Data collection process

This phenomenological study used two sources of data, namely the interview and field notes. I compiled my data as divulged in semi-structured one-on-one, face to face interviews. Each learner was allowed to share their stories by focusing on the essential essences of their

experiences in the Physical Science classroom as well as their experiences with working with their Physical Sciences educators. Each interview was consistent with the research question and aligned to the phenomenological method of enquiry. The questions focused on the learners’ lived experiences as they dealt with their peers and their teachers inside and outside the classroom. The questions were crafted in such a way that they mostly related to their daily feelings, expectations, perceptions and the challenges they faced on a daily basis. In the field notes, I recorded everything that I observed, like the tone their voices, facial expressions, body language and various other non-verbal behaviours.

6.2.1 Using the semi structured interview

In this study, the goal of the semi structured interview was to uncover what Grade 12 Physical Sciences learners experience in their classrooms. I selected the semi-structured interview as a method for data collection because the sequence and wording of most the questions is similar for each participant. This ensures that any differences found in the answers are not due to the differences in questions asked but are caused by the differences among the respondents (Barriball & While 1993). In the semi-structured interview, the validity and reliability does not depend on the repeated use of the same words in each question, but depends on conveying equivalence of meaning (Barriball & While 1993).The semi-structured interview is standardised by the equivalence of meaning and this helped to facilitate comparability. The use of semi-structured interview has an advantage when working with respondents whose understanding of English is limited. Many of the participants struggled to express themselves in English but they had to be included in to secure the validity of the final results.

6.2.2 The epoché and its applicability to my study

I returned the epoche, first by reading through the whole transcript to get the sense of the whole in order to achieve a holistic and intuitive understanding of the lived experiences of the Physical Sciences learners. During this step I assumed a phenomenological attitude as described by Kafle (2013), Finlay (2009), Giorgi (2008) and Broomé (2011). In phenomenological attitude, I bracketed my everyday knowledge of being a science teacher in a township school so that my biases and pre-knowledge do not affect the way I look at the data. I had to put aside my presuppositions, theoretical, cultural and experiential knowledge. Bracketing allowed me to present the data without positing its own context without doubt or belief and made the findings that I presented here to remain true to the phenomenological slogan of “back to the things themselves” while remaining within the phenomenological circle of data explication. This enabled me to take the learners‟ lived experiences they presented themselves and without judgement and bias. Bracketing and withholding of existing

knowledge allows the researcher to see and describe clearly what was present for consciousness from the participants and perspective (Broomé 2011). The bracketing stance taken in this study allows the phenomena to emerge on its own rather than be clouded by the preconceptions of the researcher. It is not an easy task to remove one‟s self from their biases but it important to do so because one of the main objectives of a phenomenological study is not to contaminate the data so that we can focus on the voice of the learner so that their experiences can be legitimately presented (Husserl, 1983).

I conducted all the interviews personally; this was very helpful in getting the sense of the whole. I also transcribed each interview personally and then read each transcript several times as explained in the above sections. At times I found it difficult to remain true to the phenomenological circle by adhering to the epoche, bracketing the self as I was engaging with both the interviews and the data construction process.

Conducting this study was an enjoyable journey because I connected the results of the study to what has already been written about in the literature. During this whole process it was hard for me to keep my own biases on this phenomenon out of the writing of the findings. My biggest problem was that as a Physical Sciences teacher for many years, I felt I needed to say something. What helped me from not doing so was to apply the phenomenological principle of the Epoche as I was writing Chapter 5. I had to remind myself constantly to abstain from giving my opinion and rather focus on the literature in order to bring me back to what the research is saying about the lived experiences of grade 12 Physical Sciences learners

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6.2.3 Field work

The data collection process was not an easy task as the learners availability depended on the schools programmes and their schedules. Learners were not prepared to remain after school as they were not prepared to walk alone back home as it puts them in danger of being attacked by criminals. The schools are located in highly dangerous neighbourhoods. The scheduling of interviews was very challenging. It was always difficult to find a private and quiet place to hold interviews as the schools are overcrowded. There were disturbances during interviews.