Observations and Education

1. Observations and Education

2. Purpose • To investigate classroom interaction and the attitudes and values of teachers and pupils. • Sociologists are interested in a number of topics including: • Pupil Subcultures • Racism • Hidden Curriculum

3. Types of Observation • Several types of observation. • From highly structured methods that use pre-categorised observational schedules that are usually non-participant. • To less structured, more open-ended and flexible methods. Can be either participant or non-participant.

4. Question • Which of the two extremes would you link to positivists and which to interpretivists?

5. Answer • Positivist prefer the more structured methods because they are able to identify and make quantitative data measurements of behaviour patterns. • Interpretivists favour less structured methods because they enable them to understand the meaning held by teachers and pupils.

6. Structural Observational Methods • Practical Issues: The relative simplicity of structured observational methods means that they are quicker, cheaper and require less training. • E.G. Flanders system of interaction analysis categories (FIAC).

7. Reliability: Structured methods like FIAC are easily replicated. E.G. FIAC only uses ten categories, producing quantitative data so it is easy to compare. • Validity: Interpretivists criticise structured observation of classroom interaction. Delamont (1984) argues that simply counting classroom behaviour and classifying it ignores the meanings attached to it by pupils and teachers.

8. Less Structured Observational Methods • Sociologists use these methods more often than structured ones. • Interpretivists favour the use of less structured, more open ended, qualitative methods that allow them to gain access to the meanings that teachers and pupils give to situations.

9. Practical Issues: Schools are complex and more time consuming to observe than other settings. • E.G It took Eggleston (1976) over three months to set up his cover role for his observations.

10. This method is practical as it is easier to gain permission to observe lessons than to interview pupils. • E.G The head teacher of the school Fuller observed decided that she didn’t need parents permission to observe normal school behaviour.

11. However schools are busy public areas, so the observer may find it difficult to find privacy needed to record observations. • Hammersley found that noting down staffroom observations had to be done covertly and hurried therefore increasing the risk of making mistakes.

12. Ethical Issues: Covert approach to studying pupils is often not appropriate. • More vulnerable and informed consent can not be given. • Delamont suggest that an observer learns things that can get pupils into trouble so what to do with this knowledge is an ethical problem.

13. Validity: Interpretivists argue that this type of method is high in validity, as it gives a genuine understanding of individuals views. Especially important when researching labelling in schools.

14. However, the researcher is an ‘adult’ in the pupils eyes and the power difference that exists between young people and adults may undermine validity. • Also teachers may disguise their feelings, altering their behaviour when being observed. • Language of pupils may also be a problem as the researcher may not understand the ‘meaning’ of what is being said.

15. The Hawthorne Effect: This is where the presence of the researcher influences the behaviour of those being observed. • Ronald King (1984) spent a lot of time in an infant school class, he avoided eye contact and refused there requests for help. This shows the difficulty of an adult researcher not to alter pupils behaviour.

16. Representativeness: The educational system is immense. Approximately 4000 secondary schools and 30,000 primary schools, and 350 colleges. This results in a lot of educational activity. • However, most observational studies focus on a small number of pupils in one school.

17. Willis (1977) studied only 12 boys, this is often a result from the fact that it takes time to familiarise yourself with a setting, gain trust and then do the observation. • Therefore, observing school interactions is not likely to produce representative data.

18. Reliability: Participant observation studies within an educational setting often lack reliability. This is because data recording is often not in any particular order so hard to replicate. • Also personal characteristics of researchers will affect how pupils react with them.