Ensuring trustworthiness of research is an important aspect in any research. Rolfe and McNaughton (2010: 10) argue that the research ‘always has to be ethical, purposeful, well-designed, transparent, contextualized, credible, careful, imaginative and equitable’ to be considered as high quality research. Lincoln and Guba (1985) proposed four criteria for evaluating interpretive research work: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability and I discuss my research in relation to this criterion. In order to ensure the transparency of the procedure and analysis (Guba and Lincoln, 1982) I have kept carefully the records of data collection, including a field diary, tape recordings and transcripts, in a secure place. This helped me in being accurate while doing my data analysis and helped in being transparent about how I have reached certain decisions during the data collection stage and will also explain how I arrive at certain research conclusions and findings. This notion of transparency is very crucial in qualitative research where it can be very difficult to ensure either internal reliability or external reliability and are actually considered inappropriate given that the researcher’s analytic angle is seen as important for how an analytic ‘story’ is told (Guba and Lincoln, 1982).
Dependability and confirm ability are achieved when the written accounts of the research study are perceived to be internally coherent and plausible based on the
knowledge of their experiences and knowledge from other texts (Mertens, 2005). I have achieved this by being explicit about my ontological, epistemological and methodological positions to improve the validity of my findings, which further helps in transferability of my research findings to the specific cultural contexts, pre-primary and social pedagogy. I have further ensured dependability and transferability by sharing the initial expressions and preliminary findings from the study (towards the end of my data collection time at both the settings) with educators from both the contexts (highlighting their caring pedagogy across the cultural contexts) in relation to their roles in fostering peer relationships. I have shared the final conclusions with the head teacher from the English setting and am planning to organize a seminar at the Indian setting exploring the research findings with its cross-cultural conclusions.
4.14. Chapter summary
In this chapter I have explained the rationale for my ontological, epistemological and methodological orientation for the study. I have argued that by adopting interpretative ontological and epistemological orientation and by adhering to qualitative approach and by using case study methodology I have endeavored to get close to the lived realities of participant roles in terms of peer relationships. Participant observations combined with semi-structured interviews facilitated methodological triangulation of the data and allowed for cross-checking and collaborating of evidence gathered via both the methods and facilitated an understanding of practitioners perceptions, their everyday practice and the socio-cultural contexts that they inhabit which were analyzed through the thematic content analysis to provide answers to the research questions. The following chapters present the data analysis; answers the research question and discuss the findings in relation to the extant research and literature.
Part Four - Data analysis and presentation of the findings
Having explored and explained the research methodology, methods and the process of data analysis in Chapter 4, in this part of the thesis I present the key findings that emerged from study. Chapters Five and Six and Seven present and discuss these findings in the context of relevant literature and research while Chapter Eight sums up the thesis by presenting the conclusions. The three sub questions are answered in these three chapters (5,6 and 7) being guided and analyzed through the socio-cultural theoretical framework informing the study. In understanding the perceptions of the early childhood practitioners which can potentially influence their practice in fostering peer relations and in exploring the overall socio cultural contexts under which their roles are defined, it has been understood that the specific perceptions, practices are embedded and are interpreted within their particular social and cultural contexts (Vygotsky, 1978, 1981; Rogoff, 1998, 2003, 1992, Bruner, 1990; Lave and Wenger, 1991).
The research relating to peer relations and educators roles emanating mostly from developmental psychology and clinical psychology rarely brought the individual and the contexts together in successive time frames. Rogoff (2008:1) contends, “developmental research has commonly limited attention to either the individual or the environment – for example, examining how adults teach children or how children construct reality, with an emphasis on either separate individuals or independent environmental elements as the basic unit of analysis. Even when both the individual and the environment are considered, they are often regarded as separate entities rather than being mutually defined and interdependent in ways that preclude their separation as units or elements”.
This study effectively aims to address this limitation by considering the mutuality of the individual that is the early childhood educator and the sociocultural contexts within which their roles are defined. For this purpose, I have considered an unit of analysis which preserved the essence of the events and allows for a reformulation of the relation between the individual and the social and cultural environments in which each is inherently involved (Rogoff, 1998). This innovative approach to data analysis addressed
the methodological limitations inherent in traditional research thereby strengthening the validity of the findings.
The present study, being informed by the socio-cultural theoretical framework and aided by the thematic interpretative analysis of the of data obtained by adopting the ethnographic methodology and the methods of participant observation and semi- structured interviews, contributes to the effective understanding of the early childhood practitioners roles in fostering peer relationships and further illuminates the embedded relationships between these roles in fostering peer relations and the contexts- within and beyond the settings, in which those roles are developed, defined, enacted, interpreted and appraised.
The subsequent chapters, Chapter Five, Six, and Seven analyze and discuss the findings from both the England and Indian case study settings. Chapter Five exclusively focuses on the Personal plane of analysis (perceptions) of the educators; presents and discusses the main findings in the context of extant literature and research while Chapter Six focuses on Inter-Personal Plane (Practice). Chapter Seven focuses on the Institutional Plane (Contexts) of Rogoff’s three plane analysis while Chapter Eight brings everything together, presents the conclusions and sums up the thesis.
Chapter Five- Exploring the perceptions of early childhood educators: Cross- cultural Insights from India and England through the lens of Personal Plane
5.1. Introduction
Following the organization and sorting of data according to three categories: personal, inter-personal and Institutional planes; the personal plane identified sub-themes relating to attitudes, understandings, beliefs and values all merged into a theme: perceptions (as was explained in the Methods Chapter, 4).
Rogoff (1993) defined the personal plane of analysis as:
‘The process by which individuals transform their understanding of and responsibility for activities through their active and dynamically changing, inter-dependent processes of participation’ (Rogoff, 1993: 150)
She terms it participatory appropriation by which skills, beliefs, values, understandings and competences become automated and guide ways to respond (perceptions) in an on- going practice of being an Early childhood practitioner in the community of learners (Lave and Wenger, 1991).
According to Rogoff, the concept of Participatory Appropriation refers to ‘how individuals change through their involvement in the socio cultural activity and in the process get prepared for the subsequent involvement in related activities’. Rogoff (2003) considers Participatory appropriation essentially as a personal process by which, through engagement in an activity individuals transform and handle a later situation in ways prepared by their own participation in the previous situation.
As Rogoff (1993) contends, we need to conceive the focus of the planes not as separate or as hierarchical but simply as involving different grains of focus within the whole socio-cultural activity. To understand each grain requires the involvement of the other
planes and distinguishing them serves the function of clarifying the plane of focus simultaneously holding the other planes of focus in the background but not separated.
The following Figure 5.1 depicts the organization of data according to the three planes and situates the findings relating to perceptions in the personal plane of analysis. As has been argued it is to preserve the mutuality of the planes and to underscore the interconnectedness of each plane and the impossibility of studying them independently.
Figure 5.1. Personal Plane of Analysis (Perceptions)
The following excerpts taken from the interviews with the practitioners represent their understandings and perceptions as to why they consider fostering peer relations as significant to children. As shown in the Table 5.1 below, these are the broad understandings voiced by practitioners when asked about the importance of fostering peer relations. The practitioners used the synonyms of getting along with others, social relations, social competence, sociability and relationships to describe inter-changeably what they perceive/understand the term -peer relationships.
Institutional Plane(Apprenticeship)
Inter-Personal Plane(Guided Participation)
Individual (Participatory Appropriation)
• PR as a basis for children’s happiness & well-being • As a context for all learning • As a preparation for school; life
• As a basis for social competence
and friendships
• As a basis for inclusive settings and relational pedagogy
Over-arching theme: Perceptions
Examples from interviews and observations Explanation
5.1.1. Happiness & well-being & social competence
‘The feeling is that without these children will not score on other areas of curriculum. If they don’t feel happy, if they don’t form relationships they might not do well in other areas of learning as well though they are exceptions to that like autistic children’- FG, England
‘What’s the point of coming to school if he can’t talk to his friends, make friendships and be happy and enjoy the learning. Children should be happy to be ready for anything else. That’s why relationships are important’-SH, India
‘Seeing it through somebody else’s eyes is important. At this age it’s a hard thing to see from somebody else’s eyes, as they are very young. We try and give them the skills they need to do that’-HB, England
Peer relations as a pre-condition & means to children’s happiness, (social & emotional) wellbeing & social-competence.
5.1.2. Preparation
for school;
later life
‘It is lovely to educate each child individually whom we try to do but socially you couldn’t do and that it wouldn’t be helpful for its future career as well. When they go out to work wherever they go these peer relations are going to be there’-HB, England ‘We have tech schools here which advertise if you join your child in our school we will give him back as a doctor or an engineer and the child will undergo immense pressure. Nobody is thinking about child anymore whether he is happy or learning with joy. It’s always about getting ready for school or for future. At VVV we let a child to be his own self. No hurry no worry’-VI, India
School readiness; preparation for later life
5.1.3.
Language &
Cognitive development
‘If they don’t know if you don’t teach them peer relations I think when the children start school, they don’t have friendships, if they don’t develop peer relations I don’t think learning happens’-HB, England
‘I think language works both ways. For a child to learn language he needs to talk to others and maintain relationships. And to maintain relationships also he need language. So it works both ways. That’s why we have activities to promote interaction’-SU, India
Belief that peer relationships provides a context for all learning
5.1.4. Inclusive environments
5.1.5. Relational pedagogy
‘For the children to learn that we are all different, we all have problems and teach them how to help someone. Not to be critical. Not to be cross and angry…Children actually accepting each other and there is feeling of wanting to help. Being part of the team-FG, England
The relationships with their peers is a big part of if they don’t feel they have friends, if they can’t join in a game it they don’t have the skills to be doing that nothing else is going to work really’-HB, England
‘It is all about relating to others. Your classmates, teachers, community, environment. Everyone is important and environment is also equally important. That’s why we do a lot of nature walks, gardening etc. and have talks on environment protection’-VI, India
Peer relationships facilitating inclusion of children with diversity.
Peer relationships as an aspect of relational pedagogy
Table. 5.1 Perceptions of Early Childhood Practitioners as to the significance of peer relations