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This thesis set out to further understanding of mental health disclosure decision-making amongst UK-based mental health professionals. Part one is a conceptual introduction looking at the factors associated with the disclosure of mental health problems amongst this population, including a literature review of research published in the past decade. Part Two consists of an empirical paper in which the Disclosure Process Model (DPM) is applied to baseline data collected from the Honest, Open, Proud for Mental Health Professionals (HOP-MHP) pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) – a guided self-help intervention designed to aid mental health professionals with mental health problems with disclosure decision-making. This is part of a joint project carried out by two trainee clinical psychologists. The paper outlines the researcher’s role in the development and running of the pilot RCT and details the application of the DPM to elucidate the disclosure experiences of participants. Part three is a critical appraisal of the research undertaken in this thesis, presenting personal reflections on the research process and discussing the challenges involved in researching disclosure-decision making amongst mental health professionals. It concludes with a reflection on the implications of the study.

This thesis is a theoretical exploration of critical reading in the primary school. It interrogates the term 'critical reading', examines and conceptualises the thinking processes by which readers make texts mean and proposes a description of critical reading as it is evidenced in young children. At the heart of this thesis is an ethnographic study of the reading practices of classes in three contrasting primary schools. It follows and records the reading experiences of one class of children from each school, beginning in the middle of Year Two and continuing until the children near the end of Year Three. The resulting empirical data is reflected in and measured against theoretical understandings of learning and of reading derived from a number of sources. Vygotskian and Bakhtinian theories of the interdependency of thought and language are considered, critical pedagogy is explored and literary theory, especially the ideas of reader response theorists and postmodernists, is examined. From this process of reflection and assimilation, three theoretical positions are achieved: • that the interactions that take place between children, between children and teachers and between children, teachers and texts are of vital importance in the development of children as critical readers. The thesis stresses the central role of the teacher in controlling the possibilities of dialogue in the classroom. It argues that children who are exposed to the heteroglossia (Bakhtin 1981) of Mennipean dialogue and rich and varied textual experiences are better equipped to read critically than those who are not. • that the process of reading can be modelled to show the nature of these interactions. The thesis proposes a series of theoretical models that attempt to map out the dynamic, interactive process by which readers make texts mean. The models chart the pushes and pulls of thinking that a reader must employ during the act of reading in order to shape meaning from an indeterminate text. • that a description of critical reading activity in young readers can be postulated. The thesis proposes a sequence of indicators that seem to be characteristic of the behaviour of children who are developing the ability to read critically. Finally, the thesis stresses the necessity of reading widely to children if they are to take on the heteroglossia that will enable them to read critically, and the need to empower them by encouraging and honouring their own interpretive voices.

This interdisciplinary thesis is concerned with modalities of power and domination in relation to youth and sexuality in three societal discourses in the U.K. - politics, culture, and education - in the context of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. Framed by poststructuralism and queer theory, it is comprised of three qualitative studies. Study 1 is a Foucauldian genealogy of the 1986-1988 parliamentary debates surrounding Section 28's enactment. This analysis focuses on the deployment of children's literature with non-heterosexual content and the discursive political constructions of youth and sexuality. Study 2 is a directed content analysis of 16 British Young Adult novels with non-heterosexual content, engaging with the books as cultural artefacts to understand how they construct experiences of sexuality and childhood. This analysis is contextualised against the backdrop of key LGBT+ legal reforms. Finally, Study 3 is a thematic analysis of the views of eight teachers in Scotland on the pedagogical potential of LGBT+ children's literature. Four original contributions are made. First is the contribution to theoretical and empirical understandings of Section 28, the motivations behind the legislation, and the foregrounding of sexuality in 1980s British politics. Second, the thesis contributes to understandings of British LGB children's literature published after Section 28, revealing an evolution in cultural constructions of sexuality and youth. Third, it enlarges understandings of the pedagogical affordances of LGBT+ children's literature, revealing an imperative for LGBT+ inclusive education. Finally, it identifies a framework for continuing professional development in relation to such education.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using universal design for learning (UDL) on the acquisition of photography profession skills in a vocational programme for students with intellectual disability (SID) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study has also sought to discover the effectiveness of this method for integrating the SID with students of non-special educational needs (SNSEN) (or non-SEN) in the same classroom. Moreover, this study has explored the advantages, drawbacks and the challenges associated with the implementation of the UDL method in the classroom from the teachers' perspective. That this study took place in girls' secondary schools in mixed ability classrooms. that 24 numbers of students and 16 teachers took part, that data was collected by questionnaire, lists of observations, open questions, and pre- and post-testing. The first stage was to investigate the teachers' opinions by using the questionnaire and open questions, after training the teachers in how to apply the UDL, to teach SNSEN and SID in the same classroom. This stage also sought to learn the effects of UDL on integrating the SID with SNSEN students. The second stage explored the effect of the UDL on the teaching of professional photography skills for the SID in KSA. To achieve this goal the observation lists and pre- and post-tests were used to compare the learning performance of the SID which used the UDL in experiment groups, with the performance of the SID that used the usual, traditional strategies of learning in control groups. The results of the research were analysed using a Mann-Whitney U Test, as well as various descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups in the pre- and post-tests, where the students who used UDL to learn photography developed more quickly than those in the control group. As well as this, the opinions of teachers confirmed that the use of UDL is beneficial in helping with the inclusion of the SID and SNSEN in the same classroom. The findings further revealed the teachers' opinions on the advantages, drawbacks and obstacles to the application of UDL. The study has significantly added to our understanding of the contribution that UDL can make in developing professional skills for SID. The findings advance the current literature in the area of special education needs, particularly in respect of promoting the inclusion of students of intellectual disability within the same classroom as their non-SEN peers.

There are many informative books on the practice of yoga suggesting that yoga can bring benefits to the well-being of people on the autistic spectrum (Betts et al 2006, Cuomo 2007, Williams 2010, Goldberg 2013, Thornton-Hardy 2015). There is less empirical evidence to back up the claims made in these books. This longitudinal study observed six residential pupils, aged eleven to seventeen, with profound autism and accompanying learning difficulties, participating in a thirty minute yoga programme which was conducted four days a week for one year in a comfortable, quiet environment. Its purpose was to ascertain if yoga could influence physicality, communication, attention, motor planning, organisation and mood and if this was positive could the changes be sustained and generalised into daily activities. After baseline information was gathered, data was collected using a variety of specially designed forms. The Researcher led each session, modelling the poses and observing the pupils as they copied her. Data was also collected from the Education Team and Support Workers with parents contributing to the data collection each time they visited school or when the pupils went home. Using a descriptive case study approach, the data followed the progress of each pupil during yoga and for two hours after yoga, plotting changes over the year. The data was analysed qualitatively and where appropriate, quantitatively. Results showed that pupils increased in flexibility and strength, improved their balance, bilateral integration and symmetry. An increase in the pupils` use of appropriate short phrases was noted, episodes of joint attention increased as did use of greetings and one pupil began vocalising intentionally. The data showed a small increase in attention, motor planning and organisational skills out with yoga, indicating some generalisation had taken place. By the end of the programme, the pupils appeared less anxious and stressed and more confident. A striking result was a 'stillness' which replaced constant fidgeting by the pupils. This study suggests reasons why yoga is a positive intervention in autism and adds weight to the positive results of the other existing studies. The consistent practice of asanas allows flexibility to develop and the improvement in bilateral integration allows symmetry to increase. The asanas seem to calm a stressed nervous system allowing a `stillness` to evolve, making listening and concentration easier to achieve and maintain. This could lead to the pupils being more ready to learn. Autism appears amenable to this kind of intervention and yoga may prove to be an important tool in our autism tool kit.