RESULTADOS Y DISCUSIÓN DE RESULTADOS

Traditionally, ethnography has been identified as a holistic methodology in which data collection and analysis are not separate or distinct. Rather they are part of a dialectic process (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995). In my experience as a novice researcher, I definitely experienced the dialectic and sometimes-chaotic process of data collection and analysis. I tried different ways of analysing the data, from reading and re-reading the transcripts, to coding manually or using NVIVO, and writing descriptive and

analytic memos. The idea of collecting, transcribing, and coding simultaneously proved an almost impossible task. Fieldwork was so intense that it was not until I had a

complete corpus of interviews that I was able to look at the bigger picture of children’s experiences and patterns in the data.

Table 3.4. Timetable of data analysis and writing up

Activities Jan 2008 Fe b 2 00 8 Ma r 2008 Ap r 20 08 Ma y 20 08 Ju n 2008 Ju l 2008 Au g 20 08 Se p 20 08 Oc t 20 08 No v 20 08 De c 20 08 Jan 2009 Fe b 20 09 - Oc t 20 16 Interview transcription Data Analysis Translation of transcripts Writing up

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I coded the data by following a whole-text approach to avoid the risk of losing the context of the interview or fragmenting important information by using some decontextualised codes (Behar, 1996; Kleinman & Copp, 1993). I tried to move between ‘parts and the whole’ of the data (Coffey, 1999). In addition to the interview transcriptions and observation notes, I built independent files for each child, parent, and teacher, and worked constantly on a portrait with descriptive information about each of them. These indices included information from observation notes, demographic data from the initial questionnaire, and some of the students’ activities such as drawings, photos, etc. This allowed me to create a general picture of the process followed with each child and to be able to distinguish changes and contradictions. It has been interesting to see how through having all the information together, children’s involvement has changed from the first activity to the most recent one.

My process of data analysis was divided into four stages that I defined as: 1) intuitive questioning of the data, 2) labelling, 3) building a descriptive coding frame, and 4) setting up an analytical framework.

Stage One of Data Analysis: Intuitive questioning of the data

In order to have a clear route to follow in the process of data analysis, I wrote down my own predictions and assumptions about my existing data, guided at the same time by my initial research questions. Those predictions are ideas that emerged from my

fieldwork experience and that answered the question ‘What do I think I might be able to find in my data?’ At first, I came up with five topics or ideas that I could start

developing as possible themes for analysis:

1. Processes of Identity Formation 2. Bicultural Experiences

3. Experiences of Discrimination 4. Schooling Experiences 5. Use of indigenous language

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Stage Two of Data Analysis: Labelling the Data

I read the transcripts and followed Charmaz’s (2006) suggestion of ‘attach[ing] labels to segments of data that depict what each segment is about’. After coding some interviews (I had started with some transcripts of indigenous children), I realised that many of the codes were related to the topics/intuitions that I had in mind. I organised these codes as ‘tree nodes’, using the NVIVO vocabulary (see the table below for tree nodes). There was information related to the methodology or contextual information of the child of his/her family, therefore, I started to code this information as ‘free nodes’.

THEMES INITIAL CODES

Processes of identity formation

Elements that might define identity – language and clothing Elements that might define identity – music

Self-identification with their ethnicity Self-image

Sharing ethnicity at school

Bicultural experiences

Children’s activities here Children’s activities there Children’s experiences here Children’s experiences there

Description of community of origin Differences between here and there Family’s migratory experience Children’s migratory experience Parents’ migratory experience Parents’ occupation

Parents’ origin Reference to nature Spontaneous narratives

Stories told by family members Experiences of

discrimination

Experiences of bullying

Experiences related to the use of language

Experiences related to social class or poverty conditions

Schooling experiences

Children’s aspirations

Family’s schooling experiences

How children perceive their own learning How children see teacher practices

Children’s schooling experiences Parents’ expectations

School expectations

What they want to be when they are adults Children’s knowledge of indigenous language Parent’s language

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Use of indigenous language

Stereotypes in the use of indigenous language Use of indigenous language here

Use of indigenous language there

Stage Three of Data Analysis: Building a Descriptive Coding Frame

By labelling the data, I was able to build a descriptive coding frame that included the themes that I had considered before and those that emerged from a deeper relationship with the data. I went back to the data to see if this descriptive coding frame was accurate and labelled the data by the following colours:

COLOURS CODES SUBCODES

Yellow 1. Family background 1.1 Definitions of their families 1.2 Family networks to find jobs 1.3 Family experiences in relation to

labour (gendered)

1.4 Division of roles at home (gendered)

1.5 Children’s perceptions of parents’ occupations

1.6 Family reasons to migrate (economic, illness, visit)

1.7 Role of extended family (solidarity networks and economic support) Blue 2. Experiences ‘there’

(community of origin) 2.1 Description of the community of origin 2.2 Leisure activities (contact with

nature, relaxation, and free life style)

2.3 Harder activities for subsistence (fewer economic and educational opportunities)

2.4 Language use and communication with family members (obstacles, role of translators, means of communication)

2.5 Perceived differences in relation to people and traditions

Green 3. Experiences ‘here’ (city) 3.1 Responsibilities at home 3.2 Religious activities 3.3 Leisure activities 3.4 Time spent with parents

(communication patterns)

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home

3.6 Reference to alcohol abuse 3.7 Reference to drug abuse Orange 4. Use of indigenous language 4.1 Language

4.2 Means of communication – focus on grandparents and children (obstacles)

4.3 How language is transmitted and/or maintained

4.4 How much children understand indigenous language?

Contradictions between what they say and do not say

4.5 Positive associations of ethnic identity (feelings of pride) 4.6 Negative associations of ethnic

identity (feelings of shame) 4.7 Role of translators

Pink 5. Ethnic Identification 5.1 Children’s definition of ethnicity - Language

- Territory - Kinship

5.2 Reasons for learning their parents’ indigenous language

5.3 Ethnicity and class – stereotypes: poor, language deficiencies, dirty, hard working, shy

Purple 6. Aspirations 6.1 Professional aspirations 6.2 Educational aspirations 6.3 Occupational aspirations Gray 7. Schooling experiences 7.1 Sharing ethnicity at school

7.2 School experience and poverty 7.3 Experiences of discrimination and

bullying

7.4 What children like about school 7.5 What children don’t like about

school

7.6 Perceptions of their own learning process

7.7 Perceptions of teachers 7.8 Perceptions of classmates 7.9 Parents’ involvement in school

activities

7.10 Parents’ choice for private education

7.11 Parents’ perceptions of the school

7.12 Parents’ educational expectations

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and educational opportunities

Stage Four: Building an Analytic Coding Frame

An analytic coding frame was built in order to identify the theoretical concepts according to my original analytical lens of critical theory, post-structuralism, and decolonisation. Figure 3.4 shows the relationships between identity formation and processes of identification and representation of immigrant indigenous children. The analytic frame helped me understand how the processes of identity formation were immersed in emerging themes through the children’s narratives: a) bicultural experiences, b) discrimination experiences, c) schooling experiences, and d) use of indigenous language and ethnic identification.

Charmaz (2006:169) argues that in contrast to a quantitative design, ‘in a grounded theory study you put your sensitizing concepts and theoretical data to work in the theoretical framework’. My theoretical framework drew on concepts of cultural capital, habitus, and field in order to understand the processes of identity formation. I chose these concepts to position my research in relation to other studies concerned with issues of identity formation, as well as to help me to conceptualise my main findings within a conceptual logic and direction (Charmaz 2006). The concept of cultural capital helped me to frame the children’s social conditions, such family composition, occupation, etc., and cultural characteristics, such as indigenous language, as resources that help the children navigate the educational setting in different ways. The concept of habitus provided a frame to understand how certain social practices, perceptions, and beliefs were inculcated in the children from their early years. Finally, the concept of field was helpful in delimiting the social setting, in which the representations of identities were being expressed: school, playground, staff room, home, neighbourhood, or community of origin.

The category of “self-definition” was constructed by the children’s perceptions

regarding whether or not they consider themselves indigenous. Even though I recognise that the question is problematic for small children to reflect on, and the term indigenous is a colonial term that imposes a dominant power toward cultural minorities as

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children have to belong to a particular ethnic group. I prompted the question within a context of reflection after we had discussed the indigenous language use within their families and only after the children felt more comfortable discussing their ethnicity with me as a researcher, mainly in the second or third interview.

Figure 3.4 Analytic coding frame

With this analytic coding frame it was easier to start the writing process, since each of the analytic themes served as the basis for the thesis chapters.