Focus group discussions

A focus group was selected to provide a means to realise the teaching

assistants’ perspectives of their daily interactions within the complexity of the classroom environment, through reflection and discussion with colleagues. A focus group is a complex and versatile tool centred on a group of people engaged in a dynamic conversation, that has the potential to produce extensive and detailed data direct from the participants (Stewart and Shamdasani, 1990). The fundamental process involved is generating data as a group, as a consequence of the interactions that occur between the members who will share a common interest (Bender and Ewbank, 1994) and facilitate the generation of a specific rich form of data (Rabiee, 2004).

Previous research has successfully used focus groups to investigate teaching assistants’ perspectives on different aspects of their role, (Morris, 2010, Mackenzie, 2011, Butt and Lowe, 2012).

A focus group discussion, however, may take a number of different forms and be influenced by a wide number of variables including: the number of participants; the nature of the agenda devised to guide the discussion and crucially the role of the researcher or moderator in facilitating the discourse. Whilst it is impossible to predetermine the exact content of the discussion that may emerge during a focus group it is important to consider the wide

range of possible outcomes and whether or not they would be appropriate for the research questions, in other words to ensure the data is trustworthy. A pilot study was undertaken to determine the preparation required to shape the group agenda and to reflect on the nature of the meeting required to allow the discussion to be free flowing and centred on the focus of the study. Importantly it provided the opportunity to consider the protocols required to establish the trustworthiness of the resulting data.

5.4.1.1 The Pilot Study

The pilot study was undertaken in a single rural primary school and involved a total of six teaching assistants engaged in two equal sized group

discussions comprising three teaching assistants and the researcher. A primary school was selected to be the focus of the study for two pragmatic reasons. The researcher had personal contact with a number of local primary schools, the head teachers of which had expressed interest in the study and a willingness to support the research, and the researcher was very familiar with the primary environment. The research question was designed to explore the appropriateness of the data generation method:

“What factors need to be considered when developing the use of a focus group methodology to consider the role of teaching

assistants supporting children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) in mainstream schools?"

The teaching assistants involved in the pilot study all worked with and

supported pupils who had Statements of Special Educational Needs none of whom were deaf. This was to avoid the possibility of becoming engaged with data that may be similar to that collected in the main study and potentially detract from the methodological focus of the pilot study. However, as the teaching assistants were all engaged in supporting specific children with SEN, as their colleagues in the main study would be, certain generic themes in respect of all SEND teaching assistant roles may have appeared and usefully informed the developing agenda. It also provided the researcher with experience of moderating a group of professionals working in a similar capacity to those in the main study producing information to facilitate effective future data generation.

The two focus group discussions undertaken as part of the pilot study resulted in over two hours of detailed and rich conversation as well as valuable insight into how to manage and mediate such a conversation. The data was recorded using audio equipment transcribed verbatim and field

notes were compiled immediately after each discussion. A video camera was used to record the researcher exclusively to enable the role in mediating the group to be carefully evaluated to inform future practice.

The teaching assistants willingly explored their roles and responsibilities as well as the issues and challenges they face. Informal feedback from a member of the teaching staff suggested that the teaching assistants had been left "buzzing" and that they had found the experience extremely valuable. Their confidence had been boosted by the opportunity to share their views and for those views to have been valued. Each group had consisted of three teaching assistants which provided ample opportunity for each member to contribute although some members were more verbose than others. The latter indicated an aspect that would need to be managed during future discussions. On reflection the discussion may have been enhanced by the addition of a few more members to extend the range of the conversation and if managed appropriately limit the opportunity for one or two participants to dominate (Krueger and Casey, 2009). It was decided, therefore to recruit six teaching assistants to form the Data Group which would allow for an element of contingency should one or two drop out during the research process whilst still retaining a group large enough to generate sufficiently detailed data to address the research question.

Two different approaches to establishing the conversation agenda were trialled during the pilot study. One involved an activity designed to shape the discussion, the other did not. The activity allowed the teaching assistants to consider the topics they would like to explore during the group conversation prior to the start of the discussion. This process appeared to make no impact on the subsequent discussion and consequently it was decided that in the main study the teaching assistants would engage immediately in the main discussion.

Whilst a focus group could provide appropriate opportunity for the generation of the teaching assistant perspective, confidentiality needed to be

considered in order to ensure the best opportunity for a candid and open discussion amongst the participants. The data collection process needed to comply with the expected protocols of ensuring the anonymity of the

contributions within any reports as well guaranteeing the data was securely stored and subsequently destroyed on completion of the project (British Educational Research Association, 2011). However, the researcher had little control regarding participants sharing their knowledge of the focus group

data after the event which had the potential to limit the information the participants would be willing to share or discuss that could be extremely pertinent to the study. Consequently, prior to the commencement of each discussion, the importance of confidentiality was discussed and participants were asked to agree to this protocol. The only exception to this rule would occur if during the discourse it became apparent that there may be a

safeguarding issue affecting a child that the participant worked with. In such an eventuality it was stated that this would be reported. Whilstall the

participants indicated that they would be willing to introduce and discuss issues and challenges and at no time during the discussions did any

member seem unwilling to contribute or endeavoured to retract a statement, it is impossible to know whether important and sensitive issues were just not raised.

The literature cited along with the pilot study indicated that focus group discussions can, if appropriately managed, provide a non-judgemental and comfortable forum in which teaching assistants may discuss their role and daily practice and was therefore, selected to provide core data for the study. Each focus group discussion would be audio recorded and the discussion transcribed verbatim with field notes recorded immediately after the event. Six teaching assistants were recruited to facilitate a broad and detailed conversation, that when managed appropriately limited the opportunity for individual participants to dominate (Krueger and Casey, 2009). This number also provided an element of contingency should one or two participants drop out during the research process. The pilot study indicated four participants would generate a detailed and varied discussion. This group of participants formed the Data Group. The pilot study revealed the importance of ensuring the teaching assistants felt sufficiently protected if they were to fully express their opinions and that the process should not be perceived to be

judgemental. It was important that the members of the group were also prepared to treat the content of the discussions as confidential. This was addressed during the recruitment process and at the start of each focus group meeting.

The initial focus group agenda was designed to elicit basic demographic information (Table 5-5) and to encourage the participants to describe and reflect on their own and each other’s experiences supporting deaf students in mainstream secondary classrooms. This was structured using three questions (Table 5-6).

Table 5-5 Demographic questions

Table 5-6 Questions- Focus group discussion (F1)

The agenda for the subsequent focus group discussions emerged from the previous research cycles and are presented in Chapter 6.