SOPHOS – Second Order Phenomenological Observation Scheme

SOPHOS – Second Order Phenomenological Observation Scheme Claire Cameron Thomas Coram Research Unit Institute of Education, University of London

Sophos – the basics Three countries Analysis Ethics Work with young children Second order Sophos Phenomenological Hermeneutical Process Observation scheme Inspiration Tobin et al. Helle Krogh Hansen

Sophos – the basics Analysis Ethics – ensure information available and permissions granted Sophos Process – making a video of two workers on a normal work day

Familiarisation phase Setting Workers Children/clients Permissions Filming Day Editing and post production phase Making the video

Data protection Local & international guidelines Information sharing Permissions Questions of anonymity & problematics of video Repeat showings of video Ethics

1) Two nursery workers who were focus 2) Children attending the nursery 3) Parents of children attending 4) Nursery workers from another similar place 5) ‘Experts’ in research, training or practice Groups 4) and 5) then watched the two videos from Denmark and Hungary Observation scheme – England (childcare)

The video is not intended to be representative Make comments about anything that comes to mind in response to practice observed Video shown twice: first time without stopping; second time paused each time a participant began to speak; resumed after the conversation Groups were recorded by video and audio Transcripts made including record of body language and group dynamics Process – each showing

We will watch a five minute segment of the Danish film Imagine you are a ‘knowledgeable observer’ – a parent of a child, or a worker in a children’s centre What reflections or thoughts come to mind about the practice you see? Say them out loud Observer group

What did it feel like to be a participant in the group? Would the ethical issues be different in different countries? How might researchers deal with these? How might parents or children react to seeing such a video? Discuss the experience

Nine transcripts from showings in England Transcripts were summarised according to agreed headings – topics, what participants valued, what the researcher learned etc Report written focusing on both experience and emergent themes From showings to workers and experts – choice; pace and ethos; environment and organisation From showings to parents and children – e.g., liking the outdoors, reflections on the method Questions of analysis

England e.g., theme of choice making by children: understandings related to current policy and governmentality eg., independence of children prized by observers but positioned alongside high levels of regulation Denmark – focus on three rationalities – school logic, home/family logic and childhood logic – with theme of kropslighed Different approaches to analysis

According to Danish observers, the centre of daily events in the English film was the organised learning space. This also impacted on, for example, the pace of daily life with many adult-controlled activities for the entire group of children. Several Danish observers thought that this would be highly stressful for the pedagogues. Example from Danish analysis

With regard to kropslighed (the use and expression of the body), Danish observers detected significant body discipline. Main attention was given to the ‘heads’ of the children. Moreover, they found that outdoor life with more expressive body movements and as a play space was not a very valued aspect of the English institution logic. Hansen and Jensen (2004)

As a conversation transcript? Count repeat utterances as equivalent in importance or as a domino effect? Pick themes that have not/do not appear in interviews reporting practice? How much researcher interpretation is appropriate? How would you analyse such data?

Video presents practice in clear and nuanced way Very open questions enable researcher to capture unanticipated themes Can repeat scenes and sequences and show to different groups – multiple views on same data Other advantages? Disadvantages? Adaptations? What practice related research questions might Sophos be suitable for? Evaluation of method

SOPHOS – Second Order Phenomenological Observation Scheme