Fuerzas políticas, gubernamentales, y legales (P)

Individual interviews are used by qualitative researchers to obtain individual perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon being investigated (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006:315). According to Barbour (2009: 134), interviews are a “golden standard” of qualitative research because they provide an environment of in-depth exchange of ideas among participants. Focus group interviews are more valid when used together with one-to-one interviews because individual interviews highlight and clarify patterns that the researcher has identified from the focus group narratives. The researcher can follow up on an individual’s ideas after the group interviews when she needs additional information on the pre-defined themes.

Individual interviews were conducted to enable the researcher to obtain more data about the context in which the findings from the focus group interviews and observations unfold, as well as to verify some of the data collected from artefacts, observations and focus group interviews. The interviews with principals were also audio-recorded and transcribed).

The following questions were asked to principals:

1. What does your school policy say about the language that learners should use on the playground and in the classroom?

Probing question: Could you please explain the instructional improvisation or mechanisms your school has in place to support immigrant learners who cannot speak any of the South African languages.

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2. How often do you get reports of disciplinary problems involving immigrant learners on the playground and in class?

Probing question: Are the patterns and frequency of disciplinary problems for immigrant learners different from those of the local learners?

3. How do you handle negative behaviour in your school?

In order to further strengthen the validity of the findings from the interviews, it became necessary to view artefacts which could also assist me in understanding the context in which the challenges that have been revealed occur.

4.6.4. Artefacts

Artefacts are documents and other objects that can be used in research because of their relevance in addressing the research question and/or adding data to the findings (Devers & Frankel, 2000:268). In order to triangulate the findings from the observations, focus group interviews and interviews, various policy documents and teachers’ teaching sources were studied.

The Department of Education documents that I viewed included Education White Paper 6, The Language in Education Policy, Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades R-3, Guidelines for responding to learner diversity in the classroom through Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements as well as All the Cattle in the Kraal: An overview of Umalusi’s research. At school level, I looked at the school policies and the teaching resources teachers use to support English second language speakers.

While preparing the research schedule for data collection, issues pertaining to trustworthiness were taken into consideration.

4.7. TRUSTWORTHINESS

The usage of various data collection techniques was to ensure that the data collected is trustworthy. It is imperative that research data shows evidence of “trustworthiness” (Golafshani, 2003:601), credibility and defensibility (Johnson, 1997:283) of the findings. This means that the data is reliable and valid. Joppe (2000:1) defines reliability as, the extent to which results are consistent over time and accurate in representing the total

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population under study. If the results of a particular study can be reproduced under similar methodologies, then the results are considered to be reliable.

In order to ensure that the results of this study are reliable, questions prepared for observation schedule were similar to the questions that were asked the immigrant learners, the local learners, the teachers, and the principals. Reliability and validity usually go hand in hand in qualitative research. Validity refers to the accurateness reflected in the data (Noble & Smith, 2015:34). In this study, the interview schedule was designed in such a way that it yields relevant answers that address the research questions.

Another important aspect to bear in mind when designing the research schedule is that the schedule and the data collection process should adhere to research ethics. Ethical considerations are important in qualitative research because qualitative studies involve human beings who are sharing information, some of which is sensitive. The thoughts and feelings the participants share ought to be respected. In this study, ethical issues were taken into consideration.

4.8. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Issues of ethics should to be taken into consideration by the researcher in any kind of study because even if the researcher is honest and has good intentions, the potential for the rights of participants to be violated is still prevalent ((Van Staden, 2010:58; Bless, Higson-Smith & Kagee, 2006:139; Langford, 2014:54). It was important to take into consideration the ethical issues because the investigation involved learners in the Foundation Phase who are still in early childhood stages. The study dealt with sensitive emotional issues that could evoke negative feelings among participants. Steps were therefore, taken to ensure that ethics are upheld.

The first step that was taken was to obtain ethical consent from UNISA (ethical consent number 2013 August/633 433 4/CSLR). Appendix B shows the ethical consent certificate. After the consent was granted, ethical considerations were upheld during the interviews and data analysis.

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Ethical considerations have been adapted from the principles of ethical research, as explained by Bless et al. (2006:141-146). They include informed consent, autonomy, beneficence, anonymity and confidentiality, justice and non-maleficence.

4.8.1. Informed consent

Langford (2014:54) asserts that permission is needed from all the participants and the parents or guardians of the participating learners. Letters requesting permission to conduct the study were sent to the Gauteng Department of Education to request permission to access the schools (appendices I and II); the school principals (appendix III) and the parents (appendix IV). After the consents were given, I contacted the school principals, who provided me with a contact person (HOD in all the three schools). These HOD’s helped me in identifying the learners who could at least speak English, although some of the immigrants were still struggling to construct correct English sentences.

Child assent forms were also given and explained to the learners whose parents had to give permission for the learners to participate in the study (see appendix V). The consent letters asking for permission to participate in the study assures the participants of their freedom of participation in the study so that they do not feel obliged to do so.

4.8.2. Autonomy

Autonomy is also referred to as ‘the freedom principle’ (Langford, 2014:54). Participation in this study was voluntary. This means that participants were not physically or psychologically forced to participate in the study. All the consent letters that were sent to the Department of Education, the principals, the parents and the teachers, as well as the child assent forms clearly stated that all the participants have a choice to participate or not to participate in this study. The freedom to withdraw from the study at any level should be clearly stated to the participants (Josselson, 2007:543). The consent letters explained clearly that the participants can withdraw from this study at any time (appendices I-V).

The researcher also explained how the participants would benefit from the study. The principle of beneficence is therefore also important.

93 4.8.3. Beneficence

This is also referred to as ‘the beneficial principle’ (Langford, 2014:54) because the researcher should state ways in which the participants will benefit from the study. The strategy that would be suggested in Chapter 6 as part of this study would help the teachers in dealing with behaviour related to poor language proficiency in multilingual and multicultural schools.

The leaners would also eventually benefit from the suggested strategy because it would help in alleviating discrimination and promote the spirit of tolerance, unity, empathy, love and respect for one another’s cultural norms and values, thus creating a healthy learning environment for all children.

In order to protect the participants’ identities, the researcher should keep the participants anonymous and the information confidential.