‘Wuthering Heights’ and the Othering of the Rural

This thesis explores the notion of rurality as a form of constructed identity. Just as feminist and postcolonial studies identify the formation of hierarchies within gender and ethnicity, I argue that the rural is constructed as inferior in opposition to its binary counterpart, the urban. The effect of this is the othering of the rural. This thesis takes Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights as a case study, using a critical approach to explore the ways in which it presents rurality, and to consider its role in the creation and reproduction of rural identity. The case study suggests that the adoption of a ‘rural reading’, in which an awareness of rural othering is fostered, can be a useful and productive strategy in textual analysis and interpretation. The first three chapters of this thesis focus on rural construction generally. Chapter 1 draws on semiotic theory to examine the creation of binaries, and Derridean notions of linguistic hierarchies to suggest reasons for the inferior position of the rural. Chapter 2 considers the historical location of the urban/rural binary in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, within the context of the Enlightenment, the growth of capitalism, industrialisation and rapid urban expansion. Chapter 3 explores rural othering as a feature of contemporary culture, examining the textual presence of idyllic and anti-idyllic versions of the rural. Chapter 4 introduces the methodology of the case study, explaining the relevance of Wuthering Heights to the study of rural othering, providing a précis of the novel and an overview of previous critical responses. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 explore the three themes of nature, deviance and space. These are derived from the examination of rural construction in Chapter 3. In Chapter 5, the representation of nature in Wuthering Heights is explored, and the presence of animals within the novel in particular. In Chapter 6, the depiction of deviance in Wuthering Heights is discussed, with special focus given to the presence of deviant speech patterns, reflecting changing expectations of behavioural norms in the early nineteenth century. Chapter 7’s consideration of the relationship between space and rurality within Brontë’s novel considers her representation of landscape. Chapter 8 argues that a similar rural reading can be applied to other texts, literary and otherwise, opening up a fresh set of perspectives and possibilities for interpretation

An investigation into affect-related working memory for adolescents with dyslexia

Background Working memory and socio-emotional differences are often associated with the neurodiverse profile of dyslexia. However, it is not well understood how affect (i.e., feelings, emotion or mood) interacts with working memory processing among this population. Research suggests that affective information influences, and is influenced by, working memory, and that affective information is itself processed in working memory, with differences existing between populations. To date, research has not adequately accounted for the interaction of affect and working memory performance in this cohort. Aims: This research sought to explore the affect-related working memory profiles of adolescents with dyslexia. Sample(s): The participants for this study include adolescents with dyslexia aged 12-14 (n = 32), along with a control group matched for age and gender, but without a diagnosis or self identified learning or developmental difficulty (n = 39). Methods: This study adopted a post-positivist theoretical perspective and it was quasi experimental in design. Participants completed online, computer-based, working memory tasks and also briefly self-rated their affective experiences. Participants were required to maintain an active representation of an image over a retention period, after which they made an affective or non-affective comparison judgement. While under working memory load, during this retention interval, they were required to perform an additional working memory task (N-back) with affective or non-affective literacy stimuli. Furthermore, cognitive emotional regulation strategies employed were recorded due to their capacity to interfere with affective representations. Results: Reaction times for maintenance tasks did not differ between groups, but reaction times for less affective words had quicker accurate response times. Adolescents with dyslexia were less successful at maintaining affective information than their peers without dyslexia.Both groups displayed similar accuracy for maintaining less affectively-valent visual information, but this visual working memory task was more challenging for the dyslexia group when it required switching between different types of tasks. Catastrophising was a significant covariate for adolescents maintaining information, but it was positive re-focusing and reappraisal strategies that were reported more efficacious by the group with dyslexia. Both groups preferred the maintenance of affective information to brightness maintenance, but to a lesser extent for those with dyslexia. Conclusions: This study gives educational psychologists a greater understanding of the complex cognitive underpinnings of dyslexia (Stothard et al., 2018; Elliott & Grigorenko, 2015), and illuminates the interaction between affect and working memory for this neurodiverse population.N

Meeting the Aspirations of Learning Disability Policy: The Role of the Support Worker

This study investigates the research question: What role do support workers play in enacting learning disability policy in England? Social care policy has developed from a culture of paternalism and institutionalisation, to one that advocates enablement and community-based care. Government policy emphasises choice, independence and inclusion for people with a learning disability but does not recognise the extent of the role that support workers play in enacting such policies. This study uses a qualitative research multi-method approach to explore the relationship between government policy and support worker practice. The study consists of four parts: 1) an examination of the definition and diagnosis of learning disability, and how these have influenced policy; 2) a documentary analysis of care policy, to establish the representation of support workers in government policy; 3) a systematic review of empirical studies to establish the degree of academic interest in the research question; and 4) observations and interviews of support staff to explore their views and experience of working in care. The study findings show that changes in the definition of learning disability are reflected in a policy shift away from a medical framework focused on need, towards a social model focused on ability. Despite this shift, government policy still does not reflect the emotional and enabling role that support workers play in the lives of people with a learning disability, or the needs of support workers themselves. The role of support workers in enacting policy in England is also under-represented in academic research, with studies instead focusing on specialised areas of support work, such as challenging behaviour or stress. The fieldwork identifies tensions between policy and practice exacerbated by resource pressures, with staff reporting that they feel stressed and undervalued. Staff say they are in care work to make a difference but find it challenging to promote choice and inclusion for people who lack mental capacity to engage. This study concludes that in order for government policy to be meaningful and achievable, it must accurately reflect the work and needs of learning disability support workers. In addition, government must engage support workers directly when formulating policy that serves the interest of all people with a learning disability, without compromising the wellbeing of the people who support them.National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) East of England programme, at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Experiences of self and belonging among young people identified as having learning difficulties in English schools

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

Young people who offend and mental health : co-design 'Across the Line'

PhD ThesisThe mental health needs of young people who offend have become more widely recognised and a priority for the government and health agencies. Young people who offend experience a range of complex difficulties and have significantly worse health and social outcomes than their mainstream counterparts that persist and often increase in severity through childhood and later life. A wealth of research has been undertaken that focuses on young people’s health and well-being in the secure estate (e.g. custody) however, there is less research exploring the mental health experiences of young people who offend in community forensic settings. There is growing acceptance of the potential value of co-designing services that recognise and address problems to improve the outcomes of this population group yet to date, this remains relatively unexplored. The aim of this research was to explore, using qualitative research methodologies, (1) how young people presenting to youth justice services describe and understand their own mental health and needs, and (2) how a novel research approach (Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD)) could be applied to facilitate recognition and service developments for young people with mental health difficulties presenting in community forensic settings. A qualitative systematic review and meta-ethnography of the research literature on how young people in contact with the youth justice system (YJS) experience mental health problems was undertaken. Fourteen studies were included in the review which represented 278 study participants in total, aged between 13-39 years (to capture retrospective accounts of offending behaviour). Included studies were conducted across a range of countries with different legal jurisdictions (six in the USA, five in the UK, one in Sweden, one in the Netherlands and one in New Zealand). The review aimed to explore how young people who offend talk about and describe their experiences of mental health; their beliefs and perceptions about mental health and well-being; what it means to be susceptible to mental health problems; and the kinds of language they use to describe this. The key findings were that: (1) some young people lacked the ability to understand their own and others’ mental health difficulties; (2) some young people were able to reflect on their experiences, and in some cases, they were able to develop ways of coping with their adverse circumstances, and (3) some young people indicated what does and does not work in their experiences of professional support. This review identified that better understanding is needed about the ways in which young people develop and show resilience to adverse circumstances and how they perceive their own situation, in order to develop services that are more appropriate to their needs. The review also identified that developing innovative ways to include young people in research and practice must consider the communication difficulties that young people who offend often experience. The evidence from this review contributed to the development of the primary qualitative study in this thesis. This qualitative study was designed and undertaken using a modified experience-based co-design (EBCD) approach. EBCD is an approach to healthcare improvement that enables staff and service users to jointly co-design services. Central to the approach is the idea that experiences held by service users and ‘touchpoints’ (e.g. critical points or moments) in their journey through a service are integral to service improvement. Qualitative methods used within this EBCD approach included: observational fieldwork in four police custody suites (n=30 hours); in-depth interviews with staff in community forensic services (n=13) and an interview sub-study of researcher perspectives (n=7). Significant challenges experienced in the recruitment of young people who offend into this primary qualitative study required revising the research plan. This revised plan included adopting a modified approach in the development of young peoples’ touchpoints and the inclusion of a qualitative interview sub-study of researcher perspectives to critically reflect on the EBCD research process itself. The findings from this primary qualitative study have demonstrated: (1) some of the challenges of working in the police custody environment and pressures on the services to deal with mental health issues; (2) the difficulties of working in community forensic services with young people who offend and who often have complex and unmet needs (e.g. lack of staff training and support, lack of smooth pathways to mental health services and difficulties engaging with young people and families); (3) a modified approach to including the experiences (i.e. touchpoints) of young people who offend can be useful and is feasible in gathering their experiences of youth justice services; and (4) the shared experiences of challenges faced by research staff applying the EBCD approach in similar studies with similar population groups. Findings presented in this thesis have contributed knowledge to an existing small body of evidence about how young people who offend experience and understand their mental health and towards the feasibility of applying the EBCD approach in community forensic services with this population group. Specifically, the findings suggest: allowing greater youth participation through re-framing assumptions about how young people experience their own mental health; developing capacity in community forensic services to facilitate joint working; increasing flexibility in and between services to promote service developments; and further modifying EBCD for disadvantaged and/or vulnerable groups.National Institute for Health Research (NIHR

An Analysis of Career Discourses in Life Orientation Textbooks of Eastern Cape Schools

Life Orientation (LO) was introduced in schools by the new ANC government post 1994. Its introduction provided a platform to re-introduce career guidance to learners in schools with the aim of assisting them in making well-versed choices regarding their prospective careers and the subject selections pertaining to them (Department of Basic Education, 2011). Although no previous studies in the LO arena have focused on career discourses, previous literature on career discourses, in general, suggests that the models and theories still employed today have been heavily influenced by Western individualistic values. This has been found to create a disconnect between the South African subjects and the context they exist in, rendering these discourses unable to provide substantive assistance in the career decision making process. This study seeks to determine whether the career discourses located in the selected texts speak to the subjectivity and agency of the learner to make informed decisions. The current study examined the career discourses present in the LO textbooks utilised in Eastern Cape schools. The study sampled LO textbooks from Grades 10-12, as this group of learners are preparing to make critical further studying and career decisions and require guidance in their decision making process. A social constructionist lens was applied to the study by means of a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, making use of Willig’s (2013) six step process as a reference. Dominant discourses of the objective self, neoliberal self and the transitioning adolescent were uncovered in the texts, which suggests that, rather than challenge the dominant discourses that have prevailed in career theory and practice, the LO careers curriculum further reinforces them

Exploring the intentions behind the inclusion of the cross-curriculum priority ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures’ in the Australian Curriculum

The authors of the Australian Curriculum have been required to simultaneously work toward the realisation of economic and reputational goals that are in the national interest whilst also appearing to cater for groups who have traditionally been disenfranchised by such interests. This study explores the explicit and implicit intentions behind the inclusion of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures cross-curriculum priority in the curriculum, and ways in which those intentions are interpreted. Final year pre-service teachers surveyed and interviewed as part of the study shared a widespread belief that the cross-curriculum priority was developed as the result of converging interests, with those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples appearing to converge with those of the broader community. Numerous documentary data sources were collected and analysed according to a bricolage approach, in order to study apparent intentions and uncover those that were less evident in the Australian Curriculum when read in isolation. Finally, a racial realist interpretation of Critical Race Theory principles was deployed to synthesise the answers to three major questions

Doek and dagger, smoke and mirrors: how has the print media represented women of #FeesMustFall 2015?

A research report submitted to the Faculty Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art (Industrial Sociology), September 2017In this report I look at women's representation in #FeesMustFall, which is a student led protest movement that began in mid-October 2015 in response to an increase in fees. The core question posed in this project is how has the print media have been reported in a selection of newspapers pertaining to the women of #FMF 2015, honing in on 77 articles written about #FMF, and arguing that issue of women in #FMF 2015 are underrepresented in these media outlets. [No abstract provide. Information taken from introduction]XL201