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Confucian and Socratic schools of thought are famously noted as the foundations of Eastern and Western education systems. Confucianism emphasizes the importance of discipline and teacher's authority; Socratic methods of teaching highly values critical thinking and the power of questioning. Confucian and Socratic schools of thought have been profoundly influencing the education systems in the Eastern and Western societies, fostering distinctive cultures and values in teaching and learning. Trust has been considered one of the most important determinants of teacher-student relationships and the efficacy of education systems. Past literature has highlighted key factors influencing trust in the teacher-student relationship in both Eastern and Western cultures. Yet more literature on trust in teacher-student relationships has a Eurocentric focus sampled from schools in Western education systems, overlooking the influence of Confucian school of thoughts and empirical data in Eastern education systems. To date, literature has neither discussed the importance of trust in both Eastern and Western education systems subscribed to Confucian and Socratic schools of thought perspectives, nor employed empirical data from higher education to compare and contrast the trust relationships in Eastern and Western education systems. This dissertation will discuss the trust relationship between teachers and students in higher education in two universities located in UK and Hong Kong, which will be indicative of Confucian and Socratic schools of thoughts in Eastern and Western education systems respectively. The first objective is to discuss the different bases of trust in Eastern and Western education systems, coupled with the influence of trust on the teacher-student relationship. Secondly, from the perspective of trust between teachers and students, this dissertation aims to explore existing trust problems in the teacher-student relationship in both Eastern and Western educational contexts. Finally, based on teacher and student trust theory, this dissertation will propose methods and counter-measures to promote a teacher-student relationship that achieves positive interaction in higher education. This dissertation discusses in depth how Confucian and Socratic schools of thoughts influence the value of trust between teachers and student in both Eastern and Western education systems, and uses empirical data to compare and contrast the determinants of trust in teacher-student relationships in the two education systems from the perspectives of both parties. Based the findings, the researcher proposes practical strategies for teachers in higher education systems, who are the potential audience of this dissertation, to establish and maintain trust in their relationships with students.

Purpose: The role of the mentor is central to a student's successful transition to newly qualified teacher but the quality of mentoring within Initial Teacher Education is varied. With the rise of school-led routes, the mentor will play an even more significant role in the progress of student, and newly qualified, teachers. This research aims to find ways of improving the quality of the mentoring experience, for both mentors and mentees, and thus improve outcomes for all stakeholders in the process. Approach: I have undertaken this study as a researching professional. As an experienced teacher, and teacher educator, I bring an understanding of the pressures experienced by both mentors and student teachers. I have taken account of the current political context, mentoring discourse and have engaged with student teachers and mentors, working within a provider-led ITE partnership in the North East of England. Drawing on my experience and my research, I have been able to interpret, and synthesise, the experiences and views of student teachers and mentors, to draw conclusions about positive ways forward. Findings: My research identifies that some of our accepted practices contribute to the creation of contexts which do not support the mentoring process from the outset. It also identifies areas of tension, within the process, that we could alleviate. Some of these tensions are fostered, for example, by multiple understandings of the key terms used in everyday mentoring discourse. Meaningful preparation for the process is currently focussed on mentors which contributes to mentees not consistently taking active roles in the process, or responsibility for their own learning. Value: The findings led to the development of a conceptual framework to underpin a model mentoring, focussed on the mentee. The framework underpins small-step changes to foster improvement from within, empowering students to take responsibility for, and ownership of, specific aspects of the mentoring process. This would have a positive impact on a mentor's ability to mentor a student teacher more effectively thus impacting upon a student's progression and emotional wellbeing. The implementation of the framework would also equip newly qualified teachers with the skills and attributes of proactive mentees, ready to engage with the mentoring available to them within the Early Career Framework.

Early career teachers (ECTs) undergo numerous observations of their teaching for various purposes, some of which can be perceived as challenging. Published research exists that examines the process of observation, however, there is little research that uses the voice of ECTs to explore how they experience observation. Using an inductive case study approach, this study privileged the voice of the participants to explain their perceptions of how observation challenged both their identity and agency. Eleven ECTs in an 11-16 secondary school in the North East of England participated in the study. Data was gathered using semi-structured one-to-one and paired interviews using vignettes. Various aspects of observation were explored during both types of interview, including the purpose of and the method used for observation and how feedback on performance was given. Thematic analysis of the data identified key themes related to structure and agency. Utilising a theoretical framework based on Giddens' Structuration theory (1986), three typologies of observation experience emerged: Absent, Brutal and Collegial. The experiences were characterised as 'critical incidents' that influenced ECTs' perceptions of observation impacting, either positively or negatively, upon their identity, agency and practice. Analysis highlighted the importance of relationships and trust between the observer and the observed. When a collegial approach to observation and feedback was adopted by all parties, the experience was perceived to enhance ECT agency and identity. Absent and Brutal experiences were considered to be restrictive of agency, rendering ECTs' perceptions of the process as un-developmental. The contributions from this research about ECTs' experiences of observation will be valuable to schools, providers of Initial Teacher Training, and mentors of ECTs. One recommendation is that the different typologies of observation could be used to help inform future training of teachers, mentors and those who observe.

Globally, and in particular in Sub-Saharan Africa countries, there is a concerted focus on teacher continuous professional development to enhance quality in education. However, Uganda has limited research about how continuous professional development aligns to classroom practices. This research examines the contribution of continuous professional development to teachers' classroom practices, addressing this main question: "What are teachers' understanding and use of the continuous professional development training that they have attended in Uganda?" The study addresses two research sub-questions. The first research question is, "What are teachers' understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of the training they have attended?" The second research question is, "How do teachers use their CPD training in their Grade 6 mathematics classrooms?" The study uses an interpretive research approach comprising a case study of nine teachers in Uganda, with in-depth interviews of the teachers as the primary data collection tool. The data were transcribed, coded and analysed using critical discourse analysis. The findings of research question 1 indicate that continuous professional development training benefits teachers by improving classroom lesson preparation, equipping teachers with pedagogical content knowledge and assessment practices as well as supporting teacher-teacher collaboration. The drawbacks of the training, however, included a weak training policy framework, limited opportunities for professional development, limited career progression and inadequate school instructional support. Furthermore, the findings suggest that adequate teacher participation in continuous professional development beneficially affects classroom practices. The central aspect of teacher professional development is the relevance of training, the content and focus of such training as well as adequate participation. The study concludes with implications for policy and practice in continuous professional development, and its re-design of provision, training modalities and opportunities. The study contributes to a new understanding of how teachers' continuous professional development in Uganda influences change in classroom practices. It adds to the knowledge of the efficacy of continuous professional development and the effect of such provision as key to teacher professional knowledge and practice.

This thesis reports on a mixed-methods study into understanding the role of research engagement in the teaching profession. There is currently a focus upon ‘an evidence-informed teaching profession’ in documentation from England’s Department for Education (DfE, 2016) and as a teacher, the author was interested in the perspectives of teaching practitioners themselves. By addressing the following research questions, a more comprehensive understanding of the perceptions, practices and potential of research engagement was formed: a) How do different teaching practitioners in a variety of settings perceive research engagement? b) How may socio-cultural factors in schools influence practices of research engagement? c) What potential worth does research engagement have for teaching and learning? Each question was addressed using a range of research approaches to achieve a holistic understanding of teachers’ research engagement. Findings from a survey (n=109), semi-structured interviews (n=6) and case studies (n=3) formed a three-dimensional view of research engagement in the teaching profession by illuminating the phenomenon from different angles. The survey established the breadth of evidence-informed teaching, whilst the interviews and case studies added depth to the understanding. Adding a further dimension, a user-focused evaluation, revealed the ‘reach’ that research engagement could have in the teaching profession. To present the findings, Carr and Kemmis’ (1986) conceptualisation of the critical teacher was adapted to take into account the different forms of research engagement that became apparent during the study: reflective practice, passively using findings from research, critically engaging with research and conducting one’s own research. A new way of theorising these research activities has been created and are presented collectively as a spectrum, rather than a scale with reflective practice at one end and research conduct at the other extreme. This thesis concludes that an evidence-informed teaching profession can be inclusive of all, or even just some, of the above.

Students’ effective learning and creativity development is an important agenda, especially for Singapore. Human capital being the only natural economic resource Singapore has, it is important that teachers are able to teach students effectively. Whilst teachers in Singapore are prepared with creative pedagogical strategies for use in the classrooms, this may not be a sufficient approach if the aim is to increase the quality and capacity of future creative capital. This study aims to uncover how Singapore based teachers’ intention to further develop their pedagogical creative capacity may be increased through development programmes, policies and practices. A mixed method approach was utilised for this study. Employing an exploratory sequential design, qualitative data was first collected using semi-structured interviews (n=16). Based on the resultant themes, items were incorporated into the quantitative phase of data collection (n = 14). Analysis of quantitative data was carried out using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman’s Correlation.

Teacher feedback is frequently described as one of the most important influences on student learning at many levels of education, yet few studies explore feedback from the student perspective. There is also a paucity of examination of the effects of continuing professional development (CPD) upon teacher feedback. Moreover, written feedback is often privileged over verbal feedback, both within the research literature and by students and teachers within classroom settings. This thesis reports on a longitudinal quasi-experimental study, exploring whether a CPD intervention emphasising the role of teachers’ verbal self-regulation and process feedback impacted positively on students’ self-belief systems (comprising self-concept, self-efficacy, anxiety, mindset) in the context of physics. The self-belief constructs were measured by pre- and post-intervention surveys and compared to a cohort whose teachers received no intervention. The study shows that the CPD intervention had a positive impact on changing teacher feedback for the two intervention classes, as well as improvement of self-concept, self-efficacy and anxiety (but not mindset) in the intervention classes when contrasted with the two comparison classes. However as shown in other studies, even highly committed teachers experience difficulties in transferring training content to real-life instructional practice. Analysis of the self-belief data provides support for both existing studies which operationalise these as separate constructs, and those which indicate instructor feedback has a mediating effect upon student self-beliefs. Using a three-level constructed typology of feedback, findings also suggest that verbal feedback has a much higher frequency within the classroom discourse than other studies have observed, and moreover, that it has a role within the emotional space of a classroom in impacting self-beliefs. Additionally, qualitative insights into students’ and teachers’ perspectives of experiencing the intervention are presented as a contextualised case study of authentic classroom practice.

Introduction Young people in classrooms are generally listening to speech in an acoustically complex environment composed of long reverberation times and multiple competing voices generated by the room occupants. The challenges of listening to conversation when there are several competing voices is known as the ‘cocktail party’ or ‘multi-talker listening’ effect. Many of the cues that help to filter speech in noise are sometimes inaccessible to young people due to an auditory system that is going through a process of maturation; young people have limited life experience and an underdeveloped knowledge of linguistic rules. Education systems throughout the UK and beyond have gone through a period of reform, with the traditional didactic teaching methods supplemented by more interactive and student-focused learning which are commonly associated with higher noise levels. Several studies have shown that noise levels have a detrimental effect on learning and cognitive function. At the same time, concerns over the general attainment levels in schools and the gap between learners from the most and least deprived areas have come to the forefront of government policy. Aims The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of dynamic soundfield technology on educational attainment with young primary three learners and to determine if its efficacy is moderated by the speech weighted C50 properties of the classrooms. Dynamic soundfield is a technology that monitors the level of background noise in a classroom and adapts the level of gain provided to the teachers’ voice to enhance speech intelligibility in noise. Another primary aim was to explore and evaluate the effects of dynamic soundfield on learners from Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 1 and 5 to discover if it contributed to closing the attainment gap between learners from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland. One of the secondary aims of this study was to measure the acoustic properties of the occupied and unoccupied research classrooms and to establish quantitative data on the overall use of the dynamic soundfield systems in each intervention classroom. In addition, the young learners’ and teachers’ experience of noise when exposed to the intervention was compared to the control. The findings from the research are discussed with reference to the literature and in relation to implications for practice. Methods This research was a longitudinal repeat measure study design. The 495 primary three learners from 13 schools were allocated to control and intervention classrooms through concealed randomisation. Overall, there were 25 research classrooms, 13 intervention classrooms were fitted with dynamic soundfield (278 learners) and 12 acted as a control (217 learners). All the participants completed the Achievement for Excellence (Interactive Computerised Assessment System) (AfE (InCAS)) suite of adaptive assessments at the start and end of the study. These were administered and marked by the CEM at the University of Durham who were blind to the intervention. Results Comparisons of the pre-test and post-test Developed Ability and Mental Arithmetic module scores revealed that dynamic soundfield systems were primarily effective in classrooms with good C50 values. In the data handling subtest, the dynamic soundfield intervention produced significant improvements in classrooms with excellent acoustics for speech. In reading, the intervention classrooms categorised as fair and good for speech clarity demonstrated significantly higher learner scores in word recognition, comprehension and reading compared to the control. Only the good C50 intervention classrooms demonstrated a significant improvement in word decoding. Results from a series of two-way mixed ANOVAs showed that learners from the most deprived quintile exposed to dynamic soundfield in classrooms with good C50 values gained a significant benefit in the Developed Ability module and subtests. Learners from the least deprived quintile, in classrooms with excellent C50 values, showed a statistically significant improvement in the General Mathematics subtests of Data Handling and Measure, Shape and Space. Learners from both SIMD 1 and 5 quintiles demonstrated a significant benefit in the Reading module and Word Recognition subtests. Only SIMD 1 learners showed a significant advantage of dynamic soundfield in the word decoding subtest, which was primarily effective in good C50 classrooms. In the Non-Verbal Ability and Word Recognition subtests, there was a significant reduction in the gap between SIMD 1 learners in the intervention classroom and SIMD 5 learners in the control. The views and experiences of learners towards classroom noise and the use of dynamic soundfield were explored quantitively: noise questionnaires were completed by all participants. Logistic regression model analysis revealed that learners exposed to dynamic soundfield could hear the class teacher more easily compared to the control. Overall, the results indicate that dynamic soundfield may be regarded as a cost-effective intervention strategy that could contribute to raising attainment and reducing inequality in Scottish education.

The importance of student success, commonly measured as course completion, is vital for all educational institutions. However, if students are not engaged in their learning or do not have a supported experience, they will not be able to successfully complete their studies. Literature in the field indicates that educational institutions around the world are confronted with increased economic pressure which increases the importance of learners' attraction and retention. Research also points out that there is a correlation between student engagement and student retention. The purpose of this research is to investigate ways to improve student engagement, which can act as the foundation for a Students as Partners approach in their learning journey in the context of Vocational Education and Training in Australia. I utilised the pre-existing 'individual learning plans' and tutorial meetings to develop a personal support framework that improved learner engagement and empowered students to be active participants in their learning. The study used several conceptual frameworks and models including Kahu and Nelson's framework on engagement and the Higher Education Academy's model on values of partnership. The study applies an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm of research and a qualitative method of inquiry, namely qualitative interviews, as the primary method of data collection through 15 interviews and an online survey which were carried out with teachers and students. A thematic analysis was conducted, and the data was interpreted which identified six factors for engagement; communication, responsibility, motivation, adaptive support, trust, and reflection. These 'triggers' played a role in engagement, and subsequently in developing partnership between student and teacher. The study concludes with recommendations to educational institutions on how to enhance engagement through partnership. Additional research into student engagement and Students as Partners in a wider context is also recommended.

The research reported in this thesis examines the work of teaching assistants (TA) in primary schools. The national agreement in 2003 saw their numbers rise considerably in an attempt to raise standards and relieve teacher workloads. The initial intention was for TAs to undertake many of the administrative tasks of teachers although some whole-class support was envisaged in the form of higher level teaching assistants and cover supervisors. Following a large scale research project between 2003 and 2008 titled the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff, TAs came under criticism. They were reported to be deployed in pedagogical roles for which they lacked preparation and pedagogical knowledge; where they closed down talk and focused on task completion. The empirical research took place in 2016 in four North of England primary schools; taking a mixed-methods approach it aimed to investigate the reality of TA work. Questionnaires were completed by 46 TAs, eight full day observations undertaken (two TAs in each school), 16 TA interviews (four TAs per school) and four line manager interviews (one per school). The thesis is presented as a set of tensions which act as a lens through which TA work is examined. The four tensions are: professionalisation of TAs versus de-professionalisation of teachers; work versus non-work; control versus autonomy and inclusion versus exclusion. The findings are analysed drawing on theories of power and work with emphasis on the caring and nurturing that is associated with women's work. These findings illustrate a growing professionalisation of TA work coupled with work intensification. Like teachers, TAs are subject to similar control mechanisms, yet, at times work with considerable autonomy. When included as full members of the school they have significant agency to shape their working conditions but are still subject to exploitation as they so readily provide unpaid labour.

Quality, although detailed as vital, is not clearly defined in refugee education literature. Teacher Professional Development (TPD), largely considered central to quality education, is similarly under-represented and under-researched in these settings. This thesis argues that quality education and TPD should be contextual and participatory in their development. In this mixed method case study of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA), pedagogy, composed of ideas/discourse and practice, is used as a framework to consider quality education and TPD. This explores the organisation’s Education Reform Strategy (ERS) and the impact of TPD on teachers and their classroom practice. The findings highlight the absence of teacher participation and the limited contextualisation of policy that do not respond to the realities of schools and the community in this refugee setting. The challenging physical and social context is also highlighted as influencing teachers’ engagement with TPD and their classroom practices. While some change in teachers’ classroom practice can be observed since participation in the SBTD Programme, teachers’ pedagogy as ideas/discourse around the use of classroom practices for specific purposes is revealed. A lack of theoretical understanding around the use of more child-centred practice is also highlighted. Policy and systems discourse that do not interact with teachers’ everyday realities have limited influence. The significance of policies that interact with teacher practices, however, demonstrates the need for these to be developed in a participatory way and fully contextualised. Broader implications and conclusions of these findings focus on the Capability Approach, demonstrating that teachers have awareness of training and development needs, even in more complex settings. Teacher identity factors such as gender, tenure and reasons for teaching are also highlighted as considerations necessary for TPD. These findings build on quality education and TPD literature with specific focus on a refugee context.

Psychological theory suggests that the quality of positive relationships teachers have with children could act as a resource to support their wellbeing by increasing the quality of intrinsic motivation to engage in teaching (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007b; Deci & Ryan, 2000) On the other hand, negative relationships may elicit negative emotions and eventually trigger a burnout cascade. Appraisal of the literature suggests there is a link between teacher wellbeing and student-teacher relationships (STR), with more consistent findings indicating a relationship between burnout and stress and conflict in the STR. This finding is of importance as positive STR have been shown to form the basis for much learning in education. Consequently, it was proposed that teacher wellbeing may indirectly have an impact on student outcomes through the STR. Therefore, the aim of this research was to explore the association between teacher burnout and student outcomes, specifically wellbeing and academic self-concept. Further, it explored if this relationship was predicted by the quality of STR. Cross-sectional data was analysed from 596 children (aged 9 and 10) and their 31 teachers. The results demonstrated teachers’ depersonalisation and personal accomplishment significantly predicted student physical wellbeing but not psychological wellbeing or academic self-concept. In addition, significant class differences were found for school satisfaction, with STR and psychological wellbeing accounting for this difference. Whereas, the dimensions of teacher burnout, did not improve model fit or account for a significant proportion of variance. Furthermore, post-hoc results showed that teacher burnout and academic self-concept account for some variance in the STR. Overall, this research indicates the importance of intervening not only directly at the student level, but also at the contextual level, to support whole school wellbeing.

Values show who we are as individuals, the beliefs we uphold, and the principles we defend for they influence our thoughts and actions. The values portrayed through thoughts are not only translated in the form of actions but also through the language we use to communicate with one another. As such, there is a fundamental need to investigate if values are reflected in one's choice of language use. The role of language in communication is imperative because the 'how' and 'why' a word is used are significant and presents more sense than the meaning of the word alone. This study examined students' values in their language use in two different modes of communication, which is spoken and written in a blended learning environment. The spoken sessions were face-to-face and the written sessions were through the online forum discussions. Any emerging values that the participants exhibited in their language use were based on Schwartz' Basic Human Values which consists of 19 values. The study was a qualitative one that employed purposeful sampling and the data was collected through classroom observations, online forum entries, and interviews. The face-to face tutorial sessions presented data for classroom observation while the postings the participants wrote on the forum board furnished data for online forum entries and emerging values were clarified through interviews. The data was analysed using discourse analysis, and thematic analysis to facilitate the identification of the values and the reasons for using a particular word/phrase that reflected values. Since the interpretation of values is subjective, 2 stages of blind inter-rating were conducted using Cohen's Kappa Statistics for reliability. Based on the findings, a list of values revealed in the participants' language use showed that some participants exhibited similar values like politeness and tolerance while others displayed different ones like caring and humility. Some were aware of these values while others were not. The findings also showed that values highlighting social focus are not the only emerging ones during a social interaction. The presence of personal values played an equally vital role is establishing communication in a social context.

Research indicates that teacher-pupil relationships influence pupils both academically and psychologically. The quality of teacher pupil-relationships is associated with a range of outcomes for children and young people. This systematic literature review aimed to explore what is known about interventions to improve teacher-pupil relationships and to discuss the characteristics and effectiveness of these interventions. The process was guided by the seven stage systematic method outlined by Petticrew and Roberts (2008). Five studies were selected using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Each study employed a teacher-focused intervention within an educational setting. The findings of the review indicate that interventions designed to improve teacher-pupil relationships had some significant effects on the reported quality of teacher-pupil relationships. Though it is acknowledged the effects were often correlational as opposed to causal. Comparison of findings across and between studies was difficult as each study measured a range of constructs relating to teacher-pupil relationship quality and employed different methods to do so. The majority of research on improving teacher-pupil relationship quality has been conducted solely from the perspective of the classroom teacher. Consequently, children's perceptions of the quality of their relationships and the impact of the interventions were absent from the studies. Further research into the contextual and dyadic aspects of relationships, from both teacher and pupil perspectives, may help to develop understanding about how teacher-pupil relationships can be enhanced.

This study has identified teachers’ perceptions on the quality of teaching and its impact on students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Nepal. The objectives of this study are to examine teachers’ perceptions of teachers’ professionalism, teaching pedagogy, schools’ environment and facilities, government policy and practice, parental responsibilities and socio-cultural factors. Hence, the research findings aim to contribute to the work of policymakers, teachers, practitioners and future researchers on improving the quality of teaching. In order to achieve the main aim of this study, a mixed method approach was adopted. The quantitative method was carried out through the use of a survey questionnaire with secondary school teachers in Nepal. The sample respondents for this study were selected through the convenience sampling method. The data was analysed by using a statistical tool; namely, the Mann-Whitney U-Test, in SPSS. The qualitative data was collected via in-depth interviews conducted with secondary school head teachers. The data has been thematically analysed using computer software (NVIVO). Secondary data has also been gathered from relevant journals, research papers, articles, books and other online sources. This study finds that teachers’ professionalism, pedagogy, government policies, schools’ environment and facilities, parental responsibility and socio-economic factors all affect the quality of teaching. In addition, this study also identifies some new findings; namely, the influence of student responsibility and excessive political influence on secondary schools in Nepal. However, the study identifies no influence of socio-cultural factors on teaching and learning activities. The findings of this study are significant for academics, teachers, practitioners and policymakers. In addition, system theory has been empirically tested in the context of Nepal, which adds to existing knowledge, especially in terms of the relevance of social system theory in the education systems of developing counties like Nepal. Further research could be carried out on male and female teachers’ perceptions of the quality of teaching in either public or private schools.

This study was undertaken to examine the types of collaborative activities engaged in by 72 Post-compulsory education basic skills and vocational teachers in three colleges in south London and how these teachers experience and value collaborative practices in supporting students' learning. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was utilised. The overall findings from this study reveal the nature and complexity of teacher collaboration. They indicate that despite the contention in the literature that the majority of teachers still prefer to work in isolation, many teachers in this study participated in different collaborative activities, although, largely in informal contexts. They found informal collaboration more convenient and effective in dealing with immediate issues than formal collaboration but at the same time, the findings also indicated that many teachers desired more formal collaboration. Additionally, findings from this study revealed that teacher characteristics such as age, department, contract types and teaching experience can influence participation in collaborative activities. Furthermore, evidence from the study revealed that many teachers, especially older and more experienced ones, preferred collaborative activities which directly related to their classroom practices. Moreover, the findings indicate that teachers in this study identified learning new ideas as the main benefit of collaboration while excessive workload was regarded as the major barrier. Finally, this study made recommendations and developed a conceptual model that may have application in the further education and vocational establishments.

Learning scientific concepts can be challenging for many pupils and consequently much research has been carried out to locate and explain the social and cognitive processes involved in bringing about changes to learners' abstract conceptual understandings. This thesis contributes to this field by offering a text-world account (Werth 1999, Gavins 2007a) of how scientific concepts are constructed and linguistically represented in classroom discourse. More specifically, its first aim is to explore how a group of twenty, first year secondary pupils and their teacher construct and linguistically represent the abstract scientific concept of heat energy (and related concepts) in discourse. In so doing, it examines how the concept emerges and develops during a series of classroom activities, including a teacher-led demonstration, a simulated role-play and a group discussion/writing task, in addition to teacher and pupil interviews. By using the Text World Theory framework (see Gavins 2007a; Werth 1999) to focus on the linguistic choices and their corresponding cognitive effects, it becomes possible to explore the cognitive architecture of the pupils during the learning events and interviews. Thus, it is hoped that this study makes an innovative contribution to the field of cognitive linguistics and science education by explaining and exemplifying how learners' scientific concepts develop in naturalistic settings (Amin 2015). As a text-world approach to investigating classroom discourse is a relatively new area of exploration, the thesis also aims to examine the effectiveness of the text-world framework to explore multimodal, interactive classroom environments. The class involved in this study belonged to a state secondary school in a large urban city in Scotland. There was a broad ability range amongst its pupils, many of whom spoke languages other than English at home. The data generated was the result of a four-month prolonged investigation with the class, which resulted in the video and audio recordings of 15 lessons, 8 pupil interviews and 5 teacher interviews. Part of this data was later transcribed and analysed using the text-world framework. This framework proves to be well-suited to the task of investigating the conceptual structure of the classroom participants, due to its ability to track and explore multiple conceptual worlds established through spatial and temporal shifts, as well as modality and metaphor. By applying the framework to the relatively unexplored context of the classroom, extensions to the framework are made that show how the classroom discourse, the knowledge frames of the pupils as well as the social and concrete world of the classroom, play a key role in the development of abstract thought in a classroom setting.

The research presented in this dissertation involves a quantitative study of mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. Formative assessment is understood as a process in which both teachers and students actively become the agents of the process, responsible for their own knowledge and practice. In this process, formally gathered evidence is used to formulate feedback and inform decisions; and informal evidence (e.g. observation, conversations) is used to generate teacher and peer-feedback to improve learning (Hargreaves, 2005; Wiliam & Leahy, 2015). The focus of the study is on mathematics teachers in state secondary schools in the Brazilian Federal District. The research design employs survey methodology with a structured e-questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed based on six domains of knowledge extracted from existing research literature. The several piloting phases, and a field test conducted with a larger sample, demonstrate the validity and reliability of the instrument and provide information about mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. The evidence shows that teachers in the Federal District did relatively better in terms of interpreting evidence of students' learning and helping students to use assessment information. On the other hand, they had a relatively lower performance in terms of choosing/developing assessment methods (e.g. classroom activities, discussions) to elicit evidence of students' learning. The overall performance of teachers in the Federal District was lower than that of teachers sampled from the other states of Brazil. The original contribution of this research is methodological in the development, piloting and application of a new instrument to assess mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment; and to knowledge in providing information and a unique insight into Brazilian mathematics teachers' knowledge of formative assessment. There are important implications for policy and practice, focussing on teachers' professional development with regards to formative assessment and clarifying Brazilian teachers' roles as assessors.

This qualitative research studies a group of sixteen Chinese high school teachers to explore Chinese teachers’ perceptions of professionalism as well as changes in teaching. These teachers were all graduates from Master of Education (Ed.M.) programme in a Chinese university. They differed in many aspects including teaching experiences, schools they were working for, personal histories. These teachers’ work and lives were analysed based on data generated from three rounds of semi-structured interviews. Themes emerging from the interviews suggested that it was Chinese teachers’ professional conscience that had mostly affected their sense of professionalism, and there were changes both in teachers’ perceptions and actions in teaching after their graduation from Ed.M. This research contributes to a better understanding on Chinese teachers’ professional lives by identifying professional conscience as the core of Chinese teacher professionalism. The meanings of professional conscience suggest that Chinese teachers’ perceptions of professionalism share similarities to that of teachers’ in the West. The fluctuations of professional conscience through teachers’ lives has challenged stereotypes of teachers in the Chinese society.

Introduction: Children's social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties are associated with reduced academic performance, stressed teacher-child relationships, and other negative academic and life outcomes. The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY TCM) programme is one intervention developed to address problematic behaviours via training teachers to use positive and proactive management strategies. The overall aim of this DPhil is to use the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme as a case study for applying mixed methods at the systematic review level to ascertain what is known about both the programme's effectiveness and how people experience the course, and subsequently to use the systematic review's findings as a springboard (rather than as an end goal) for more exploratory research into 'for whom' the programme might work. Method: Study One is a mixed methods systematic review of IY TCM. It applied multilevel meta-analysis to RCT outcome data and grounded theory meta-synthesis to interview and focus group data on stakeholders' experiences of IY TCM. Quantitative and qualitative findings were cross-synthesised and mapped using an integrative grid. Study Two moves the field forward by filling a gap in the evidence base, as identified in Study One. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) across Devon, exploring the acceptability and appropriateness of expanding IY TCM to the subgroup of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. Data were analysed thematically and mapped onto IY TCM content. Results: In Study One, nine studies reported across 14 papers met inclusion criteria for either quantitative or qualitative strands of this systematic review. Multilevel meta-analysis of RCTs (n=4) indicated that the programme produced teacher- and child-level results in the desired directions. Clear trends across all measured outcomes favoured the intervention group over the treatment-as-usual comparison. Qualitative meta-synthesis (n=5) illuminated a cyclical learning process and broader conceptualisation of teacher and child outcomes than was evident in the quantitative evidence. Notably, RCT data on teacher outcomes were limited to self-reported or observed behaviours, while teachers described other benefits from IY TCM including increased knowledge and emotional well-being. Cross-synthesis of findings from the two review strands highlighted harmony across the RCT and qualitative evidence but also a number of areas in which constructs that were prioritised by one type of research were not integrated into the other. Study Two generated classroom management strategies from SENCos, which aligned closely with strategies taught in IY TCM, indicating that IY TCM would be both acceptable and applicable (if not sufficient) for use when working with children identified with SEN and behavioural difficulties in schools. Discussion: Based on the positive effects of implementing IY TCM despite very few studies to power analyses, the programme appears to offer tangible benefits to both teachers and children. It is possible that results are underestimated due to limited types of outcomes measured and absence of experiential data from additional stakeholders (e.g., parents). Depending on current provision of special educational needs services, schools operating inclusion models are likely to find these strategies beneficial for children identified with SEN, and this subgroup should be explicitly examined in future IY TCM studies.

With a high prevalence of conduct problems (CP) in school-aged children, effective interventions for these youths are of great importance. This thesis considers CP in the context of the classroom, including examinations of executive function (EF) and emotion-related skills; the development and evaluation of a classroom-based intervention to improve behaviours for learning; and an EEG investigation of cognitive control and emotion regulation (ER). The heterogeneous nature of CP is considered throughout, with an examination of the callous-unemotional (CU) traits subtype. In two experimental studies, pupils with CP (with and without CU traits) were found to have deficits in EF and emotion-related skills. Low behavioural and academic self-perceptions and poor student-teacher relationships (STR) were also identified. For the first time, emotion lability/negativity was identified as a mechanism through which CP is associated with student-teacher conflict. A systematic review of intervention outcomes for CU traits indicated generally poorer outcomes for these youths, but demonstrated the potential for behaviour change. Based on this work, a cognitive neuroscience informed intervention for mainstream pupils with CP was developed and evaluated. The intervention yielded mixed results, with poor fidelity from teaching staff possibly accounting for this. Finally, a direct measure of cognitive and emotional control was addressed through a pilot study with adults, using an EEG emotion-induction go/no-go paradigm. A distinct N2 component was found, providing support for this tool as a measure of ER. Self-reported EF and ER were not associated with the N2 response; possible reasons for this are discussed. The results in this thesis advance our understanding of CP in the school context, provide support for the utility of the CU traits distinction, and examine the effectiveness of intervention approaches for these pupils. Furthermore, measurement issues in EF and ER research are highlighted and related to a novel EEG measurement tool.

Emotional aspects of teaching impact on classroom relationships, as well as on teacher burnout and resilience. The research reported here contributes towards understanding emotional knowledge in initial teacher education. Using particularly Boyatzis and Goleman’s ideas of emotional competence, a four-quadrant framework was constructed, showing emotional knowledge as categories of self- and social awareness and self- and relationship management. This framework was tested in an inquiry to support student teachers during their work-based learning in classrooms. The research aimed to find the meanings attached to emotional knowledge by these student teachers and their school placement mentors. One hundred and nineteen student teachers following a primary postgraduate programme provided an opportunity sample of participants. After introduction to the framework, eighty-four completed an online survey, self-reporting both their emotional knowledge and their confidence in making those self-reports. Eleven agreed to provide written reflections during school placements, to participate in a focus group and be interviewed. Their mentors supplemented this with interviews and their written end-of-placement reports on the student teachers. In a mainly qualitative and interpretivist approach using thematic analysis, responses were coded using ATLAS.ti software and triangulated across data sets. This built a picture of how emotional knowledge was understood. The research found that student teachers used emotional knowledge in managing behaviour and building trusting and respectful relationships with mentors and pupils while participants experienced it as a developmental part of reflective practice. The findings were used alongside the ideas of dealing with emotions by transforming teacher knowledge and Zembylas’ concept of emotional ecologies, thereby developing a new theoretical framework for emotional knowledge. The main recommendation - that teacher educators prepare student teachers to explicitly recognise emotions and use emotional knowledge – has relevance to any work that involves dealing with emotions. The thesis also points towards empirical research into the re-theorised model.

The idea that teachers differ substantially in their ability to motivate and educate students has pervaded educational research for decades. While the education system, and teachers in particular, provide an enormously important service, many people hold teachers almost entirely responsible for differences between classes and for individual students’ performance. The belief that the ‘teacher effect’ is such that students would perform better or worse given a specific teacher remains unfounded, as true experimental design is difficult to apply. The present thesis, employing pseudo-experimental methods, investigated potential teacher/classroom effects on several educational outcomes. The five empirical chapters in this thesis explored whether students’ motivation, academic performance, and perception of learning environment were affected by their teachers and/or classmates, as reflected in average differences between classes. Investigations were conducted longitudinally and cross-culturally, in three different education systems using data from four samples. Two samples were secondary school students aged 10 to 12 years, in their first year of secondary education, from the UK and Russia, and two samples were large representative developmental twin studies, the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) from the UK, and the Quebec Newborn Twin Study (QNTS) from Quebec, Canada. Average differences were observed across classrooms and teacher groups, effect sizes ranging from 2% to 25%. The results suggested a weak influence of current subject teacher that was difficult to disentangle from several confounding factors, such as peer influences, selection processes, individual differences in ability and perceptions, teacher characteristics and evocative processes. The findings suggest that student outcomes, rather than being predominantly influenced by teacher effects, are under multiple influences. Overall, the results call for caution in considering ‘added value’ or ‘teacher effect’ measures as valid criteria for current education policies that affect teacher promotion and employment prospects.

This thesis considers pupils attitudes, teachers (and pupils ) creativity and teacher well-being. These three terms represent factors that are closely linked and have a synergistic relationship in determining learning outcomes. Research concerning these factors, and in particular the findings of action research concerning teachers well-being, are presented through eleven publications. This thesis, when viewed as a single piece of work, provides an insight into teachers everyday experiences, professional lives and their responsibilities. It utilises several research methods including questionnaires (approx. 200 teachers; 150 pupils), interviews (approx. 50 trainee teachers), and diaries (N = 2). The key findings suggest that more clarity is required concerning the meaning of creativity for all primary and secondary teachers and how it should be embedded in teachers practice. A safe classroom, one where a child can make mistakes, take risks and share their thoughts and feelings, is necessary for this to occur; teachers understanding of this concept is considerable and broadly based; however, results suggest that teachers approach this in different ways. Trainee teachers well-being is affected by their school placements and therefore time for them to learn and share with their peers was found to be both necessary and important. It was also found that the trainee teachers benefited from being taught about time-management as this skill was beneficial for their role. An intervention of a 90 minute lecture addressing stress, time-management, psychology models such as Maslow s hierarchy of needs and Rogers core conditions, was researched and proven helpful for trainee teachers (primary and secondary science). However, more discussion of the topics and models was required and therefore three workshops per academic year were trialled with the aim of creating a community of practice to normalise experiences. Questionnaire and interview data were highly positive about this intervention and evaluation of the content showed it was beneficial during school placements. The conclusion of this work is that creative pedagogy and a teacher s well-being are related: if we want our teachers to be creative practitioners in the classroom, we need to ensure that they are well in themselves. Although this conclusion is from a small case study, it could be generalizable to other teacher training courses and a crucial area for those working in teacher education to consider. Supporting and training trainee teachers in how to manage their professional lives so they are equipped personally and emotionally is reported in the findings as necessary for the profession.

A positive self-concept is associated with a number of outcomes including school adjustment, academic attainment and mental health. Literature suggests individual differences in self-concept derive from children’s relationships with significant others such as parents and teachers. A systematic review of the literature exploring the relationship between teacher-child relationships and children’s self-concept found some associations, however, this was not always consistently found. Furthermore, a number of methodological limitations in the studies were noted. Implications for future research were reported and included using multi-faceted measures of self-concept and teacher-child relationships, as well as controlling for the effect of other social relationships (e.g. parents). To address some of these limitations, this empirical paper examines whether teacher relationships (as characterised by closeness and conflict) are associated with children’s global, academic, behavioural and social self-concept, and whether teacher relationships may buffer children who are less securely attached to their caregivers against negative outcomes, such as low self-concept. 163 children (aged 7-11 years) and their class teachers participated. Questionnaires measured child reports of the teacher relationship, attachment security to their caregiver and self-concept as well as teacher reports of teacher relationship quality. Results found that although there was no evidence for a moderating effect of teacher relationships, attachment security was related to children’s global, academic, behavioural and social self-concept and positive teacher relationships further contributed to children’s behavioural and academic self-concept. Teacher relationships were found not to contribute to children’s global or social self-concept. Implications for future research and educational psychology practice are discussed.

Feedback is considered one of the most important parts of teaching writing. Learners need to receive responses they can act upon to retain strengths and improve weaknesses of their performances. Feedback that is regular, immediate, sufficient, and, most importantly, of good quality is necessary in order to help the learners to develop. Improving the way feedback is provided is, therefore, as important as feedback itself. However, as research so far has suggested, there is no consensus on which is the most effective way to employ feedback. As a result, we still need more information to add to this controversial practice. Apart from that, in writing class with a large number of students, and with teachers who have heavy workload, giving feedback with such aforementioned characteristics is not always possible. These limitations bring peer feedback into light as it has been recommended as a fruitful solution. Peer feedback not only helps both the giver and the receiver improve writing quality but also helps them to become more self-regulated. However, for peer feedback to work effectively, students who give peer feedback need to be trained appropriately. This study applies the concept of scaffolding as a mean to train the students to possess necessary skills on giving peer feedback. The research objectives are to investigate the effectiveness of using teacher feedback on peer feedback in helping the students to give more effective peer feedback and to become self-regulated learners. The teacher/researcher who acts as scaffolding provider gives feedback on students’ peer feedback. The students’ improvement of feedback ability is expected to help improve their writing quality. Twenty-six third year English major students were asked to take part in the study which is divided into two phases: the learning of argumentative writing and feedback training phase, and the writing of argumentative essays and the peer feedback phase. Students’ texts, questionnaires, video records of students’ interactions, audio records of teacher-student conference, students’ reflective diaries, and observatory comments from university colleagues were used as the data collection tools. The data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results of the study can be summarized as follows. 1) The teacher feedback on the students’ peer feedback can help improve the students’ feedback quality. By the end of the study, the participants were able to provide proper feedback that covered the agreed areas which include text organization, content, idea development, and language use comparing to the early stage of the study where they only spent time commenting on some areas especially grammar and content. 2) The feedback quality that has improved resulted in the writing quality that has also improved at the end of the study. The aspect which has been improved the most is text organization. The writing scores also suggested that the participants have made improvement on content and language use. 3) The use of teacher feedback on peer feedback enables the students to possess behaviours of self-regulated learners which include the ability to give detailed explanations to points at hand, identify writing problems and provide solutions to the problems, express clear knowledge of the writing genre, use proper strategies to deliver comments, evaluate both peers’ and own writing quality, share knowledge of the genre, correct the giver’s errors, and take over the talk from the giver. The students showed behaviours of other regulation as they asked for opinions and confirmations, and accept the giver comment with little intention to question the comment quality. The object regulation behaviours can be seen when the students went off the topic at hand, talked about their weakness of grammar, and mentioned the insufficient time for writing. 4) The students’ opinions towards the research method were positive. The students were convinced that the research activities had helped them to write better, to have more confidence to evaluate and give comments to peers’ writing, and to have self-study skills. They reflected that the activity was useful for their future career too. The results also suggested that the participants sometimes made superficial comments on areas such as idea development, and language use. It also found that the students occasionally made rubber stamp comments. In terms of the pairing of the students, the findings suggested that the students no matter what level of proficiency they had received benefit from the activity. However, the interaction could be effected by pairs with different levels of language proficiency.

Empirical research that has applied Self-Determination Theory (SDT) within classrooms suggests that the combined satisfaction of three basic psychological needs can be predictive of students’ motivation to engage with learning activities. These three basic needs are relatedness, which, for the purposes of the current research, takes the form of a positive teacher-student relationship, perceived self-competence, and autonomy. The current research suggests that, whilst SDT emphasizes the importance of autonomy as a basis for self-determined engagement with learning, the motivation to be autonomous is a potential outcome informed by the students’ perceived competence and the perceived quality of the teacher-student relationship. These findings were the basis for three posits regarding the impact of the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs, central to SDT, upon students’ engagement with learning activities. These posits are: that firstly, an individual’s motivation to be autonomous (SDT; autonomy) is an outcome dependent upon students’ satisfied needs for both a positive teacher-student relationship (SDT: relatedness) and perceived competence (SDT: competence); secondly, that perceived competence is informed by and reciprocally informs the quality of the teacher-student relationship; and thirdly, that there is a potential cumulative connection between students’ perceived competence and the quality of the teacher-student relationship, in terms of the combined impact upon the quality and persistence of autonomous motivation. These interpretive claims emerged from and were supported by the findings across the main study and triangulation methods within the current research. The current research begins to unravel how the motivational interplay between the three SDT-centred basic psychological needs may inform students’ engagement with learning activities in formal learning settings. This led to the development of a proposed SDT-embedded motivational pathways model. This model is worthy of further testing, explanation and modification by educators through classroom-based research.

Research demonstrating the importance of good teacher-student relationships as a contributor to high learning achievement is strong, but exactly what teachers can do to develop good relations with students is less well-documented. This study contributes to filling this research gap by exploring the relational strategies of six teachers through the application of a new reflective practice tool: the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) map. The teachers used the tool to examine the quality of their relationships with one group of students in a series of three interviews over a six-month period. The findings are presented in six case studies and a cross-case analysis discussing the teachers' relational strategies in view of existing research. The main strategy for developing good teacher-student relationships was getting to know students in terms of academic performance, interests, and their personal problems. Teachers gained this knowledge through engaging students in conversation, not only in the classroom, but also in the school hallways and outside of school. The results reveal that the teachers predominantly formed good relationships with students who initiated contact with them. Consequently, it is essential that teachers are aware of their responsibility for making contact with all their students to prevent relational inequity in the classroom. This study illustrates that engaging in a simple reflective exercise like the IOS map can help teachers identify those students with whom they need to interact more. The teachers in this study reported a 17 percent increase in close teacher-student relationships, which they partly attributed to the use of the IOS map making them more aware of their interactions with students. The case studies and the IOS map are tools that can be used in teacher education programmes to discuss relational strategies and behaviour management in schools.

This thesis explored the impact of the teacher incentive policies which were designed and implemented in Rwanda between 2008 and 2013, with the aim to understand their impact on teacher motivation. Research evidence shows that, competence and commitment of teachers are among the main determinants of student learning outcomes (Bennell and Akyeampong, 2007). As such, governments have the responsibility to ensure that teachers are appropriately trained and motivated to teach. Yet, motivational and incentives issues among teachers have been inadequately researched in the African context to understand how teacher motivational issues might be addressed by governments and international donors to improve educational quality. Rather, as reported by the Voluntary Services Oversees (VSO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), educational policies have focused much more on teacher supply and demand issues in response to increased access to education (VSO, 2002; UNESCO, 2005). In countries where teacher motivation issues have been on the education agenda, these have been piecemeal interventions lacking long-term sustainability. As such, UNESCO's 2013/14 Education For All-Global Monitoring Report (EFA-GMR) recommends the need for policy-makers to identify ways how teachers' motivation can be improved so as to enable teachers to work in the service of improving learning for all (UNESCO, 2014). This study employed a mixed methods sequential explanatory research design, where quantitative data (from 276 teachers from 46 schools located in 10 districts) was collected first, followed by qualitative data (obtained from interviews with eighteen participants, selected from institutions involved in teacher incentives' policy making, implementation, facilitation and the beneficiary level). This data was then integrated at the intermediate and final stages of the study and presented concurrently in this thesis. The study was framed around the content (or basic needs) theory of motivation (see Chapter 3). Findings indicate that, individual teacher characteristics are key in understanding how the incentives impact on teachers' levels of motivation. As such, the Government of Rwanda (GoR), should take into consideration these characteristics, when designing the teacher incentive policies for the teaching profession. The study confirms earlier findings that, teachers' pay is very low, both in absolute terms and in comparison to other professions, which is a major motivational challenge. The study further shows that, while most teacher incentives may achieve the purpose for which they are meant, others are likely to result into unintended implications, which should be factored and monitored while designing and implementing the teacher incentives (see Chapter 6, section 6.2.2). Furthermore, the study shows the “8-step monthly protocol on processing the teachers' salaries”, as an example of incentives that are cost-effective and are likely to create an immediate positive motivation impact, and which can be ideal for resource-constrained contexts, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, including Rwanda. The study notes the key potential role of parental contributions to teachers' pay (top-up), and that governments need to harmonise and regulate it, so as to eliminate the imbalance it causes, between primary and secondary teachers; and rural and urban schools. Most teachers responded that teacher training and professional development was the main intrinsic motivational factor. The study noted that, while the teacher's union was viewed as potentially key in enhancing teachers' status, solidarity and power, the teachers' union was very weak and influenced by government, which is characteristic of most unions in the SSA. This is coupled with limited teachers' participation in decision-making on issues that concern them (see DeJaeghere et al, 2006), which is likely to lead to their de-motivation. This study, therefore, has attempted to make a contribution to the development of the theoretical and substantive knowledge in terms of policy changes designed to improve teacher motivation in Rwanda (and possibly in the SSA region). It also contributes to a clarification of the methodology, which can be employed for future research on teacher motivation.

Scarce in the academic literature exploring the experiences of teachers within school environments specialising in the education of special educational needs children and disabilities are accounts from teachers working within SLD/PMLD schools. In light of this gap in scholarship, this study examined nine teachers’ ecological narratives and explored their influence upon curriculum decisions and consequent pedagogic practices in the context of a naturalistic setting within four SLD/PMLD schools. Three purposes framed this investigation. Firstly, to gain an in-depth understanding of how the pedagogic beliefs and identities of SLD/PMLD teachers are constructed within the framework of the school-espoused curriculum. Secondly, how teachers’ practices emerge as functions of individual ecologies, beliefs and identities through autobiography and thirdly how these teachers’ identities, ecologies and practices in turn, re-shape the enacted-curricular. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1989; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) ecological theories were considered as a conceptual framework that stood behind this work, but as personal ‘special’ pedagogical narratives unfolded, their influence became less formal in encapsulating how teachers constructed the curriculum as a situated pedagogic experience so local narrative frameworks were utilised. Data sources included multiple individual interviews to enable ecological constructs to unfold, classroom observations, personal writing, research notes and other salient material. Dialogue between the researcher and participants ensured the rigour of the study. Experiences both personal and professional were used as a key to unlock participants’ lives with multiple opportunities to critically assess portrayals. Analysis of data revealed that teacher knowledge and personal ecologies were encapsulated both within conscious, internally and externally justified opinions and unconscious un-reflected intuitions, submerged within the identities of the teachers and their students. Whilst the importance of individual teachers’ micro-ecologies as being unique was apparent in the context of current research in inclusive and specialist education, teachers’ voices seemed to be heard and listened to only by those working within SLD and PMLD settings, both through choice and almost benign acceptance. Political macro-structures of inclusion were juxtaposed to micro-ideals of inclusive pedagogy and whilst ecological constructs impacted greatly, pedagogic practice emanated ultimately from personal belief and identity; in essence, these teachers were the curriculum. At a time of profound change in Inclusive Education, this study contributes to deficient and under-theorised notions of SLD/PMLD teachers’ narratives and practices. More critically, this thesis makes a significant and original contribution to scholarship concerned with the narration of pedagogic inclusion and how its teacherly embodiment may foster inclusive classrooms.

Education policy in England requires student teachers to demonstrate effective teaching of early reading, including systematic synthetic phonics, in order to qualify. However, central monitoring of student teacher satisfaction in initial teacher education (ITE) indicates that some students feel inadequately prepared to teach reading as they enter the profession. Furthermore, recent policy changes to ITE on postgraduate routes have increased time in schools and reduced time in the university. In this challenging climate, little is known about how student teachers develop knowledge, understanding and practice for teaching early reading whilst moving between the different learning environments of schools and university and how they adapt to the first term as newly qualified teachers (NQTs). This research used a longitudinal, collective case study design involving seven lower primary (3–7 years) postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) students enrolled at one university in the East Midlands of England. Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations and documentary analysis with the students and their teacher mentors were used to gather data from entry onto the course to the participants’ first term as qualified teachers. A conceptual and analytical framework, developed using activity theory, provided an original and innovative way of examining the complex interplay of influential factors within and between schools and the university. Conceptualising ITE as the product of multiple activity systems identified important tensions between the goals and expectations of schools and the university and the potentially unexamined impact of institutional responses to policy on becoming a teacher of early reading. The findings indicate that student teacher progress was constrained or facilitated by key elements of the activity systems involved which highlight implications for university organisation, mentoring and whole school participation. Recommendations from the research include a new continuum of teacher development and an ideal activity system for ITE and induction for early reading.

Commonly, teacher evaluations function as summative appraisal mechanisms of teacher performance and effectiveness, as accountability measures and assurances of quality instruction to educational stakeholders. Recently, greater interest in the potential for evaluations to contribute to improvements in teaching and learning has emerged. The use of professional teaching standards and evaluation rubrics represents a significant advance in the design of evaluation tools and procedures. Continuing implementation challenges however, means the potential for evaluations to notably enhance teachers’ professional development is far from realized within many educational contexts. The traditional focus on the individual within evaluations also fails to recognize the collaborative work of teaching teams and to capitalize on the potential of teachers to support improvement in each other’s practice. This inquiry explored the circumstances under which evaluations might promote professional development at the individual level and within teaching teams. The study is located within an international school, which utilizes the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program curriculum. The research question driving the inquiry was; how can teachers and principals within IB PYP schools achieve a focus on professional development and systematic learning within teacher evaluation? An Instructional Rounds protocol was employed to promote a focus on professional development within this qualitative case study. Fullan’s Change Theory guided the implementation and analysis of change in the form and function of evaluations within the school. Findings suggest viable and valuable professional learning can be incorporated into and supported during evaluations. A structured process, incorporating greater frequency of feedback, check-ins, dialogue and collaborative work between supervisors and teachers is needed to produce the monitoring mechanism and sustained gentle pressure necessary to support on-going professional learning. Redefining and broadening concepts of improvement, of involved leadership and professional development is important. Limited focus on specific goals and connecting peers with similar goals encourages commitment to improvement efforts.

Teacher gaze is central to learning, yet research in this area has been limited to Western and laboratory settings. Moreover, within these contexts, only attentional (i.e., information-seeking) gaze has been investigated so far. The research presented in this thesis aimed to extend existing literature by identifying culture-specific (UK and Hong Kong) patterns of expert teacher gaze in real-world classrooms, and going beyond attentional gaze to communicative (i.e., information-giving) gaze. Participants were n= 40 secondary school teachers with 20 (10 expert; 10 novice) from the UK and 20 (10 expert; 10 novice) from Hong Kong. All consented to wearing eye tracking glasses while teaching a class. Gaze proportion, duration, efficiency, flexibility and sequences were measured and analysed. The strategic consistency of the way in which teachers used gaze was also assessed, as was the relationship between measures of gaze and teachers’ interpersonal behaviour. In both cultures, expertise in teaching was demonstrated by giving students priority, that is, higher proportions and longer durations of teacher gaze directed towards students. Gaze flexibility was also a sign of expertise in both cultures, as was strategic consistency. Cultural differences also emerged in what constituted expert teacher gaze. Expertise specific to the UK was shown through teachers looking less at teacher materials and through strategic consistency. Expertise specific to Hong Kong was shown through looking less at non-instructional non-student targets and by gaze flexibility. Teacher interpersonal style (i.e., agency × communion) and teacher agency increased as non-student attentional gaze decreased and as non-student communicative gaze increased; and teacher communion was significantly related to attentional but not communicative gaze.

Assessment for Learning (AfL) has been seen as a key aspect of teaching and learning for almost two decades, since the seminal review by Black and Wiliam (1998a). However, the research has largely been conducted with practising teachers rather than student teachers. This thesis attempts to fill this gap in relation to AfL, and illustrate that understanding how student teachers learn to use conceptual resources, such as AfL, can inform the work of all those who support the learning of teachers in training. The present study investigated how four secondary geography student teachers on a one year post-graduate training programme in England worked with ideas associated with AfL in their teaching during two school placements. The study asked how and why they used AfL or, as became evident, Assessment of Learning (AoL) in their teaching and what their use of AfL might tell us about their learning to teach in schools. The thesis adopted a cultural-historical approach to investigate the actions in activities of the student teachers as they learnt to teach. The four students were followed over two terms in their two placement schools to gather data on their trajectories as learners and beginning teachers. Data collection methods were: (i) semi-structured interviews with the four students; interviews with their teacher mentors and other school staff; and (ii) regular post-lesson interviews with the student teachers, following observations of their teaching. The cultural-historical approach led to examining AfL as a potential tool to be used by the student teachers in their teaching. Engeström's (1990, 1999, 2007) work on tool use and mediating artefacts was deployed to analyse the student teachers' use of AfL and what they saw as its purposes. The attention to purposes of tool use in the study was also informed by Hedegaard's (2012, 2014) work on motives in institutional practices, the activities in the practices and the actions taken by student teachers. This approach pointed to how the institutional motives and demands embedded in school practices influenced their learning. The study also paid attention to the identity work being done by the student teachers. This work was most apparent when the student teachers moved from their first to second placement school and worked with a different set of demands in institutional practices. One early finding was that although school colleagues and student teachers were using the label AfL, closer examination revealed that they were actually using AoL. Key findings from the final analyses were as follows: there was considerable variation in how the geography specialist teacher mentors interpreted and used AfL; some mentors were strongly mediating the AfL/AoL expectations evident in the school inspection system in England; there was evidence of some strong and challenging mentoring, but it was not consistent across the experiences of the students; the students' own sense of the kind of teacher they wanted to become could be tracked in ways which revealed how they coped with the different school demands and what they saw as university expectations; the transition between placement schools was significant for the student teachers in ways that had not been anticipated by the design of the programme. Following the student teachers as learners offered insights into their experiences in the black box of school placements during teacher education. Consequently, the implications for the design of teacher education programmes are a key part of the discussion stimulated by the findings.

The purpose of this research is to add to the teacher effectiveness research paradigm by furthering understanding about how teachers promote student learning and achievement in mathematics. Across the teacher effectiveness paradigm, there has been a great deal of research that quantitatively measures the value added by teachers to student achievement on standardised tests. However, there is a current under-representation of the voices of teachers about how and why certain factors promote student achievement in mathematics. Therefore, in order to address the complexity of the teaching and learning process, this mixed methods study draws upon secondary TIMSS 2011 data, as well as qualitative interview data from fourth class teachers in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Results from this study highlight qualitative teacher insights as an essential tool for understanding the complex process through which teacher-related factors influence student learning and achievement in mathematics. Several factors which were perceived to promote student achievement on fourth class standardised mathematics tests were revealed. These factors include promoting constant revision of mathematics concepts, engaging in a collaborative staff strategic plan for assessing and addressing student underachievement on standardised tests, communicating a strong positive attitude towards mathematics to students, and holding consecutive years of experience at the same grade level. In addition, teacher insights were instrumental for understanding TIMSS score differences between Ireland and Northern Ireland. These findings suggest that researchers within the teacher effectiveness paradigm, as well as educational policymakers, should recognise teachers as experts regarding the teaching and learning process and include their insights in future studies through use of qualitative methodology. Furthermore, quantitative teacher effectiveness studies should consider including qualitative teacher insights in order to gain a deeper understanding of quantitative findings.

This thesis centres on a narrative inquiry of the life stories of teachers in Post Compulsory Education with the aim of exploring how the ‘self’ is constructed within discursive environments. The study adopts a dialogical approach to narrative identity formation as an ongoing process of becoming within the life course. Grounded in social construction theory (Gergen 2009), the study acknowledges that identity is fluid and determined by context; self-creation is therefore both a collective and individual endeavour situated within the social and cultural context. The research design centres on an in-depth study of four teachers in the exploration of the meanings constructed from autobiographical memories; in addition, the study explores how narrative meanings are mediated within the organisational and political context of being a teacher. The study adopts a psychosocial perspective (McAdams 2006) to life stories and the analysis of narrative construction is conducted through the lens of dialogical self theory with the aim of exploring the multivoiced nature of the self based on a diversity of self-positions (Hermans 2001). Narrative identities are therefore viewed as relational, individuals position themselves within the stories they tell in relation to a particular audience; individuals are also positioned by the social and cultural environment in which they are embedded. The study contributes to current knowledge in relation to the crucial role emotions play in the dialogical construction of the self; findings indicate that early emotionally charged autobiographical memories play a significant role in defining individuals’ moral educational values within their teaching role. Emotions were also central to placing individuals in a field of tension in reconciling their personal values within the current organisational and political environment that imposes constraints on teachers’ professional practice. The study concludes that in order to sustain the moral purpose of teachers’ professional practice, there is a need for the dialogical renewal of the self through transformative discourse.

Research has suggested that controlling motivational styles in teachers are related to poorer outcomes for pupils (Assor, Kaplan, Kanat-Maymon, & Roth, 2005). It has been suggested that teachers behave in more controlling ways due to ‘pressure from above’ (e.g. from school performance standards), ‘pressure from below’ (e.g. from limited pupil engagement), and ‘pressure from within’ (e.g. from the teachers’ personality traits; Reeve, 2009). The present systematic review analysed 26 papers and confirmed the relevance of these three categories. It was also highlighted that research into pressures from within was inconsistent and largely unreplicated, with the exception of research suggesting that limited self-efficacy was related to increased teacher control. Whilst a considerable amount of research has been dedicated to control in teachers there has been an absence of literature related the teaching styles utilised by Teaching Assistants (TAs). Recent research into the role of TAs has suggested that pupils can become dependent on the high level of support that TAs provide (Blatchford et al., 2009), and the present study aimed to explore whether such dependency could be due to TAs using a controlling motivational style. The study also investigated whether levels of control were related to self-efficacy as well as anxiety. Participants were established dyads of TAs and pupils with learning difficulties who took part in an etch-a-sketch activity in order to examine their interactions, alongside completing measures of negative affect and self-efficacy. The findings suggested that increased TA control was related to diminished pupil academic self-efficacy, which reinforces the impact the pressures from below can have on teaching style. However teacher self-efficacy and child negative affect were not found to impact on TA control. In addition a relationship was identified between TA autonomy supportive behaviours and the child initiating more problem solving behaviour. This further highlights the importance of supporting TAs to use less controlling teaching approaches in order to improve the outcomes for children with learning difficulties.

There is an established evidence-base supporting the use of a Precision Teaching (PT) approach in schools to target, monitor, and refine teaching so as to accelerate children's learning. Despite this evidence-base, some important questions remain regarding the specific mechanisms that have been assumed to contribute to the overall effectiveness of PT. The aim of the current research study was to explore the relative importance of distributed practice and interleaved learning, two key instructional psychology principles which underpin PT. The study principally focused on the development of children's reading skills, however, as a secondary focus the research also aimed to assess the assertion that PT can enhance children's self-concept. A multiple treatment single-case experimental design (SCED) was employed and a series of six A-B-C-D SCEDs were conducted, where a separate experiment was conducted with each participant. Repeated measures were taken to assess participants' progress on a specific reading skill, their reading fluency, and their reading self-concept; this data is presented graphically and analysed using visual analysis. The results of the study demonstrate mixed results in terms of the benefits of distributed practice and interleaved learning within a PT approach. Although existing research has highlighting the effectiveness of these two strategies in the adult population and to a much lesser extent with children, the current study indicates that the effects seen in these larger scale group designs maybe more subtle in 'real-world' practice. This has implications in terms of evidence-based practice within the field of Educational Psychology and highlights the need for educational psychologists to give consideration to practice-based evidence in addition to evidence-based practice.

It is important that teachers are open to look at evidence of how their teaching impacts on students classroom engagement and therefore are better able to meet the educational needs of students. The education sector is nationally and globally recognised as being committed to advancing teaching into a profession of the highest calibre teachers. Institutions and their teaching staff have an obligation to provide the necessary conditions, opportunities and expectations for engagement to prevail. Key among effective teaching practices is teacher-student interaction or the degree to which the teacher is able to engage the students. Calls are made for coherence across the education sectors as to the importance of transition between post-primary (PP) and higher education (HE) and the implementation of quality teaching initiatives that are equally effective between the levels. The phenomenographic method and incumbent techniques of focus groups and one-to-one semi-structured interviews at both PP and HE levels yield valuable insights into how quality teaching can be achieved across the education levels. The benefits of letting students have a voice are evident from the current study and the literature. It appears that educational stakeholders must share a fundamental commitment to improving outcomes for students and there is an emerging recognition that, to make a difference, change must be meaningfully situated and sustained in the classroom. The Refined Quality Teaching Initiatives Framework devised from this study’s findings outlines how successful transition of students between education levels can happen, with the quality teaching initiatives recommended being equally effective across education levels. Active listening by the teacher and the student is a precursor to dual interaction modelling dialogue. Collaboration and reflection between the teacher and student leads to dual engagement where students and teachers become co-constructors of knowledge at the classroom level. Students can transition with ease between PP and HE because similar constructs exist at both levels. The outcomes of this research study propose to establish stronger links between quality teaching initiatives at PP and HE, suggest an approach for putting these initiatives into practice and provide proposals for improvements in policy to make these changes happen.

This thesis investigates the causal attributions that students make for teacher behaviour towards them, with the focus being on behaviour likely to be considered "negative." The term "causal attributions" refers to the causes that people give for the behaviour of others (and themselves). Causal attributions impact on emotions and behaviour and, as a consequence, can have a powerful influence upon individuals and those with whom they live and work. Attribution theory was prominent within the 1980s, although originated before this time. Despite this, interest in attribution theory has endured and the theory continues to be applied in research from a range of different disciplines. Although earlier studies have investigated causal attributions within schools, these have often focused upon the causal attributions of teachers. Few studies have focused upon the causal attributions of students and a limited number have focused upon the causal attributions that students make for teacher behaviour. Following an extensive literature review, no studies were found which investigated the relevance of Weiner's models (e.g., Weiner 1995; 2006; 2010) to student causal attributions for "negative" teacher behaviour towards them, including the impact upon the students' emotions and the level of responsibility assigned to teachers as a result of the behaviour. Participants comprised over three hundred Year 10 students from three secondary schools within a north-west local authority who completed a questionnaire containing a scenario and both open-ended questions and those which require scaling of responses. Following this, a follow-up study was designed and this was piloted with a further eight Y10 students to gain their experiences and views of completing the questionnaire. The results of the research suggested that, overall, students attributed the "negative" teacher behaviour to external influences (mainly "stress") and that, on the whole, they would feel "anger" as a result of the behaviour. The results do not fully support the tenets of attribution theory in general, nor those of Weiner in particular. However, based on the results of the research presented in this thesis, potential extensions to Weiner's theories and models are proposed and methodological issues relating to exploring attributions are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.

Wellbeing is increasingly emerging within discussions of teacher effectiveness. Teacher quality and health has an impact on pupil learning. In an increasingly varied secondary teaching landscape where academies and free schools outnumber ‘state’ schools and where market forces and policy reform have created a new and dynamic working experience; there are benefits and opportunities, but also occupational risks to wellbeing. This study fills a research gap by engaging in a focussed analysis of secondary school teachers’ wellbeing. It offers theoretical contributions and practical recommendations relating to wellbeing and its management in emerging secondary school settings. It informs leadership and management practice towards managing wellbeing proactively through environment, community and personal / transcendental experiences. The research suggests that wellbeing as a performance management criterion and a key measure for school self-improvement could support best practice in innovative and infinite ways. A 61 item Likert questionnaire and 6 semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore 66 secondary teachers’ perceptions of their wellbeing. The data delivered illuminating testimony on the secondary teachers’ work lives and wellbeing. The results uncovered that environmental conditions (such as working with young people, the ability to take lunch breaks and access to resources) and communal conditions (such as the ability to work as a team, to be consulted, to collaborate, be supported and feel trusted) at work impacted teachers’ overall personal wellbeing. Personal wellbeing (overall wellbeing) represented how far teachers were able to develop personally and professionally, how far they experienced agency, control, fulfilment commitment and motivation. What was revealing was the emergence of transcendental wellbeing which arose as a component of personal wellbeing. Transcendental wellbeing represented the unique, personal framework that individuals ascribe to what they do. It encompassed the purpose, meaning and drive that enabled secondary teachers to work through daily events and challenges with resilience.

The Mauritian Education system is a highly elitist and examination-oriented system where teachers in state secondary schools enjoy complete autonomy in the selection of their teaching methods. Despite education policies recommending learner-centred teaching (LCT) for a more inclusive, integrated and holistic approach to education (NCF, 2009, p. 7), most secondary education teachers generally use teacher-centred teaching (TCT) methods even after having learned LCT in professional teaching courses. In this study I examine how 30 professionally trained teachers from eight state secondary schools in Mauritius understand LCT and how they implement it in class. I also explore why those teachers choose this approach and which skills they think are necessary for effective LCT. This qualitative study uses a social-constructivist approach. It was carried out in two phases. In the first phase I looked into teachers’ understandings of LCT and in the second phase I observed teachers enactment of LCT in their classrooms. Data gathering tools were questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, class observations and debriefing sessions. The findings point towards two perspectives of LCT: the first perspective is a cognitive perspective, which is more achievement-oriented, and the second one is an emancipatory perspective, which focuses on re-engaging learners with their studies. The study also shows that their work contexts, their beliefs and the pressure of an exams-oriented system shape teachers’ understanding of LCT and in its actual form LCT in Mauritian schools is only partially learner-centred with a mix of LCT and TCT. The main contribution of this thesis is the acknowledgment of the kind of LCT that teachers can achieve without any form of support and the potential of our teachers in transforming our classrooms with authentic and effective forms of LCT provided continuing professional development and school support become regular features of our education system.

The thesis examines the related concepts of teacher knowledge, professionalism and identity through the lens of teacher research, and in the context of a teacher-research network. The mechanism for exploration was through teacher voice. As the research unfolded, what was revealed was that accessing teacher voice presented a major obstacle as teachers struggled to articulate their own views on knowledge, professionalism and identity, in part because there seemed to be no language to discuss such concepts. The question of discourse thus became a key theme. The research methods developed to address this issue include a card sort as a way of addressing the teacher silences: this approach revealed that teachers were able to engage with ideas around knowledge, professionalism, identity and research when given a language in this way. However, what emerged was far from a cohesive narrative but rather diverse and at times contradictory accounts of associated teacher beliefs and values. Faced with inconsistency and paradox, a new theoretical lens of post-modernism was used to explore the fragmented and splintered narratives which had emerged, and a different account of knowledge, professionalism, identity and research is offered.

Teacher‐child interactions have long been documented in psychological theory and research as important within learning. Current policy is increasingly emphasising the achievement of outcomes, and research directly links quality teacher‐child interactions to outcomes. Interactions have been explored in relation to different concepts in the classroom. Engagement is one such concept and associated with different outcomes in research and policy. My systematic review sought to establish the effects of teacher‐child interactions on student engagement. The review revealed an existing model of teacher‐child interactions along with helping clarify ambiguity and variation in the definition and measurement of engagement. To better understand interactions in the classroom I explored the topic from teachers’ perspectives. An enquiry‐based cycle of learning was used to provide teachers with a process that they could adapt for practice. Within this the model of teacher‐child interactions from the systematic review formed an observation aid. Researcher facilitated peer supervision sessions generated the data, which was analysed using a realist grounded theory approach. Findings extended the original model of teacher‐child interactions and included: types of interactions including child‐child, outcomes being enabled by mediating effects such as engagement and a positive learning environment, and contextual factors influencing the balance of interactions. Implications included a greater understanding of the complexity of interactions in the classroom, and Educational Psychologists (EPs) using facilitated peer supervision as a process to support teachers in using one another as a resource in developing their practice.

A substantial research base indicates that the relationships between teachers and students significantly affect outcomes for children including emotional wellbeing, academic achievement and behaviour. As a trainee educational psychologist (EP) working in schools I have observed that some discipline procedures appear to be at odds with the development and maintenance of positive teacher-student relationships. Chapter 1: The Systematic Review - A systematic review of the literature examined the effect of disciplinary actions on students’ perceptions of their teachers, and the teacher-student relationship. Six articles fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These tended to be large scale data from international sources using questionnaire and observation measures. The systematic review identified that behaviourist discipline procedures were associated with various negative measures of teacher-student relationships. Chapter 2 : Bridging Document - The bridging document reflected the transition between the findings of the systematic review and the empirical study. Discussion was had around the need for research in the area of teacher-student relationships and teachers’ responses to student behaviour. The conceptual framework that underlined my research was described, including reflections of my axiology, ontology, epistemology and methodology. Chapter 3 : The Empirical Research - A mixed-methods case study investigated the consequence-based behaviour system of a primary school which centred upon missing playtime to dissuade unwanted behaviours. The introduction of a restorative conversation, inspired by the restorative justice movement, was explored as an alternative approach to addressing behaviour. This approach aimed to maintain or even promote teacher-student relationships. As a piece of action research, this project brought together a wide variety of information gathering approaches including: examining school data and policies, staff interviews, observations, and questionnaire measures of two interpersonal teacher behaviour factors of ‘influence’ (management / leadership) and ‘proximity’ (warmth / closeness). The research recognised that when experiencing the school’s traditional approach to behaviour students may have perceived less emotional warmth and leadership from their teachers. Nevertheless, a restorative conversation had a positive effect upon teacher-student 5 | P a g e relationships, and in doing so may have enabled better outcomes for children who have demonstrated unwanted behaviours. This research has appreciated the practice of teachers in this primary school and has contributed to the development of a behaviour approach that promotes teacher-student relationships. My contribution to the changes in this primary school indicates the role that EPs may play in addressing school policy and practice. This research concludes with a plea to establish the restoration of relationships as the primary focus of behaviour approaches within schools.

This thesis conducts cross-country analyses using data from all inhabited continents to examine the support of common expectations based on either Neo-classical Economics or popular beliefs. The first two chapters use SACMEQ data from sub-Saharan Africa. The first chapter argues that changes in class size trigger a number of mechanisms affecting how the pupils’ household, school leaders, teachers and peers behave. These behaviours are highly context-specific and may counterbalance or exacerbate one another. It finds that the main threat to a pupil’s achievement is sharing the teacher with more peers, but that household behaviours can mitigate or even outweigh this threat. The second chapter examines the conditional correlation of observable teacher characteristics and pupil achievement. It argues and demonstrates that previous research using the same data does not sufficiently address the teacher-pupil matching problem and that lacking to do so leads to very different conclusions. The chapter categorises the available observable teacher characteristics as proxies for either subject-matter or pedagogic competency and examines their complementarity by adding interactions between the individual proxies of these two competencies. The evidence suggests these two competencies are substitutes in six of ten countries. The third chapter uses OECD TALIS 2013 data to explore the connection between teachers’ workload and their job satisfaction. It applies a production function approach that combines both Top-down and Bottom-up approaches. It finds that the effect of teachers’ workload measured in hours is negligible. But evidence of the effect of teachers’ perceptions of their workplace from the English sub-sample provides clear evidence that the workplace matters.

This study was conceptualised within the Aristotelian tradition of phronesis and dialectics (Eikeland, 2006; 2012) where the focus of the study was the identification of teacher's voice (Sutherland et al., 2010) using Songs of Praxis, an art-based reflexive account within a reflexivity paradigm of uncovering biographical perspective of identity (Alheit, 1992; 2009). This had two reflexivity contexts; within research (e.g. Rolfe, 2011a; 2011b; Rolfe, Jasper and Freshwater, 2011; Etherington, 2007; Simon, 2013; Ellis, 2004; 2007; 2011) and within critical reflective practice (e.g. Gardner, 2009; Gardner, 2014; Rolfe, Jasper and Freshwater, 2011). This reflexive process led to teacher voice development and transformation through a hybridity of creative pedagogy, teaching for creativity and creative learning (Lin, 2011; 2014; Sawyer 2004; 2011). This visualization was completed using reflexive accounts (referred to as Songs of Praxis) which created space for a reflexive relationship (Etherington, 2007; Ellis, 2004) allowing for emotional recall (understanding biographical identity) through to therapeutic inquiry by dealing with my Mask of Self-Hate (the name I use to describe my bipolarity). This facilitated my authentication and transformation as a scholar of learning and teaching. This study was conducted within an auto ethnographic action research and reflexive accounts methodology using cycles of critical reflection. The cycles of critical reflection are; teacher voice identification stage 1, the reimagination of professional voice framework leading to teacher voice identification stage 2, the multiplicity of voice prism. This led to teacher voice development stage1, the reflexive provocateur toolkit which developed into the Reflexive Classroom, teacher voice development stage 2. This led to the teacher voice transformation through the creation of reflexive spaces of creative pedagogic practices; digital reflexivity; and employability practices. This allowed for teacher voice identification, development and transformation which I illustrate within the 'portfolio' which I conceptualised around an 'Album', Songs of Praxis: Teacher Voice Identification, development and transformation'. This corroboration of the data (experience) has led to the contribution of this study to creative teaching practices, digital reflexivity and employability practices. I propose Songs of Praxis create reflexive space for the identification, development and transformation of teacher's voice.

This study examined the pedagogy of ICT and the aim of the research was to explore teachers’ perceptions of ICT capability and whether their practice in the classroom matched their personal constructs. This is particularly pertinent given the current environment of curriculum change in Wales. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was used as an analytical framework within this study. The use of this tool has enabled different dimensions within the case studies to be recognised and discussed. The use of the activity settings over time has allowed a fourth dimension to be added to the analysis and to examine how the teachers in the case study have managed their recognition of the emergent contradictions. The use of the activity setting to analyse similar settings from different viewpoints has prompted the use of CHAT as a tool to model likely contradictions which may emerge from the introduction of any new curriculum. The use of CHAT in an educational setting in this way has built on the use of Activity Theory to analyse the workplace activity in highlighting change and participant’s reaction to that change. Two continuums emerged, one concerning how ICT capability was perceived in terms of skills used, with the metacognitive skills at one end and the tools of specific software applications at the other. The other continuum was concerned with the pedagogy of ICT. It emerged that the schools employed different pedagogical strategies which resulted in the use of different pedagogical tools by the teachers within the study. The pedagogical continuum ranged from a mechanistic rigid pedagogy to one of facilitation with pupils creating opportunities for knowledge construction. These variations have implications for the pedagogy of any new computing curriculum which may be introduced and the need for continued professional development to enable effective teaching of that new curriculum.

In a shrinking more connected world, web based communication technologies play an increasingly important role in educating younger generations. However, the process of change that teachers must go through to accommodate the appropriate use of web based communication technologies for teaching and learning is a complex process, which can be viewed from multiple perspectives. Specifically, this study explores pedagogic shift in the context of a virtual international school spanning five different countries within the European Union. It adopts an interpretive paradigm of research to explore perceptions of teachers in the virtual international school over the course of four years from 2009-2013. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, a variety of data collection techniques were employed over the course of three different cycles of research. Each cycle built on the previous cycle through an in depth analysis of the data, which enabled the emergence of a model for pedagogic shift. Findings from this research point to the importance of understanding change as a learning journey, which necessarily takes time and is influenced by a variety of factors in which effective leadership plays a central role. Additionally, the research shows how through processes such as understanding each others’ different perspectives and the way technologies are harnessed, change is facilitated and a sense of community is built, all play an important role in enabling pedagogic shift to take place. From these findings a thematic model emerged, which was explored in depth and further refined during the research. The study concludes with recommendations for further research into pedagogic shift, particularly in relation to the dispersed multi-level model of leadership, the evolution of virtual international schools, the changing nature of teacher-student relationships, and the influence of external drivers in models of pedagogic shift.

This thesis explores the impact of regulatory codes of conduct on the lived experience of being a teacher. It locates teacher practice within the context of an environment of moral panic and Performativity through which is filtered the propriety of teacher-student relating, and considers the resulting retreat to protective risk-averse practice. This study stems from the concern that teachers are sanctioned against vague, broad and universally stated expectations with no recognition of the active role of context in what constitutes ‘appropriate professional boundaries’. The foundational aim is to understand how, despite there being a known code of conduct, an educator who considers themselves caring, ethical and reflective, and strives to be a ‘good person’, might still act in ways that may be perceived as (and may constitute) misconduct. Key themes and issues identified from the international literature are further explored through an analysis of 200 conduct panel records. This analysis showed that teacher-pupil boundaries (where the relationship was considered too close) were the most frequently sanctioned area of teacher misconduct. A whole-staff boundary exploration activity (drawing on group and individual questionnaires) indicated that this most significant area of sanctioned teacher misconduct was also one where even agreed definitions of what constituted ‘appropriate professional boundaries’ did not translate to consistent evaluation of the propriety of a range of hypothetical behaviours. The central narrative of a single practitioner is then explored in relation to these established themes and confusions, and given additional depth through two stages of comment from four critical readers. This narrative illustrates the tensions of these themes and confusions in practice and informed the exploratory focus within national and local contexts (sections three and four, respectively). The combined message of these data is then discussed through a Foucauldian lens, drawing upon ‘Games of Truth’ and discourse analysis and embracing the need for the process of ethical self-constitution to support the development of teachers’ ethical practice and the realisation of teachers as professional subjects. Sachs’ ‘Active Professionalism’ is extended in an approach that may facilitate the ethical self-constitution of teachers whilst also empowering them as professionals and respecting the voices of the whole school community in their ability and desire to co-create community-level, context-responsive codes of practice.