Preparación de disoluciones intercalantes concentradas de Al y Al/Fe

The study aimed to contribute to our understanding of how JTEs may play a role in citizenship education by exploring the perceptions of teachers who appeared to want to address citizenship-related aims in their own classes. The relevant

population for this research, then, was not Japanese teachers of English per se, but rather JTEs who approach their work in a particular way. This called for a purposive approach to sampling.

3.4.1 A purposive sample

As Denscombe (2007) notes, purposive sampling “allows the researcher to home in on people or events which there are good grounds for believing will be critical for the research” (p. 17). The approach is more efficient than random sampling, since it avoids the need to collect data from respondents who may lack

knowledge or experience relevant to the study. A purposive sample is likely to yield more meaningful data since purposefully selected participants tend to be better informed than randomly selected ones (Tongco, 2007).

An obvious disadvantage of purposive sampling, however, is that since it is “deliberately and unashamedly selective and biased” (Cohen et al., 2000, p. 104), participants cannot be taken to represent any wider population. This limits the extent to which findings can be generalized beyond the sample itself. Since this study was exploratory and intended to gather insights from a very specific group of teachers, the benefits of a purposive approach outweighed the lack of statistical grounds for generalization that a randomized sample would allow. Tongco (2007) cautions that the purposive nature of the sample needs to be stated clearly when findings are reported, to discourage readers from inferring generalizable conclusions.

To meet its intended purpose, sampling needed to be conducted

systematically and with care. The sequential quan/qual → QUAL research design was integral to this process. The following sub-sections describe the methods used to recruit JTEs who fit a participant profile for the questionnaire survey. The survey was itself conceived as a further sampling instrument: the

second, interview stage of data collection.

3.4.2 The participant profile

Following Evans (2006), I created a participant profile to guide the search for potential informants. Tongco (2007) also recommends a profile to make the sampling process systematic, and increase its reproducibility. For the first stage of data collection, prospective participants would: i) be Japanese, ii) currently be teaching English at a junior or senior high school, and iii) have indicated an interest in at least one aspect of citizenship education (defined very broadly, as described below). The following elaborates on these selection criteria:

i) Participants should be Japanese

Japanese nationality is a requirement for public servants in Japan, including public-school teachers, so foreign nationals account for only a small minority of full-time English instructors at the high-school level, and are concentrated in the private sector. Although non-Japanese nationals do teach English in public high schools, the vast majority are employed as ALTs. Since foreign English teachers comprise such a small, atypical group in Japan’s high schools, the study was confined to Japanese teachers.

ii) Participants should be teaching English at a junior or senior high school

Once data collection had started, this criterion was amended to allow the

inclusion of data provided by three respondents who were not currently teaching in high schools, but who were deemed to be valuable informants. Two teachers were recently retired, but each had around 30 years’ high-school teaching experience. Another respondent had recently switched to an elementary school, but, again, had many years’ experience as a junior high-school teacher.

iii) Participants should indicate an interest in at least one aspect of citizenship education

This was the key criterion for inclusion in the first stage of data collection. As described in more detail in 3.4.3, I considered teachers to have displayed at least an “interest” in citizenship education if, for example, they attended a related

conference presentation. Where a teacher was found to be an active member of a professional organization that promotes teaching for citizenship, or to have authored articles on related themes, this suggested not merely an interest but perhaps a high level of commitment to citizenship education.

As described above, the survey was conceived as part of a “funnelling” process, helping me to identify as potential interview candidates JTEs who were not just “interested” in the themes of the study, but who also appeared committed to addressing aspects of citizenship in their own teaching (see 3.7.3.1 for the interview participant profile). A further round of funnelling occurred when selecting teachers for classroom observations and follow-up interviews (see 3.8).

3.4.3 Purposive sampling methods

This section describes methods used to identify teachers who fit the participant profile. Where possible, it indicates how many participants were recruited using each method.

3.4.3.1 Direct approaches

I conducted a search of professional journals such as The Language Teacher, 『英語教育』 (Eigo Kyouiku: The English Teachers’ Magazine) and 『新英語 教育』(Shin Eigo Kyouiku: The New English Classroom) for articles written by JTEs. Where an article touched on citizenship-related themes, I contacted the author directly by letter (see Appendix C), inviting them to complete the

questionnaire. Letters were sent to 25 teachers, and at least ten of those agreed to participate.

Attendance at academic conferences proved another effective way of contacting JTEs with an interest in citizenship education. In autumn 2011, both the Peace as a Global Language conference in Nishinomiya, and the JALT conference in Tokyo, included workshops on such themes as peace education and human rights. High-school teachers attending these workshops could be identified from their conference-delegate name badges. Direct approaches made

to such teachers yielded at least eight participants for the study.

3.4.3.2 Calls for participants

Whereas some participants were recruited through the direct approaches described above, others responded to general appeals for help, so were essentially self-selecting. Two such appeals were made, in both English and Japanese (see Appendix D), outlining the aims of the study and inviting interested teachers to complete the questionnaire. One was placed in the GILE newsletter. A second call for participants was posted on the Facebook page of

Shin-Eiken (新英語教育: Shin Eigo Kyouiku) – an organization that promotes

teaching about peace and human rights. It is not possible to determine a response rate for these calls for participants (see 3.4.3.4), but based on the number

recruited by other methods, I estimate that up to 25 JTEs responded to them.

3.4.3.3 Snowball sampling

Snowball sampling was another method employed in the first stage of data collection. As suitable respondents were identified using the purposive

approaches outlined above, they were asked to recommend other teachers that might fit the participant profile. In a variant of this method, I contacted the principals of several high schools offering special “international” courses: for example, one private school that runs Model United Nations activities, and another that offers an International Baccalaureate programme which aims to prepare students for “global citizenship”. The principals were asked to distribute the questionnaire to any JTEs who displayed an interest in citizenship-related themes. Seven suitable participants were found in these schools.

Even as part of a purposive sample, snowballing has potential weaknesses. As Oppenheim (1992) observes, while it may be effective in

swelling the number of participants, “it is difficult to know how accurately these represent the population of concern” (p. 43). This also applies to the “calls for participants” circulated through GILE and Shin-Eiken. While these were targeted at JTEs with an interest in teaching for citizenship, those who volunteered were,

of course, self-selecting.

Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000) stress that where snowball sampling is employed, particular care is needed when identifying initial contacts. The direct approach used in this study allowed me to check that prospective participants met the selection criteria. A further, ex post facto check was possible using the personal information respondents provided in the questionnaire (concerning age and current teaching position, for example). Indeed, five teachers who completed questionnaires were later excluded from the data because they did not meet all of the sampling criteria.

3.4.3.4 Response rate

Owing to the nature of some of the sampling methods used and the fact that teachers could complete the questionnaire anonymously, an accurate response rate cannot be provided for the survey. It is impossible to know how many JTEs saw the general appeals for help, or how many of those who did see it went on to complete the survey. Even in the case of direct approaches by letter – of which 25 were sent – an accurate response rate cannot be given. I know that at least ten teachers I wrote to did participate since they provided their names in the

questionnaire; however, it cannot be known whether other teachers completed the survey anonymously or chose not to participate at all.

To sum up this section, although my participants comprised a non-probability sample, which means findings cannot be generalized to other JTEs, the purposive selection of teachers who fit the participant profile means the sample can be characterized as one of expert informants. As teachers who not only had close professional acquaintance with the English language curriculum in Japan’s high schools, but had also displayed an interest in combining language teaching with teaching for citizenship, my participants were well placed to provide information relevant to my research questions.