified patterns and distinctions. In the final two articles, the authors applied the framework as well as Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovations theory to determine the degree to which and why institutional strategy, structure, and support measures would facilitate or impede BL adoption among higher education faculty. The authors also explored whether faculty's innovation adoption category would affect which measures facilitated or impeded BL adoption. To achieve these objectives, the authors surveyed and interviewed faculty at BYU-Idaho (BYU-I). In the second article, the authors reviewed the survey results to determine (a) the appropriate innovation adoption category for each faculty member and (b) the factors that impacted faculty decisions to adopt BL. In the third article, the authors reviewed the results of the interviews to identify why participants reported strategy, structure, and support decisions would impact their decision to adopt BL.

This thesis studies the junior secondary EPA curriculum and the complex cultural process of teaching and learning of the curriculum. It draws on theoretical frameworks developed in the field of cultural studies and critical pedagogy, particularly works by Michel Foucault, Stuart Hall, Lawrence Grossberg and Paulo Freire. It investigates how the EPA curricular texts attempt to produce the identity characteristic of "rational, sensitive and active citizens" in contemporary Hong Kong through constructing differences that negate the Other. Through analyzing classroom discursive practices, the thesis examines how the curricular knowledge "interpellates" teachers into subject position to talk about the "rational, sensitive and active citizens". The curriculum is a vast textual world where different and even competing ideological imperatives and discourses coexist and circulate. This thesis argues that teachers' discourses about the EPA curriculum and their classroom discursive practices have contributed to the creation of tensions and contradictions within the curriculum discourse. Such tensions and contradictions, coming from teachers' beliefs and the cultural resources they possess, may delimit the regulatory effect of the curriculum discourse. As a result, the regulatory power of the curriculum discourse on "suturing" subject positions that form identities of "citizens" is subject to negotiation, and critical pedagogies have a role to play to open up dialogues among the subject positions made available in the curriculum.

Financial literacy education continues to be a deficiency in the U.S. education system because it is not included in most school curricula, and little is known about the efficacy of the school district programs that do include it. A former Federal Reserve Chairman identified the lack of financial literacy as a national problem, and the National Financial Educators Council described it as the #1 problem in the current generation. Using Berger and Luckmann's conceptualization of social construction as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to explore how access to financial literacy education is perceived by fifth- through eighth-grade students in terms of behavior modification. The research questions focused on participants' understanding of financial concepts as it relates to grade level, gender, and school type. A qualitative multiple-case case study design, bounded in a single school district, was employed using stratified purposeful sampling through face-to-face interviews with only fifth- and eighth-grade students attending public, private, and charter schools. Data collected were coded and categorized for thematic analysis through constant comparison. The social construction framework served as an interpretive framework and helped capture the shared meaning in the key findings revealed through 5 core themes and 19 sub themes, with the highest emphasis on the core themes of Concepts of Earnings and Using Financial Institutions. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to local/state/national education officials to develop and teach financial literacy curricula in order to increase the understanding and change financial behavior, throughout the United States, beginning with America's youth, and all future generations.

his research addressed educational persistence among first-generation, low-income college students. The educational paths of 22 first-generation, low-income undergraduate students attending a large, urban university in the Northwest region of the United States were examined through a narrative framework. Half of the participants had persisted from year one to year two, and the other half left the university after their first year. Analytic procedures consisted of thematic qualitative coding, an analysis of student trajectories over educational histories, and the reconstruction of narrative stories. Data were used to examine: (1) How first-generation, low-income students understood and described their journey through their first year, (2) Reasons some students gave for leaving the university, (3) Meanings students gave to their experiences in college and how those meanings influenced future decisions, and (4) Differences between the stories of students who persisted versus those who left. The first-generation, low-income students who participated in this study were individually diverse and took various paths through college. After prolonged contact, evidence of interrupted enrollment and transfer among colleges was shown for approximately half of the participants. The descriptive codes most frequently discussed were financial issues, aspects of self, and family. Students described motivations for college in terms of themes related to family, gaining practical skills, existential discovery, desire for the college adventure, and affirmation of personal attributes. Students left the institution as a result of academic challenges, external life events, financial difficulties, dissatisfaction with the college process, unclear goals or reasons for continuation, and a need to stay near family. Students who persisted in college indicated adequate pre-college academic preparation, social connection to the university, family support for continuation, adequate financial resources, and support from social and cultural brokers that helped them navigate college. Findings from this study suggest social class, financial, individual and family contextual variables be added to Tinto's (1975, 1993) classic model of student departure. Higher education policies suggested by data include partnering with families, reducing social class barriers and providing better information to students about the hidden costs of transfer and interrupted enrollment.