Regular school attendance has been identified as being of paramount importance for social, economic, educational and emotional well-being. However, UK schools have experienced high levels of school non-attendance for several years. Government legislation and research highlight the importance of early intervention to combat non-attendance. They also emphasise the need to involve pupils in decisions affecting their lives. However, despite much research into non-attendance, currently there is a paucity of research eliciting the views of non-attenders, particularly non-clinical samples and those at the early stages of non-attendance. There is also a lack of updated qualitative research around school staff experiences of working with non-attenders. This study gained an understanding of the perceptions and experiences of secondary school non-attenders during their early stages of attendance difficulties particularly regarding support they had been offered or used. The study also explored the views of secondary school staff regarding their experiences working with non-attenders and their perceptions of the support available to help these pupils attend school regularly. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twelve pupils and six staff members and their perceptions were analysed using thematic analysis. The study revealed that there are several factors impacting on pupils’ unwillingness to attend school, particularly those negatively influencing their sense of school belonging and academic self-concept. Despite supportive strategies in place, non-attenders do not always perceive them as effective. However staff face clear challenges to implement more supportive measures. The key findings emphasised the importance of using an interactionist and systemic perspective to support non-attenders rather than a within-child or family perspective. School issues included a lack of opportunities to gain pupils’ views, poor pupil-teacher relationships and ineffective school systems. The research provides useful recommendations for educational professionals and educational psychologists to promote attendance through collaborative working, pupil participation and early intervention.

The thesis is an analysis of the changing social definition of youth and the pattern of transition from youth to adulthood in the context of the schooling systems and educational policies of England and Wales, and the USA since the Second World War. The period under study, 1945-1992 can be divided into two parts. The first is the period of the dominance of the welfare state. The second is the period typified by an attempt by the state to withdraw as a major provider of welfare. In Part One of the thesis a general analysis is undertaken of the position of youth under welfare capitalism within liberal democracy. The study focuses particularly on the educational provision for the fourteen to nineteen year group. A comparison is made between the welfare capitalist model of youth and that of two totalitarian states in which comprehensive national youth policies were developed. In Part Two, a study of the educational provision for youth in the USA, England and Wales during the period 1945 to 1972 is undertaken. It focuses upon the successes and failures of the policies of each state. In particular the tension between educational and state ideologies in the construction of youth is explored. In Part Three there is a study of youth in the period from 1972-1992. For both countries this is a time of concern with economic decline. In the USA and England and Wales governments attempted to withdraw from the extensive provision of education and welfare. The study analyses the effect of the new policies on the definition of youth.

The theme of the research is the developments in education, particularly with refence to vocational education in the Federal Republic of Germany. During the 1950s the FGR underwent an economic miracle in the area of reconstruction following the devastation of the war years. As economic stability returned to the Republic the move towards reform in the educational sector began to develop. Whilst under occupation, the military authorities in each zone had supervised the reconstruction of the education system per se, but with little regard for the vocational sector, tending to leave that area to those who controlled its development in the past, namely the employers and their respective Chambers i.e. Industry and Handicraft. As the debate progressed over the form that the new educational system should take, it became apparent that there were almost irreconciable differences between the models favoured by the opposing political factions. Whilst the right wing looked to the past in the formation of its policies, as illustrated by the perpetuation of the old tripartite system, the left were seeking to broaden the educational choice of the majority who were restricted in their participation in higher education under both the existing and preceding systems. As the balance of power in the LAnder and Bund shifted during the late 1950s and early 1960s so the educational plans were modified. The left initially sought to influence general education in the political arenas, but later turned to the vocational education sector and the Berufsschule in order to increase the element of general education included in the curriculum. It was during this period that, on the one hand, the left were seeking to introduce the concept of equality of educational opportunity both in the general education system and the vocational sector, on the other hand, the right equally determined to maintain the status quo, that a further argument was being presented by the academics and social scientists. Namely, that the education system had lost sight of the traditional German values of neo-humanistic Bildung in its pursuit of a materialistic society. It is in the light of these widely differing views that the introduction of the Basic Vocational Training Year and the corresponding legal and political arguments surrounding its introduction are examined to establish its validity as a solution to the problems of the various participants in the debate.

Students from lower socio-economic groups remain underrepresented in UK medical schools. This enquiry explores the perspectives of medical student participants to better understand how medical students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may be perceived, their experience of an undergraduate medical curriculum, and any issues concerned with what is required for them to learn in order to become doctors. A conceptual framework that encompasses both sociological and sociocultural learning theories that enable the professional development and learning processes of medical students, and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in particular, to be better understood was required. Theoretical concepts from the literature informed the iterative development of the research questions that addressed student perspectives, the relational aspects between student practice and medical school structures including the medical culture, and how student participation is pivotal to their learning. An interpretive methodology including focus groups and individual interviews was used to access the perspectives of medical students from across the curriculum of one medical school. Analysis used a priori concepts and a modified grounded theory approach which generated three main categories of themes: who becomes a doctor, students’ developmental processes and issues underlying their learning. Non-traditional medical students were found to possess certain socioeconomic characteristics that distinguished them from their peers from a more advantaged background. For some students this led to disadvantage inherent in their differing patterns of socialisation, issues with developing an effective medical habitus and resultant professional identity, and reduced or less effective participation in authentic learning activities. A more nuanced nondualistic understanding of the nature of medical professional knowledge and the undergraduate curriculum by incorporating a more balanced approach to the insights afforded by participatory models of learning have several implications for both medical pedagogy and medical student practice.

This thesis will explore the concept of social equality in education in relation to France and England within their historical contexts from 1789 to 1939. It will compare and contrast how both countries have gone about reducing social inequality in education. The thesis will emphasise the importance of the ideological legacy at the heart of both systems for understanding this i.e. Republicanism in France and Liberalism in England. French education emphasises equality and secularism. This is a legacy from the French Revolution, which brought the state centre stage in education. It also emphasises unity since Napoleon imposed a unified framework for its administration. In France these characteristics of centralism, unity and secularism have been perceived as offering the best possibility of providing equality of opportunity for all pupils regardless of social background, religion, ethnicity or geographical location. Equality was not a founding principle of English education, as it was in France; the concept evolved more pragmatically as a way of dealing with the more unfair aspects of the system. Liberalism with its values of freedom and diversity and the political and economic doctrine of laissez-faire have had the most enduring influence on English education The method of enquiry undertaken in this thesis will be drawn from comparative historical sociology. It uses comparative historical analysis to understand the variation in how both countries have gone about reducing educational inequality and why a discourse of egalitarianism is stronger in French than in English education. Three factors: persistence of ideology, social-class alliances and the nature of the state are put forward to explain the variation between both countries in relation to social equality in education. The final section of the thesis reflects on how the histories of both countries have impacted on their current education systems.

This thesis is a study of academic failure among Primeiro Grau children in Southern Brazil. The empirical basis of the thesis is constituted by two investigations: a study of risk factors for failure in a birth cohort of 6,000 children from the city of Pelotas, through a correlation approach, and case-studies of two Primeiro Grau (Primary) schools - from the same city - that presented contrasting rates of academic failure (high and low). The thesis pursues the argument that academic failure cannot be fully understood through a correlation model. Such an approach is important to identify the children at risk. Nevertheless, it offers little in terms of insights into the intra-school processes associated with failure. The second investigation aimed at making a contribution to the understanding of academic failure among Primeiro Grau children through exploring such intra-school processes. Their identification and investigation are of particular importance in the light of the extensive long-term epidemiological research tradition in the area, which the thesis critiques. The theoretical basis of the second study is derived from Vygotsky's and Bakhtin's accounts of the social formation of mind, which privilege communicative means of mediation, and Bernstein's model of educational transmission, which speaks of the specialization of communication in schools. This study investigates the characteristics of the cultures of the two schools and suggests that the high rates of educational failure in one of the schools is associated with the privileging of the regulative aspects of education over its instructional aspects: teachers' beliefs that poverty affects children's attainment, negatively combined with teachers' impressions that the children attending their school were very needy, resulted in teachers stressing the socialization purposes of schooling to the detriment of its academic purposes.

This thesis develops a model of community education for non traditional adult learners from the least socially and educationally advantaged groups living in the priority areas of urban Britain. The model is investigated through a case study of a community education project situated within North Hull. The thesis is organised into six chapters. Chapter One commences with a detailed analysis of urban priority areas and examines the cumulative effects of post war material conditions, social dislocation and educational underachievement. Educational proposals for ameliorating the situation are reviewed, including the idea of closer links with the home and neighbourhood as part of a community education solution. Chapter Two develops this emerging theme of community education by examining compensatory and reconstructionist models of British community education in which USA models of compensation and the idea of community problem solving became influential Following this early discussion, a model for community education in priority areas is proposed in Chapter Three. The model has the overall purpose of developing adult learners and achieving more open and accessible institutions through a two stage continuum of learning opportunities. Chapter Four describes the North Hull Community Outreach Project which investigates the model in practice. In Chapter Five an evaluation of the case study is carried out to analyse the potential value of the model. Chapter Six brings together the main findings of the thesis. These suggest that the educational problems of non traditional adult learners are the result of the cumulative interaction between situational, institutional and dispositional factors in the priority area situation which serve to diminish the importance of education. The proposed model hence should be regarded as developmental with the potential capacity of engaging adults in mainstream educational opportunities which may provide the skills and knowledge needed to challenge and possibly change the material inequalities in the situation.

Using the problem analysis method advanced by Professor Brian Holmes, the study looks into the politico—economic and sociocultural factors that gave special significance to the Cooperative Movement in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka when it was introduced nation—wide at the beginning of this century. With an intellectual tradition going back to at least five centuries and intensive educational activity by Christian missionaries since Portuguese times (1590), Jaffna enjoyed a lead over the rest of the country in the matter of educational provision and overall attainment. English education serving as a catalyst to raise the aspirations of the people, they naturally looked to new opportunities to better their economic prospects. The expanding public service, both in Ceylon as well as in Malaya and Singapore, opened new avenues of employment. The increasing demand for English education was met by a system of grant—aid to mission schools, which was exploited adequately by the people of Jaffna who were aware of the value of education, English education in particular, and were also amenable, by virtue of their socio—cultural orientation, to the new mores of English culture. The introduction of the Cooperative Credit Movement in 1911 came as a boon to the subsistence farmers of Jaffna who had been exploited for generations under traditional institutions. The cooperative credit societies, in addition to their contribution to the economic life of the community, also served as schools of democracy, as well as the training ground for leadership at the village level. l Under the leadership of the English educated, mainly teachers, lawyers and Malayan—returned pensioners, supervisory institutions were established at an early stage to foster the development of the Cooperative Movement, in particular the Jaffna Cooperative Provincial Bank (Secondary) and the Northern Division Cooperative Federation (Tertiary). While examining the conditions necessary for cooperative development, the study focuses on the policies of the Northern Cooperative Movement, including an evaluation of the educational policies and programmes of the Northern Division Cooperative Federation.

This study is of two groups of teachers in Mexico: primary schools of the Secretariat of Public Education [SEP], and the National Autonomous University of Mexico [UNAM]. The thesis analyses the nature of their relationship with the State, especially in terms of how this has framed efforts to create a profession, and the reactions and resistance of teachers to various aspects of State control. Chapters one and two analyse Mexican authoritarianism, and the professionalisation of teachers in terms of Mexico, but also a comparative motif is introduced by counterpointing the Argentinean and Peruvian contexts. Chapter three deepens the analysis of Mexico showing how, in the inter-war period, the professionalism and professionalisation of teachers was affected by their social class origin, their training, the unions, and the styles of resistance which began to emerge. Chapter four extends the analysis into the period 1941 to 1970 and argues that predominantly right wing government policies led to conflicts involving teachers and led to a 2 consolidation of their unions. The State responded by trying to extend its control which resulted in increasing resistance on the part of teachers. Chapter five assesses the contemporary period, and the tensions between teachers, the government, and teachers' unions. Chapter six provides a conclusion.

This thesis is a theoretical and philosophical discussion of the nature of poetic discourse, with a subsequent discussion of pedagogic practice arising from the views expressed, whose effectiveness is illustrated by a subjective selection of protocols. The central claim is that the peculiar nature of poetic discourse is inherently dramatic, since it internalizes 'voices'. Therefore, to achieve a total experience of poetry the reader needs to engage his own schemata in their body/thought entirety. This implies that he has not to limit himself to the 'sounding' of the 'voices' he achieves in the text just within his 'inward ear', but he has to 'embody' them, 'inhabit' them within a 'physical space of representation', letting them inter-act with other readers' embodiments. In so doing, the reader becomes an Acting Reader. The contribution this thesis offers to research on Discourse Analysis and Literary Stylistics consists in recognizing the vocal, 'physical' dimension of poetic texts (a dimension which is often neglected) as a way of achieving a more thorough personal awareness of the poetic experience. Accordingly, I elaborate a principled pedagogic approach to poetic language through the reader's use of drama techniques with the aim to demonstrate how it can be relevant in the teaching of poetry to either Ll or L2 students at both High School and University levels. So that in the theoretical part (Chapters 1-4) I place my rationale against a context of 'new-critic', semiotic, and deconstructionist approaches to literary theory and teaching methodology to demonstrate how they imply only a one-way communication of a pre-established interpretation (Chapters 1-2). Then I describe the first 'two phases' of the reader's activation of 'familiarizing' top-down and 'defamiliarizing' bottom-up strategies in his attempt to authenticate the peculiar structural and semantic arrangement of the poetic text (Chapter 3). Eventually, these two top-down/bottom-up phases come to merge during the final interactive phase (Chapter 4) in which I postulate a group of acting readers' multiple 'embodied' poetic discourses - controlled by the same poetic text - inter-acting in a representational 'physical' space to recreate selves, schemata, and iconic contexts. This theory systematically informs the practical part of my research (Chapters 5-9) consisting in 'dialogic' classroom operationalizations of each of the three phases. I pragmatically demonstrate (through protocol analysis) that to be conceptually receptive to poetic language the student/acting-reader needs to be physically prepared to be receptive to it. Stylistics, thus, is meant as the analysis of the acting reader's own responses, not as the analysis of the text (Chapter 5). I first provide 'top-down' affective evidence that the nature of schemata is essentially 'bodily', as the body is the experiential way to conceptualization (Chapter 6). Then, I show students/acting-readers' 'bottom-up' cognitive embodiments of ideational/interpersonal 'voices' in both macro- and micro-communication (Chapter 7), to finally describe groups of acting readers' pragmatic achievements of 'interactive' dramatic embodiments of collective poetic discourses (Chapter 8). I conclude (Chapter 9) by indicating possible theoretical and pedagogic developments of my rationale.