This thesis examines the inability of the Brazilian State to accomplish effectively its constitutional duty to deliver elementary education to all children of 7 to 14 years of age. The overall argument in this thesis is that there is a lack of "political will- on the part of the Brazilian State to resolve this problem. The concept of "lack of political will is theorised as "lack of conditions existing in the State enabling it to be an actor in elementary education". The thesis has six chapters. Chapter One introduces the problem, the arguments, and the structure of the thesis, and discusses the theoretical basis of the thesis. Chapter Two tests the arguments against data on the relationship of the State to elementary education in the Vargas Era (1930-1945). Chapter Three tests the arguments against data on the relationship of the State to elementary education during the Redemocratisation Period (1946-1964). Chapter Four compares the arguments with data on the State's relationship to elementary education during the Military Regime (1964-1985). Chapter Five examines the arguments in relation to data on the relationship of the State with elementary education in the period of the New Republic and the Collor Government (1985-1992). Finally, Chapter Six presents the Conclusions and Recommendations of the thesis. The main conclusion of the thesis is that it is possible to create the necessary conditions for the State to function as an actor in elementary education.

This thesis examines the cost-effectiveness of the Greek Supplementary Schools with respect to the two aims they pursue: 1. The good performance of their students in the A-level Modern Greek examination and 2. The maintenance of a 'Greek cultural identity' by their students. In the study I used a random sample of nine schools with 203 students from successive year cohorts. The data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, and group conversations. The ML3 package and the value added method were employed to analyse the factors affecting the A-level results. Discourse analysis with some elements of conversation analysis was used to examine the cultural aim of the schools. The study found that there are differences in the cost-effectiveness of the different Greek Supplementary schools. These differences are mainly due to the student intake (GCSE grade) and to the school type, that is whether it is a church school, a parent's association school or an independent school. The cost of the school appears to have a negative effect on performance, but the effect disappears when the type of school dummy is included. The study also showed that girls do slightly better in the exams than boys and that educated mothers positively influence the performance of students. Also, certain characteristics of the teachers and head teachers as well as factors related to the school organisation and ethos were found to have an effect on the A-level grades. The cultural analysis showed that the school did not appear to be responsible for creating the Greek Identity of students, but developed and reinforced what the family had already given. When the two main types of analysis were brought together, it was found that these two aims are jointly pursued in these schools. The findings of this research will be of use to decision makers in the field of educational provision in the Greek Supplementary Schools. The results show that cost-effectiveness analysis is a useful tool that should be used in school effectiveness studies. The study also shows that in analysing the cost-effectiveness of schools the multi level approach has significant advantages over simple input-output methods.

This thesis is centrally about knowledge changes and inclusive education in Latin America. It explores the ways in which politics of knowledge and teacher professional activity have changed, seem to be changing and resist change in the light of state policies which relate knowledge, literacy, technology and ESOL education as part of a strategic educational plan for sustained development and the inclusion of vulnerable sectors in the region. It reports the findings of a qualitative research study carried out in the field of ESOL literacy development in the second largest South American system of education, the province of Buenos Aires, using multiple methods of data collection. The thesis intends to assess what the present politics of knowledge are and to describe the ways ESOL teachers embrace change at ideological and practical levels when faced with novel policies. Findings show inconsistencies between theory and practice that place at risk innovation and the possibility of inclusive education and democratic participation of vulnerable social sectors in a knowledge society. These inconsistencies are evidenced in teachers‟ ineffective strategies to embody those changes in their daily practice, in highly complex contexts of work, by ignoring students‟ needs, by structuring authoritarian interaction patterns in class and by neglecting curricular aims. Also, ideological clashes are disclosed through contradictions between politicians´ discourses and the strategies implemented top down to support policies in educational institutions with vulnerable intakes. The main contribution of this thesis is the notion that this mismatch between policies and politics in the Province of Buenos Aires results in anarchic conditions of work in schools and the inexorable reproduction of inequality evidenced in schooling without learning, the ghettoisation of schools and effective ESOL education restricted to upper social classes. To conclude, as a further contribution of this thesis beyond mere analysis, I will explore a possible contextualization strategy of policy implementation and context bound teacher education provisions to address the needs in ESOL teacher education found in my research context.

This thesis provides a way of analyzing how beginner teachers talk about the management of classroom behaviour to reveal how they are thinking about their practice. Considerable reference is made in the literature about the factors that impact on the development of knowledge about teaching but very little is known about how it actually takes place, particularly in relation to managing classroom behaviour. My thesis adds to our understanding of how this is taking place. Specifically, this thesis provides insights into how beginner teachers are developing strategies for managing behaviour within a performativity culture promoted by governments that prioritizes competence over transformation. Beginner teachers come to ITE equipped with beliefs, preconceptions and prior experiences of education, teaching and classroom management. This research provides case-study evidence of the different reasons that beginner teachers have for managing behaviour, that in turn, frames the kind of knowledge they develop and ultimately, the strategies they use. A theoretical model and set of conceptual tools are developed to analyze interview and observation data collected from five beginner teachers. The data collection spanned a twoyear period between September 2007 and July 2009. The model is used to chart the beginner teachers’ development of strategies over time and in different contexts. The outcomes of the analysis indicate that beginner teachers developed schemas that allowed them to adapt to new contexts by utilizing their pre-emptive plans rather than acting reflexively. The study contributes to the knowledge in the fields of behaviour management and teacher development in a number of ways. The model and the conceptual tools contribute to the theoretical understanding of how the personal and contextual factors influence beginner teachers’ development of strategies over time. The empirical part of the study provides insights into how these factors facilitate and impede the development of the beginner teachers’ strategies for managing classroom behaviour.

This thesis examines the student experience of international higher education through a case study of joint Masters degrees in business taught in two countries. The thesis explored how the ‘joint degree’ experience impacts on the way students undertake their learning and intercultural ‘negotiations’. The focus on cultural interaction, international mobility, relationality between students and the way students experience the learning environment as dimensions of their experience furthers an understanding of international higher education. The exploration of the individual students’ ‘lived reality’ demonstrates the complexity and limitations of such programmes of study as well as the importance of culture, being the fabric of meaning for individuals (Geertz, 1973) in relation to and as part of the educational experience of a joint degree. This overarching dimension of culture is given prominence in this work, not only in terms of the culture of the institutions that the students study in, but also in terms of the different national education systems, of which those institutions are part and more generally in terms of the different cultures that students have to negotiate as part of their experience. The research approach was through a case study method, relying on the use of mixed methods for data collection to provide a ‘thick’ description of the experiences of joint degrees and a triangulation of the findings for each data set. The thematic analysis of the data focussed on individuals’ construction of their reality in order to gain an understanding of that reality. The concept of ‘relationality’ is introduced to refer to the learning that occurs as a result of the recognition of the ‘other’. It denotes a learning environment where students learn with and from other students and as a result of their country mobility. As a consequence they develop their intercultural awareness. This relationality is seen as a cornerstone of the experience of joint degrees and is significant to the achievement of inter-cultural learning.

To establish a culture of collegial exchange about teaching and learning among its academic staff, a German higher education institution is running a seemingly quite successful organisation development (OD) programme, comprising professional learning communities, conferences and other interventions. But how fit for purpose is the programme? A formative realist evaluation is conducted to establish whether and why the programme works for whom and in what circumstances. On the basis of Coleman’s (1987; 1990) social macro-micro-macro scheme, a programme theory is developed and generalised as a framework for theorising, planning, visualising and evaluating OD. Pawson & Tilley’s (1997) Realistic Evaluation is chosen as research methodology, modified to match the programme theory’s structure and applied to a large data pool covering the OD programme’s first four years. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design involving path analysis, content analysis and realist interviews, the programme theory is tested and gradually refined. The detailed realist evaluation reveals a number of problems at the level of the social mechanisms on which the OD programme’s effectiveness and sustainability depend. Unintended self-selection mechanisms limit the programme’s prospective fitness for purpose. Also the programme’s own history and organisational ramifications interfere with its regular functioning. Various possibilities for improvements are considered and thoughts on the programme’s transferability to other contexts are offered. The thesis concludes with critical reflections on Realistic Evaluation.

This thesis describes the role of politics of the Greek secondary school curriculum and focuses on the system of control of education as well as the influence of some interest groups on the policy formation. The study of the educational system from the foundation of the modern Greek state in 1828 up to the present gives the historical context of the traditional and the new secondary school curriculum. It also points out the demands for curriculum reform, especially since 1950s, in the view of the broader social, political and economic changes and it underlines the difficulties of the system to be changed. The obstacles to educational modernization and democratization are sought in the traditional views of valued knowledge in Greece, such as humanism, and in the politics of the curriculum. The Greek educational system has still an academic and humanist orientation which is based on the Orthodox Christian ideas and the Ancient Greek values and it is characterized by a non progressive attitude to curriculum change. The politics of the curriculum control in Greece, on the other hand, is very much affected by the role of the state which is centralized, bureaucratic and authoritarian. Consequently, the influence of some important interest groups such as the political parties, the University of Athens Faculty of Philosophy and the Federation of Secondary School Teachers (O.L.M.E.) on the educational decison-making process is examined in detail.

This thesis explores the use, value and practice of teaching observations conducted as part of vocational teachers’ in-service initial teacher training (ITT) in Further Education (FE) Colleges in England. The study is framed by a conceptual examination of the meanings of vocational, vocational learning and observation. This thesis emphasises the importance of understanding vocational learning as an embodied practice and as ‘learning as participation’ in the workplace and in work-related settings. It conceptualises vocational learning as part of the development of expertise along a horizontal axis, which encompasses social and cultural aspects from different disciplinary and/or vocational areas and not only cognitive dimensions. The thesis presents a conceptualisation of the observation of teaching as a contexualised and developmental process. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is used to both frame the research methodology and subsequent analysis. A case study approach addresses the research questions through the observation of ‘observations’ and interviews with vocational teachers, teacher educators, and vocational mentors. Two distinct activity systems are subsequently defined by their respective yet interacting objects of activity. These are identified as the development of ‘pedagogic expertise’ and the development of ‘pedagogic expertise for vocational practice’. The thesis confirms the value of ITT teaching observations to vocational teachers’ development. It concludes with some implications for practice and contributes to our understanding of vocational teachers’ learning and development.

Over the last thirty years there has been considerable debate on the organisation and structure of the 14-19 education system in England. Although the proposals for a unified system have dominated academic research, successive government policies have failed to fully integrate the 14-19 phase in education. Instead, academic and vocational education remain divided and the number of young people aged 16-19 in the NEET category unchanged. This study of an alternative educational programme (AEP) for students who experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) delves deeply into the problems that these young people are facing in an attempt to find solutions to motivate and engage them. This becomes particularly pressing in the wake of the raising of the participation age to 18 in 2015. The study employs Bronfenbrenner’s ecosystems theory which concentrates on the examination of the impact of different ecosystems on young people’s development and progression in education. The case study incorporates a multi-method research strategy, which sought to gain the perspectives of different stakeholders on the effectiveness of the AEP and to examine its outcomes for students in terms of their academic, social and behavioural progress as well as their progression into the post-16 phase. The findings indicate that this type of provision within an FE college provides positive outcomes for disengaged students but they also emphasise the importance that these young people place on the well recognised curriculum offered in mainstream schools. The findings suggest that the English education system, which remains segregationist and divided, contributes to the widening of the socio-economic gap particularly in times of economic downturns and unstable employment opportunities. The study recommends changes in different ecosystems, starting with 14-19 education which should offer a unified qualification structure that caters for all learners thus preventing these young people becoming NEET and socially excluded in their adulthood.

In the period before their accession to the European Union (EU) the formerly communist countries of eastern Europe were expected to reform their economic and social policies to satisfy EU-wide requirements and to become competitive in a market-orientated system. The countries were subject to pressure in the accession negotiations and eligible for aid to help them adapt. This thesis examines the influences that the EU brought to bear in the field of vocational education and training (VET) and investigates why the EU made the requirements that it did. The thesis adopts a historical methodology, tracing the previous evolution of EU policy on VET on the one hand, and the state of VET under communism in eastern Europe on the other. It then examines the factors impinging on VET caused by the pressures of economic transition and the accession process. The treatment of VET during the accession negotiations and in the programme of aid are investigated in detail. Interviews with a number of key participants in the process shed light on the assumptions and reactions of the main stakeholders. The thesis shows how the EU’s interventions stemmed largely from its internal policies on VET rather than from a diagnosis of the problems of individual eastern countries. The EU increasingly applied to the East the emphasis on lifelong learning and the methods of negotiated target-setting that it had evolved to make an impact with existing member states. Various common European instruments for VET which emerged after 2002 also impinged on the East, though they had been presaged by a distinctive approach to curriculum design which featured in aid projects in the East. At the level of specific policy areas, the thesis findings tend to support a neo-functionalist interpretation of what drives integration within the EU.