ANÁLISIS ESCENARIOS

The instruments used within this study were designed to gather data to answer the three primary research questions identified in Chapter 1, section 7.

3.8.1 Stage 1: Questionnaire

The first stage of data collection was gathered from a questionnaire that investigated factors teachers considered significant when identifying and

supporting underachieving students in Year 7 and 8. Initially 11 teachers, from a total of 35 teachers employed at Fidelis College completed this questionnaire.

The data from this questionnaire were reviewed post collection and a modified version of the questionnaire was then sent out to the state school teachers. This completed the first stage of data collection (see Appendix A). A total of 23 state school teachers completed the adapted questionnaire, which also included some open-ended questions eliciting some rich qualitative data. The questionnaire was modified by the clarification in the language and expression of some questions to further enhance the data gathering and the inclusion of opportunities to provide a personal response. These modifications were made after collating and reviewing responses from the initial

questionnaire provided to the Catholic Colleges. The responses to this

Table 3.3

Summary of Data Instruments and Samples

DATA DATA SET 1 DATA SET 2 DATA SET 3

Instruments Questionnaire Student stimuli cards

Teacher Protocol Reflective Survey

Semi-structured interviews

Interview Protocol

Data Type Primary Data

QUAN & Qual Primary Data Quan & Qual Primary Data QUAL

Participant Sample Teachers from Fidelis

College n=11 Teachers from Northern State Secondary Schools n=23

Year 7 students from Constantius College

n=178

Teachers from Fidelis, Constantius and Caritas College

n=11

Teacher from Northern State Secondary School

n=1

Research Question R1 & R3 R2 R1 & R3

3.8.2 Stage 2: Student reflection instrument

The second stage of data collection was obtained from a short open- ended reflective task given to a cohort Year 7 students attending a Northern Tasmanian Catholic College. This instrument was designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from students during a process that included group and individual workshops which occurred annually at the College to assist with student transitions. The design of the process was to allow students to explore key transitional challenges in their first year of secondary school in a supportive context. The reflection sheet was given to students at the final stage

of the process after a teacher-led workshop: it allowed students to provide personal responses to key challenges. (See Appendices I-K).

The instruments used in the study included sets of cards with simple images and reflection sheets with open-ended statements. The images on the cards included photos of a range of common items such as a lock, a basket of balloons, a bunny, a calendar or clock. The cards were used as a stimulus to help generate initial discussion in small groups and to provide a focus for the Year 7 students when they completed the reflection sheet. Images on the cards

included between two to three copies of each image. While most images were selected in the hope that they would be somewhat emotionally ‘neutral’ to the students, some of the images some were more ‘positive or upbeat’ in tone. Others were selected to represent common ‘transitional challenges’ for the students, such as managing lockers, homework, assignment deadlines and references to secondary school organisational structures (Evangelou et al., 2008). A part of the exercise was to ensure that students found the activity empowering and engaging. It was important to the researcher to ensure that there were more copies of potential positives or neutrals than challenges. Each class received a set of 60 images. These are listed in Table 3.4. Appendix I provides samples of the images.

Table 3.4

List of Images Used in Student Workshop

POSITIVES/NEUTRALS CHALLENGES/NEUTRALS

Cute bunny Coloured balloons Basket of strawberries Friends dancing

Mobile phone with hello on screen Football players huddled in team Hands held -dark and light pigment Picture of earth from space

Gold credit card Gold trophy cup Bar of Gold Key Pair of dice Happy chef

Desk calendar

Clock with 9am on face Personal organiser Lock (for school lockers) Post it organisational board Open laptop

Post it with urgent written Fishing hook

Exit sign

Ivory tablet with Japanese symbols and ‘out’ written in English on face

Pair of Gold handcuffs

The instrument used to obtain the data for this study was a reflection instrument-a single sheet of coloured paper with 4 open-ended statements:

a. One thing I worry about at school with my work is…. b. A challenge that I have is…

c. Two things I could do to help me with these challenges is… d. Something the school could do that would help me is…

Students were given time to write their responses on the reflection sheets. After the workshop, the completed responses were collected by the teachers, placed in a folder and returned to the researcher. Teachers were provided with an outline or schedule for the process. A copy of this process outline has been included in Appendix I.

3.8.3 Stage 3: Teacher interviews

The final stage of data collection was obtained from semi-structured interviews obtained from 12 teacher participants, 11 of whom were employed within the Catholic Education sector and who had taught at a Northern Catholic College. Examples of questions included were:

1. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself as a teacher- including what subjects you teach, and what groups of students you are currently teaching?

2. How would you describe your approach to teaching and learning? 3. What are your understandings and beliefs around middle schooling?

4. Have you worked (or are currently working with) any students in Year 7 and 8 that you (or someone else) have identified as an underachiever?

(See Appendix B for the Interview Schedule). Interviews were conducted both on and off campus, depending on the preference of each teacher and the availability of private offices for the purpose. Table 3.5 provides a summary of ethical permissions, procedures and analytical techniques used in the study.