4.1 INTRODUCTION
The study attempted to examine the effects of double orphanhood on the learning and cognition of children living and attending school from CHHs within Chipinge district of Manicaland in Zimbabwe. The qualitative data were collected from 34 participants comprising 20 OVC, four school heads, eight school teachers, one education officer (DEO) and a social welfare officer (SWO). Participant observations were conducted on OVC by the researcher and the eight teachers as assistants. Semi-structured questionnaires were completed by each of the 20 OVC, followed by a focus group discussion mounted at each of the four schools with the OVC. The eight teachers, four school heads, one DEO and one SWO were all consulted as stakeholders through an individual semi-structured interview guide.
Focus group discussions were transcribed using some notes and audio recordings conducted during the focus group discussions. The participants and schools were coded to conceal identity of participant as was promised in the initial stages of the enquiry under ethical considerations. See tables 5(a) and 5(b). The data were presented through an eclectic use of descriptive qualitative features involving excerpts, anecdotal reports, narratives, tables and graphs all falling within some specified themes as guided by the Tesch‟s model of qualitative data analysis (Tesch,1990in Creswell, 2002; de Vos et al, 2011). Since the response rate was very high at each school visited, it was hoped that the rich data collected was representative of the learning and cognition situation as experienced by OVC in CHHs located in both rural and urban parts of Chipinge district, in Zimbabwe. The following research questions guided the study from the start:
What is the social construction of the concepts; cognition and learning, within the child headed households (CHHs)?
What are the developmental experiences encountered by orphans and vulnerable
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How does double orphanhood affect the manner in which OVC build
schemes/schemata?
What aspects promote or deter both cognition and learning of OVC within CHHs?
How can the schools, local communities and policy makers be academically and
emotionally prepared to assist orphaned children to achieve their intended learning goals?
Table 3: Summary of selected methods and the nature of data collected Research Question Data Collection Methods Data obtained/value What is the social
construction of the concepts of learning and cognition within child-headed households?
-OVC questionnaire.
-Participant observations on OVC. -Focus group discussion sessions with OVC.
-Stakeholder open-ended interviews.
In-depth understanding of OVC`s (anecdotal records and vignettes), teacher`s and officials‟ knowledge on the concepts of learning and cognition in CHH.
What are the developmental experiences encountered by orphans within CHH as far as learning and cognition are concerned?
-OVC questionnaire and focus group interview schedules.
-Teacher‟s observations on OVC. -Researcher–as-participant-observer.
Unpacking some of the OVC encounters in CHHs that impact on learning positively or negatively. Data to be obtained as case presentations, anecdotes and vignettes.
How does double orphanhood affect the manner in which OVC build up schemes/schemata?
-Focus group interview schedules for OVC.
-Teacher`s open-ended interviews - OVC questionnaire.
-Observation on OVC by teachers and researcher.
Soliciting and understanding OVC`s and teacher`s knowledge on how a learner`s cognitive map can be altered by being parentless.
What aspects deter or promote cognition and learning in CHH?
-Teacher`s OVC observation guide. -Focus group interview schedules for OVC.
-Researcher as participant observer.
Acquiring details of what enhances or deters learning as observed by teachers and as explained by the OVC.
How can schools, local communities and policy- makers be academically and emotionally prepared to assist orphaned children achieve their intended learning goals?
-Stakeholder‟s interviews. -OVC questionnaire.
-Focus group discussions with OVC..
Soliciting information leading to recommendations that can advance effective formulation and
implementation of policies meant to assist OVC.
4.2 THE TESCH’S QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS TOOL
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the data collection and analysis took place iteratively and simultaneously as summarized in figure 7 in chapter three. The researcher got involved in several activities during qualitative data analysis. These included collecting the data; sorting the data into categories; its distillation and reduction; theme building and formatting the data into a coherent
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story or picture, and eventually writing the qualitative text (Tesch in Creswell, 2002; Miles and Huberman, 1994 in Punch, 2011). Both Leedy and Ormrod (2010) and de Vos et al (2011) advise that the process of moving from data to conceptualisation and theorisation is the most distinguishable aspect of qualitative research. The enquiry employed the steps provided by Tesch in Creswell (2002) to analyse the data systematically, by segmenting it into words or categories that subsequently formed the basis of the emerging story of the phenomenon under scrutiny.
During the data collection process it was essential to place the four secondary schools into codes that disguised their real names mainly for ethical reasons. The following codes A, B, C and D were used to represent the four schools from where the researcher collected the data. See table 4 below. Three were rural and one was urban. The alphabet codes were pseudonyms meant to protect the researcher, schools and the participants just as was discussed under ethical considerations in chapter three.
4.2.1 School Codes A, B, C and D
Table 4: School Codes and their meanings
School Codes Meanings
AU School code A in an Urban setting. Therefore, AU1 – AU5 in subsequent sections of this chapter represent all the 5 OVC from Chipinge urban schools and CHHs.
BR, CR, DR School codes B, C and D all in Rural settings represented by letter „R’. Therefore, BR6
–BR10, CR11-CR15 and DR16-DR20 are all the 15 representing OVC from the rural
schools and CHHs.
AUS Refers to Stakeholder’s codes in Urban school A.
BRS, CRS, DRS Refers to Stakeholder’s codes in Rural schools B, C and D.
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4.2.2 The Research Themes, Sub-themes and Categories
The researcher reduced and placed the findings into five main themes. The process of categorizing and theme building followed a combination of themes embedded in the reviewed literature, research questions and questions within the instruments that were used to collect data (Punch, 2011). The reduction of data began from generating categories and codes from the numerous findings. The numerous transcribed text data were divided into many segments or codes. The codes were further reduced until the researcher managed to collapse them into the five (5) themes enlisted below (Creswell, 2002). To represent the themes and their relationships, some visual images of information, tables, and graphs were utilized as illustrated under each theme‟s detail. The process of data reduction yielded five main themes that led to further sub- themes as the thematic discussion of findings unfolded. The themes read;