3.3.1 Participants
Purposive sampling strategy was used where “researchers handpick the cases to be included in the sample on the basis of their judgement of their typicality; the sample has been chosen for a specific purpose” (Cohen et al., 2005, p. 103). The sample for this research were three novice teachers, one manager (head of department) and one leader (deputy-principal) from Muppet Primary School1
1 Not the actual name of the school.
in the Pinetown District. Whilst this sample may have satisfied my intentions which were to explore the experiences in identifying and meeting the development needs of novice teachers at one school in Durban, “it does not pretend to represent the wider population; it was deliberately and unashamedly selective and biased” (Cohen et al., 2005, p. 104).
3.3.2 Data collection instruments
A mixed method approach was adopted to collect data namely semi-structured interviews and document analysis.
Semi-structured interviews took the form of open-ended questions, which allowed the participants to interpret their role in attempting to identify and meet novice teachers’
developmental needs. Interviews also allowed participants to discuss their experiences and interpretations of mentoring and teacher developmental at schools and to express how they regarded situations from their own point of view. A semi-structured interview gave me a detailed picture to measure the knowledge of novice teachers, leaders and managers, their values and preferences and their attitudes and beliefs. Semi-structured interviews allowed for flexibility to probe interesting areas that arose and the interview followed the respondent’s interests or concerns thus producing rich data (Cohen et al., 2005). “Elaboration probes” were used which allowed the participants to tell the researcher more about some answers that were given and “clarification probes” were used to check if my understanding of what had been said was accurate by giving participants the gist of what the researcher heard (Maree, 2007, p. 89). “The social interactions that constitutes the interview can progress only if the researcher has managed the logistics of the venture well” (Henning, Rensburg, & Smit, 2004, p. 74). Henning (2004) also argues that a participant needs to feel comfortable with whatever mode of recording that is being used. Therefore in this study my intention to tape-record the interview was negotiated and this ensured easy transcription and analysis of the data.
Furthermore, notes were also taken in order to “harness some of the contextual factors that are not in the talk, such as gestures, facial expression, tone of speech and general body language” (Henning et al., 2004, p. 72)
Henning et al. (2004) argues that documents are a valuable source of information and if
new in a printed, handwritten or electronic format and which relates to the research question may be of value. In this study the official documents that were analyzed were the (IQMS) evaluation instrument for novice educators, novice educators’ personal growth plan (PGP), minutes of the staff development team (SDT) meetings and the schools’ improvement plan (SIP). These documents were used to explore evidence of the developmental needs of the novice teachers and the actions taken by the school to meet these developmental needs. This data was converged with the data collected from the interviews. The documents were treated with utmost care and with full ethical implications in mind.
3.3.3 Data analysis
I established how participants make meaning of a specific phenomenon, which in this proposed study were their experiences of mentoring and induction and the attempts at identifying and meeting the development needs of novice teachers, by analyzing their perceptions, attitudes, understanding, knowledge, values and feelings in order to understand how their nature of reality (ontology) is constructed (Maree, 2007). A process of inductive analyses of the frequent, dominant or significant themes that emerged from the tape-recorded interviews/raw data were done which allowed research findings to emerge (Maree, 2007) which is synonymous with qualitative research. My aim was to interpret and make sense of what was in the data. Data was organized according to each critical question. Data from each interview was transcribed and coded according to themes, and represented on a table using Microsoft word.
The following documents were analysed: the schools’ Vision and Mission Statement, the Schools’ Development Policy, Minutes of the Meetings of the Staff Development Team, educators’ Personal Growth Plan (PGP), the Schools’ Improvement Plan (SIP) and the time management plan of the developmental support group (DSG). Data from these documents were extrapolated according to focus areas and verified and was also merged with some of the data gathered from the interviews. Data collected after and during the research will be locked in a cabinet and will be later destroyed.
3.3.4 Trustworthiness
Transcripts were given back to the participants to read to verify that whatever had been written was accurate. Additions and amendments were made at this stage through consensus between the researcher and the participants. Rival explanations (Vithal &
Jansen, 1997, p. 33) were considered since respondents in each category were answering the same questions.
3.3.5 Ethical issues
Ethical issues of the data collection were borne in mind, by ensuring, informed consent, guarantees of confidentiality, anonymity, voluntary participation, freedom to withdraw and the consequences of the research were made clear to the participants. Pseudonyms were used to identify participants and their institutions.
3.3.6 Summary
The research design and methodology was fit for the purpose of the research because my intentions were satisfied and the data collated addressed the three critical questions of this study. I was able to gain knowledge and understanding of the experiences of novice teachers, managers and leaders regarding how the developmental needs of novice teacher are identified and met. Trustworthiness and ethical issues were considered.
The chapter that follows presents and discusses the data collated and the emerging issues.