Ethics is a set of moral principles which offers rules and behavioural expectations about the most correct conduct towards research participants (De Vos, 2006:57). To this effect, this research was carried out within an ethical perspective taking into consideration respect for persons, knowledge, values, and the quality of educational research.
According to McMillan and Schumacher (2010:318), qualitative researchers need to be sensitive to ethical principles because of the nature of the research topic and because of the face-to-face interaction they have with the participants when collecting data. In this study various attempts were made to get the trustworthiness of the research participants and to assure them of their confidentiality and anonymity if so required. I took into consideration a number of ethical issues, as outlined by De Vos (2006:57-66).
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3.10.1 Informed consent
According to Gliner and Morgan (2000:34), informed consent is the procedure by which participants choose whether or not, to participate in the study. De Vos (2006:59) however contend that in order for participants to give their consent to participate in the study they should be given information regarding the investigation, the research goals and procedures. Babbie, Thomas and Smith (in De Vos, 2006:59) call informed consent “voluntary participation”.
After the approval of my proposal (Appendix 1), ethical clearance was sought and obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg (Appendix 1). I then obtained permission from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to conduct the research (Appendix 2). I also sought out the permission from the selected principals to conduct the research at their schools. A letter of consent was then pre-drafted, where the participants gave their consent to participate in the research (see Appendix 3). In this study, I ensured that participants were given accurate and detailed information about the study, so that they could fully understand the research purpose and as a result be able to make an informed decision about their participation (De Vos, 2006:59). I also made the participants aware that their participation in the study was purely voluntary and at any time during the course of the study they were free to withdraw themselves without being judged or penalised. 3.10.2 Deception of subjects/participants
Lowenberg and Dolgoff (in De Vos, 2006:61) describe deception of participants, as deliberatively misrepresenting facts in order to make another person believe what is not true, violating the respect to which every person is entitled. Neuman (2000:229) states that deception occurs when the researcher intentionally misleads subjects by way of written or verbal instructions, the actions of other people, or certain aspects of the setting. In this study, I ensured that the participants were not misled and that I provided participants with the necessary information about the study.
3.10.3 Violation of privacy, anonymity and confidentiality
Sinledton (in De Vos, 2006:61) state that the right to privacy is the individual’s right to decide when, where, to whom, and to what extent his or her attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour will be revealed.
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In this study I assured the participants that their privacy would be protected. Participants were also informed about their status of anonymity and assured that their names and institutions would not be revealed. Thus, during the analysis process and findings no reference of names participating in the study was mentioned. Participants were labelled as, T1, DP1, HOD 1etc. I also obtained consent from research participants to audio-tape the interviews which were then safely stored.
3.10.4 Actions and competence of researchers
De Vos (2006:63) states that researchers are ethically obliged to ensure that they are competent and adequately skilled to undertake the proposed investigation. In this study I ensured that I was aware of my ethical responsibilities relating to information on the structure of the research population, sampling procedure, the methodology employed, the data process as well as the writing of the final research report (De Vos, 2006:63). Furthermore, all sources of information used in this study have been acknowledged, in order to avoid plagiarism.
Throughout the research process I also reminded myself of the advice as proposed by Mouton (2001:243) that the rights, dignity, interests and well-being of the research participants are secured since the data is collected on the basis of mutual trust.
3.11 SUMMARY
This chapter presented a detailed account of the research design and methodology of the research investigation.
For the purpose of this study, I chose a qualitative research method, further discussing and motivating the choice of a case study design. I examined the role of the principal as instructional leader in the facilitation of curriculum changes. In order to execute the case study design, the various research methods that were employed consisted of qualitative methods in the form of interviews, document analysis and participant observation. The use of varied data sources and multiple research methods is an important element of this case study as they help facilitate the triangulation of data sources and research methods. Sampling procedures and data analysis were outlined and discussed in detail. I also considered different
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strategies that ensured trustworthiness and the strengths and limitations of participant observations, qualitative interviews and document analysis experienced.
The empirical research process began with a formal written request to the principals of the various schools selected in the Johannesburg East area, to conduct research at their schools. Participants were contacted to firstly introduce myself as the researcher and to confirm an appointment for interviews to be conducted on the school premises. Participants were also presented with a form consenting to their participation and were given assurance of anonymity and confidentiality with regard to data collected about the school.
Once the sample was purposefully selected, one-to-one and focus group interviews were conducted. The notes from the participant observation were analysed and compared with the interview findings using the procedure of triangulation. I transcribed interviews manually and these transcriptions were coded in order to identify the underlying themes and categories. The first set of interviews formed part of a pilot study for the research.
I then conducted interviews after being satisfied with the feasibility and correctness of the interview procedure in the pilot study. I repeated the same procedure that was followed with the first interview with each of the other interviews with minor accommodations made with regards to interruptions and time constraints. It was then decided to include the pilot study in the formal research as many of the themes and categories identified in the pilot study correlated with those in the subsequent interviews. Thereafter, the themes and categories identified were examined to reach consensus.
The chapter concluded with a discussion of ethical issues that were derived during the duration of the research study. In the subsequent chapter, the analysis and interpretation of the research findings will be explored and discussed.
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CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH DATA “Effective leadership is the cornerstone of any education system. It can ensure the effective implementation and management of curriculum changes.” Taole (2013:75).
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In Chapter three, the research design and methodology employed in this research was outlined. A case study design was used to investigate the role of the principal as instructional leader in the facilitation of curriculum changes and its implication on the provision of quality education. The research sample, data analysis, trustworthiness of the study and ethical issues were also explained.
This chapter provides an analysis of the data obtained from various interviews, direct observations and the analysis of documents which is discussed in accordance with the qualitative research design which was described in Chapter three. The findings in this chapter were reconciled with the reviewed literature on the topic of instructional leadership. Furthermore, this chapter started with the biographical information (gender, qualifications, ages, and teaching experience) of the participants. The synthesis of biographical data set the stage for exploring the rich descriptions of qualitative data contained in this chapter. Themes and categories that emerged from the data are presented and discussed in order to address the research question and sub-questions. The theoretical framework pertaining to instructional leadership and curriculum change management, which was developed in Chapter Two, serves as a lens to analyse the data. The findings of the interviews, document analysis and the participant observation are triangulated to provide coherent findings. In order to best understand the mass of data collected I had to ensure that the data analysis process was conducted in a systematic and well-structured manner (De Vos, 2006). Researchers Babbie, Mouton, Foster and Prozesky (2001:101) point out that data collected is interpreted for the purpose of drawing conclusions that reflect on the interest, ideas, and theories that initiated the enquiry.
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A brief discussion of the themes and categories identified through data analysis will now follow.