Case Study

4.1 Structure of the case studies

In order to structure the analysis of the four case studies and provide continuity for the reader, a common structure was formulated for the studies. Each case study starts with a section on the participant’s biography that explores the history of each individual; this is important because, if we regard learning as a process of identity-building, then identity has both a history and a future, and is in a constant state of construction.

The second section on identity allowed for the exploration of the elements that built the narrative of possible self-identities being portrayed by associate lecturers in their practice and possible epistemological positions that underpinned their daily practice. It also afforded an opportunity to see the associate lecturer in the whole, rather than as fragments of practice or personality.

Each participant was asked to create a ‘practice cluster’ diagram, which is presented in this research at the end of each case study. These practice clusters were developed during the first session with each participant and were revisited during each subsequent session. The participant was asked to describe their major practice activities as an associate lecturer, these descriptions being written up on the spot as spider diagrams. They were then asked to place the activities into clusters and give each activity cluster a name.

The spider diagrams aided reorientation at the beginning of each session; additionally, during the session, if a category of practice had been exhausted for the present and a new spark was required for a new part of practice to come under discussion, the cluster diagrams provided the impetus for starting a new strand of discussion (each spider diagram is printed at the end of each chapter).

These categories, having been defined by the research participants, were subsequently categorised by the researcher into three meta-categories that covered all the activities identified by the participants. These meta-categories are ‘Tutorial Teaching’, ‘Assignments’

and ‘Student Support’; the original participant categories were, however, retained within these meta-categories in order for the reader to have a comprehensive picture of how the categories were arrived at.

After the sections on biography, identity and practice, each case study has a section on knowledge resources, where knowledge is identified in terms of knowledge of people, procedures, systems and policies and knowledge of organisational life and issues. This section allows for the exploration of the impact that the institution of the Open University has on individual associate lecturer practice.

Throughout all of these sections and within each case study, the discourse used by associate lecturers to describe their practice was also analysed.

4.2 Introduction

‘Bill’, having over 40 years of experience in teaching, both as a schoolteacher and as a teacher-trainer lecturer, highlights the dispersed nature of the OU compared with his roles and careers at other institutions.

Bill proved to be an interesting case study, showing how the organisation is still relevant to associate lecturer practice despite the limited nature of human contact with the university. It is very evident that students are the ‘large’ figures in Bill’s practice, and episodes concerning pupils and students are used by Bill, both to build his narrative of occupational self-identity and to give possible indications of implicit teaching theories and embedded routines, partly self-created and partly given by the organisation.

4.3 Biography

Bill was brought up in a working-class area of Wigan, his parents ran the local grocery store and, additionally, his father also worked shifts on the railway. Education was very important to his parents and, with their encouragement, Bill went to the local grammar school where he took ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examinations. Bill did not attend university as he failed his French examination.

Instead, he did two years’ National Service with the RAF which, Bill feels, taught him a great deal about mixing with other people. After leaving the RAF, he went to training college and, after two years, gained his teaching certificate. Bill returned to Wigan to teach in the local secondary school, opposite his old primary school, and married a local girl.

In order to advance his career, Bill undertook a part-time BSc degree in Economics. After his degree was finished, he studied full-time at Liverpool Polytechnic, taking a DipEd. This introduced Bill to Educational Sociology, Curriculum Studies and Educational Philosophy. He taught at a school in Derby for three years and became Head of Department, switching from teaching History to English. He successfully applied to the Irene Marsh College of Physical Education in South Liverpool in 1968, where he stayed for over 20 years.

He applied to teach the Open University Social Science Foundation course in 1970. He was promoted at the Irene Marsh College after two years to Senior Lecturer, and became

involved in teaching practice and theory. He was promoted again in 1978, becoming Head of Professional Studies and Principal Lecturer, and developing a new BEd degree; he was subsequently made Course Leader responsible for the college’s degree programme and its validation with the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). The Irene Marsh College merged with Liverpool Polytechnic during this period. Bill also undertook a part- time MEd with Liverpool University, his thesis being on the ‘Ideology of Partnership between Schools and their Trainee Teachers’.

After retirement, Bill continued to teach on two Open University courses, the Social Science Foundation course and the second-level Environmental Studies course. In 1992/3, he became involved in the associate lecturer panel with the OU, representing associate lecturers at university level.

4.4 Identity

Bill has had a long career in education and it was a strong motivation for him in joining the OU to have access to materials, but particularly important for him was that it was regarded as

higher education. This illustrates that working in the higher educational sector was an important element to the positive self-identity that Bill has constructed of himself; this is certainly the case if we compare it to his somewhat negative views of teaching pupils preparing for examinations:

‘By teaching with the OU, I could also get a grip with the materials, good for me, and

HE feather in my cap. Yes, the teaching at the OU appealed with social conscience

angle but it was as much for me as it was for them.

The joy of learning was missing. I got that with the emotion of seeing real toughies

crying at having a story read to them, goes back to being a rebel at school. I can do this but why should I? It was all instrumental to get ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels, not for

enjoyment. I see students as wells to be sprung rather than buckets to be filled.’

Bill also makes links between his belief of what good teaching is and his own experiences at school which indicates that Bill at least hoped that the ‘joy’ of learning would be more likely to be found in the higher education sector.

The underpinning theories of teaching matter to Bill, as does the opportunity to put these into teaching practice. Research has identified the importance of teacher’s beliefs in influencing current practice; this research supports that view from the evidence of these four case studies, as will be demonstrated in the thematic analysis in Chapter 8. The following narrative suggests that this influence can also come from the wider social and political environments:

‘Ken Clarke [then Conservative Education Minister] (rubbished theory). All about

how to teach teachers to use presentations and teach properly ‘back to basics’. Heart

no longer in it, teacher education had taken a nosedive.

Opportunity, at the tutorials at least, to say stop, let’s kick some ideas about, a chance

The need for Bill to maintain control of his tutorials is a possible indication of an implicit theory in action. He returns to this style even though he has a real desire to be more relaxed and experimental with his teaching, a possible conflict between an espoused theory and theory in practice. It is also worth noting how long it has taken for Bill to accept a more- relaxed approach; he needed to experiment and become comfortable with that style himself but the need for control has not gone away – the change had to become authentic for him. Standards are also important to Bill; getting the job done well and in good time still drives him, and he would be unhappy if he felt that he let himself down by not maintaining these standards: These concerns over standards could be linked to the desire to have a professional higher educational status, which any perceived slippage in standards might damage. The feeling of actually running the course on behalf of the OU could be an indication of the considerable agency and independence Bill has over his practice.

‘Like to turn them round as feels important, try to meet day’s turnaround. The longer

they have to mull over my comments the better, before the next one. If I put myself into a learner’s position, they need my comments.

When the job is done, I can relax; it’s the work ethic, I would feel uneasy otherwise.

Feels like I am running the course, things done always in advance, has to go like clockwork, set high standards for others therefore set high standards for myself. If you don’t keep up with it, you will lose it. Anna [Bill’s second wife] thinks I am

controlling.’

These narratives show that, in addition to being part of higher education, having a

professional status and, as such, meeting certain standards and being part of a professional set-up, is important to Bill’s positive narrative of himself. The OU, in part, provides this professional environment and thus, in subtle ways, may also influence practice, in what is increasingly looking like a dispersed community.

4.5 Practice

During the first session with Bill, we discussed the tangible things that he did as an associate lecturer, as a starting point to establishing ‘Practice Clusters’; these would be the focus for future discussion sessions based around practice.

The categories identified by Bill accords well with Giddens’ (1976) definition of behaviour which is recurrent or routine, i.e. which happens on a day-to-day basis and is embedded in the habits of normal life, discussed in Chapter 2.