SUMMARY,RECCOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
3.5 Gaining access
To conduct the study I requested the permission from the gatekeepers but more details are discussed under ethical issue section. I asked them for permission to record focus group interviews. I explained that participating in the study was voluntary and that they were free to withdraw at any time without giving me explanation.
3. 6. Methods of gathering data
Research methods are explained as devices that researchers use to collect relevant data to the research project (Wilkinson &Birmingham, 2003). In the qualitative study the common research methods that are used to collect data are, observation and interviews and focus group discussion.There is no research method that is better than the other but the use of research method depends on what the researcher wants to know as well as the type of the participants that will be used for the research project (Sommeck and Lewin (2005)). Some methods are not suitable for certain participants. For example, a researcher cannot use questionnaires for illiterate participants and young children.
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In this study I used semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and document reviews as methods of gathering data. Semi-structured interviews are described as ways of exchanging information between the researcher and the participants (Monette, Sullivan & De Jonge, 2008).
3.6.1 Semi-structured interviews
Monette, et al (2008) describe semi-structured interviews as a social relationship that is designed to exchange information between interviewer and the participants. The interviewer needs to use his or her own skills and creativity to manage the relationship that he or she has created in the interview process in order to get the quality of information that he or she needs to get.
I decided to conduct the interviews in person with the HODs because they were in the position to provide information regarding the implementation of Foundations for Learning in their schools.- I also took some field notes while interviewing the participants. When taking the notes, I would, among other things, be writing about the environment, educators’ gestures and expression.
These field notes would be used when doing data analysis. Semi-structured interviews focused on the challenges that they faced when implementing the policy; resources that they used, and the support that they got from the department officials
Some of the questions that were prepared for focus group discussion and semi-structured interviews were largely similar although there were a few that were specifically designed for the HODs. This is because the HODs and the teachers in a department do more or less the same work; the only difference is that the HODs do the management duties in addition. This therefore, means that there were questions that were prepared for management issues and which needed to be answered by the members of the management only.
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I conducted semi- structured interviews with both the HODs of School-A and School-B. I conducted the interviews in the rooms which were quiet and conducive to holding interviews.
The HOD in School- A had prepared herself well for the interview. She told me that when she read my interview questions, there were issues that made her think deeply about the purpose of the policy. She felt that there was still a lot that needed to be done in order to improve the quality of teaching in schools.
What I noticed about that the HOD in School-B is that she had written all the responses in a piece of paper and that made our interview to be faster than I had thought. It took less than thirty minutes to finish the interview. It was about time for the teachers to leave. I thanked her for her contribution and support as she had organised the teachers to take part in the study.She was kind enough to allow us to continue when other colleagues had gone. This interview also lasted for about an hour.
3.6.2 Focus group discussion
To get information from the Foundation Phase educators, I used focus group discussion.
Anderson (1996), cited in Wilkson and Bermingham (2003) describe focus groups as a carefully planned, moderated, informal discussion when one’s ideas are bounced off another’s. This creates a chain of reaction of information dialogue with the purpose of addressing a specific topic in-depth and in a comfortable environment. Terre Blanche and Durrheim (2004) describe focus group discussion as a way of collecting data in an inter-subjective experience. They claim that inter-subjective experience is an experience that is shared by people living in the area.
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Focus group discussion was used to collect data among the 4Foundation Phase educators from School-A and 6Foundation Phase educators from School-B. Foundation Phase HODs of both schools were not involved in the focus group discussion, but were interviewed separately.
Foundation Phase educators were chosen because of their experience, knowledge and understanding of the implementation of the Foundation for Learning policy in schools. The Foundation Phase HODs were also chosen because of their experience in supervising educators in their respective departments
I decided to use focus group discussion with the Foundation Phase teachers because they are from the same school, have more or less the same experiences, strategies and challenges when implementing the Foundations for Learning policy. It would have been a waste of time to interview them one by one when they could discuss it together. In focus group discussion with participants working in the same institution, one is likely to get one and the same information.
I used focus group discussion in order to create a relaxed atmosphere so that they would feel free to discuss and raise their concerns, if any. As a school management team member of the neighbouring school, I wanted to be at their level. I did not want them to look at me as a person who was there to interrogate them. I became part of the group discussion. I made sure that the seating is informal. In School-A 4 educators constituted the focus group while in School-B 6 educators were involved in a focus group.
I designed my group discussion questions in more or less the same way I had with the questions for the HODs. The group discussion also started from general to specific questions. The purpose of doing this was to break the ice before getting to serious discussions. I used empirical questions when conducting focus group discussion. Moulton (2001), cited in Stephens (2009), defines empirical questions as those questions that researchers use to enquire about real life. I used it in a
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descriptive case study where teachers would describe how they implemented the Foundations for Learning policy.
Focus of the focus group discussion was based on the understanding of the implementation of the policy and the resources that they needed in order to implement the policy. Questions asked were based on the educators’ state of readiness to implement the policy, training that they went through before implementing the policy as well as, the effectiveness of the policy implementation. Other questions focused on the challenges that educators faced when implementing the Foundation for Learning policy. Focus group discussion with the 4 educators in School- A lasted for an hour.
While we were busy with the discussion the bus came to collect the learners who made a lot of noise as it was their time to go home. At the same time other educators were moving up and down as they were also preparing to leave for home. She explained that this group discussion would contribute to the development of the Foundation Phase teachers. I recorded our discussion so that an accurate record of the discussions could be kept. The discussion went on very well; the teachers gave one another a chance to speak, which made it easier for the discussion to flow good. The discussion was only disturbed by the ringing of the siren, signalling that it was time for the learners to go home.
The discussion time was a bit shorter as it lasted for about 45 minutes. This is because there was a lot of agreement among the educators as they shared similar experiences and challenges. When the discussion was over, I thanked them for their time and their contribution towards this study.
3.6.3 Documents review
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I reviewed documents from the Head of Department of each school. The documents that were reviewed were the learners’ books, teachers’ files, the phase meeting minute book and the summary of results of the Annual National Assessments from 2008 to 2010. The reason for using these documents was to compare the data that was to be collected using interviews and focus group discussion.