The research investigates the relationship between acousmatic music and instrumental music, using developments in 20th century western art music to define its context including the compositional practices of Arnold Schoenberg (d.1951), Claude Debussy (d.1918), Nikolai Roslavets (d.1944), Luigi Nono (d.1990), Iannis Xenakis (d.2001) and Natasha Barrett (1972-). This was a practice-based PhD resulting in the creation of a series of new compositions for a variety of forces that addressed the following research questions: 1. What have been the problematics of the development of compositions for acousmatic and acoustic instrumental forces and how are these present in the work of the key practitioners referenced above? 2. What are the cultural conditions that have precipitated the perpetuation of the problematisation of the relationship between acousmatic and acoustic compositional practices? 3. Is it possible to generate a series of original sound compositions that explore and provide potential solutions to the pr…
This thesis examines the relationship between the early modern understanding of female melancholia and women’s depression today. Working with proto-medical treatises and Shakespearean drama from the early modern period (1580-1665), alongside contemporary diagnostic frameworks and psychosocial research (1960-2017), it investigates how female melancholics and depressed women speak to each other across the historical divide. Late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century experiences of melancholia shed new light, in particular, on the neglected area of women’s experience of depression today. I interrogate the notion, prevalent in early modern literature and culture, that female melancholia is equated with weakness; and demonstrate how this assumption was explored and challenged on the early modern stage by William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, and George Wilkins. I argue that melancholia emerges in early modern drama as a potential site for identity and agency, and emphasise the importance of sympathetic recognitio…
Despite decades of efforts, organisations still struggle to increase and maintain their gender diversity levels; a challenge exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although coaching is used as an initiative to support gender diversity, research in this area is scarce, findings inconsistent and the focus predominantly on coachees’ perspectives. This qualitative study is based in Germany and explores coaches’ and organisational stakeholders’ approaches to coaching in support of gender diversity. Underpinned by a critical realist paradigm and a qualitative methodology, data was collected from thirty semi-structured interviews and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings suggest that current approaches are not sufficiently nuanced to address the inherent complexities and may maintain or even reinforce the binary male-female divide. Consequently, the concept of coaching with gender-sensitivity was adopted and developed further to illustrate a broader approach, embracing individuals wit…
The publications submitted as the body of research for this PhD by Published Work are the result of four research projects, spanning 20 years of work over four continents with families, organisations, and schools. At the heart, they tell the story of a journey from practitioner to mentor researcher, from insider to outsider to inbetweener researcher, and from academic writer to blogger and back again, all through a programme of research designed to help parents and educators support bilingual children. In practical terms, they offer insight into the school change process for supporting bilingual learners, whether it be through programme structure, curricula, or pedagogy, The four research projects are focused on different aspects of second language acquisition research, in homes and in schools. The publications stemming from the research projects include one book, five peer-reviewed book chapters, and one peer-reviewed journal article. The choice of media for publications is connected to my continuing effort…
This research aimed to critically explore teachers’ emotional work, support for their wellbeing and the potential role of compassion to support the wellbeing of teachers in three special schools that support children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). Three special schools in the South-East of England were invited to take part in the research as linked, comparative case studies. The research adopted an ontological position of social constructivism to gain insights into how participants made sense of their daily professional experiences. Adopting an epistemological position of interpretivism aimed to encourage teachers to reflect on their professional experiences while also recognising my positionality as a partial insider. Reflexivity with regards to my positionality prior to, during and after the research supported an empathetic awareness of participant experiences, a depth of engagement and a desire to understand more about teacher wellbeing in the context of SEMH settings. To guide the …
The field of coaching could be seen as a late entrant in appreciating the potential that technology can help to play in the delivery of successful outcomes for individuals seeking support. The advent of new digital communication modalities, alongside the development of artificial intelligence, particularly the advancement of natural language processing algorithms, provides the opportunity for technologists to work in partnership with the coaching field to develop new methods of delivering coaching services. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a working alliance can develop between coachee and an artificial agent, and through this agency deliver positive outcomes. Research to date suggests that a good working alliance is a predictor of positive coaching outcomes. One coaching outcome which seems to be the focus of corporations at present is that of helping employees build selfresilience, which is seen as having a positive impact on an employee’s ability to handle stressful situations. This researc…
Social media plays an important role in the global cosmetics industry and has enabled a change in consumer behaviour from ‘private’ to ‘public’ consumption of certain products. Cosmetic consumption used to be considered a private activity, but since the adoption of social media, it has become more open and is shared in public more than ever before. Nonetheless, social media-led learning processes of consumers are insufficient as well as understanding into how social media has transformed cosmetic consumption. This qualitative research aims to evaluate the role of social media in the development of skills and competencies in cosmetics consumption in Thailand. A total of 53 Thai female Social Media Users (SMUs) were interviewed and categorised using Kozinets’s (1999) typology of online community members - Tourists, Minglers, Devotees and Insiders – whose consumption of cosmetics ranged from low to high, as did the intensity of their relationship with social media. SMUs’ development of skills and competencies…
Ecological flexibility entails an expansion of niche breadth in response to different environmental conditions. Sportive lemurs Lepilemur spp. are known to minimise energetic costs via short distances travelled, small home ranges, increased resting time, and low metabolic rates. Very little information, however, is available in the eastern rainforest, the habitat where this genus has its highest diversity. I investigate whether L. fleuretae inhabiting Tsitongambarika (TGK), the southernmost lowland rainforest in Madagascar, shows similar behavioural and ecological adaptations to the sportive lemurs inhabiting dry and deciduous forests. I collected data from July 2015 to July 2016 at Ampasy, northernmost portion of TGK. To understand patterns of resource availability, I collected phenological data on 200 tree species. I explored the ecology of L. fleuretae by gathering data on its diet, ranging patterns, and by reconstructing the activity profiles via a novel method, the unsupervised learning algorithm on acce…
Recent studies question the assumption that folivorous primates rely on ubiquitous and evenly distributed food resources with a low and uniform nutritional quality. They suggest that folivores experience scramble competition and their resources vary in quality, availability, and spatial distribution. Woolly lemurs, Avahi sp., are the only true nocturnal folivorous primates. This study aims to explore whether A. meridionalis experiences food constraints in the Tsitongambarika lowland rainforest of south-east Madagascar, a habitat that is expected to have low variation in quality, availability, and spatial distribution of leaves. I collected data from May 2015 to July 2016 at Ampasy, north of the Tsitongambarika Protected Area, on abundance of lemur species, and ranging pattern, sleeping site selection, diet, and activity pattern of A. meridionalis. I delivered four lessons to teachers in the municipality that hosts Ampasy to raise awareness on the threats that lemurs and forests are facing, and assessed the ef…
Participation is a topic that has been widely debated in planning literature. There is a great deal of knowledge exploring the complexities of participatory planning, expanding notions of participation both within and outside state-led planning and conceptualising efforts from marginalised groups as forms of participation. In the field of transport and mobility planning on the other hand, little is known about the complexities of participation in mobility planning and the dynamics of participation beyond governmental boundaries. This understanding becomes even scarcer within the Global South context where mobility planning is not always fair and inclusive. Considering participation as a term that can accommodate a wide range of motivations, implications and forms, this thesis explores the role of participation in mobility planning in the Global South. The research adopts an innovative conceptual framework that was built upon critical and Global South perspectives on participation and mobility, the spaces for …