Ethical consideration

Research ethics refer to the moral principles guiding the research from the beginning to the end (Matthews & Ross, 2010, p. 71). Similarly, Neuman (2011), defined ethics as what is or is not appropriate to be done during the conduct of a study, as well as knowing what moral research procedure entails. It is emphasised by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) that researchers need to take into account ethical issues of respect and dignity for participants during a study (BERA, 2018). In this regard, the study I undertook here strictly adhered to the ethical guidelines highlighted by BERA. For ethical reasons I also adhered to the general data protection regulatory (GDPR) of the University, and I will make sure that the films taken during the lesson observation are destroyed once the study is completed.

Notwithstanding, some have argued that regardless of how effective and well behaved the researcher is, there is some possibility that the researcher may be unintentionally unethical (Punch, 2009). It was necessary as an interpretivist researcher from the beginning of the data collection exercise to seek and obtain permission from the head

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teacher in every participating school. This was relevant to uphold the ethical principles and values in order to maintain the integrity of my research. Identified schools were visited initially to meet school authorities and request access to the schools. A research consent form (see appendix 15) was given to the Principals as gate keepers, to open the doors of their schools for the conduct of the research. Schools were contacted through my role as a PhD student from Huddersfield University and not someone from the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE). The more important point is that my interaction with the schools in this instance was as a researcher, not as a Ministry employee. This was due to the fact that I have been away from the Gambia since 2015 as a student and have not worked for the Ministry for such a long time. Furthermore, the teachers’ responses were much better as they did not see me as a person coming from the ministry to scrutinise them. Before the field data collection, visits were made to see the teachers involved and to talk with them about my research and to reassure them and build their confidence. It was crucial to make this visit not only to make participants understand that the research undertaken would lead to successful completion of my study but also to assure them of their wellbeing throughout the research. I did this by reassuring teachers and students of their anonymity throughout the research. For anonymity, all participants and schools were given pseudonyms to ensure they were unidentifiable in this study. For example, the names of the schools were coded as school A, B, C, D, E and F; the names of the teachers were coded as T1, T2…. T12 and students from T1’s class as ST1, ST2… ST12.

A participant information sheet indicating the purpose of the research, participants’ right to withdraw from the study and confidentiality were made available to each participant (see Appendix 16). Participating teachers had time to read through the

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information sheet before deciding whether or not to participate, which was respecting the decisions and values of the participants (Flick, 2014). Additionally, participants were given the opportunity to seek clarification of the purpose of the study from me before agreeing to take part. Participants therefore were aware of what the research was about before they got involved in the study, which Metthews and Ross (2011) referred to as overt method, an open method of inquiry in which participants were ware of being studied. Having read the written information about the study to gain a full understanding of what it involved, an informed consent form was given to each of the science teachers to sign, agreeing to take part in the research without being forced or conditioned in any way by signing the informed consent form (see appendix 17). Giving participants an informed consent form is beneficial and can build participants’ confidence to be able to discuss issues related to the research topic frankly and openly (Robson & McCartan, 2016).

As the research was conducted in schools, parents’ consent was not sought for the reason that school heads authorised permission and gave access in their respective schools. Therefore, obtaining permission from the school head was sufficient in the context of the Gambian Education System for participating students to undertake the focus group. There was no harm caused to participants since the study did not seek for information that may have subjected the participants to anxiety or harassment, and none of the participants were embarrassed, ridiculed or belittled during the conduct of the study (Robson & McCartan, 2016).

Participating teachers and students were ensured of their rights and were informed that they could withdraw at any point during the data collection process if they wished. There was no point during the data collection exercise where participants left the class or opted out. At the commencement of each lesson, I was given the opportunity to

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introduce myself. Both teachers and students were informed from the onset of the use of the digital video camera in the lessons and the audio recording of one-to-one interviews and focus group. Their consents were sought to undertake the research and all agreed without any objection or being forced. At the beginning of the interviews, I explained the purpose of the interview to the participants and assured them of their names being anonymised in order to make them feel comfortable and relaxed. I informed them that their actual names would never be mentioned in my thesis and also would not be given to any Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) personnel and that whatever they mentioned during the interviews would be kept confidential and I would be the only person to have access to such information. I made sure that no one was present during the interviews so as to avoid distraction, and also so that the participants were not discouraged from expressing their views freely. It can be argued that as well as a moral requirement, good ethical practice in research can also enhance validity of the study (Cooper & Schindler, 2014).

4.9 Chapter Summary

This chapter discussed the used of an interpretivist research approach to examine teachers’ perceptions of SCL and their orientations to unpack their classroom practices. It also justifies the rationale for the use of the approach since as an interpretivist researcher I am concerned with the quality of the data drawn from a small sample to be able to deduce meaning from the participants’ own live

experiences. A small- scale qualitative research is employed with the use of multiple methods involving lesson observation, interviews with science teachers and focus groups with students. The manner in which each of these methods were conducted have been highlighted in this chapter. The three methods of data collection were

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triangulated, which enhances the validity of the data. The chapter also highlights the limitation of the study such as the limited number of participants involved, however the findings from the study was not aimed at generalisation rather I was interested to have a detail understanding of science teachers’ perceptions and orientations in relation to SCL. The chapter also discussed the pilot study that was undertaken before the final data collection exercise was conducted. The pilot study was essential in the sense that the experiences gained from it enabled me as a researcher to select the samples chosen differently and to make some amendments to the questions.

The chapter gave a brief detailed description of the data analysis and made a link between the methods used and the theoretical framework. This chapter also gave a detailed account of my reflexivity and my positionality as a researcher. The chapter considered the ethical procedures that were undertaken during the conduct of the research. I made sure that permissions were obtained from the head teachers first by giving them a research consent form to sign. This was followed by giving each of the participating science teachers a participant information sheet and an informed consent form to sign after I explained what the research was all about. It was clearly highlighted from this chapter that participants’ integrity, respect and confidentiality were maintained throughout in this study.

The next three chapter focuses on the data presentation and discussion of the findings. The first chapter, chapter 5, addresses RQ1: To what extent do Gambian Upper Basic School students’ perceptions of their science lessons relate to students centred learning pedagogies? Chapter 6- RQ2: In what ways do science teachers’ own perceptions of SCL influence their classroom practice? Chapter 7 -RQ3: In what

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ways do science teachers’ pedagogical orientations influence their classroom practices?

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