This thesis comprises two papers. Paper One: Previous research in relation to young people who are at risk of school exclusion can be criticised for the lack of studies that truly elicit and foreground the voices of these young people within a school context. While retrospective studies have explored their views post exclusion, few have examined their perceptions within a mainstream context prior to exclusion. This can be explained in terms of the inherent difficulties of engaging disaffected young people with research, often attributed to a combination of poor language skills and negative perceptions of adults, and schools’ reluctance to foreground these voices. This paper reports how a participatory research method, which took into account the individual needs of disaffected young people, overcame these difficulties and succeeded in eliciting the voices of ten young people at risk of school exclusion within their mainstream context. Rich, meaningful and contextualised data were generated about disaffected young people’s perceptions of their mainstream school experiences. The data were thematically analysed and then interpreted using self determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000). This revealed that from young people’s perspectives the need for a sense of relatedness was more relevant than the need for a sense of autonomy. The need to feel competent only became relevant in certain subject contexts. Findings showed a more holistic and nuanced perspective of disaffection. The young people perceived their engagement to be context driven and, importantly, were able to view themselves as positively engaged with some aspects of school. This highlights the need for further research into disaffected young people’s voices regarding what they perceive to be positive engagement as this may differ from practitioners’ perceptions. Implications for practice are that Educational Psychologists (EPs) are well placed to foreground the voice of disaffected young people with practitioners. In so doing they help them make better sense of disaffected young people’s school experiences and enhance practitioners’ ability to support these young people. Paper Two: Interventions in relation to young people at risk of exclusion tend to be drawn from education practitioner views which focus on a particular perspective of disaffection such as within child or curricular factors. Consequently interventions are ‘done to’ rather than ‘with’ young people and lack an integrated, holistic approach. In this small case study the researcher facilitated an intervention with seven Learning Mentors (LMs) set within two different school contexts. The aim of the intervention was to engage LMs with the voice of disaffected young people. The LMs met in two groups over two months during which vignettes of disaffected young people’s voices were used as stimuli for prioritising, implementing and evaluating changes to current LM practice. LMs’ personal constructs of disaffected young people were elicited pre and post intervention. The findings reveal that when LMs are facilitated to engage with the voice of disaffected young people it can have a positive impact on their perceptions of those young people. The effectiveness of the impact was dependent on the context of the school, level of training received and the extent to which LMs engaged with the facilitative process. As this is one of few studies which have implemented an intervention to engage schools with the voice of disaffected young people, further research exploring whether the intervention could be replicated in other school contexts would be of value. This study adds to the body of knowledge on school disaffection in young people and indicates that EPs are well placed to manage facilitative processes aimed at engaging schools with the voices of disaffected young people. In doing so they support practitioners to broaden their understanding of these young people and, importantly, enable them to act on their voices.

The purpose of this study is to explore tensions and themes that have influenced my activist identity. Drawing on theories of reflective practice, self study and autoethnography I use a narrative inquiry approach to trace significant experiences in my life, from student to high school teacher, to teacher educator. Themes that arise include a shift from a political to a “student voice”-focused approach to educational activism, the ongoing influence of my privileged identities, the importance of mentorship, the recognition that social change is possible, and the awareness and embracing of my “unfinishedness”. This study attempts to add to literature on educational or teacher activism and speak to the value of narrative inquiry approaches in teacher education and professional development programs.

The purpose of this study is to explore tensions and themes that have influenced my activist identity. Drawing on theories of reflective practice, self study and autoethnography I use a narrative inquiry approach to trace significant experiences in my life, from student to high school teacher, to teacher educator. Themes that arise include a shift from a political to a “student voice”-focused approach to educational activism, the ongoing influence of my privileged identities, the importance of mentorship, the recognition that social change is possible, and the awareness and embracing of my “unfinishedness”. This study attempts to add to literature on educational or teacher activism and speak to the value of narrative inquiry approaches in teacher education and professional development programs.

This qualitative study is concerned with the transition process from school to post-school life for students labelled with learning disability in New Zealand. My interest is in understanding how a particular group of these young people can make a successful transition from school in their search for a good life, as they themselves judge this. I draw on critical social theory to position these young people within contemporary education and society, using a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) framework to understand learning disability as socially, culturally and politically constructed. I draw on Zygmunt Bauman’s critique of neoliberal hegemony and use of metaphor to understand how young people with learning disability are excluded in a contemporary Western society. Post-school outcomes identify very little useful tertiary education or paid employment; long-term reliance on family for living and housing; and extremely limited social networks, mostly founded on family members and paid or voluntary support workers. I argue that these young people are caught in a parallel education system that largely controls and manages them along a restrictive pathway from special education services in schools to special vocational and welfare services post school. The clear voice of the young people through the research findings demonstrates this is not what they want. They want the same opportunities as their peers without disability. Andrew and Caroline, two young people with Down syndrome, and I formed a research team. We came together to explore, understand and respond to an exclusionary landscape during the transition process that I argue leads to unrealised lives. The study utilises a participatory action research approach. It is a collaborative journey and a transformative response to exclusion through what I describe as “the relational dimension.” Further, it is a call to arms on behalf of a particular group of students who have been mostly excluded from rights, responsibilities and opportunities to contribute positively to their lives and the lives of others. This thesis has been a journey of personal and professional, individual and collective discovery. Answers to the question of how young people with learning disability can transition towards a good life are to be found in how we fundamentally value this group of young people in education and society. Valuing can only occur if we recognise our interdependence while acknowledging our unique differences. Only then will we truly provide the opportunities and support that we all need to move forward in our journey towards a good life. This thesis will be of interest to young people; parents; education and social policy leaders; school leaders; career specialists; and all teachers, professionals and support workers in the field. Its findings and recommendations challenge “expert” and deficit constructions of learning disability. They have relevance for a collaborative “whole-school” approach to career and transition policy and practice for students with learning disability; importantly, however, they also have relevance for all students. Effective relationships are central to understanding how, through our relative interdependency; we can collaboratively make the journey towards a good life. Additionally, the thesis contributes to knowledge regarding how to meaningfully involve young people with learning disability in the research process through their lived and our shared experiences that provide ethical, methodological and procedural insights. I develop two main arguments in this thesis. My first argument is that exclusion from educational opportunity must be exposed, challenged and rejected. Exclusion must be exposed in order to understand the unequal power mechanisms at play. Exclusion must be challenged, as the outcome of these unequal power mechanisms is that some students succeed and some fail. Exclusion must be rejected to make way for new relational, transformative education agendas. My second argument is that direct and meaningful involvement and collaboration by young people with learning disability in the research process will support practical solutions towards greater democracy in education and society. The ultimate outcome of democracy in education is a system where all students are valued and celebrated for their unique differences and stories, yet with recognition of their relative interdependency. All students are viewed as capable, purposeful, responsible and contributing. They are provided with the opportunities and support required to realise a good life, leading to active contribution and a sense of belonging in education and society.

The beliefs that teachers have about teaching and learning have an influence on the practices that teachers implement. This is particularly relevant, although not exclusively, to teaching practices that meet the needs of Māori students in our bicultural learning environments of New Zealand. There is a growing amount of research to support the use of student voice data, the benefits of which can be seen at a school level, at the classroom teacher level as well as for the individual students themselves. This research project focused on exploring the impact of students sharing their thoughts and opinions about their learning, (i.e.: student voice data) on influencing teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. In doing so it explores effective facilitation of this process in a bicultural learning environment. In particular it investigates the potential of a combination of specific tools, notably student focus groups and coaching conversations with teachers to influence teachers’ beliefs. This study took place in two low decile schools in Christchurch. It involved focus groups of Māori and non-Māori primary-aged students, alongside teacher reflective interviews being conducted on repeated visits. Its findings identified approaches for accessing authentic student voice in a bicultural learning environment. The thoughts and opinions shared by Māori students highlighted a focus on their own learning as well as celebrating their culture. Teachers reacted to student voice by making connections to their classroom programmes, and by accepting or dismissing more provocative statements. These reactions by teachers helped emphasize the most helpful methods for reflecting on this data. Their reflections, used alongside a specially designed ‘Teacher Belief Gathering Tool’, ascertained that teachers’ beliefs were both reaffirmed and changed through guided reflection and coaching conversations on student voice data. Teachers’ knowledge of effective teaching and learning, their motivation for changing their teaching practices, as well as witnessing success were all considerable factors in teachers changing their beliefs.

abstract: As scrutiny of teacher effectiveness increases, there is a greater call for multiple instruments to measure teacher effectiveness and provide robust feedback to support teacher growth and development. Student perception surveys, questionnaires completed by K-12 students about their teachers, have increasingly been used to evaluate teachers and provide feedback. Situated in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College (MLFTC) at Arizona State University, this action research study used Attribution Theory, Sensemaking Theory, and research on teacher emotion to 1) document the experiences of pre-service teachers as they related to the administration and subsequent results from a student perception survey (SPS), and 2) examine the influence of two online professional development modules created to prepare teachers for the SPS process and make sense of the results. Teacher candidates participated in the SPS process in their final, year-long residency. Results from the mixed-methods study provided evidence that pre-service teachers had both positive and negative experiences that were influenced by the SPS results they received from their students. Also, depending on the results they received, teacher candidates either attributed the cause of the results to themselves or to characteristics of their students. Results from the study also indicate that teacher candidates use few strategies to make sense of the results and used those strategies to varying degrees. Pre-service teachers indicated that they regarded the modules as helpful in the sense-making process. Furthermore, evidence indicates that pre-service teachers value their students’ feedback. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2017

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this dissertation was to identify how the 'Student Voice' makes part of the construction of the science curriculum, the development of Reference Matrix ENEM and of the preparation of textbooks in the high school biology. This work is organized in 3 chapters in article format, in order to address in more detail the issues that make up this research. The first article investigated the jobs that have been made in recent years about textbook and School Curriculum and mapped the contributions of the views of students in the construction of the Science Curriculum. The second article sought relations between the interests of high school students resulting from the application - in nationwide, an instrument entitled The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) and the skills assessed in ENEM, analyzed from its Reference Matrix. The third and final article aims to investigate how often the topics of greatest interest to high school students appear in Biology textbook. From this, the need arises to study whether there is relationship between the triad: Interests of students, Textbook and Curriculum. This is because we believe that there should be a balance in the process of (re) construction curriculum in which students leave the facilitating role to become active participants in this process. Listen students provides a major change in decision-making and educational activities geared for whom education is designed. The set of three articles showed us that researches on 'Student Voice' are very important for the development of new curricular and pedagogical strategies. However, there are a greater number of researchers engaged on the subject abroad than in Brazil. We showed the almost null student participation in decisions, discussions or even meetings on changes, menus and curricular reforms. In conclusion, it is necessary to increase the number of jobs and new research about the 'Student Voice', in order to valorize the information given by young people. It is noticed that some of the interests of young people, analyzed, appear very superficially in some of the selected collections. With the present results, we can suggest the need of new researches about the quality of textbook. These can not only identify possible deficiencies and refine future training structures of textbooks, but can also become important tools to arise books with a new look for Science Education. / O objetivo desta dissertação foi identificar de que forma a Voz do estudante‟ faz parte da construção do currículo de Ciências, da elaboração da Matriz de Referência do ENEM e da confecção dos Livros Didáticos (LDs) de Biologia do Ensino Médio. Este trabalho encontra-se organizado em 3 capítulos em formato de artigo, com o intuito de abordar de maneira mais detalhada os assuntos que compõem esta pesquisa. O primeiro artigo investigou os trabalhos que foram feitos nos últimos anos sobre LD e Currículo Escolar e mapeou as contribuições das opiniões dos estudantes na construção do Currículo de Ciências. O segundo artigo buscou as relações entre os interesses dos estudantes do Ensino Médio - resultantes da aplicação, em âmbito nacional, de um instrumento intitulado The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) e as habilidades avaliadas no ENEM, analisadas a partir de sua Matriz de Referência. O terceiro e último artigo tem como objetivo investigar a frequência com que os temas de maior interesse dos alunos do Ensino Médio aparecem nos LDs de Biologia. Diante disso, surge a necessidade de estudar se há ou não articulação entre a tríade: Interesses dos alunos, Livro Didático e Currículo. Isso porque, acreditamos que deva existir um equilíbrio no processo de (re) construção curricular em que os alunos deixem o papel de coadjuvantes para se tornarem participantes ativos desse processo. Ouvir os estudantes proporciona uma importante mudança em decisões e ações pedagógicas voltadas para quem o ensino se destina. O conjunto dos 3 artigos nos mostrou que pesquisas sobre a Voz do estudante‟ são muito importantes para o desenvolvimento de novas estratégias curriculares e pedagógicas. Porém, ainda é maior o número de pesquisadores empenhados no assunto no exterior do que aqui no Brasil. O que revelamos é a quase nula‟ participação dos estudantes em decisões, discussões ou até mesmo reuniões sobre mudanças, ementas, reformas curriculares. Por fim, se faz necessário ampliar o número de trabalhos e novas pesquisas sobre a Voz do estudante‟, a fim de valorizar as informações dadas pelos jovens. Percebe-se que alguns dos interesses dos estudantes, aqui analisados, aparecem de forma muito superficial em algumas das coleções selecionadas. Não podemos generalizar, mas a partir dos resultados obtidos podemos sugerir novas pesquisas sobre a qualidade dos LDs. Estas podem não só apontar possíveis deficiências e refinar as futuras estruturas formativas dos livros didáticos, como também podem se tornar importantes ferramentas para que surjam livros com um novo olhar para o Ensino de Ciências.

In this qualitative case study, I investigated eighth-grade honors students’ and their language arts teacher’s perceptions of the support provided in writing groups, the climate in writing groups, and student and teacher support that enhanced students’ motivation to write in writing groups. Eleven study participants engaged in the inquiry, 10 middle school students and one language arts teacher. I collected data during the fall semester of 2014. Data were individual interviews, classroom observations of participants in writing groups, and program-related documents. The main aim in this investigation is to discover middle school students’ and their teacher’s perceptions of the support, climate, and motivation to write in writing groups. Five domains emerged from the data: peers working together on writing, teacher facilitation with writing, student perceptions of climate, teacher perceptions of climate, and creating a community of learners. Peers working together on writing and teacher facilitation with writing correspond to research question one: In what ways do 10 language arts middle school students and their language arts teacher support students’ writing efforts in writing groups over the course of a semester? Student perceptions of climate and teacher perceptions of climate correspond to research question two: In what ways do the language arts middle school students describe the writing climate in their writing groups over the course of a semester? Creating a community of learners corresponds to research question three: What type of teacher and student support do the language arts middle school students and their teacher think may enhance students’ motivation to write in writing groups? Discoveries show student participants believed working together on writing supported their personal writing and their teacher perceived teacher facilitation supported students’ writing efforts. Perceptions of climate in writing groups were mixed, with the majority of students describing the climate as supportive, although two students did not agreed. The teacher perceived a supportive climate in writing groups. Perceptions were also mixed regarding the support students and their teacher provided that enhanced students’ motivation to write in writing groups. Eight out of 10 students and the teacher perceived collaborative writing enhanced student motivation to write, while two students did not perceive collaboration had any effect on their writing motivation. The student participants believed peer assistance helped to enhance their motivation to write in writing groups while the teacher believed student choice in group mates might enhance student motivation to write. Writing groups may affect students’ and their teacher’s perceptions of students’ writing efforts, as working together on writing led to more positive perceptions. A lack of choice in groups and working with peers with established friendships may have implications for students’ perceptions of the group climate and motivation to write, especially when some students are allowed to choose their group and others are not. Students’ perceptions of the writing group climate play a role in their writing efforts, as students who held positive perceptions of their writing group climate had positive perceptions of the support in writing groups. Working with peers as a community is important to student motivation, as the collaborative aspect can serve as a motivator for many adolescents. This study is significant because it fills gaps in the literature about research on writing and group social environments, as well as middle level research on writing groups, and motivation, and the inclusion of student and teacher voice. This inquiry also provides teacher and student insights on the ways affective climates are created in a middle school language arts setting.

The practice and popularity of restorative justice (RJ) in education has been growing in recent years. There is, however, no universal understanding of RJ and its objectives. RJ can be understood in dramatically different ways by those implementing it: as an approach that challenges taken-for-granted structures and systems of discipline and control in schools; or as simply another tool that emphasizes compliance and punishment. Little research has been conducted that makes these differences explicit, and what the impact these different understandings of RJ might have on students. This multi-site case study examined how RJ was applied, how it was understood and what its intended objectives were in two schools, set in different contexts – Scotland and Canada. Although data was collected from teachers and principals to understand the context, my primary focus was on the students, those whom RJ was most intended to affect. Through questionnaires, observations, learning circles and engaging students as co-researchers, this study situates the student experience of RJ within particular school, regional and national contexts. The study finds that RJ in schools is a window into what is most fundamental to students: relationships. Viewing relationships through the window of RJ reveals both their centrality to students and their character of being of social control or social engagement. The study argues that RJ, by itself, does not guarantee certain qualities of relationship, but it does allow us to examine those qualities and ask questions of how school relationships are used to engage and/or control.

To conduct this qualitative dissertation study, a phenomenological approach was utilized. The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives of highly motivated, economically disadvantaged, middle school students to discover the factors that they identified as integral to their overall development and their intrinsic motivation, over time, to learn. A key component of this study was to give voice to the students who participated in this study and utilize their perspectives as a primary data source. Participants in this study included six middle school students, identified as economically disadvantaged, two from fifth grade and four from the seventh grade. Self-determination theory was used as a theoretical framework to guide and inform the analysis of students' perspectives, obtained through individual, semi-structured interviews with each student and classroom observations. Six themes, related to students' intrinsic motivation to learn and succeed in school, were identified. Extrinsic factors were also prominent. Although students expressed a true love of learning, they also acknowledged that external factors such as grades and testing influenced their motivation to learn. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness were major factors at play in the school, classrooms, and homes of these students. Recommendation for practice suggest that teachers, administrators, and parents shift their emphasis away from testing and grades to a greater focus on the internal factors that motivate students to learn so students will be more likely to enjoy the learning process and develop, both in school and over their life span, a love of learning in the process.