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In recognition of education reform being a powerful means for change, Rwanda is chosen as a case study. Despite being devastated by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the country has proactively undertaken reform of its education system. Education has since been valued as a central site to support various national developmental goals under Vision 2020 (Government of Rwanda, 2012). It has attempted to reimagine the purpose of education, followed by an enhancement of educational quality to deliver the valued outcomes. As a key reform effort, the competence-based curriculum (CBC) has been implemented since 2016. This curriculum also officialises the use of "learner-centred" pedagogy (LCP) as the teaching and learning approach. The envisaged goal of LCP is to engage students in more active and participatory learning experiences, which can help to cultivate competencies relevant for their futures (REB/MINEDUC, 2015). While LCP is considered as being one of the most popular pedagogical approaches on a global level, the literature review reveals that its efficacy has been contested, particularly in the global South. Moreover, being associated with a constellation of theoretical traditions, LCP has no fixed meaning or practice. Concerns over LCP are commonly observed in low-resource contexts, where pedagogical practice is constrained by a range of challenging systemic issues. In this research, I undertook an exploration of the complex processes of the LCP reform in Rwanda. Using a qualitative approach, I adopted a vertical case study design using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Working with 16 teachers in four "schools of excellence" in Kigali city, 16 teacher trainers and 10 key government officials, I explored the perceptions and practices of LCP. Through undertaking thematic coding this rich data was analysed to identify themes across the data sets. The findings suggest that LCP has varied meanings in the Rwandan context. The majority of participants shared an activity-based understanding of the concept, which required "active" participation of students in various learning activities, with teachers as "facilitators". However, despite the subject-based variation observed in practice, as constrained by local capacity, learning in the selected Rwandan schools invariably requires strong teacher-led classroom management, and teachers remaining as the main sources of knowledge. Some participants preferred to view LCP using a content-based understanding. This pertained to focusing less on classroom activities or formats and more on teachers situating content in students' everyday lived experience. While participants were generally hopeful about the potential of LCP, they did highlight systemic issues related to policies, instructional environment, teachers, students, and parents. These were discussed as key challenges to LCP reform efforts. The study provides important implications for the international literature on classroom reform processes with a central focus on teaching and learning. Firstly, the findings show that a system-wide coordination is evidenced as being crucial for a successful reform. This challenges the teacher-deficit discourse about classroom practice. By engaging with Guthrie's (2018) teaching style model, I reflect on the importance of having locally relevant pedagogical practice that is compatible with the socio-cultural and material realities in any given context. His framework resonates with some participants' suggestion to move the reform agenda forward by depolarising pedagogical models. This would help to recentre the focus of LCP on improving the learning experience for students. Lastly, recommendations are made for both policy and teacher training in the Rwandan context and beyond. Apart from providing an enabling environment for teachers, there is a specific need to develop and legitimise a range of pedagogical strategies that can be flexibly adapted to different learning objectives, student capacity and material conditions. This would ensure the curriculum objectives are not merely rhetoric of change, but rather, realistically achievable.

Like many countries in the Global South, Colombia has committed itself to providing quality, inclusive education for children with disabilities. However, while there is general agreement on the principle of inclusive education as something to be pursued, its meaning and nature is contested. Furthermore, a growing body of literature has questioned the relevance and application of models of inclusive education that have been generated in countries of the Global North, and subsequently, exported to Southern contexts. Moreover, there is a notable absence of literature that engages with how to operationalise inclusive education in a way that acknowledges, and is responsive to, the differing realities and priorities of rural contexts in countries of the Global South. Colombian educators have developed and implemented a successful child-centred model of rural education, called 'Escuela Nueva'. As a learner-centred approach for multigrade classrooms, its design includes elements that could support the education of children with disabilities: children of different ages and abilities learn at their own pace, working in teams through the provision of self- instructional learner guides; participatory tools build class cohesion; and student committees contribute to decision-making in the school. In contrast to traditional models of teacher training in Colombia, teachers are trained using the same principles and materials as those that they will use in the classroom and learn how to facilitate, rather than direct, lessons. However, there is very little research that has explored teacher practice and children's experiences in rural contexts, whilst none has examined both Escuela Nueva and disability. Consequently, my research aimed to explore how the school staff, parents and children of five rural Escuela Nueva schools in Colombia, understood and addressed the educational needs of children with disabilities. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, I conducted 46 interviews and 15 non-participant classroom observations across the five rural schools of Las Colinas, over a period of eight months. This included interviews with 11 school staff, 14 parents and five senior staff from Foundation Escuela Nueva. To seek the views of children, I i used a multi-method visual participatory approach with 53 children aged between 7 and 11 years, of whom, 26 were children with disabilities. My findings suggest that, while Colombian legislation advocates for a biopsychosocial understanding of disability, all participants understood disability as an individual deficit, thus reflecting the medical model of disability. Consequently, the impact of intersecting factors, such as poverty and rural location, on parents' ability to support their child with a disability were often not recognised by teachers. Moreover, the bureaucratic disability diagnosis and support systems are designed for urban populations and do not recognise the challenges that rural parents face when trying to access them. Thus, multiple disconnects were observed between state systems, schools and parents. Challenging deficit accounts of rural teacher practice, my research into how children's needs were addressed in EN classrooms revealed that the majority of teachers delivered high quality, inclusive teaching using the EN approach. Nevertheless, the findings problematised some elements of the EN model in terms of the extent to which they were able to support children with disabilities. My research revealed how the capacity of an EN teacher to deliver inclusive education is affected by a range of factors at multiple levels, of which the EN materials and tools are just one. Emphasising the role of context, teachers located in small, single-class schools had increased demands on their time, but less access to support from colleagues, than those in multi-class schools. Moreover, no teachers had received training on disability and the Escuela Nueva microcentre support structure for teacher practice had not been sustained. Consequently, I argue that, not only should state and school processes address the needs of the child, but also, the needs of those that are implementing them. Teachers require ongoing, situated, support that addresses not only support for their practice, but also, includes processes that build upon local strengths to address the disconnects and dilemmas that teachers and parents are facing within their context.

Despite widespread interest in education for children with disabilities, research in India has predominantly been focussed on issues around access, attitudes of teachers towards students with disabilities and challenges to implementing inclusive education. However, there is a need to move away from focusing solely on issues of access and challenges towards a deeper understanding of how inclusive educations systems are developed. My research addresses this crucial gap through a study that critically explores how inclusive education is perceived and practised in a set of government schools that have an explicit mandate to focus on inclusive education. These schools are operated by an NGO called Muktangan under a public-private partnership with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) in Mumbai, India. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, I conducted 140 interviews and 21 classroom observations across three schools, over a period of 10 months. Through deep immersion in the field, I gathered perspectives and observed practices of various members in these schools, including teachers, students with and without disabilities, teacher trainers, and members of the school leadership team. I analysed the empirical data thematically and applied the 3E framework of Entry, Engagement and Empowerment by Singal (2004; 2013) to discuss the complexity in the development of inclusive education systems in these schools. The empirical findings show that there has been a conscious effort to embed inclusive practices in their teacher training, the curriculum, and pedagogy, thereby developing and sustaining support for diverse learners, including children with disabilities through their whole school approach. They implement regular capacity-building, subject specific strategies and classroom management using flexible furniture, timetables etc., activity-based teaching and learning, individualised attention, peer learning as well as customised assessments aimed at including diverse learners in the classrooms. The foremost enabler identified by members of the school for including children with disabilities and difficulties in learning is their special education department called the Learning Resource Group (LRG), which comprises two special education teachers in each school. Additionally, teachers listed that receiving structured support, and having access to socio-emotional support created a sense of community that enabled them to include diverse learners. Members of the schools reported time constraints, the need to expand the role of LRG, teaching students with 'behaviour problems', lack of training in Braille and sign language for supporting children with significant sensory disabilities and lack of physical access for some students due to the schools being located within inaccessible government school buildings as challenges to implementing inclusive education. Students reported strong friendships with their peers and close relationships with their teachers that created a sense of belongingness, on the one hand, whilst also reporting incidents of 'teasing' due to their disabilities or personal circumstances, on the other. The data highlighted that the wider school culture embraces inclusive education in a holistic manner that takes into account the intersectional identities of the students, teachers, and other staff in these schools. Finally, drawing on the findings, a roadmap for including diverse learners in teaching and learning within mainstream Indian schools and more widely at the Indian policy level under the ambit of the Right to Education Act, 2009 and National Education Policy, 2020, is presented.

"Learning To Live Together" (LTLT) has been emphasised as one of the four education pillars (Delors et al, 1996). Recently, Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 (at times titled: Learning To Live Together Sustainably, UNESCO, 2018) has provided a renewed focus, emphasising peace education, global citizenship education and education for sustainable development. It has been challenging to research and inform teaching practices, schooling systems and policies for LTLT due to the lack of a coherent conceptual framework based on classroom practices and a sustained international aid and research focus on literacy and numeracy. In India, there has been a long-standing interest in synergetic concepts and schools have refined 'best practices'. Philosophers, such as Mahatma Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Aurobindo Ghose, Rabindranath Tagore and Jiddu Krishnamurthi, have foregrounded "education of the heart", "education of the spirit" and "education for inner flowering" as fundamental goals of education. They founded and inspired schools that target education for LTLT, some of which have existed for more than a century. In this thesis, I use complex systems theory (CST) and the human capabilities approach (HCA) to explore: a) how teachers conceptualise LTLT; b) how they teach LTLT; and c) what (systemic) influences enable and constrain them in teaching students to LTLT. My multiple embedded case-study involved a ten month-long immersion across five Indian schools founded or inspired by the aforementioned philosophers and extensive shadowing, classroom observations, introspective interviews, card sorting activities and reflective diaries, with a total of 14 teachers. The methods tapped into Southern epistemologies by drawing on reflection and introspection as ways of knowing. This research builds trustworthiness through interviews with principals, extended time in the field and triangulation of perspectives (those of teachers, students, principals and the researcher). This research reconceptualises LTLT as LTLT "Harmoniously" (LTLTH) and establishes that the investigated teachers perceived and practised LTLTH as the primary purpose of education. I reconceptualise Delors et al's (1996) LTLT framework into an interconnected 2D framework of LTLTH. I introduce three domains for discovery of the self, other and community, intersected with the six dimensions of "awareness", "right relations", "sense of purpose", "change in perspective", "compassionate action" and "meaningful engagement". I find that teachers leveraged a lived experience-based pedagogy, where LTLTH took place through experiential learning, a continuum of shared lived experiences and an ethos of harmonious living. I build upon UNESCO (2014) and Noddings's (2002) pedagogical framework and present a six-component LTLTH teaching pedagogy framework comprising teaching philosophy, teachers living harmoniously, experiential learning practices, behavioural management strategies, teacher-student relations and content. Finally, I find that most of the teachers were intrinsically driven and committed to educating students for LTLTH and trying to do so for themselves. In addition, the school environments supported teachers' capabilities by embodying an ethos of freedom, autonomy, harmony, community living and lifelong learning. The thesis offers a) theoretical contributions by developing novel conceptual frameworks for understanding both LTLTH and its associated teaching practices; b) empirical contributions by exploring teachers' conceptions of the purposes of education, their classroom practices and school-level enablers that build teacher capability for LTLTH; and c) methodological contributions through the use of Southern epistemologies and integration of CST and HCA in exploring LTLTH.

The Dominican Republic is an anomaly in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, as it has one of the highest rates of economic production, yet low learning outcomes according to global and regional comparative evaluations. In 2012, the Ministry of Education (MINERD) launched its Educational Revolution to improve the education system through a competency-based curriculum (CBC) and other reforms. However, Dominican public schools continue to face low levels of learning and high levels of school violence. This study contributes to the literature on effective teaching and learning by examining Dominican teachers' and students' perceptions of effectiveness in the context of their schools and classrooms. In this study, the notion of pedagogy is understood as both a cognitive and affective process that is locally situated. I draw on the notion of craft knowledge, the practical knowledge learned from classroom experiences (Brown & McIntyre, 1993) to centre the voices of teachers and students. I employ an ethnographic lens and diverse methods to enquire into the sociocultural processes shaping teacher and student perceptions and practices in two schools on the country's north coast. Findings suggest key differences between schools, which shape teachers' and students' perceptions of effectiveness. However, all teachers perceive similar challenges, including: the resource- and time-constraint environments in which they work; student conduct; parents' lack of involvement; and unfulfilled promises by the MINERD. Within these material, social, and political conditions, effective teachers foster culturally congruent communication through a notion I describe as 'tough love;' and provide learning opportunities by transforming the CBC into tangible resources or by making connections to students' lived experiences. At the same time, marginalised groups, including girls, nonconforming and homosexual boys, students of Haitian descent, and over-aged learners face particular challenges and inequities. The findings thus highlight a complex interplay of both constructive and destructive aspects of pedagogy. I conclude by proposing an adapted framework to understand craft knowledge in the context of the Dominican Republic. The framework highlights the importance of understanding teacher perceptions of their roles, their students, and the curricular subjects they teach; as well as the cultural and personal values and beliefs shaping those perceptions. Moreover, it situates craft knowledge into a socio-ecological system (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) to consider the multifaceted dimensions of teaching and learning. In this system, challenges and opportunities are presented, highlighting the importance of leveraging culture and context to improve effectiveness.

Young people identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D), remain some of the most marginalised learners in the English education system. These young people are one of the most likely groups to face exclusion from school and evidence suggests that discrimination against disabled adults and children, in England, is on the rise. Within research debates on education, the voices of those identified as having SEN/D remain on the margins. Six story-telling case studies were undertaken, exploring the experiences of young people identified as having learning difficulties in a mainstream, mainstream faith and special school in England. Specifically, the way in which the young people described themselves and experienced a sense of belonging was examined. An ethical and robustly inclusive methodology using arts-based methods was developed to empower the young people to share their experiences on their own terms. Embracing the potential of video voice, self-portraiture and life-mapping as ethical, participatory and inclusive research methods, this study has captured multi-sensory narrative data. Offering a detailed description of how the methods operated inclusively contributes to the field and, supports other researchers to undertake inclusive research alongside young people identified as having learning difficulties. The voices of the six young people are examined to show the ways in which they demonstrate a resistance to othering discourses in society, through describing themselves and articulating their sense of belonging. The young people’s reflection on difference and disability demonstrated that their knowledge of disability and specific ‘diagnoses’ was limited. Moreover, the way in which they described themselves and their peers reinforced a dichotomy of ‘normal’ and ‘other’. Hence, I argue within this thesis for the further development and dissemination of a social model of learning difficulty. This model rejects the notion of essential difference and offers an understanding that learning difficulty, similarly to disability, can be viewed as socially constructed. Based on the young people’s reflections on belonging, I also problematise the use of special educational needs (SEN) labels within school settings arguing that, discussions around the use of labels must involve the voices of young people. In relation to SEN labels, I also examine the geographies of SEN/D using the young people’s reflections to underline how nurture or inclusion units can have the potential to both offer refuge and reinforce notions of difference.

India in the last two decades has introduced several policy reforms to improve primary school mathematics teaching and learning, especially to make it more accessible for children. One such policy, National Curriculum Framework – 2005, outlines the need for making mathematics relevant to all children and connecting school mathematics to students’ lives. Based on these reforms, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed new primary school mathematics textbooks. These books are a radical departure from traditional mathematics textbooks, as they explicitly restructure its form, pedagogy and mathematical content. The crucial enabling link in actualising transformational ideals in textbooks are, the teachers. Yet, both in India and globally, very little is understood on how teachers use textbooks in their teaching. To fill this gap, my study explores how teachers view and use textbooks in a reform context. The study adopts a participatory view of the relationship between the textbook and the teacher; which is both influenced by the textbook’s features as well teachers’ thinking. The study explores the cases of ten primary school teachers in Grades 4 and 5, in four government schools of Delhi. Data were collected from classroom observations, semi- structured teacher interviews, and textbooks. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the textbooks, classroom observations as well as interviews. The textbook analysis reveals that several pedagogical changes are introduced within the textbook. The reformed textbook challenges the authority relations between school mathematics and the learner. Additionally, social justice messaging is implicitly embedded within the textbook. Teachers in turn make textbook related choices at two levels: first, at the level of task selection; second at an interpretive level. Challenging the predominant understanding of textbooks-centric teaching, my findings show that teachers use a range of strategies to engage with the textbook. These include following the textbook as a script, customising it to fit their own notions of mathematics teaching and institutional realities, as well as avoidance of the textbooks and the subject all together. There are two important implications of the study. First, in relation to producing reform oriented textbooks, the thesis argues for a simultaneous focus on teachers must be maintained, so that textbooks become educative materials for professional development. Second, the study also highlights the significance of institutional and cultural opportunities and barriers in enabling teachers’ productive interpretations of textbooks.

After a century of using schooling to denigrate Indigenous populations, Canada’s Indigenous communities were granted self-governance over schooling in 1982. In the wake of self-governance, special education remains largely unreformed, caused in part by assumed universality. This research therefore explores the conceptions of disability held by Anishinaabe youth within their communities, and school. Under Canada’s dual system of schooling, the federal government oversees Indigenous self-governing schools and allocates funding, while provincial governments control settler schooling. The federal system remains largely invisible because of a lack of policies, and exclusion from regional, national, and international assessments. This research occurred in a recently established, Anishinaabe self-governing secondary school that services six Anishinaabe communities. Uniquely positioned to examine disability, the students attending this school had all previously accessed special education provisions in their former provincial schools. This topic was examined during a 10-month multisite case study in Canada’s Sub-Arctic region. As a disabled, white, former teacher, and female researcher, I attempt to become an Anishinaabe-ally, by employing Indigenist methodologies. Centring the voices of the participants was demonstrated by using photovoice projects, Anishinaabe talking circles, and walking interviews. Maintaining three types of research journals, and ensuring participatory collaboration, led to the emergence of walking interviews as a data collection tool. The students expanded the research to include a student-led community powwow, which became a fascinating opportunity for data collection and community involvement. In seeking to contextualise the participants, data collection also includes recorded, semi-structured interviews, and casual conversations with students, teachers, elders, chiefs and family members, are recounted in my research journals. The role of schooling in Canada’s genocide, seems to cause the Anishinaabe self-governing school to be framed by the students, their family members, and elders, as a critical space for healing. In an apartheid-like state that segregates and isolates reserves, my findings highlight the significance of the school as a location for racial interaction in Canada. The school involved in this research became the central location for contact between settlers and Anishinaabe people. Thus, Indigenous self-governing schools seem to be a crucial space for convergence between settler and Indigenous worldviews. For instance, notions of disability enacted in the school’s programming attempted to align with Anishinaabe conceptions. Within my findings, conceptions of disability were intertwined with Anishinaabe spiritual beliefs, most significantly, interrelatedness. This belief caused Anishinaabe participants to conceptualise disability as an imbalance in the “medicine wheel”, which frames humans as seeking a balance in mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of themselves. The students engaged in myriad individual and community spiritual practices, for the purpose of seeking balance at home and at school. Repeatedly, the Anishinaabe participants considered their imbalances to be rooted in settler colonialism. As such, culturally-appropriate school programming for Anishinaabe students, seems to necessitate facilitating Anishinaabe spiritual practices related to healing, and addressing disparities stemming from settler colonialism.