http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/185 2013-05-25T18:27:51Z 2013-05-25T18:27:51Z Farhan, Dhuha http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7302 2013-03-22T10:41:13Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Adult learners versus policies: An insight of adult education in the UK Authors: Farhan, Dhuha Abstract: This research evaluates adult education policies under the UK’s New Labour Government between 1997 and 2010. It critically analyses the impact of globalisation and changes to new technology on both the conceptualisation and practice of adult education. Personal experience and observations at an adult education centre in Greater London revealed notable changes in this sector over the decade 2001 – 2010, such as a decline in the number of courses offered and in the number of adults enrolling. The literature review has confirmed that a similar pattern has been observed within adult education across the UK, thus suggesting that the decline is not an issue of mismanagement in a specific centre. Research has indicated that the main reason for this decline is the increasing Government focus on solely vocational courses that lead to employment. The research starts with a review of the effect of globalisation and rapid technological change on adult education policies internationally and in the UK. Next, recent national policies in adult education are explored in order to examine the UK Government’s aims for and expectations of adult education. The research then draws on an inductive approach using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to analyse learners’ choices and their journeys through education. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with practitioners (tutors and learning advisors) who worked closely with the learners and were therefore familiar with their needs and expectations. The thesis concludes by arguing that ‘gaining knowledge’ (through adult education) helps adults to increase their self-esteem, improve their networking and acquire new skills, and these are much the same characteristics required for gainful employment. These qualities can be obtained not only through accredited courses but also through non-accredited (and non-vocational) courses. Finally, the study argues that it is important to understand that adult education must be primarily a means of offering learning to all adults, rather than a service with the narrow aim of satisfying only the labour market. Description: This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University on 23 Nov 2012.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Zwozdiak-Myers, P Audain, J http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/7262 2013-02-27T11:06:57Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Links between ICT advanced skills teachers and initial teacher training Authors: Zwozdiak-Myers, P; Audain, J Abstract: Research undertaken at one higher education institution located in West London, UK sought to explore links between ICT Avanced Skills Teachers (AST) and Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The main objective was to capture the perceptions and experiences of leading ASTs in ICT along with those of teacher educators and trainee teachers to identify ways in which collaborative and/or sustainable partnerships might be forged, which enable trainee teachers to gain exposure to cutting edge, best practice of ICT in primary and secondary schools. Description: This report and guidance materials were compiled for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA)

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Taylor, Clare http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6610 2012-09-25T10:55:03Z 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Working through change: An insider's analysis of FE teachers and tutors lived experience in a time of initiative overload Authors: Taylor, Clare Abstract: This is an investigation by a participant researcher into the ‘hidden world’ of Further Education (FE). I became interested in how the many innovations, which have occurred in the past twenty years have made FE staff feel and how this effected their work and how they coped with what often felt like the conflicting demands of constant change. This is longitudinal insider research with a political edge as it is an examination of one of New Labour’s major inclusion strategies, as it covers almost all of the twelve years they were in power. Over this period I have seen staff concerns change, as have their ‘folk devils,’ and as lecturers and support staff went through different ‘moral panics’ during a period of massive change and uncertainty in the post compulsory sector. The original grounded theory type emergent categories and my own personal ontology lead me to adopt the position of a ‘critical realist’ where I have also attempted to incorporate a Feminist stance with some insights from sociological theorists like Bourdieu. Through the Literature Review I looked at the wider social and political issues of ‘new managerialism ,’ ‘globalisation,’ ‘proletarianisation,’ ‘intensification of labour’, the ‘audit culture’ and the casualisation and ‘deprofessionalisation’ of academic staff. These and other issues had emerged as possible reasons for the way staff said they felt in my interviews with tutors and my long term participant observations in three colleges and the results from one local stress survey and one national questionnaire of college managers. My conclusions are that many staff who choose to stay in FE are to a degree alienated but not anomic, they still believe in their role despite the changes and take pride and pleasure in their work, especially their interaction with students. The work place and division of labour are gendered both vertically and horizontally. Staff and trainers are unsure of the effectiveness of the new training but recognise that they need more skills to deal with the newer student groups. The different cultural capital, ‘habitus’ and ‘fields’ work against a common professionalism developing and these are unlikely to disappear. Description: This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Education and awarded by Brunel University.

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z Richardson, Alasdair http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6595 2012-09-19T15:27:01Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Holocaust education: An investigation into the types of learning that take place when students encounter the holocaust Authors: Richardson, Alasdair Abstract: This study employs qualitative methods to investigate the types of learning that occurred when students in a single school encountered the Holocaust. The study explored the experiences of 48 students, together with two of their teachers and a Holocaust survivor who visited the school annually to talk to the students. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify prevalent similarities in the students’ responses. Three themes were identified, analysed and discussed. The three themes were: ‘surface level learning’ (their academic knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust), ‘affective learning’ (their emotional engagement with the topic) and ‘connective learning’ (how their encounter with the Holocaust fitted their developing worldview). The first theme revealed that students had a generally sound knowledge of the Holocaust, but there were discrepancies in the specifics of their knowledge. The second theme revealed that learning about the Holocaust had been an emotionally traumatic and complicated process. It also revealed that meeting a Holocaust survivor had a significant impact upon the students, but made them begin to question the provenance of different sources of Holocaust learning. The third theme showed that students had difficulty connecting the Holocaust with modern events and made flawed connections between the two. Finally, the study examines the views of the Holocaust survivor in terms of his intentions and his reasons for giving his testimony in schools. The study’s conclusions are drawn within the context of proposing a new conceptualisation of the Holocaust as a ‘contested space’ in history and in collective memory. A tripartite approach to Holocaust Education is suggested to affect high quality teaching within the ‘contested space’ of the event. Description: This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Education and awarded by Brunel University.

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z