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There are different forms of qualitative research such as ethnography, case study, action research and evaluation which often combine and overlap. There are also many perspectives or schools of thought which interpret qualitative research in different ways, examples are: empiricism, Marxism, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism, feminism and structuralism (see glossary, see also research resources). It is not necessary to become deeply immersed in these perspectives before beginning research, though in Chapter 2 we will need to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research. A fuller understanding of these perspectives enable us to reflect upon our own perceptions, collect data in a different way and enhance our analyses of the data we collect.
We will begin our description of qualitative research by considering a number of examples that have been taken from the work of students following a course in special educational needs. The excerpts in this chapter have been organised under a number of sub-headings. The importance and source of these sub-headings will become clear when you read Chapter 4, entitled Action Research. Suffice it to say at this point that the sub-headings reflect the stages through which a project might pass. While these examples of phases in the research process are illustrative, they are of course, introductory and do not reveal the process in detail. Their purpose is to begin the process of discussing research based approaches to professional learning and development. A summary of the research planning process is provided at the end of the chapter. See also the assignment checklist as a further prompt to undertaking and writing up research for a research assignment, dissertation and thesis.
"The starting point of my research was the case load of children I was given at the beginning of the Autumn Term 1992. This included work in one small infant school, with three six year old children, identified as having learning difficulties. I was provided with an assessment of their 'literacy skills' and for one of the children, George, there were notes on additional assessments carried out by an educational psychologist. Her assessments indicated that in all areas, George was 'operating within the norms for his age' although he had a specific problem with visual discrimination and 'a short attention span'. My brief was:- '.... to assess each child's needs, devise suitable teaching programmes and contribute as appropriate - including teaching - to their implementation in individual, small group or class settings'. Also 'to provide specific advice, programmes and material to enable class teachers to consolidate and extend the learning of the children on the case load'. [...] It was obvious when I met George in his class that George was going to be a challenge. Devising a suitable teaching programme was not going to be an easy task as 'a short attention span' seemed at the root of George's learning difficulties. George was a child I needed to know well. It did not appear appropriate at this stage to be prescriptive and suggest that he needed just a 'recovery programme', a commercial or tailored scheme or exercises to improve his 'visual discrimination'. I established short term goals and book sharing activities." [Christine Baldwin, 1993]
(further comments on focus identification)
"Before beginning any of the observations or interviews, I had of course to consider the ethical implications of my research. When planning my first formative assignment last October, I had discovered that all planning can be brought to nothing if the chosen subject declines to be involved. Therefore I began early and approached each of the subjects in turn, and their parents to negotiate the access I required.
Carla and Sam expressed great interest in the project, John and Beth were willing to help, but less forthcoming. All the parents felt that it could be a very positive exercise, and Beth's father expressed the view that any time spent focussed on her learning strategies might help to improve the provision for her in school. I explained that this was personal research, not instigated by the school, but they still felt it could prove very worthwhile." [Beryl Dawson, 1993]
(further comments on data collection)
"After carrying out my observation, I discussed George again with his class teacher. She said that he had made "a really good attempt" at his piece of work on fireworks. Both his picture and his writing were "really the best he's ever done." She also remarked that George often lost his place and started writing again anywhere on the paper. (Evident in his work - Appendix 2.4). She indicated that one of her main concerns was that he was often unable to carry out tasks that the others in the class were able to do, even when working with Year 1 children. Again he had coped well this morning. She felt he really needed the support of a 'Welfare Assistant' some of the time. The 'Welfare Assistant' who was 'allocated' to a child with a 'statement' sometimes helped George. The teacher was concerned that he had problems in all areas of the curriculum and of course as a Year 2 child, he would be doing the 'SAT's' next summer. He couldn't follow instructions or organise his ideas very well. His craft work was messy. In P.E. lessons, taken by another teacher, "he was all over the place"
Spending a whole morning in the classroom made me look at ways George could work differently in the classroom, adopting different approaches. My focus began to switch from George, to the classroom environment and teaching approaches. This really marked the beginning of a second phase in my research." [Christine Baldwin, 1993]
"The second phase of my research.
During the half term following the classroom observation, I endeavoured to try out various new approaches. I felt approaches which were 'different' which gave George a sense of success and were more 'multi-sensory' might help George.
These included:
Using the 'BBC' Class computer. This was obviously not used a great deal. There were few programmes that worked, but there was a copy of 'Folio' word processing. However, this meant using the "QWERTY' keyboard which proved difficult. I spoke to the Headteacher about the work that I was doing, she offered to purchase a "Concept Keyboard' which can be easier for young children to use. I made some overlays for the "Concept Keyboard'. These assisted George to learn a basic sight vocabulary to use to 'write' simple sentences and to use phonics to spell regular words. The computer appeared to appeal to George. His attention span increased - he could sit involved for a half an hour session. I also was able to use with him computer programmes to help develop 'Visual discrimination skills' and recognition of letters and initial letter sounds.
I used the area around the computer for displaying work done by George and the other children who worked with me. I also displayed a small "Pictogram Alphabet poster' which helped as a phonics cue sheet. These displays were unobtrusive but helpful to my group and could be used by other children in the class.
I discussed with the teacher various approaches that could be used to help George - 'A language through experience approach - writing his own books'. 'A modified version of - Breakthrough to literacy'. I left some little fun reading books that could be shared with George. I was informed ["The school would not now send books home with George, because they did not come back"]." [Christine Baldwin, 1993].
"At the beginning of the Spring Term, it was the teacher, who opened up the dialogue. She commented on her 'guilt' at not following up my work with George, especially as I had 'spent so much time working on the computer'. She spoke of her difficulties becoming familiar with the computer and how frustrated she was when in the past the children's work had been 'lost'. She also pointed out how in the small school there are not the 'specialists' and because her class was all infants, there weren't the 'older children' to help. She added she spent nearly all of most Sundays preparing for the following week. Keeping up with the demands of the National Curriculum, and preparing the children for the 'SAT's was a priority. She was concerned about George and she tried to help him but she was particularly worried about a couple of children who should make 'level 2' on the reading SAT, but who were not there yet.
It had occurred to me that the 'school assistant' could play more of a role in working with the 'special needs' group. However, it was the teacher who suggested that the assistant spent some time with me, learning how to use the computer. The next week I came into the school, the assistant worked with me using a programme with my group of children so that she became familiar with it. She was keen and said she had always fancied 'having a go' but 'had never had the chance before'. We worked together using the word processing programme and an extension of it with the 'Concept Keyboard', actually preparing a programme together. During the term the 'Assistant' became familiar with the computer, even making arrangements to take it home in the holidays. All children could benefit from her expertise. For George, this meant he was able to use programmes to help develop his skills and use the word processor to write up work. The 'Assistant' also freely displayed his work.
The idea of a 'word bank' was followed up by the assistant for use with the 'Statemented child' and several other children including George, who the teacher felt would benefit." [Christine Baldwin, 1993]
"Dialogue can also be revealing. It became apparent that George's teacher was concerned about the forthcoming 'SATs' and felt it was worth spending more time with those who might attain a higher level. She thought George would 'score 1's at best.' [Teacher expectation and attainment could be an issue here]. The pressure of National Curriculum and the SATs, however, was apparent. It could be that the teacher's concern to cover National Curriculum work and prepare the children for the 'SATs', prevented her from giving more time to George. George certainly needed time to consolidate basic concepts. George with an August birthday, is really in an 'unfair position' when being given an assessment on the SATs; as he will be young and have spent less time in school than many Year 2s. However, the teacher's concern at covering National Curriculum Targets may mean that George is following the required "....broad and balanced curriculum". (National Curriculum Council 1989). However, my observations beyond those noted in this study showed that George did not possess some basic concepts to enable him to benefit from this broad curriculum. In the haste to cover the breadth of the National Curriculum, a child who is young in his year, like George, is expected to perform at the same level as those almost a year older than him. Class teachers are under pressure to carry out their legal obligation.
The fact that had George been born a couple of weeks later he would have been in the age group younger [i.e. Year 1] appeared not to be noted by the class teacher. She commented that George was 'unable to do even the ones [worksheets] set for Year 1 children'. He was in fact only a couple of weeks older than some 'Year 1' children but he was labelled 'a Year 2 child,' with different expectations. [Christine Baldwin, 1993]
"I would further argue that once a good working relationship has been established with the class teacher and by working in the classroom and observing the child in the context of his normal working environment, the support teacher can sometimes improve the child's performance by facilitating change within the classroom itself. It is in this area that the support teacher can do some valuable work, with longer term effects on learning than those achieved through short term individual or group teaching. One way I thought I could improve classroom practice to benefit George was in the use of the computer. Working in the classroom revealed that the teacher rarely used the computer although there was one available in the classroom. I felt it could be used to advantage with George. Having negotiated its use and set up programmes I thought these would be easy to follow up with George. This was not the case at first. The teacher commented later in the term about her experience with computers and this was confirmed by the headteacher. As a consequence of my work, the 'School assistant' learnt how to work with the computer which helped the teacher to use the computer more successfully to the benefit of George, the special needs child, as well as other children in the class. So through work in the classroom the support teacher can actually provide 'professional development' for the teacher and/or other support workers. This sort of 'on the job' training can be of help to the busy teacher who lacks experience or expertise with children with special needs or in strategies and approaches to help them or which can make the curriculum more accessible. Using the school assistant to develop expertise on the computer was a strategy which the teacher herself suggested and its success may be partly due to the fact the teacher had 'initiated it'." [Christine Baldwin, 1993].
Each of the above illustrations need to be developed further before they could pass as research assignments. The following chapters endeavour to provide insights and approaches. The basic question for any one new to research-based learning and professional development is:
WHAT DO I DO TO GET STARTED?
There is no magic about getting started. It is all rather mundane. Getting started involves the collection of data. How do you do that? Well, if you're observing you take notes. If you're interviewing you will probably use a tape recorder or perhaps even a video recorder - then you'll re-listen to/watch these and probably make transcriptions of all or part of the recordings. If you're going to study documentation then you've got to start collecting it! So far it's easy enough. The task is simply to get started. Of course, it's not quite as easy as that. Before collecting data you have to think about the ethical principles which are going to underlie your collection procedures:
- Do you ask permission?
- Do you do it covertly or say precisely what it is you're doing and for what purposes?
- Will anybody be hurt by disclosure of your findings?
- Are there vested interests which you might be unwittingly supporting?
There are many such questions and you will need to think carefully about how you will conduct your research. To help you to do things the following summary guide will help you to find your way around the following chapters as you actively develop your own ideas.
1. HOW DO I FORMULATE A RESEARCH FOCUS?
see:
and:
2. HOW DO I IDENTIFY MY OWN PROFESSIONAL NEEDS, INTERESTS, VALUES
see:
and:
3. HOW DO I FORMULATE A RESEARCH APPROACH AND JUSTIFY IT?
see:
4. WHAT ETHICAL PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE MY RESEARCH?
see:
and:
5. HOW SHOULD I COLLECT DATA?
see:
6. HOW DO I REDUCE BIAS?
see:
7. HOW DO I ANALYSE DATA?
see:
8. IF I AM INTENDING TO DO ACTION RESEARCH, HOW DO I FORMULATE ACTION STEPS AND PLANS?
see:
9. HOW DO I BUILD THEORY?
see:
10. IF I AM INTENDING TO DO ACTION RESEARCH, HOW DO I MONITOR CHANGE?
see:
11. HOW DO I CONSTRUCT AND REPRESENT THE CASE I AM STUDYING?
see:
12. HOW DO I HANDLE EVALUATION REPORTS?
see:
13. HOW DO I GENERATE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FROM RESEARCH?
see:
Group Activity: Analytic Interviewing - sharing experiences and ideas concerning individual learning and management issues
Analytic interviewing is a modified form of interview procedure having a multiplicity of purposes:
For the present activity, the interviews are to focus around such issues as:
The procedure is:
1) ideally it is best to make groups of three. However for groups of four a variation can be made which splits the role of the 'observer'. There are three basic roles which each member of the group takes in turn. These are:
a) the interviewer. The interviewer can only ask questions and is not allowed to make comments or to offer suggestions.
b) the observer. The observer must take note of the content and the process of the interview. The observer is also the time keeper, ensuring that the time allocated to each interview is kept to the specified amount. It is part of the observers role to ensure that the interviewer only asks questions. Thus if a comment is made the observer must disallow this and request that it is re-framed as a question. Note should also be made of the form of the question. Do the questions beg the answer? Are they open ended? Do they allow the interviewee to expand his or her ideas, meanings etc?
For a group of four, the observer's role may be split as follows:
Observer 1: keeps time, notes content of interview
Observer 2: notes style and strategy of interviewer (open ended questions, closed questions; aggressive or laid back style etc); ensures interviewer only asks questions and does not engage in making comments, judgements etc.
c) the interviewee. The interviewee responds only to the questions.
At the end of say 10 minutes, the roles are rotated until each member of the group has experienced all three roles. (If a situation occurs where there has to be four members, then it is best to have two observers and modify the time taken accordingly). A further 10 minutes should be allowed for the interview group to list the issues, ideas that emerged during the interviews. For example:
Plenary
At the end of this a spokesperson for each of the sub groups can describe the issues/ideas that emerged. This can then be the basis for a fuller discussion in the large group. It is then the responsibility of the chairperson to ensure that each member of the group is able to contribute to the discussion.