To help reduce such 'risks', data was gathered in as discreet a manner as possible. For example, class visits were unscheduled in the sense that requests were not made for each visit. Instead, teachers whose classes would be visited during the fieldwork were made aware that I might simply arrive at any time. To obtain the required access, explanations were provided for the necessity of such visits - that they would result in observations that were more enlightening than if scheduled. Such arrangements and explanations helped ensure that the teachers would conduct their classes and interact with students as they normally would when not being observed.
Table 4: Breakdown of fieldwork activities at Umzamo
No. of Visits No. of interviews Shadowing 55 days Principal Principal
1 Deputy Principal 1 Deputy Principal 2 Heads of Departments 1 Level 1 teacher 2 Level 1 teachers identified identified as most as most influential the most
influential
RCL president teacher 2 Teacher focus groups
1 Student focus groups
Pre-access
Although not originally designed as part of data collection, the different manner in which the sample schools responded to access requests, as discussed above, provided initial data on the differences between the two schools' cultures and associated leadership. While the response of the Fundiseka principal had been thoughtful, sensitive to colleagues' feelings and consultative, that of the Umzamo principal had been immediate and non-consultative. Instead of being concerned with what the study might mean to his colleagues, the principal's only apparent concern was with its probable 'saviour' potential. Such a concern was, however, probably understandable in terms of the principal's history of displacement
Culture 'identification'
Formal data collection began with observations at both schools. The observations continued throughout fieldwork, beginning at school level and moving on to incorporate class room level observations. Of main focus during the initial observations was getting the hang of 'how things were done' at the schools. This involved spending a week in sites where groups seemed to spend most of their time together. Also, of major concern at this stage was to get participants to go beyond allowing me to 'invade' their outer space, but to proceed to a stage where they would unconsciously allow 'invasion' of their inner space. This involved the establishment of a relationship aimed at 'persuading' the participants to be unconscious of my
presence so they would not be on guard over what they were saying to one another or how they were going about their business. One way this was established was by spending a week in each of the 'staff rooms'. The aim was to establish familiarity with all members in order not to exclude any individuals. Also, observations during tea breaks alternated between staff rooms and the schoolyard where students
congregated or where some teachers spent most of the break periods outside staff rooms.
In addition to the above, various other strategies helped make my presence
unthreatening. These included conveying interest in what everyone was doing and saying without appearing intrusive. It also meant using every available opportunity to eliminate ambiguity regarding this study by giving full explanations whenever
individuals made enquiries. Furthermore, a point was made to move away from situations whenever individuals conveyed consciousness at being observed, for example, by cutting short their conversations or lowering their voices when I entered the staff rooms. The strategies seemed to work because by the time fieldwork ended the impression was that members at both schools were no longer self-conscious about being observed. Conversations and activities had assumed more relaxed tones than they had when fieldwork first began.
Initial classroom observations focused mainly on classroom cultures and did not involve any 'sampling'. The observations were not confined to patterns of behaviour prevailing during teaching but also focused on those that prevailed during the writing of tests and examinations. They also involved walking about to observe how classes behaved when teachers were not in class.
Leader identification
When it was felt that data gathered by means of observations formed an adequate working conception regarding the readily visible aspects of the schools' cultures, data gathering proceeded to identify perceived leaders at the schools. A questionnaire was administered for this purpose and was immediately analysed so the leadership could then be further studied through classroom observations and in-depth interviews. As field work neared the end, the observations took the form of 'shadowing' for part of a day certain teachers identified as leaders. This form of data gathering helped access data that otherwise would have been lost to this study. For example, while the 'shadowing' had revealed a very approachable leadership at Fundiseka, it had revealed the opposite at Umzamo. Both the principal and the deputy 1 shadowed at Fundiseka were consistently approached and enthusiastically greeted by both staff and students. Contrary to this, even though staff would approach the Umzamo principal for one reason or another, the interaction displayed none of the warmth and banter displayed at Fundiseka At no time was the principal seen to be engaged in informal conversation by students during the 'shadowing'. The opposite was however the case with the HoD that had been shadowed who, at that time, had conversed with both students and staff with ease.
In depth probes
As fieldwork neared its end, in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals the schools' members had identified as influential people at their schools, as well as with teacher and student focus groups. This aspect was largely deductive.
The aim was to develop a more in-depth understanding of the schools' cultures and associated leadership by probing values, beliefs and assumptions of the schools' members regarding the concepts. The interviews also helped access information that had not been readily accessible through observations, the questionnaire and
documents, for example, values underpinning the schools' cultures and the degree to which the schools' populations shared understandings.
Each interview began in an open-ended manner. This involved requesting participants to describe what the two concepts of main concern in this study, namely, school 'culture' and 'leadership', meant to them. This was followed with a brief exposition
of meanings given to the concepts for this study. The purpose was to establish shared understanding between interviewer and interviewee on the concepts. Once this had been established the interviewees were then requested to describe their schools' culture and leadership. Such open ended-ness helped relax the interviewees. By getting interviewees to say whatever came first to their minds in relation to their schools' cultures and associated leadership, the interviewees were being afforded an opportunity to convey what was of major importance to them in relation to these concepts. More semi-structured questioning and probing succeeded the open-
endedness. The probing helped elicit additional information and obtain clarifications on issues raised by respondents.
One problem experienced regarding this form of data gathering related to interview scheduling. Whilst it had been easy to schedule interviews with individual staff, this was problematic for interviews with both staff and student focus groups and with student leaders. Some staff members who initially had been selected to constitute staff focus groups were later excluded because class commitments meant that not all of the proposed teacher interview participants were available at the same time. Noise during breaks also meant interviews could not be conducted at this time. As a result,
composition of me focus groups was ultimately determined by staff availability at the scheduled times of interviews. Similar problems were encountered with student focus groups resulting in interviews being conducted during the autumn break at Fundiseka and over test periods at Umzamo on students who were not writing tests at that time.