THE FIRST DAY

PART ONE – an exploration of the children's engagement with fiction and scientists

and science in fiction.

The questions for the first semi-structured group interview were drawn up in order to pursue the three initial objectives. Throughout the first semi-structured group interview, it was necessary to take great care to make no mention whatsoever of scientists or science unless the children themselves raised the subjects.

Hence, after being re/introduced to the children by the Year 5 teacher, I asked the children if they were all happy to work with me that day. I said that if they didn't wish to work with me they were entirely free to go and do something else; they could go to the library and read or draw, for example. All the children wanted to stay. I told the children that we were going to talk about stories, children's stories in particular; I asked if that was all right with them. It was. I so progressed to the first semi-structured group interview in pursuit of the three objectives:

Interview Schedule for Semi-Structured Group Interview No. 1:

Objective A – to examine how engaged children are with fiction (of any nature) 1. What's your favourite type of story?

2. What's your favourite type of character?

3. Do you have any actual favourite stories or favourite characters in stories?

109 4. Why are these your favourites?

Objective B – to investigate whether children are familiar with science or scientists in fiction

5. If you were to make up a story of your own, what type of story would it be?

6. Who would be in it?

7. Do these characters have anything in common; that is, are your characters the same in any way?

8. How are they different?

Objective C – to explore whether children think they are influenced or inspired by fiction

9. Do you think that any stories or any characters in stories have made you feel different about anything?

10. In what ways do you feel different? 11. Why do you think you feel different?

Having established an extent to which the children were or were not engaged with fiction and scientists and science therein, the pursuit of the first research aim, to examine how children feel about science and scientists, progressed.

PART TWO – the children's group story-construction and group story-telling.

Drawing upon the Year 5 teacher's familiarity with the children, the class was divided into three groups that were, without the children's knowledge, as equally matched as possible with respect to age, gender and ability.

The children were invited to, within their groups, make up a story. Later on, the children were asked to present, in their groups, the story they had made up to the rest of the class.

I suggested that the story could be any sort of story at all; any genre, any subject, any length. There was only one rule: although the children could have as many characters as they liked in the story, there had to be, at least, the four basic characters I had in mind. These were the characters of: a woman, a child, a scientist and a man.

110 Before starting the story, with respect to these four assigned characters, the

children were asked to further define them by means of pre-printed 'Personality Sheets' (see Appendix; Example of 'Personality Sheet': Scientist – Front of Sheet; Scientist – Back of Sheet). That is, each child was given four sheets of A4 paper upon one side of each was printed, each sheet respectively, the titles: What sort of person is the WOMAN?, What sort of person is the CHILD?, What sort of person is the SCIENTIST? and What sort of person is the MAN? Beneath each title, besides there being a space to allocate a gender (to the Child and to the Scientist) and an age, there was printed a list of personality traits:

kind/caring or unkind/uncaring clever or not so clever

calm or nervous bossy or not so bossy cheerful or grumpy

follows rules or breaks rules shy or not really shy

sensitive/feelings easily hurt or tough/feelings not usually hurt trusts people or doesn't really trust people

has a lot of imagination or doesn't have much imagination friendly or not so friendly

honest or dishonest

doesn't worry much or worries a lot

likes things to stay the same or likes to change things likes to work in a team or likes to work alone

tidy or untidy patient or impatient

These seventeen personality traits were based upon the 16 Personality Factors – or primary factors or source traits – derived by Raymond Cattell (1973; Cattell & Mead, 2008) in defining the basis for those surface behaviours that define personality.

111 Each child was asked to circle each of the attributes they thought were most

appropriate for their characters. The children were also given the opportunity to add any personality attributes or characteristics of their own as, upon the back of each personality sheet questions were printed, on each sheet respectively: What else could you say about the WOMAN?, What else could you say about the CHILD?, What else could you say about the SCIENTIST?, What else could you say about the MAN? – together with a further invitation to draw the characters if they wished to.

As the children were allowed complete freedom to create whatever story they desired, albeit within the bounds of having, at least, the four pre-assigned

characters, it was anticipated that the children's assumptions, presumptions, biases and/or prejudices about the nature of stories and the characters within those

stories would, or would not, become apparent to varying degrees; it was

anticipated, also, that which was missing from the children's written work about the characters would be just as important as that which was present.

After twenty minutes or so, each team was invited to present their story to the class.

Unstructured Group Interview No. 1

After all three stories had been presented to the class, an unstructured group interview was carried out wherein the whole class was invited to discuss their initial reactions to each others' stories. Questions were prepared to start the discussions off:

1. What did you like about each story?

2. What did you like about the characters in the stories? 3. Is there anything you didn't like?

After all three stories had been discussed in general terms, the pursuit of the first research aim progressed.

Interview Schedule for Semi-Structured Group Interview No. 2:

In pursuit of the first research aim, to examine how children feel about science and scientists, there were six questions:

112 1. When you knew that one of the characters in your story had to be a

scientist, how did that make you feel?

2. Do the scientists in your stories have anything in common; that is, are your scientists the same in any way?

3. How are the scientists in your stories different from one another? 4. The scientists in your stories were... the way they were... – is that how

you expected them to be?

5. Why do you think the scientists in your stories did such good or bad things?

6. Do you think any other sort of person would do the things the scientists in your stories did?

Having explored how the children felt about the scientists and the science in their stories, the pursuit of the second research aim, to investigate whether children have any insight into why they feel this way, progressed.

PART THREE – exploration of whether or not the children have any insight into

why they feel the way they do about science and scientists.

Interview Schedule for Semi-Structured Group Interview No. 3:

In pursuit of the second research aim there were ten questions:

1. Do you think any Real Life Scientists would do the things the Scientists in your stories did?

2. Why would/wouldn't Real Scientists do those things? 3. How do you know that?

4. Have you seen or heard any Real Scientists behaving that way? 5. How do you think Real Scientists behave?

6. Where do you think you get your ideas about Real Scientists from? 7. Can you name any Real or Fictional Scientists?

8. Do you think that the way you feel about Real Scientists had anything to do with how you made up the Scientists in your stories?

113 9. Do you think if you saw or heard (any/more) Real Scientists it would

change how you feel about Scientists/Science?

10. What sort of person becomes a scientist? (The children write this down).

All the class discussions were video- and audio-recorded.