I TENOR I
3.5 Other Data Gathering Processes
Most ofthe other data gathering methods have already been mentioned in the description of the history and evolution of the data gathering process. Suffice here to summarise them and the rationale for their use:
• For two years, 1993 and 1994, I marked the matriculation English second language essay paper. This was because I experienced a surprising lack of interest in essay writing amongst the pupils I taught, given the importance of the essay in the overall mark allocation ofthe examination. Pupils seemed more interested in decontextualised grammar exercises. I felt that part of the explanation for these attitudes might lie in the way in which the matriculation examination was set and the criteria for evaluation that were
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employed. Given the potential filter down effect that public exit examinations might have on teachers' and pupils' perceptions ofwhat was valued, it would be important to gain an understanding ofwhat messages the matriculation examination sent to teachers and pupils about writing.
I observed teaching in the classroom across a range of subjects to see what range of writing tasks pupils were required to do and how these were taught and assessed. I wanted to see how this related to what had emerged from learners' LLHs. I also followed a class around from lesson to lesson for a number of days to get firsthand experience oftheir day- to-day experience of writing.
I colIected their exercise books across different subj ects to see how much extended writing learners were required to do and how teachers responded to their writing.
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• I also examined official documents such as syllabuses, teacher guides and schedules, and examinations across different subjects. I felt these documents would provide important insights into how teachers perceived the teaching of writing. They would reveal information which would have a bearing on teachers' workloads, their attitudes towards writing and its place in the curriculum, and how they taught and assessed writing.
• I analysed pupils' writing to see what they revealed about their understandings of the structural and linguistic conventions of different genres.
To conclude, this chapter has described the basic principles underlying ethnographic research methods and their applicability to this investigation. In the course of describing the history and development of the research process, the use of literate life histories as a tool for ethnographic research was established, and the rationale for their employment in the context of the research explained. The need for triangulation of data by employing different methods and sources from data collection was also explored and the different ways in which this was accomplished was described. This picturedescribes an attempt to fulfil a number of aims of ethnographic research such as:
• to study people's behaviour in the ongoing settings in which it occurs and to provide a cultural interpretation oftheir behaviour from their words and actions, 'a descriptive and interpretive-explanatory account' (Watson-Gegeo 1988: 577);
• to capture the 'local meanings' (Erickson 1986: 121-122) that events have for the participants;
• and to bring to the surface the 'sediment' that shapes their attitudes, perceptions and knowledge.
By doing so the research process hopes to provide insight into the literacy experiences ofleamers in one school context and how these are shaped by a variety of factors, such as: the training and attitudes of teachers; the constraints imposed by syllabuses and examinations; and many others.
In essence, the research process is an attempt to describe and analyse the teaching of writing in the school in relation to the whole system of which it is a part.
CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS:
'VOICES IN THE DARK' - LEARNERS' LITERATE HISTORIES IN SCHOOL
This chapter analyses the data collected by the various means described in chapter 3 and it is analysed in terms of the criteria established in chapter 2. The central core of my data comes from literate life histories (LLHs) collected from six grade 11 students, and this data is triangulated with data collected from:
• interviews with teachers detailing their LLHs and their responses to some of the issues raised by the learners' LLHs;
• participant observation as an examiner in the English Second Language National Senior Certificate matriculation examinations;
• observation of classroom teaching and activities;
• my own observations as a teacher of standard nine English classes over two and a half years;
• data from more informal sources such as conversations and observations;
• investigation of official documents which impact on the teaching of writing in the school system;
• and analysis of students' writing.
This data is analysed in relation to what kinds and levels ofliterate competencies the teaching of writing distributes to the learners in the particular school studied. Thus the data will be analysed in terms of:
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what genres students experience in their schooling;
how those genres are taught and assessed;
how these experiences of writing shape learners' skills, attitudes to, and perceptions of writing and of themselves as writers;
what the reasons are for the ways in which writing is taught and assessed;
and what the outcomes are for the learners in relation to access to different levels and
kinds of literacy.
The LLHs and interviews with teachers mention fictional names allocated to each individual.
Excerpts from their interviews are included in the appendices, together with background information on each of them. As each respondent is introduced the appropriate appendix number is indicated.
The community and school in which the study took place havealready beendescribedin chapter 3. Itwill be sufficient to provide a brief summary of the school at this juncture to remind the reader of central features of the school and its operation. While the school is relatively well providedfor in terms ofbuildings,desks, a science laboratory,a domestic scienceroom, and some computers, it still suffers from many of the problems of black schools in South Africa. The community surroundingitis poor, there is high unemployment ,poor andovercrowded housing and a highcrime rate. This impacts on the school in a numberof ways.School propertyhasoften been vandalised or stolen, which has resulted in the erection of high security fencing around the school. Pupils oftendo not have a placeto do homework at home and homesare oftenused to run businesses involving thepupils' time. The high unemploymentis a demotivatingfactor , with few graduates from the school being able to find jobs, and this in turn contributes to pupils' involvementin crime.The relationshipbetween school and community is problematic,with the differ entconstituents - teachers, parents and students - often at odds with each other over issues.
Within the school environment,a number of problemsexist. Formalschoo ling oftentakesa long time to get underway at the beginning of the year. In 1993 and 1994 the full timetable took a month to be finalis ed and manyclasses spent hours doingno school work.Classroo m teachin g usuallystopped atthe end of October for examinations which effective ly meant that learners in this school were receiving nearly two months lessteaching time per year thantheir counterparts in more advantaged schools in the city.There is also a shortageof textbooks in manysubjects whichcontributes to themaintenanceofrote learning methods. All in all thereis agenera lapathy about schoolwork and homework; there is a high drop out rate;absenteeism is high especiall y after the lunch break; and the matriculationpass rate is dismallylow.Thissituationis nothelped by largeclasses and theretrenchment and redeployment of teachers.Itisagainst this backdrop
that the data gathered in the research needs to be understood.