Researching Teachers

Characteristics of teachers:

• Professional

• Suspicious of outsiders

• Middle class

• Employed by schools

Practical Issues:

• Access- How are you going to get access to teachers?

• Relationships- Teachers and Researchers have similar status

• How will teachers react to being observed?

• Sample size- How many teachers will you need?

Ethical Issues:

• Social sensitivity- What issues might be distressing for teachers?

• Protection from harm- What might you need to protect teachers from?

• Deception- Which methods might create false relationships between teachers and researchers

• Anonymity/confidentiality- How are you going to ensure teachers’ details remain safe?

Topic areas for studying teachers:

• School Policies

• Behaviour in class/exclusions

• Anti and pro-school subcultures

• Labelling

• Setting and streaming

• Racism or sexism

Methods to use with teachers:

• Sampling and Marketing Research- establishing a rapport and probing deeper

• Covert observations- Seeing the teacher’s reactions and behaviours first-hand

• Questionnaires- Gaining a large sample of teachers opinions

• Secondary sources- Seeing how teachers portray student behaviour