RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.5 METHODS OF DATA GENERATION
Case study research usually involves the use o f multiple sources o f data; using more than one data generation method or using a data generation method multiple times (e.g. interviewing a participant multiple times each in a slightly different way or ensuring multiple occasions for observations) (Stake, 2010). Easton (2010) contends “it is only possible to understand social phenomena by recording and analysing the associated events that take place as a result o f actors acting” (p. 123). In doing so, the data generation methods used in my research included interviews, observation and field notes as I explain below.
4.5.1 Individual interviews
Kvale and Brinkman (2009) suggest that the “qualitative research interview attempts to understand the world from the subject’s point o f view, to unfold the meaning o f their experiences, to uncover their lived world prior to scientific explanations” (p. xvii). In other words, interviews focus primarily on persons’ experiences o f events. Furthermore, it enables the researcher to ascertain information on the phenomena studied that is not observable (Stake, 2010).
Multiple interviews were conducted in this research each with a different purpose. Life history (Appendix 1) and mathematics history interviews (Appendix 2) were conducted to understand the emergence and expression o f teachers’ identities in teaching FP mathematics. Interviews, which I refer to as practices interviews (Appendix 3), were conducted primarily to understand the mathematics teaching practices o f the four FP teachers who participated in my research.
Given that I had multiple interviews with each o f the participating teachers, I was able to space them over the period o f time I spent in each teachers’ class. This meant I had time to ask follow
up questions after reviewing interview transcripts, especially if I was not sure what a teacher meant, or if I required further elaboration, or perceived a response as possibly contradictory.
All interviews in this research process were semi-structured. However, even though they were semi-structured, the questions were not asked necessarily in the same order, as it was necessary to probe in certain instances or continue with the flow o f the interview as it emerged during the interview. Given that the four teachers were all first language isiXhosa speakers, they were at a disadvantage when responding to questions asked in English. Had they been able to communicate more fluently in English or if I was fluent in isiXhosa, I would have probably obtained richer data with more stories about them. I had considered asking a colleague who is a first language isiXhosa speaker to join me to assist with translations during the interviews.
W hile I was concerned about bringing an ‘outsider’ into the conversations, I realised after the pilot that that would not be necessary as the English proficiency o f the teachers would be sufficient. All four teachers had completed their in-service teacher education courses in English. That being said, the respective teachers’ proficiency in English varied quite substantially and the teacher who I worked with in the pilot was relatively fluent in English, despite isiXhosa being her first language.
One o f my practices interviews conducted with all four teachers included a video-elicited interview or stimulated recall. It entailed the use o f video material to elicit teachers’ reflections relating to their teaching o f mathematics. Video-elicited data is regarded as “enhancing collaboration, building a rapport and trust between the researcher and participants, and supporting the richness o f the data captured” during the research process (Ruto-Korir & Lubbe- De Beer, 2012, p. 404). My experiences with video-elicited interviews were o f limited success.
Firstly, none o f my teachers had had an opportunity to observe themselves teaching before. For all o f them this was a new experience and they were excited by the opportunity to observe themselves in action. Other teachers were called into the classroom, where the interview took
place, to observe them teaching. On two occasions I was asked to show the children the videos.
The excitement o f the moment resulted in relatively superficial engagement with the observed lessons. Secondly, all o f the lessons were in isiXhosa and had not yet been transcribed and translated. This meant that the process o f translation in the interview became the focus rather than reflexive engagement with the lesson. These video-elicited interviews did however add to the empirical data, especially in relation to the expression o f teachers’ identities in teaching FP mathematics.
4.5.2 Observation
I endeavoured during the course o f my time in each o f the four teachers’ classrooms to capture an ‘insider’s perspective’ and not contaminate that perspective with external knowledge, categories or views (Henning, Van Rensburg, & Smit, 2004). I sought emic categories, that is categories emerging from the data generated through my observations, rather than etic categories, that is, categories developed through theory and applied to the data (Henning et al., 2004; Maxwell, 2012). In a bid to develop emic categories, I made extensive field notes during the observations and also video-recorded some o f the lessons. These were essential for developing categories inductively from the data. That being said, this approach of ‘letting the data speak to m e’ was idealistic, as I came into the classroom with a significant knowledge base about teaching, learning and mathematics education. I have substantial experience in FP teaching. However, my experiences as a FP teacher had been in well-resourced state schools.
Additionally, my current designation is teacher educator, focusing on both Foundation and Intermediate Phases. This experience, as teacher educator, tends to promote a research- informed ‘ideal’ o f teaching, learning and the classroom. Furthermore, as a teacher educator my time spent in classrooms involves critiquing and supporting student teachers. Before conducting my research I thus had to ‘make the familiar strange’ so as not to judge and impose my conceptions o f what the teaching o f mathematics should look like, while observing teachers in the classroom.
Observer bias was thus a concern o f mine prior to going into the classrooms. In an attempt to counter that, I spent time in two different classrooms prior to the research, observing FP teachers teaching mathematics, making field notes and reflecting on those field notes. The intention was to learn to observe in new ways that were not judgmental and try to report what I observed in a way that paid attention to aspects perhaps overlooked in my role as teacher educator and mentor to my students. In countering the possible tendency o f judging, I found
the practices interviews particularly useful. They provided a space that enabled me to check my interpretations o f the events and experiences observed in the classroom with the teachers concerned.
The main purpose for including observation in my research process was to study the Grade 3 teachers’ mathematics teaching as it unfolded in context, rather than relying on a narrated representation o f their teaching. Observation provides direct access to classroom life and is typically used in conjunction with other data generation techniques to garner ‘rich data’
(Simpson & Tuson, 2003). As I mentioned in Chapter One and Two however, there is often a disjuncture between what teachers say they do and what they actually do in the classroom.
Henning et al. (2004), writing about observation in ethnographic research, claim “the purpose o f much o f this research is to debunk the myth that interviews tell all and that what people do in everyday settings is needed to provide a variety o f data, making the texture o f the artefact of bricolage stronger and more reliable” (p. 84). Besides, I was interested in the expression o f FP teachers’ identities through their mathematics teaching, which necessitated the use of observation as a data generation method.
The goal o f observation, not restricted by a pre-generated format, is to provide ‘rich data’
(Maxwell, 2012) that is, data that enables a researcher to render a narrative o f the events “filled with discussion and analysis, and rich in explanation and argument” (Henning et al., 2004, p. 85). Rather than viewing participant observer and non-participant observer as discrete categories, having conducted my research, I now consider there to be a continuum between these categories. I moved between being a participant observer and non-participant observer depending on the wishes o f the teachers. Being closer to what would be described as a participant observer, meant that I assisted the teachers at their request by performing some of their routine actions in the classroom. I assisted teachers in ways that would support them.
Ethically for my research, this meant that at times I had to supress my way o f being with children in the classroom, in order to follow the teachers’ lead. I give one example below relating to the marking of children’s work.
I had to be very careful with the marking the teachers requested that I do to ensure that I implemented this task in the same way that they do. This meant, for example, in Nokhaya’s class that I walked around and marked the children’s work as they completed each calculation as this was the practice in N okhaya’s class. By contrast, in Nom sa’s class I sat at the table and
the children came up to the table once they had completed all their work. The process of marking thus varied across the classrooms. This was evident not only in terms o f how teachers positioned themselves in the classroom when marking children’s work, but also in the nature o f the feedback they gave. I found it difficult to emulate the assessment practices o f the two teachers at Phambili Public School as I would have preferred interacting with the children about their work rather than simply giving a ‘tick’ for a correct answer and a ‘cross’ for an incorrect answer.
Observing in classrooms is an active process that involves constantly making decisions with regards to what to observe and note. Prior to going into classrooms, I had decided that my focus would be the teacher. Even though the children are inextricably involved in the teaching process, I knew that being the sole observer and researcher in the classroom, meant I had to limit my focus in order to develop deeper insight into the teachers’ mathematics teaching. The observation notes, which were transcribed immediately after the observation, were a chronological account o f the teaching o f mathematics in each o f the classrooms, mixed in with, what Henning et al. (2004) refer to as soft notes. I elaborate on recording my observations below.
Observation is a time-consuming data generation method. Furthermore, there were a number o f unanticipated events which prevented me from observing several lessons (e.g. closure o f a school due to floods). Therefore the process took far longer than I had initially expected. I reflect on the unexpected events later in this chapter. Fortunately, I was able to spend up to four months in the schools due to a sabbatical. Appendix 4 provides an overview of the research opportunities and time spent with each o f the four teachers in my research.
4.5.3 Field notes
Field notes are central to ethnographic research (Wolfinger, 2002). W hile this research was not strictly ethnographic, on average I spent a total o f four weeks in each class. W olfinger (2002) and Mulhall (2003) express concern that field notes lack historical interest and theorising. Field notes were written every day that I observed, even when lessons were video-recorded.
The field notes focused on the respective teacher’s classroom practice, especially with regard to mathematics teaching. In addition, my soft notes (Henning et al., 2004) included reflections on issues that I wished to explore in future lessons, personal experiences o f what I observed in
the classroom, and questions that I wished to ask o f the teacher. While I wrote my notes in a note book, each day’s observations were immediately typed and saved once I returned home.
The notes written while in the field were abbreviated and it was necessary for me to expand my notes, confirm the translation o f phrases I had written in isiXhosa, and include comments teachers made during their lessons that I may not have captured sufficiently. W olfinger (2002) maintains that there are three aspects to writing field notes, namely, onsite notes, which are usually an outline o f what is observed, (re)interpreting the on-site notes in order to write coherent descriptions o f what took place in the field, and reflections on the influences that note
taking has on the research story. In typing up my field notes, I kept to the sequence o f the lesson. If there was a worksheet or activity that the children had completed as part o f their independent work, I uploaded a photo o f the activity from my camera or, in the case o f the national workbooks, from the internet. Based on the field notes, I made notes o f points of interest and possible emerging codes and themes. The field notes were useful in providing an overall sense o f the teachers’ mathematics teaching, but they lacked the depth o f data generated through the video-recorded lessons.
To establish trust and allow the teachers to see the non-judgmental nature o f my notes, I always ensured that I left my notebook open for the teachers to see. After having read my notes, Beauty commented to Nomsa that she didn’t know that I could speak and write isiXhosa. Nomsa told me “You know what, Beauty was so impressed by you. She said ‘Lise can understand isiXhosa and she can write what the children are saying’” (Nomsa, PI1, t.142)27. This was based on the fact that I sometimes found it easier to write what the teachers and children were saying in isiXhosa.