Thesis--University of Florida. / Description based on print version record. Manuscript copy. Vita. Bibliography: leaves 96-97.

This thesis is an exploration of a head teacher's experience of Lesson Study. It aims to consider how Lesson Study develops teacher learning through consideration of collaboration, expertise and professional conflict. The methodology embraces the lived experience of introducing a collaborative method of teacher development, Lesson Study into a primary school and exploring its impact. The research is conducted through an exploratory layered method, considering the Lesson Study teams, the whole school and the head teacher's thoughts and reflections on and about Lesson Study. The exploration in this thesis found that Lesson Study is far from breath-takingly simple (Dudley, 2013) and that there are many complexities and variables within each Lesson Study group that need to be considered carefully in order to enhance any opportunity for teacher learning. This thesis describes how these different elements, collaboration, expertise and professional conflict, interacted in two different Lesson Study teams. These findings, are presented alongside the head teacher's reflections. Building on these reflections the thesis starts to articulate how Lesson Study could offer teacher learning opportunities and which elements of school culture, teacher expertise and understanding would need to be developed, honed and considered in order to create an outcome which results in teacher learning. This research provides an exploration how teacher learning may be generated through Lesson Study work. It extends the current literature on teacher learning in Lesson Study by identifying and exploring professional conflict alongside collaboration and expertise. Teacher learning opportunities are not simply created in the context the research took place. It concludes that while teacher learning can be generated through Lesson Study; the conditions and culture of a setting, alongside the skills, knowledge and expertise of the teachers involved in each team are also crucial.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) share many similarities such as the presence of obsessions and compulsions, a similar age of onset and also similar activation of underlying structures within the brain related to obsessions and compulsion formation. The recently published DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) has grouped the two conditions together in a chapter entitled Obsessive Compulsive -and related disorders, recognising the similarities in presentation. This appeared to echo the classification within the NICE guidelines for OCD and BDD (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2006) where the two conditions were grouped together on the presence of obsessions and compulsions, neurological evidence pointing to the activation of brain areas responsible for obsessive thoughts and compulsive acts alongside strong familial links. Both OCD and BDD were understood (from both sets of guidelines) to respond well to the use of Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors and the treatment use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This qualitative research study focuses on the gap in existing literature by studying the lived experience of individuals living with obsessions and compulsions. Much focus has historically remained on understanding the clinical symptomology and underlying constructs as related to living with obsessions and compulsions, through the use of questionnaires or brain imaging. With recent changes in the DSM-V (Statistical Manual for mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) recognising OCD and BDD as part of the same family of conditions, it appeared timely to focus on the individuals living with OCD or BDD and their sense and meaning making as informed by their experiences of obsessions and compulsions.