This study is about the social construction of health education in the Brazilian national health system. Health education is examined as a social policy and as a health practice. The theoretical framework is based on the work of Michel Foucault, with special attention to the concepts of bio-power, bio-politics of the population and anatomo-politics of the human body. The thesis pursued is that health education represents a singular contribution to the exercise of bio-power through the health system. Its involvement with prevention and promotion of health, as well as its educational character, enhance the set of power techniques employed in the management of the individual and social body. The data presented are created by analysis of documents and surveys covering federal, state, and municipal levels of government in Brazil and also health centres. Interviews with policy-makers, health professionals, and users of the health system and the observation of two health centres as case studies are also sources of information. Health education policy contributes to expand the surveillance that the work of health professionals represents over any aspect of individual and community life. As a practice, health education can make use of prescriptive or participatory approaches to promote healthy life-styles. However, both of them discipline and normalize individuals and communities. This study also suggests in its conclusion that Foucault's concept of bio-power as power over life centred on the control of sex should be re-thought, focusing on health as the key element in the exercise of bio-power.

Urban upper primary schools in Espirito Santo are better staffed and equipped than rural schools yet their "pass rates" are lower. Given evidence that: (a) urban areas are more developed than rural areas, (b) development and educational quality correlate positively, (c) school characteristics account for about 80 percent of the variation in pupil achievement in less developed countries, and (d) learning assessment in Brazil is not centralized, the reported "pass rates" are paradoxical and call for clarification. This is the problem this thesis approaches from a quanti-qualitative focus. Survey data on achievement scores, school results and the correlations between these measures of pupil attainments indicate that "pass rates" enmesh teachers' set learning goals. High school results / lower achievement scores in rural areas, which lack significant correlations, suggest lower quality education geared towards rote-learning. Lower school results / higher achievement scores in urban areas, with weak-moderate positive correlations signal more complex cognitive demands and improvement of educational quality through content understanding. Therefore, "pass rates" have specific meanings and are not suitable as comparison of performance of different schools. The ethnography of an urban school illuminates the survey findings and unveil the meaning of "pass rates" from the viewpoint of "successful" classroom practices. In a context of similar qualifications teachers share a progressive pedagogical discourse but their classroom practices portray diversity of educational quality and corresponding learning achievement standards. Teaching approaches, displayed in a typology (based in textbook use and pupils participation in the lesson), represent a continuum from rote-learning to the recreation of knowledge. Options for teaching approaches are compromises between educational ideals and existing constraints. These include teachers' competence (rooted in their background), the ethos and culture of the school, and external demands on schooling. Pupils' responses to teaching approaches embody their appraisal of the process, the subjectmatter, and prevailing teacher-pupil affective ties. Ultimately learning outcomes expressed through "pass rates" represent distinctive teaching practices and learning results.

The issue of vocational learning (VL) for older workers (OWs) has become pivotal in European regions with an ageing workforce and facing economic changes and pressure to innovate. European Union policies recognize the value of formal, non-formal and informal learning to enhance workers’ skills, but report low participation of OWs in continuing formal VL. I contend that EU documents conceptualize learning according to a ‘cognitivist’ view and motivation as an individual endeavour, failing to acknowledge OWs’ subjectivities and working activities in providing the context for the development of their motives for learning. I adopt Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to direct the attention to the OWs’ subjectivities and their personal relationships with their objects of activities (work). CHAT allows subjectivities and activities to be brought together in a holistic framework. To illuminate the different ways in which objects influence motivation and learning, I introduce sociological strategies of production as objects of industrial activities and identify two radically different models as mass production and flexible specialization. Two case studies, based on unstructured interviews with OWs and managers in two firms representing both production models, provide elements to analyse the interrelation between OWs’ activities objects and their personal senses of these. My thesis concludes that: (i) OWs’ relation with their work contexts, rather than their personal qualities, influences their engagement in their working practices and leads to the development of motives for learning; (ii) strategies of production influence the intensity and richness of OWs’ workplace learning; (iii) OWs’ previous and parallel experiences of active roles contribute to the judgement of the current work and to engagement in this; (iv) EU policies for VL need to take into account how to support the OWs’ engagement in their jobs.

In general, educational practices in Zairean secondary schools point to a positivistic orientation to literacy, in spite of the fact that one of the stated aims of secondary education is to encourage independent thinking in students. For this reason, one of the aims of the present study was to promote greater independence in students by presenting a humanistic-interpretive approach to reading, as demonstrated by the practice of sustained silent reading. For this purpose, some of the students involved in the study (the experimental subjects) were presented with graded readers in English, in a 20h (1h/week) experimental reading programme. Moreover, in keeping with the view of reading as a unitary process, transferable across languages, a second aim of the study was to explore the possibility of transfer in reading ability between French as a L2 and English as a FL. Data were supplied by experimental and control subjects from questionnaires and cloze passages in French, and in English, that were administered before and after the reading programme. These data failed to provide unequivocal evidence for the expected transfer and improvement, and reasons are offered for this outcome. Nonetheless, the experimental subjects performed as well as the control subjects at the second administration of the measurement instruments. In other terms, one hour of sustained silent reading in English, along with 4 hours of traditional EFL teaching, appeared to be as educationally beneficial as the usual 5 hours/week orally driven, teacher-directed EFL classroom practice.

This study explores the policy-planning process in the provision of higher education in contemporary Mexico. A theoretical framework is developed by drawing upon current discussion on higher education coordination and planning. Particular emphasis is given to the relationships between their interactive and technical concerns. This analysis suggests that policy-planning in higher education is a process in which the disciplinary concerns of those academics involved co-exist with their vested interests. A "political nature" of policy-planning in higher education becomes apparent when the disciplinary concerns and the conflicting vested interests of academics converge. It is thus not necessarily the 'politician' who brings to this process its political dimension. The System for Permanent Planning of Higher Education (SiNaPPES), established in 1978 as the principal mechanism for the formulation of higher education policy in Mexico, is used as a case study and is at the heart of the discussion. An examination of the creation and subsequent operation of the SiNaPPES mechanism reveals the 'political nature' of the rationale behind its establishment. The analysis thus provides two perspectives on the creation of SiNaPPES. The concern of its formal history is technical planning while in the second, its alternative interpretation, is interactive planning. The analysis of the formal history that planning has not been fully achieved is challenged. The thesis argues that SiNaPPES, has been successful as a means of coordinating institutions and academics in higher education. The analysis is restricted to the period 1970-1986 leading up to the creation and operation of SiNaPPES in 1978 and the publication in 1986 of the third version of the National Plan for Higher Education (PNES). The study is supported by documentary evidence and interviews with those academics closely associated with the creation of SiNaPPES.

Between 1974 and 1982 the MOE introduced in two phases the diversification programme [SSCDP] which sought to establish practical subjects in the secondary school curriculum. This study examines the sustainability of implementation efforts beyond project expiry. It was hypothesised that SSCDP is not working as originally intended. The broad research problem was framed thus: What implementation response arises from an open-ended innovation policy? Subsidiary questions are: 1. How far have the policy-makers communicated the meaning of SSCDP and what factors account for mismatches between policy intentions and innovation practice? 2. What is the response of Project schools and what factors explain variation in response? 3. What is their significance for the sustainability of SSCDP? The analysis draws key concepts from the innovation literature on models and strategies of planned change; relationships in the implementation hierarchy; determinants of and orientations to the implementation process. Centred around qualitative research methods, the investigation utilises data from project documents, semi-structured interviews and from observations during school visits. Findings show an overall low level of implementation that varies among project schools. This is attributed to: - Poor interpretation of SSCDP goals; - Deficiencies in the implementation management; Idiosyncratic school behaviours. The study concludes that the 'practitioner-policy-maker' discrepancy is significant, hence the gap between policy intents and innovation practice. The gap is not regarded so much as an ultimate failure of the programme but as a necessary condition that allows for mutual adaptation between the innovation and its setting. This is reflected in the varied patterns of implementation response, classified as the: faithful; negotiators; selective adaptors; expansionists; and reductionist. As a policy-oriented study aiming at providing an 'improvement value', the findings lead to a proposal of improvements in the strategies of managing change in three areas: shifting focus from an adoption to an implementation perspective. recognising implementation as a process dependent on a mutual linkage relationship among participants. recognising schools as important bearers of change. These three are crucial factors in the implementation-sustainability relationship.

The central argument of this thesis is that the contradictions between modernisation and restoring a national identity, drawn from the Arab-Islamic culture, have generated tensions in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). The thesis concentrates on the particular problems posed 4y language and language policies in these contemporary circumstances. Chapter One provides an overview of the major concerns of the thesis, with a special stress on cultural and language questions. The main argument of Chapter Two is that Western theories of development are based on the assumption of the universality of the Western model, and undervalue the social and cultural elements of developing nations, including the Maghreb. Chapter Three extends the analysis to the role of language and nationalism in the process of nation building and analyses, with special reference to Algeria, the contradictions between development policies drawn from the West, and language policies stressing an Arab-Islamic identity. This chapter deals particularly with the problems of having Arabic as the national language and French as the operational language. Chapter Four examines comparatively the interrelationship between language policies and the social and educational contexts of the Maghreb. The arguments of the chapter are: that language policies have been influenced more by ideological than practical considerations; that contradictions at the political level are reflected in the social and educational contexts; that these contradictions are affecting the educational system adversely. Chapter Five draws the themes of the thesis together, and reassesses contemporary difficulties over language policies in the context of modernisation problems. The chapter makes proposals for new language policies in a complex linguistic, cultural and economic, situation, with some concluding comments on the specific case of Algeria.

In inner London 7.5% of the school population is of mixed heritage, yet little is known about their experiences in the education system. Data from the 2001 Census shows that over half of mixed heritage children under the age of 16 have social backgrounds that suggest a strong middle class dimension, yet, as a group, they have persistently underachieved at school. This challenges associations between social class and success at school suggesting that other factors might well influence school experience. This thesis explores how mixed heritage children's school experiences are shaped by the ways in which others perceive their identities and make assumptions about their lives, based mainly on the colour of their skin. It examiners why some children are more able to develop the resilience to cope with these experiences than others. An inductive approach to data gathering was used. Exploratory interviews were conducted with an opportunity sample, semi structured interviews with education professionals and focus groups with a small-scale sample of mixed heritage children in an inner London Borough. Themes that emerged challenge suggestions that we have moved to a point where ethnic and racial groupings are less relevant than data on children's social backgrounds, suggesting that all mixed heritage children, regardless of social background, experienced racial discrimination, teachers' inaccurate perceptions about their identities and backgrounds and low expectations of their abilities and aptitude for learning. Whilst educational professionals explained that they knew little about these children and were unaware of any issues they faced, children appeared to be "invisible" at school, absent from policies and curriculum materials. Many lacked opportunities to discuss their identities both at home and school. These issues particularly influenced boys' school experiences. Whilst this research enables many mixed heritage childrens's voices to be heard for the first time, it argues that the challenges many face present a threat to their capacity to fulfil their potential and their sense of belonging in the school community.

This thesis is an analysis of the relevance of curriculum, especially school curriculum to socio-economic needs. After an Introduction which is Chapter I, Chapter II identifies from the Kothari the Education Commission 1964-1966 an interpretation of the socio-economic needs of India, the role of education, and how curriculum might contribute to development. The thesis argues that the theoretical position adopted by this Commission is understandable within the paradigm of "modernization" theory. The Kothari Commission's position and educational recommendations are analysed within a framework developed by Bill Williamson in his book Education. Social Structure and Development. In Chapters III and IV the various problems in education and development are analysed through the categories of relevance, equality and balance identified by Williamson which leads to some contrast and comparison with the theory positions adopted by the Kothari Commission. Chapters Five, Six and Seven continue the analysis by assessing the relationship between socio-economic development and education in historical context (Chapter V); in terms of major curriculum policies (Chapter VI); and in terms of selected curriculum practice (Chapter VII). The organizing theme running through the analysis relates to whether Indian education might be understood specifically in terms of 'dependency' as identified by Williamson, and how far India fits within concepts of a 'Dependent Society' pattern. Overall, the thesis falls into two parts. The first develops the theoretical basis which finally focusses on the significance of curriculum for development. The second part of the thesis concentrates on curriculum content and change in India, with some specification of the balance between national and international influences on education and curriculum. The thesis concludes with a commentary on the theory positions of Kothari and Williamson, identified in the first part of the thesis in the light of the evidence assembled in the second part of the thesis.

This thesis deals with the relationship between curriculum proposal and curriculum practice in the Brazilian Educational System. The thesis argues that there is a wide gap between curriculum proposal and the curriculum practice in Brazilian education. This argument is approached from the perspective of mediation processes, which occur between these curriculum phenomena. The study covers the period 1970 - 1990. Following the Introduction, Chapter One, based on the review of relevant literature on curriculum proposal and curriculum practice, analyses the state of the Brazilian Primeiro Grau [First Level] School, as regulated by the Educational Law 5.692, of 1971. Chapter Two examines some of the theories related to curriculum reforms, curriculum proposal and curriculum practice in order to provide a basis for the approach proposed for this study. Using the findings of Chapter One, this Chapter points to three arenas that are especially relevant for the relationship between curriculum proposal and curriculum practice. These arenas are: political support, bureaucratic structure and teacher training. In Chapter Three, fieldwork is carried out in Germany in order to refine the mediation concept and to look at how it operates in a country where one expects good education results. Chapter Four covers the fieldwork carried out in Brazil, more specifically in the State of Rio de Janeiro, in 1990. This research studies the mediation processes which occur in the relationship between curriculum proposal and curriculum practice in the three selected arenas. Finally, in the Conclusion, the major outcomes of this study, based on the evidence described in the previous chapters, are brought together. Understandings of the mediation processes, active in the three selected arenas in the relationship between curriculum proposal and curriculum practice in Brazil, are highlighted.