Introduction
Recently I have been reviewing literature for my PhD study on national curriculum enactment in Wales. Whilst there are different methodologies and methods being used amongst studies, there are many research projects that take a case-study approach which utilises interviews and sometimes survey data to provide empirical evidence of teacher’s enactment of the Curriculum for Wales. This blog post aims to explore the methods being used and argue that ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, could offer valuable insights in the field.
Interviews
Whilst methods in the field of social sciences have expanded since the interpretivist turn, interviews remain the most firmly embedded research method (Pink 2015). There use in research has enabled the collection of valuable data on people’s values, behaviours, feelings, opinions and lived experiences. An example of this can be found in Power et al.’s (2020) study on curriculum reform and enactment in Wales. Semi-structured interviews with teachers revealed that Welsh schools may lack resources and teachers with the correct training. The article also claims that the curriculum will disadvantage children from low socio-economic backgrounds as it is not knowledge focused. This demonstrates that interviews can enable the participants’ perspective to be valued and the tailored questions can enable data to be collected which will address the research question.
Interviews – Aims, benefits, and disadvantages
Aims: To collect data from the point of view of the participant. Provides the participant with a voice.
Benefits: Interviews can be highly structured or flexible, and the structure can be tailored to the research topic.
Provide rich and informative data
Provides the participant with a voice. Interviews can be difficult to generalise.
Disadvantages: Time-consuming
Only collects the interviewee’s perspective.
Whilst interviews proved useful in Power et al.’s study, we can question if they actually provided empirical evidence to back their claims. Did the researchers observe children who lacked core knowledge? Did the researchers have data that showed students not having the correct resources or teachers who did not have the correct training. No…. they did not. Instead, the use of interviews enabled the researchers to collect data on what teachers believed to be the issues with the reformed curriculum. It collected teachers’ opinions and perspectives.
Ethnographic methods: Participant Observation
Ethnographic methods may be an approach that enables researchers to overcome some of the boundaries of interviews. Ogden (2017) provides an example of this. His research project utilised the ethnographic method of participant observation to collect data on the lack of resources and training in Timor-Leste schools who were implementing a reformed curriculum. Participant observation can be defined as a method in which the researcher studies a group not only through observation, but also by participating. They record what they see, do and experience through observations and fieldnotes. In Ogden’s case, this allowed him to be an insider and experience first-hand the lived experiences of Timor-Leste school teachers to gain a deep understanding of the curriculum enactment. Unlike interviews, participant observation enabled the researcher to experience events as they occurred and in situ.
Participant Observation – Aims, Benefits, and Disadvantages
Aims: To gain a deep understanding of a certain group of individuals, and their values, beliefs and way of life. Enable direct interaction with the observed. Research can see for themselves
Benefits: Holistic approach
Enables the researcher to build an insiders’ perspectives and experience what is happening.
Disadvantages: Difficult to record data and producing too much data
Time consuming
Researcher bias – risk of losing objectivity.
Access can be difficult to gain
Participants could change what they are doing, due to being observed.
Like all methods, participant observation also has limitations. Of particular discussion is researcher bias. As seen above in participant observations the researcher is recording what they see, do and experience. What is recorded could be influenced and depend on a researcher’s prior experience, such as on other research projects, knowledge of teacher practices and their own values and beliefs.
The question we asked at the start of this post is, “can ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, offer more valuable data when researching curriculum enactment?” Participant observation can provide in situ data for investigating curriculum enactment that moves beyond teacher perspectives. However, the answer to our question is not as simple as a yes or a no. Comparing interviews and participant observation is like comparing a basketball to a football. They have different purposes and properties. There is no one-size-fits-all. The choice of a research method is intertwined with the study’s research question, methodology and research paradigm. For instance, if the aim of the study is to gain teacher’s perspectives on curriculum enactment, interviews may be best suited. Whereas, research questions wanting to understand how schools are enacting curricula, may find participant observations better suited. Instead of pitching these methods against each other they should each be valued for the different types of data that they can provide.
References
iStock. 2023. Binoculars line icon. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/binoculars-line-icon-ocean-concept-binocular-sign-on-white-background-marine-gm1245624425-363092800?phrase=observation (Accessed: 24th January 2023)
iStock. 2023. Hand holding microphone and speech bubble frame stock illustration. Available at: https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/hand-holding-microphone-and-speech-bubble-frame-gm1351303266-427106947?phrase=interview (Accessed: 24th January 2023).
Ogden, L. 2017. Competing visions of education in Timor-Leste’s Curriculum Reform. International Education Journal: Comparative Perspectives 16(1), pp. 50–63.
Pink, S. 2015. Doing sensory ethnography. London: Sage Publications.
Power, S., Newton, N. and Taylor, C. 2020. ‘Successful futures’ for all in Wales? The challenges of curriculum reform for addressing educational inequalities. The Curriculum Journal 31(2), pp. 317–333.