http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/32861 2026-07-11T21:27:25Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33510 Title: Continuing Professional Development for Social Workers: Social Worker or Organisation Led? Whose Choice? Authors: Dale-Emberton, Ann Abstract: The thesis investigates social workers’ perspectives on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), focusing on how decisions about CPD are made, who makes them and the facilitators and constraints that govern these choices. The study acknowledges the regulatory requirement since 2021 for social workers in England to document and record two CPD activities annually to maintain their registration to practice. The study conducted primary qualitative research with twenty-one social work practitioners in England at various stages in their careers. The research data were collected in 2021/22 during COVID 19 Pandemic, with the shift to a virtual “socially distanced” approach displacing face-to-face interaction in fieldwork for the study as well as for practitioners to access CPD opportunities. Fieldwork was carried out using semi-structured narrative interviews that captured the voices and lived experiences of participants. Reflexive thematic analysis of data (Braun and Clarke, 2020) highlights an array of opportunities, challenges, and realities social workers’ encounter in their practice with service users, alongside juggling work/life balance to meet their CPD requirements. The study is underpinned by a theoretical framework that interrogates contemporary social work practice from a range of critical perspectives drawing on the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), emancipatory pedagogies (Freire,1970), having and being as modes of existence (Fromm, 1976) and technologies of power including surveillance, bureaucracy, governmentality, and the production of docile bodies (Foucault, 1977). The voices of the participants and findings make a unique contribution to the debate on social work practice, a profession in perma-crisis, whose role, value, and survival is being brought into question (Maylea, 2021). The study illustrates that although social workers were keen to take advantage of CPD opportunities, especially in therapeutic and specialist interventionist roles, organisations lacked structure, focus and finance to facilitate career development. In this context personal initiative and motivation were key factors in making the most of CPD. The study identifies organisational problems such as lack of dedicated study time, heavy caseloads for social workers to manage, organisational and political pressures that restrict access to CPD. Social workers’ sense a lack of control and choice over CPD reflects top-down organisationally led approaches. The study calls for more effective responses to make a reality of the aspirations of social work practitioners, many of whom are highly motivated to do better in meeting the needs of service users and more effectively building trust and confidence in the profession, thus working towards fulfilling the commitment to social justice. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33489 Title: What is ‘progress’ in the English secondary school system? Perceptions of secondary school leaders Authors: Perkins, John Abstract: The idea of ‘progress’ in the English Education system has become defined by Government policy to create a performative measure for which teachers and school leaders can be held to account. The introduction of the Progress 8 measure, whereby schools are accountable for the progress that students make, between end the Key Stage 2 to the end of Key Stage 4, has had an impact on the perception of progress in the English Secondary School system. Taken as a burden of proof policy decisions are made at all levels in the pursuit of ‘progress’ shackling all involved in the English system to an economic view of ‘progress’. Systems connected to the performative measures which are used to contrast schools in league tables, students one against the other and hold teachers accountable creating competition, which allows for accusations of failure to progress. Literature on the idea of ‘progress’ spans centuries and has been the discussion of philosophers, economists, teachers, and politicians with the perception being affected by historical context. Literature points to the way in which the performance measures have become a technology that has impacted the policy decisions and agenda of government in attempts to drive up standards, create robust systems and compete globally. In the current understanding of the impact of the introduction of the ‘progress’ measure there is the need to understand how the perception of ‘progress’ has changed over time as well as covering key policy agendas with an exploration of perceptions of School leaders in the English system. The contribution this study makes is to present a view on how School leaders have managed the policy of ‘progress’ in their work and the extent to which there is a resistance to the centralised performative view. This study also addresses notions of ‘fantasy’ and how through fantastical logic policy decisions can be made and the impact they have on the education system in England. This thesis contributes an understanding of how ‘progress’ is perceived and looks to disrupt the acceptance of the prevailing orthodox through which right wing behaviourist fantasies have been the driving force, with a focus on discipline, and a model of delivery to ensure that policies are proven to succeed. This thesis considers how ‘progress’ has become part of that ‘fantasy’ and the effects on the students, teachers, and society. In addition, through the method there is a personal approach using biographical links and visual images that have been created to explore thinking through a novel attempt at theorised subjectivity. These explore how the research came into being and why a focus on ‘progress’ was decided upon as well as how my own perceptions around ‘progress’ in the English system have been affected. There is the exploration of family history and educational experiences as a practitioner and student which supports the originality of this thesis due to the approach. The use of images to develop this thesis adds to the contribution to knowledge, through this innovative and alternative approach as a driving factor in the research design and analysis. At this point in time this thesis matters as a contribution to the direction of education in the English system where the pursuit of ‘progress’ has become a pursuit of numeric targets. Through this research there is the chance to listen to the perspectives of a group of school leaders and reflect on their experience to rethink what ‘progress’ might be. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Education and was awarded by Brunel University London 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33399 Title: Mastery, mobility, and mathematics: A case study on service children and the NCETM’s five big ideas Authors: Khokar, Mariam Abstract: This case-based research study examines the implementation of Teaching for Mastery (TfM) in mathematics using the NCETM's Five Big Ideas – Coherence, Representation and Structure, Variation, Mathematical Thinking, and Fluency. The study considers the opportunities and challenges associated with applying TfM pedagogy when teaching mathematics to a diverse pupil group, particularly Service (Army) children. The study uses the concept of policy enactment to explore how teachers interpret and apply these principles within their classrooms. Drawing on classroom observations, teacher interviews, field notes, and work samples, the research investigates the successes and challenges of applying TfM, with particular attention to the needs of Service children who often experience educational disruptions due to family mobility. Teachers working with Service children face additional challenges in maintaining coherence and continuity in learning despite frequent school transitions. This research examines how the structured, deep-learning approach of TfM, underpinned by the Five Big Ideas, can address these challenges while fostering a cohesive and inclusive learning environment. Findings indicate that while the Five Big Ideas promote mathematical understanding and engagement, their enactment is shaped by teachers’ professional beliefs. Teachers are more likely to embed the aspects of TfM that they perceive to have, or are likely to have, a positive impact. Importantly, the analysis also identified two further principles – Community and Context – as essential to effective mastery teaching in this setting. Together with the NCETM’s Five Big Ideas, these form a proposed framework of Seven Big Ideas that reflect both established principles and the lived realities of diverse classrooms. The study highlights the central role of professional development – particularly in strengthening subject knowledge – in enabling teachers to adapt mastery pedagogy effectively for diverse pupil populations. Implications for policy include the need to design TfM support with sensitivity to contextual factors, such as the unique needs of transient military communities. The study concludes with recommendations for further research, including longitudinal studies on the sustained impact of the Seven Big Ideas – especially Community, Context, and Coherence – for Service children, and continued investigation into targeted professional development for mastery teaching. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33377 Title: Two stories and a metaphor: A Qualitative Study of Mid-Life Women’s Re-Entry into STEM Education Authors: Salehjee, S; Watts, M Abstract: This paper explores and showcases the return of two middle-aged women to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning, education, training and professions. We use the lenses of transformative learning theory and intersectionality to explore STEM identity development among our participant women in midlife, despite being ‘leaked out’ of the so-called STEM pipeline. We employ a qualitative phenomenological research design, conducting narrative interviews and employing thematic analysis to identify key themes for discussion. The implications derived from this small-scale study (n = 2) suggest the need for further research that may potentially be of particular interest to scholars, STEM industries and policy-makers (i) to recognise and act upon stereotypical, inequitable and one-sided views of the ‘STEM pipeline’, primarily those associated with gender and age, (ii) to acknowledge, appreciate and showcase midlife women’s entrance into STEM, thereby benefiting their own personal and professional STEM identity development, and their contributions to the STEM community, indeed to society more widely, (iii) to fund and create informal and community-driven STEM opportunities for middle-aged women to re-engage them with STEM and (iv) to re-think on the limitations proposed by the STEM pipeline metaphor and to focus their attention to a motorway junction metaphor, in which women enter and leave the STEM carriageway at many different points along the way. Description: Data Availability Statement: All data presented in the manuscript were obtained with participants’ consent to publication. No further data and materials (e.g., audio recordings) will be available. 2026-06-02T00:00:00Z