The language variable in educational research: an exploration of researcher positionality,translation, and interpretation

In qualitative educational research, the languages spoken by the participants and the researchers can greatly impact the quality of the data collected. This paper will explore the advantages and disadvantages of being an insider researcher by virtue of speaking the same language(s) as the participants. Whether the researcher is a linguistic insider or outsider, he or she will need to make important decisions with regard to translation and interpretation when conducting cross-language research. Such linguistic decisions can also impact the quality of the data collected and the trustworthiness of the research. The advantages and disadvantages of translation and interpretation in qualitative educational research will be explored. This paper offers researchers and students suggestions for conducting cross-language educational research in an ethical and transparent manner.     

The development of case studies as a method within a longitudinal study of special educational needs provision in the Republic of Ireland

When developing case studies within a longitudinal study of special educational needs provision within the Republic of Ireland, the authors were conscious of the critiques of the use of this approach within educational research. The difficulties associated with generalisation, challenges of ensuring trustworthiness and the possibilities of researcher bias have been identified as limiting factors in the presentation of case study data. In order to confront these limitations, the researchers developed a framework for case study development that aimed to provide a secure database and trustworthy interpretation in order to make assertions in relation to special educational needs provision. This paper describes this process and suggests that the need to develop safeguards in order to present case studies that have high degree of credibility is essential when using this approach. Furthermore, the transparency of research methods, a significant omission in many reports of research, is necessary in order to demonstrate the trustworthiness of data.     

The state of the art in Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices: a systematic literature review

This article reports on a systematic review of the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices research literature published between 1990 and 2012. Self-study research refers to teacher educators researching their practice with the purpose of improving it, making explicit and validating their professional expertise and, at the same time, contributing to the knowledge base of teacher education. Reflecting our analysis, we defined self-study as a research approach in the field of teacher education which can be typified by the following characteristics: self-study research focuses on one’s own practice; for this reason, it privileges the use of qualitative research methods; collaborative interactions play a central role in the research process; and its validation is based on trustworthiness. Furthermore, we identified two tensions inherent in the self-study work, on which researchers always and continuously need to position themselves for self-study inquiries to achieve its purposes: the tension between relevance and rigour on the one hand, and that of effectiveness and understanding on the other hand.     

Can We Integrate Qualitative and Quantitative Research in Science Education?

The main objective of this paper is to emphasize the importance ofintegrating qualitative and quantitative research methodologies in scienceeducation. It is argued that the Kuhnian incommensurability thesis (a majorsource of inspiration for qualitative researchers) represents an obstacle forthis integration. A major thesis of the paper is that qualitative researchershave interpreted the increased popularity of their paradigm (researchprogramme) as a revolutionary breakthrough in the Kuhnian sense. A review ofthe literature in areas relevant to science education shows that researchersare far from advocating qualitative research as the only methodology. It isconcluded that competition between divergent approaches to research inscience education (cf. Lakatos, 1970) would provide a better forum for aproductive sharing of research experiences.     

A methodological review of systematic literature reviews in higher education: Heterogeneity and homogeneity

The field of higher education research has bourgeoned in the past decades, addressing a wide range of topics. Being in a rapidly expanding and interdisciplinary field of research, higher education scholars have demonstrated exigency for aggregating research findings to map the research landscape, identify future research directions, and bridge the research-practice divide. In this connection, systematic literature reviews have been carried out to consolidate research findings. With a proliferation of systematic literature reviews in higher education, the aim of this meta, methodological review is to provide a state-of-the-art systematic literature review methodologies in the field of higher education. Adhering to the exploratory nature of this study, this review analyses systematic literature reviews published in 16 top-tiered international journals in higher education (n = 160). Through qualitative research synthesis using thematic analysis and informed by grounded theory, a methodological framework comprising six stages and 20 steps is developed, which might help to instigate methodological dialogue between researchers when it comes to conducting systematic literature reviews. A handy checklist for conducting and evaluating systematic literature reviews in higher education is created.     

Using Qualitative Methods in Special Education Research

During the past two decades researchers have increasingly used qualitative research methods to access traditionally unavailable data. In this article, I discuss the usefulness and implementation of qualitative methods in special education research. I present five pitfalls future qualitative researchers should be aware of, and I discuss w.hat I believe the future holds for qualitative methods in special education research.     

Models of transformative learning for social justice: comparative case studies of non-formal development education in Britain and Spain

This paper presents comparative case studies of non-formal development education by non-profit organisations in two European countries. The study aimed to explore the extent to which such activities provide opportunities for transformative learning. The research was qualitative and began with interviews with educators across 14 organisations in Britain and Spain. Case studies were then identified, purposefully selecting interesting non-formal activities. This paper presents four activities and analyses their potential for transformative learning, drawing together ideas from the literature and the cross-case analysis of the perspectives of development education practitioners. By using the framework of transformative learning pedagogies, this research can inform non-formal education with aims regarding social justice in a range of contexts. It is argued that while there are scarce opportunities for sustained non-formal development education, these cases contribute to knowledge by providing examples of how participative methodologies can generate critical thinking and thus offer learning opportunities that are transformational.     

The application of the microgenetic method to studies of learning in science education: characteristics of published studies,methodological issues and recommendations for future research

This paper examines the role of the microgenetic method in science education. The microgenetic method is a technique for exploring the progression of learning in detail through repeated, high-frequency observations of a learner’s ‘performance’ in some activity. Existing microgenetic studies in science education are analysed. This leads to an examination of five significant methodological issues in microgenetic research. Firstly, qualitative and/or quantitative approaches to data collection and analysis within the microgenetic approach are considered and a case is made for the appropriateness of qualitative microgenetic research. Secondly, it is argued that researchers may define static intervals, periods within which (for methodological purposes) change is assumed not to occur, when reporting microgenetic studies. Thirdly, researchers should consider providing justifications for their choice of sampling rate with reference to the rate of change of the phenomenon they are studying. Fourthly, the difficulty of distinguishing conceptual change from the existence of multiple understandings is highlighted. Finally, the nature of sequences of repeated measures in microgenetic studies is considered. It is argued that different methodological approaches are suitable for microgenetic studies of different phenomena and a list of guidelines for the use of the microgenetic method in small-scale, qualitatively analysed studies in science education is proposed.     

Method as a journey: a narrative dialogic partnership illuminating decision-making in qualitative educational research

Qualitative education research is an inherently complex landscape, presenting the qualitative researcher with constant ethical and reasoned decision-making. Presented as a narrative dialogic, this paper traces and juxtaposes the method stories of two qualitative researchers who focused their work around education phenomena, but in different contexts and in different ways. One researcher’s narrative study of phenomena via interviews is juxtaposed with the other’s phenomenographical investigation utilizing Facebook status updates. Seeing researcher thinking side-by-side provides a comparison that teases out the ways in which researchers might consciously grapple with thinking around method. These twin method stories offer ways for other qualitative researchers to think about their own decision-making as they address the challenges of balancing subjectivity and rigour, authenticity of reported data, and protection of participants. This dialogic partnership points to the malleability of method. It also encourages further exploration of the complexities of qualitative education research in which the researcher is often insider–outsider or outsider–insider.     

国外引导性日志的结构分析

有效又易于教师掌握的研究方法对教师专业成长十分重要。引导性日志作为一种新的质性研究方法关注被研究者的内心的情感,被研究者可以在研究者的引导下通过日志的形式记录自己的学习成长经历和学习过程中的情感体验,这种新兴的研究方法为研究者获得了第一手可靠的资料。引导性日志正是在质性研究的背景下正越来越显示出其新的现实意义。本文在借鉴国外理论和实践研究的基础上,重点探讨关于引导性日志的结构、有效策略以及实施过程,为引导性日志在国内本土化的教育实践开发和应用提供理论借鉴的基础和依据。     

Patterns of theory use in qualitative research in higher education studies in Latin America: a geopolitical interpretation

The relationship between theory and qualitative research has been extensively examined in the literature and has emerged as a problematic matter. This debate has been driven forward mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries and has done scant justice to an understanding of these issues in regions of the South. This paper addresses this matter by drawing on a geopolitical perspective. The study here provides an analysis of 24 papers by Latin-American researchers in higher education, as included in the Web of Science between 2006 and 2015. Theories in Latin America are mainly produced in the North and exhibit two patterns: (i) critical perspectives are used to address local problems – ‘epistemic problematization’; and (ii) a nuancing of Northern theories so as to contextualize them – ‘epistemic nuancing’. Suggestions are also made for a new configuration of knowledge production in higher education studies – a model of knowledge from and for the South.     

Poetry education research as an anchorage of thought: using poetry as interview stimulus material

Interviews in qualitative research may sometimes employ stimulus material as a means of eliciting richer data. However, scant consideration has been given to the use of poetry for this purpose, especially within the field of poetry education research. This article seeks to address the gap in the literature by illustrating how the use of poetry as interview stimulus material can help poetry education research to clarify the connection between teachers’ and students’ beliefs and practices in relation to poetry and pedagogy. Depending on the nature of their inquiry and context, poetry education researchers can choose relevant poems that have the potential to stimulate a discussion about specific beliefs and practices.     

The role of extracurricular activities in active citizenship education

There have been multiple trends of building democratic citizens through formal education, and in the European context the trials have been dramatically increased with the Europeanization process since the 1980s. In line with this trend, an in-depth qualitative case study was carried out in a private primary school in Turkey to shed light on the role of school-based extra-curricular activities as a contemporary trend in building active citizenship values and competencies in students. Qualitative data were collected through multiple data collection tools as observation field notes, interviews, and document analysis to achieve triangulation and trustworthiness. Much of the findings were compatible with EURYDICE Report (2005) on citizenship education, and yielded six themes, called the six blossoms of extra-curricular activities in citizenship education: namely, active citizenship perception; social accountability; intercultural awareness; awareness of democracy and human rights; thinking and research skills; and interaction and interpersonal skills.     

Changing students’ and teachers’ concepts and constructs of knowledge in RE in Greece

ABSTRACT

Based on a qualitative research (2012–15) this paper is concerned with the identification of concepts and constructs of knowledge in RE. It is based on participative enquiry and educational action-research methodology. Over a three-year period, the researcher, teachers and the students of a High School in one of the most difficult social, economic and pedagogic environments in Greece collaborated and the resulting data were analysed by a team of independent researchers using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Findings point to the consideration of knowledge in education as an experience in which the content (what) of education is as important as the process (how). RE teaches an additional invaluable language with different religious meanings of concepts, which facilitates students’ communication with self and others, and offers an interpretation of the world. Such religious literacy is essentially provided at school in the framework of multi-literacies and is a result of an intersubjective process of the interconnection between thinking, reflection and action on what the curriculum positions on the top of the didactic triangle (content, teacher, student). In that process, to ‘know what I know’ and to provide ‘events with meaning’ based on experiential learning and its principles, is of inestimable value.     

Judging quality in peer research: a comparison of adult- and peer-led focus groups in a Kenyan context

Peer research has been recognized as an important strategy. As with other qualitative approaches, one issue that is often raised is how do we judge the quality of such methods? This paper argues that one of the ways we can do this is by comparing the data collected through participatory methods with that collected with other research strategies within the same research context. This was done through a qualitative study which investigated student's attitudes towards ethnicity and politics in two secondary schools in Kenya. A research design was developed using focus-group discussions where half of the focus groups were led by an adult researcher and the other half by a student researcher. The paper will compare the data collected from these two kinds of focus groups using the framework method in order to illustrate that peer research produces high-quality data comparable to that collected using other means. Moreover, the paper will use reflections from the process to show that one other way that we can judge the quality of peer research is through the benefits that accrue not only to the peer researchers such as skills development but also to the adult researchers, for example greater reflexivity.     

Scientific strengths and reported effectiveness: a systematic review of multiliteracies studies

This systematic review is built on the seminal work by the New London Group in 1996. Few endeavours have synthesized findings of empirical studies pertaining to the effects and challenges of multiliteracies practices in various schooling and geographical contexts. Through a five-point Likert scale and a deductive and inductive thematic analysis, we conducted a systematic review of 66 multiliteracies articles from the ProQuest® database. These studies were empirical, qualitative/mixed-method, and ranged from 2006 to 2015. Findings show a burgeoning number of multiliteracies studies occurring in 15 countries, with Canada being the most prominently involved. Our evaluation of the reviewed studies was generally favourable with strengths identified in researchers’ articulation of pertinent theoretical frameworks and connections to existent literature. Our findings refer to insufficient information of data collection and data analysis in a certain number of papers. We also elaborate on major affordances, challenges, and oversights of the multiliteracies practices as reported by the reviewed studies and discuss implications for future multiliteracies research, policies on literacy education, and teacher education in diverse contexts.     

Teachers' source evaluation self‐efficacy predicts their use of relevant source features when evaluating the trustworthiness of web sources on special education

Building on prior research and theory concerning source evaluation and the role of self‐efficacy in the context of online learning, this study investigated the relationship between teachers' beliefs about their capability to evaluate the trustworthiness of sources and their reliance on relevant source features when judging the trustworthiness of websites concerning special education. We constructed the Source Evaluation Self‐Efficacy Scale (SESES) and used the scores of 263 teachers on this measure to predict their reliance on source features related to the product and the producer of websites when evaluating their trustworthiness. Results showed that even after variance related to gender, age, domain knowledge and frequency of searching the Internet for special education information had been accounted for, teachers' source evaluation self‐efficacy beliefs uniquely predicted their self‐reported use of information about websites' products and producers when judging their trustworthiness. Thus, this research applies self‐efficacy theory and research to a new area and contributes to the burgeoning literature on source evaluation within both reading and information literacy.