Capturing the Data

To create a rich palette for analysis, data were collected through different sources and intersected at various stages of the analysis process. Interviews were held at specific points of the project to gain insight into the pupils’ perspectives of their engagement, while I documented my observations of all events each week in a journal. Data were captured by audio-visual means for Layers 1, 2, 3 and 5, and by written documents produced by the participants for Layer 4.

The musical chairs were used as an analytical frame for the data about each Layer. For Layers 1 and 2 the reflective roles of listener, observer, analyst, and advisor were examined for each participant individually, while for Layer 3 these roles were used to discern musical issues derived from their collective voice. The roles of designer and analyst were scrutinised in Layer 4. How the participants felt in the role of performer across the all the Layers surfaced throughout the interviews.

Figure 5 itemises the ways in which the data were collected and the total number of Term Two _{Layer 1}

Individual Enquiry Layer 2 Peer Collaborative Sessions Layer 3 Group Sessions Layer 4 Practice Maps Layer 5 Celebratory Concert Interviews wk Jan 31st _A 1 Feb 7th _{X X} 2 14th _{X X} School Break 3 28th X X 4 March 7 th _{X X} 5 14 th _{X X X} 6 21st X X 7 28 th _{X X B} 8 April 4 th _{X (*) X} 9 11 th _{X X X} 10 18 th _{X (*) X} School Break C 11 May 2nd _{- X X} 12 9th _{X X} 13 16th _{X X} 14 Assessment 15 29th Public concert X June 6th _D

lack of attendance or non-submissions, would impact the actual number of data points collected.

Data sets Potential

Totals • Interviews: 1 structured interview; 3 semi-structured

interviews

40 • Teacher-Researcher’s weekly reflective journal entries 14 • Audio-visual recordings of pupil performances and their verbal

reflections for Layers 1 and 2

(no Layer 1 during assessment or concert weeks)

120 • Audio-visual recordings of the whole participant group’s

reflective discussions for Layer 3

3 • Practice Maps: weekly written documents of pupils’ practice

strategies for Layer 4

(none collected during assessment or concert weeks)

130

• Audio-visual recording of one public concert for Layer 5 1

Figure 5: Data collection types

3.3.1 Interviews

Each of the interviews had a different purpose. Interview A gathered personal details about each pupil, but also their thoughts on practising and performing before engaging with any of the interventions. Interview B and C aimed to explore pupils’ perceptions of practising and performing as the study was in progress, whereas interview D probed their experience of participating in each of the five interventions at the close of the enquiry.

The credibility of the data collected during interviews relied heavily on the way pupils interpreted what they were being asked. To ensure that pupils understood questions easily, I formulated questions using age appropriate language. In order to safeguard the quality of the data, I gave careful attention to my tone of voice when posing each question to avoid a situation where, owing to our established rapport, the pupils were not ‘answering questions in a way that is [was] designed to please’ (Bryman, 2008: 201- 202). The quantity of questions in any one interview was such that the topic received credible coverage, but did not overburden the participants. Care was taken to ensure that participants exited each interview feeling positive and satisfied with their contributions,

and that they had expressed themselves clearly and accurately, but also that they felt listened to and understood (Bryman, 2008).

3.3.1.1 Structured interview

A profile of each participant was created using a structured interview technique (Bryman, 2008) during the opening moments of the first lesson of the term. Each participant was asked the same set of questions (Bryman, 2008) in an attempt to gather general and specific information about instrumental learning, followed by probing their views on practising and performing. These profiles were intended for quicker referencing of individuals or for basic comparisons between participants, and were used to inform the analysis of emerging themes.

3.3.1.2 Semi-structured interviews

Semi-structured interviews were organised for week seven, four weeks later over a school holiday, and one week after the public concert as the term came to a close. Gathering information by questionnaires would have been useful but problematic for this age group, both in terms of the time it would have taken and the complication of ensuring that pupils answered the questionnaires unassisted. The alternative was to meet with pupils at various points of the project in order to explore their experiences using semi-structured interviews (Bryman, 2008). Although I was guided by a pre-determined list of questions and topics (see Appendix C), the ordering of those depended on how pupils responded and on the issues that they raised. A mixture of closed and open-ended questions was particularly useful in helping this young age group switch between topics, and to have ‘things to think with’ before reflecting in more depth. However, I followed all open-ended questions by probing questions (Bryman, 2008: 437).

3.3.2 Performance archive and pupil-peer-group reflections

Making audio-visual recordings of pupils’ performances was an active part of many individual lessons, all shared peer collaborative lessons, group sessions, and the final public concert. These films created an on-going archive of each pupil’s performance progress, and were used as a tool for pupil reflection during Layers 1 and 2, and in interviews C and D.

In order to allow myself the freedom to engage as facilitator when pupils reflected on their films, their reflections were captured by audio technology and later transcribed into word documents.

3.3.3 Practice Maps

Each week pupils were asked to submit a ‘Practice Map’ (see Appendix D). These written documents required pupils to identify areas that they thought needed attention, to design strategies for work, and to write their reflections about the effectiveness of those strategies. The maps were child friendly in appearance, and designed for easy use and personal adaptation.

3.3.4 The teacher-researcher’s reflective entries

Throughout the enquiry I made a weekly reflective entry in my journal (Ortlipp, 2008) regarding: the nature of engagement observed in these new learning environments; observations of individual pupils; the impact of video use; the working relationship between myself and each pupil, and between pairs of pupils or within the participating group.