Usos educativos de las redes sociales

3.4.1 Population

According to McMillan and Schumacher (2010:129), a population is a group of elements or cases, whether individuals, object, or events, that conform to specific criteria and to which we intend to generalise the results of the research. The population of this study comprised of twenty primary and high schools in the Johannesburg East of Gauteng. With respect to the schools selected to participate in this study, I took into account a number of deciding factors. The schools selected fall under the same district.Various aspects of the school such as distinguishing whether it was a rural or urban school, economic background of the learners, pass rate/learner results, ANA data/benchmarking tests from each of the schools, the principal’s years of experience, how old the school was and accessibility of the school before choosing four schools to be researched were looked at. The experience of four different schools with different pass rates helped my understanding of principal’experiences in facilitating curriculum changes in different ways. Further, the size of the school dictated the extent to which the principal could effectively act as instructional leader. For instance, principals that headed smaller schools had a greater opportunity to be directly involved in matters of curriculum; whereas in a larger school, a principal assumes a more indirect role (Clabo, 2010:23). I sent letters to principals requesting for their participation in my study which was followed by preliminary school visits to the schools that showed a keen interest in the study and eventually I selected four schools to participate in my study.

3.4.2 Sampling

According to Johnson and Christensen (2012:222), sampling is the process of drawing a sample from a population and refers to studying the characteristics of a subset, selected from a larger group (population) to understand the characteristics of the larger group. In a similar view, McMillan and Schumacher (2010:138) add that in purposeful sampling, the researcher selects specific elements from the population that will represent and inform the research

100

topic. It can thus be inferred that non-probability sampling methods, in particular, purposeful sampling is mostly utilised in qualitative research. In this study, purposeful sampling was considered to be ideal because I was able to generalise subjectively according to my own experiences,(De Vos Strydom, Fouche, & Delport, 2006:329). Furthermore by employing a purposeful sampling technique I could hand pick the research participants to be included in the sample. Purposive sampling also allowed me to pinpoint persons that I believed were information-rich, in order to gain in-depth understanding into the phenomenon (Christensen, Johson & Turner, 2011:162).

I used this small sample of participants within their school contexts and environments to extensively study and interact with them in order to gain insight about the roles and practice of school principals as instructional leaders in facilitating curriculum changes (McMillan & Schumacher, 2011:401). The table below shows a summary of the participants.

Table 3.1 Total number of participants

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DEPUTY PRINCIPAL HEAD OF DEPARTMENT TEACHER TOTAL SCHOOL A 1 1 2 2 6 SCHOOL B 1 1 2 2 6 SCHOOL C 1 1 2 2 6 SCHOOL D 1 1 3 3 8 TOTAL 4 4 9 9 26

The samples consisted of four principals, four deputy principals, nine HODs and nine teachers from a total of four schools. The rationale for choosing principals from the selected schoolswas because they were likely to articulate their definition of instructional leadership, what the term meant to them and they could outline how they saw themselves performing the role of instructional leader in the facilitation of curriculum changes (McMillan & Schumacher, 2001:401). It was the intent to also obtain comprehensive narratives from the SMT members and teachers in the selected schools; and ascertain how they experience and describe instructional leadership and curriculum changes from their personal and lived experiences. The importance of interviewing SMT members and teachers became prevalent

101

because at some point they would have been placed in situations that allowed them to identify the instructional leadership practices that principals generally perform and the challenges they encounter in facilitating curriculum changes. Thus the rationale for including SMT members and teachers in the sample was because they worked closely with the principal on matters related to instructional leadership.

Including SMT members and teachers in the sample helped triangulate and balance the descriptions of instructional leadership. The SMT members and teachers chosen had to possess a minimum of five years of experience, include both male and female teachers and their willingness to participate in this study was considered important. Furthermore, participants had to be appointed at the school on a permanent basis as this might minimise the chance of them leaving before the study was completed. Participants also had to be in the school for at least three years as they have, presumably, experienced the instructional leadership of the principal in facilitating curriculum change in the school for a while.

In my view, requiring a minimum of five years of teaching experience ensured that the participants had experienced a myriad of changes in the curriculum. Hence, they provided a rich description of their direct experiences working with the principal as instructional leader in facilitating curriculum changes. With the participants chosen, having the most comprehensive understanding of the role of principals’ as instructional leaders in the facilitation of curriculum changes, they were best able to assist me in addressing the main question: What instructional leadership roles do principals take on in facilitating curriculum changes in schools and what implications it has on the provision of quality education?