This study seeks to explore the rationale for Masters level study as part of teacher training in England, the reality as experienced by those students and their perceptions of the value of Masters level to their personal and professional development as early career teachers. Teacher education has ‘consistently been a significant site of social and political struggle’ (Menter, 2010) including the aspiration to become a postgraduate teaching profession, of Masters level in initial teacher education and top-up programmes for qualified teachers. Yet, development of postgraduate provision has been haphazard and reactionary, leaving the University provider in the sector with the burden of promoting its importance and defending its relevance. In a sector where training of teachers has moved from higher education to schools led, there has become a palpable separation between theory and practice (Hargreaves and Fullen, 2012). This research pursues the value of the Masters level elements in teacher education and also to the development of a teacher’s own personal and professional attributes. This qualitative study uses a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology from a practitioner researcher perspective, in order to explore the student teachers perception and experience to develop a substantive theory outlining the value and use they make of their Masters level study. An early literature review, conducted to sensitise and inform the interview schedule was used within semi-structured interviews, undertaken with fifteen participants. Participants were purposively and then theoretically sampled to support the emerging theory until saturation of categories was achieved. Data was analysed using the CGT process outlined by Charmaz (2014). Core categories emerged describing qualities and characteristics that students earned, achieved and received while studying at Masters level that included professional capital (combined human, social and decisional capital) and personal capital. In addition, participants described the optimal educational environment for the promotion of these capitals; that of constructivist forms of teaching, learning and assessment (TLA). Furthermore, participants stated that the value and qualities of a challenging learning journey were enhanced when provided by an overall structure of transformative programme design. In the final theoretical rendering of the data, a conceptual model of programme design was formed, demonstrating the importance of transformative programme design, delivered through constructivist modes of TLA. Approaches found to provide a robust start to a teacher’s career, offer longevity in the field, promote effective and reflective teaching and critical but co-operative teachers.

In Initial Teacher Training (ITT), one of the technologies rapidly being adopted to support the development of trainee teachers is the e-portfolio. Research into successful use of e-portfolios beyond their function as a repository has been scanty to date. The purpose of the current study was to extend the boundaries of understanding of e-portfolios beyond this function. This was undertaken through two in-depth case studies where e-portfolios were used as a pedagogical tool intended to support the development of reflective practice on a one year postgraduate ITT course, during two years of investigation in one university A mixed-methods approach was adopted to capture the richness of participants’ self reports of their experiences, statistical data regarding interactions on the e-portfolios and analysis of reflective writing. Data were collected and analysed from questionnaires, student and tutor interviews and interactions with the e-portfolio together with analysis of the content of reflective e-journals, with a special emphasis on the place and depth of reflection. What emerged was a rich contextual understanding of e-portfolio use by trainee teachers and tutors and the problematic nature of conceptualising and assessing reflective thinking, together with the extent to which the development and depth of their reflective thinking had been supported by e-portfolio use. The results confirm previous concerns related to the training requirements of users and also the time needed for students and tutors to engage in interactions. Further they imply that the prerequisites of successful use of e-portfolios, as a pedagogical tool, to support the development of reflective thinking include common agreement about what constitutes reflection and reflective thinking embedded within a strong, rigorous and well theorised conceptualisation of course structure and content. Implied also is the need for a well understood and transparent framework to assess the depth of reflective thinking that should complement the competencies that underpin Standards, and support the professional development of teachers.

This narrative study into music and initial teacher education explored seven primary student teachers' stories of 'musical self'. They identified themselves as `not musical' at the start of their journey. The complexities of their personal and professional stories were explored examining culturally and socially rooted assumptions within their narratives. Research into student teachers' `musical self' is limited. The lenses of symbolic and interpretive interactionism and social constructionism supported analyses of students' co-construction of a teaching 'musical self'. Using Kuhn's (1962) paradigm theory, literature on music education's philosophies, principles and practices throughout the twentieth century were examined. This research built chronological biographies of students' contextually constructed teaching 'musical selves'. The students' subject and pedagogic knowledge development was tracked informing the in-depth interviews. The analyses of their stories were through thematic induction. Their own music making and successes with children did not appear to change their self labelling. The transactional self was underpinned by situated self referencing during interactions that created resilience in the students' ability to maintain 'not musical' labels. Strategies of self handicapping (Rhodewalt and Tragakis 2002) and self protection (Higgins 1999, Forgas and Williams 2002c) were regularly employed by the students. My initial assumptions of students' lack of musical expertise and experience proved inadequate as their musical backgrounds were more complex. The hegemony of Western High Art Music upon music education practices and perceptions proved influential through socially and culturally constructed norms for judging musical value and musicianship. The three key themes were durability of self labelling as 'not musical', WHAM effect upon individual conceptions of musical self and impact of various contexts upon the musical self. Emotional experiences and approving/disapproving atmospheres of authoritative people created durable labelling of the self as 'not musical'. Contextually based comparisons and expectations impacted negatively on their perceptions. Students separated their teaching and personal musical selves creating a false consciousness about 'musical self'. Students concluded they were 'not musical enough' to teach rather than 'not musical at all'.

The thesis presents an investigation into the professional development processes engaged in by lecturers who have taught English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Thailand's Rajabhat universities. The aim of the study was to explore the Rajabhat EFL lecturers' learning processes, and examine how they related to their classroom practice. In particular, the study looked at: 1. how these lecturers acquired and developed their professional knowledge during their careers; 2. how they integrated their professional knowledge into classroom practice; and 3. the impact of professional development on their classroom practice. Historically, the professional development of the Rajabhat EFL lecturers has been predominantly formal, neglecting the informal mode of learning. Furthermore, teachers' professional learning from the classroom has been disregarded. This study attempts to clarify the roles of the two modes of teachers' learning and of classroom practice. The aim of the study was to explore the Rajabhat EFL lecturers' learning processes, and examine how they related to their classroom practice. The study employed a case study design with a qualitative, ethnographic style approach. Three selected experienced EFL lecturers were the research participants. Data collection methods consisted of life history interviews, classroom observations, semi-structured and student group interviews. Data analysis was based on the emic approach. The findings revealed a significant and continual interplay of three elements: the institutional context, the individual teacher, and the teacher's classroom in generating professional development, and thereby, the professional knowledge of the EFL lecturers. Knowledge is acquired and reinforced from both formal and informal professional development but less so from their practice. This was because their meaning perspectives have been focussed less on the students' context, thus addressing insufficiently the impact of their teaching on students' learning. This study provides a significant contribution to academic development in the area of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in the Thai higher education context. Formal and informal learning, the teachers' personal context, and the role of the classroom as a resource for professional learning all contribute to the development of professional knowledge for these lecturers.

The Malaysian Ministry of Education is planning to implement inclusive education in mainstream primary schools by the year 2010. This ambitious project may lead to significant change but may also encounter a variety of barriers including provision of resources, established forms of teacher training and established teacher attitudes. Malaysian primary school teachers may find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to implement an innovation for which they are unprepared, both in terms of emotional acceptance and technical skills. This study has been undertaken in response to a directive received from the Ministry of Education with the express aim of providing the Ministry with relevant material concerning an examination of the attitudes (understanding/beliefs, feelings/values and behaviours) of primary school teachers in relation to the present and planned educational provision in Malaysia regarding inclusive education. It also takes account of these teachers' perspectives of their own needs and of resource requirements to support this move towards inclusive practice. The study population consisted of a sample of primary school teachers in Melaka, one of the states of federal Malaysia, which I view as representative of the nation's teachers. In the study attitudes were investigated in terms of a three-components model of attitude formation to identify cognitive, affective, and conative aspects. For this purpose two data collecting approaches were used i.e. quantitative (by questionnaire method) and qualitative (by interview), in order to define the nature of teacher attitudes towards inclusive education. To this end two Malay-language instruments were developed for the study, namely a standard questionnaire technique and a semi- structured interview schedule used in individual, face-to-face interviewing. The findings of the study indicate that Malaysian primary teachers at present have a concept of inclusive education as merely placing all children identified by the Ministry of Education with learning difficulties into mainstream classes, either part-time or Rill-time. The teachers were of the view that the structure of primary schools will need to change in order to support the Ministry's plan, or else the plan itself should be modified. Methods are discussed as to how Malaysia's present primary educational provision might begin to move towards an effective policy and practice of inclusive education.

In Madeira Island the Educational System has endured significant changes. The concept of education has changed in the past years as well as the need to help parents understand the new changes. This new concept of school brought a new universe into the classrooms. Teachers, students and the community in general must learn to deal with the diversity of students who now share their educational journey in the same school environment. This new challenge obliges parents, teachers, headmasters and the school community to accept, respect and provide the needed conditions for an effective education for all students. This research has explored whether inclusion of students with mental problems is working effectively, from the perspective of the teachers, in the high schools located in Madeira. The study was developed to identify the gaps in the teaching/learning process for students with mental problems studying in regular high schools. A survey method was adopted for this study in which a questionnaire was developed to explore teachers' attitudes and beliefs around the education of students with mental problems studying in regular high schools. Three illustrative scenarios were selected to show different realities that may occur among these students. Teachers read the three case scenarios and related them to their own experiences as educators. Teachers' reflections upon the problems gave the researcher the opportunity to analyze how these problems are solved or ignored by educators. The questionnaire was validated and ethical permission gained from the University. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed to teachers working in different high schools in Madeira, 300 questionnaires were returned at the end of the field work. Analysis of the responses identified a significant view that teachers were concerned about inclusion, but did not engage actively to implement government policy in this area. In particular teachers with more than 10 years experience were significantly less prepared and willing to engage with this inclusive approach. The majority of teachers reported a lack of resources, inappropriate curriculum and insufficient specialist staff as excuses for not engaging in inclusive education. The guidelines laid out in the educational policy have been put to the test. This study showed that, according to the opinions of teachers, none of the requirements have been met by the 35 schools surveyed in this study. The distance between theory and practice has always been long and in the case of inclusive education, giant steps need to be taken to narrow the gap between the theory in policy and reality in the school.

The conflict and violence of both the unrest in the southernmost provinces which claimed thousands civilians and officials in the last few years and the deep social division among the people throughout the country make peace education as a key tool for solving these problems for Thailand. The role of teacher education has been used for solving these conflicts. This study explores the universities’ policy on peace education in the teacher training process of the early childhood education programmes of Rajabhat Universities as the biggest groups of universities in teacher training across the country. Two main research questions were explored: 1) has peace education been delivered in early childhood education programmes of Rajabhat Universities in Thailand? and 2) if so, how does it differ across universities? The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the phenomenon in two Rajabhat Universities. Quantitative methods employed questionnaires to collect data from students of both universities from the first to fifth year (N=100). The data from both universities has been analysed by the Mann Whitney U Rank test (p<0.05). Qualitative methods employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from six chief administrators, ten lecturers in the Early Childhood Education Programmes, and four experts in peace outside the university. Four focus groups composed of five students in each group were used to collect data from the first- and fourth-year students of both universities. Collected documentations relating to curricula were analysed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings presented four key areas: University’s Policies on Peace Education; Teaching, Learning and Curriculum about Peace Study in RUs; Participants’ Ideas about Peace Studies; and Culture, Climate and Peace Studies in the RUs’ Contexts. The findings from quantitative and qualitative methods were integrated into the Peace Education Model of Rajabhat Universities (PEMRU) framework. The findings revealed that the policies of Rajabhat Universities have included peace education in teacher training programmes. However, very few policies have been named directly. Peace education has been integrated into classroom activities and universities’ activities as well as the universities’ regulations. The significant differences across universities were found in that one university had both direct and indirect policies on peace education whilst never officially naming them. The other university had both direct and indirect policies on peace education, which in contrast, were promulgated officially by the University Council. The study also found that the concept of peace in the Thai context was a combination of outer and inner peace; the role of the teachers was emphasised as a method of teaching peace education. Finally, the key concepts emerging from the analyses were developed into the Proposed Model of Peace Education for Rajabhat Universities. This model was composed of the concepts of peace and peace education in the Thai contexts as the centre of the model to work with; the three main components were the dynamic work-units (university’s policy, peace education centre, peace education curriculum); and five influential components surrounding the model as the supporters and conditions to work with (politics and government, religions and cultures, economic and equality, environment and responsibility, and ethnicity and identity). This proposed model is hoped to be a dynamic, rapid and sustainable way to solve conflicts and violence in the country.

The educational provision for pupils with autism and severe learning difficulties (SLD) in Thailand has struggled. Families and institutions have attempted to seek an alternative pedagogy to improve children’s quality of life. This thesis introduces Intensive Interaction, developed by Nind and Hewett (1994, 2005) in the UK and from the western culture, as a new pedagogy to foster the fundamental communication of Thai pupils with autism and SLD. There is a lack of understanding regarding the application of knowledge of how the western intervention would be perceived by practitioners in different cultures. The deep understanding of practitioners’ perceptions has facilitated a rethink of educational curriculum development and action to expand the work of Intensive Interaction within the East’s pedagogy. This research explored the perceptions of teaching pre-verbal pupils with autism and SLD, focusing on factors influencing the application of Intensive Interaction in Thai culture. The research addressed the question of how Thai teachers perceive Intensive Interaction as an approach to working with pupils with autism and SLD in the Thai context. In addition, it addressed which key factors in Thai culture influence the adoption of the Intensive Interaction. A two-day Intensive Interaction training course was carried out in Thailand to recruit the participants, and follow-up workshops were arranged for teachers’ practice development. Eleven participating teachers (ten women and one man) were drawn from two special education settings and one mainstream school in the northeast region of Thailand. A hermeneutic phenomenological perspective informed by the philosophical tenets of Heidegger (1962) was used to explore the Intensive Interaction experiences of teachers. Qualitative data were gathered in the form of four in-depth semi-structured interviews from each teacher: the first − before the use of Intensive Interaction with pupils, and the second to fourth − during the Intensive Interaction implementation. Two focus groups of teacher participants were conducted after the end of the Intensive Interaction teaching programme with pupils. Both interviews were in Thai and later transcribed, with some parts being translated into English. Active participant observation was recorded in a field note and research diary throughout the period of data collection to contribute to interpretation and analysis. Thematic analysis methods were developed from the hermeneutic and phenomenological philosophy of Gadamer (1989) and the analysis process was adapted from Titchen and colleagues (1993; 2003) as practical guidance. The analysis of the teachers’ perceptions captured the significance of the Intensive Interaction implementation in a new cultural context, their perceptions of the benefit and challenging aspects of the new pedagogy and the importance of cultural values to the new teaching practice. Key themes from analysis of the interviews revealed that all teachers perceived Intensive Interaction as a worthwhile approach not only for a positive outcome for pupils, but also for an increased sense of professionalism and confidence for teachers. The data also revealed challenges to its implementation in the Thai culture. These included the role of the Thai teacher, the traditional Thai rigour of controlled-based teaching methods which derive from behavioural principles, the components of Thai culture characterised by a hierarchical structure for interaction and the role of the teacher as a second mother. These fundamentals have made the implementation of a child-focused approach more challenging for Thais. The implications for practice include rethinking education for future pre-verbal pupils with autism and SLD, in which social-communicative abilities are included as a priority in their educational curriculum. Policies for skills training and knowledge development in the areas of child-centred education are required. The policy maker has to formally address the fundamental philosophy and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and how children learn that are embedded in the preparation course for pre-service special education teachers. This needs to provide them with the appreciation of other educational philosophies and to reposition Thai cultural challenges to a child-focused approach. These approaches are urgently required to enable teacher educators to effectively provide a teacher-training course that shifts practice in line with the education reform intended by the current Thai government.

This thesis analyses a complex process of meaning making. It centres upon the meaning making of a group of fourteen teachers who teach pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities (pmld). The nature of the meaning making changed as the research progressed. It moved from my meaning making of the teachers to my meaning making with the teachers. Integral to this was a process of personal meaning making and critical self reflection. The qualitative paradigm of research methodology offered a framework that informed my methodological decisions. The influence of symbolic interaction, critical theory and grounded theory was instrumental in the initial stages of the research process. Latterly, the role of social construction became important in my meaning making. The contribution of questionnaires, individual and group interviews to the process of meaning making, in the context of this work while necessary, has proved to be problematic, particularly in relation to the organic nature of the research, my personal role in it, and the role of ethics. I argue for an ongoing ethical debate within the research that develops as the research progresses and changes. The research has highlighted the integral role of teacher identity and notions of specialist knowledge in the development, sustenance and challenging of the teachers' understandings about the pupils they teach who have pmld. Inherent in these understandings are the personal experiences the teachers have encountered throughout their lives. These understandings have been analysed and the dominant influences of particular theories and models of disability are made explicit. The influence of labelling, categorising and the professional discourse has also been shown to be an integral element of the study. As a teacher educator, I have gained some insights which may improve the support I offer to teachers in their professional development. These insights relate to the importance of acknowledging the role of teacher identity, and engaging teachers in a process of analysis that encourages them to appreciate the impact of teacher identity on their understandings. An important element of this would be reflection on their personal experiences. In relation to specialist knowledge, a critical analysis of pedagogy is argued for: a process that engages teachers in wider notions of pedagogy for all learners, but which supports them in translating this pedagogy to effective teaching and learning for pupils with pmld.

The aim of this study was to determine how student writing and academic literacy are experienced and perceived in a university by academic staff and students and how pedagogical interactions are influenced by institutional discourses and practices. The research is a form of institutional case study realised through a qualitative, ethnographic-style inquiry. The methodology comprised semi-structured interviews with forty-eight academic staff from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and thirty-five student respondents from diverse areas of study, and discourse-based analyses of textual materials at both the institutional and departmental levels. The findings of the present research revealed that there is variation in the way academic staff perceive the nature and the learning of student academic literacy and their understanding of the practices which support that learning in a university. Students face significant challenges in adapting to variable expectations and managing the requirements of writing and assessment in the contemporary context. The research also revealed that there are structural aspects of higher education practice which appear to have adverse effects on the learning and development of student academic literacy and the capabilities of academic teaching staff to actively support and foster student learning in that domain. There are implications for the role of writing in learning and teaching and its position in the curriculum. It is argued that a more explicit approach should be taken to student academic literacy by embedding it in disciplinary teaching and learning. A number of ways, based on the evidence of this research, are suggested to advance pedagogical research and develop appropriate practice to that end. The findings are linked to wider debates about teaching, learning and educational reform in higher education. The thesis concludes by comparing and contrasting two disparate research paradigms for investigating the higher education experience. A new paradigm is conceptualised which draws on existing models theoretically and empirically but adds dimensions which address the exigencies of research in the contemporary context of higher education. It is argued that this reframing has the potential to raise and enhance the profile of pedagogical and student writing research consonant with current higher education policy aims and ambitions.