I began to reexamine transcripts to identify other codes through open coding and reduce data. I selected a specific color to represent each code that was identified. I searched for repetitive words, phrases, and concepts. I used orange to highlight statements that expressed concern for students’ well-being. Medium blue was used to highlight statements referring to teacher confidence. Any statements referring to not enough time to plan was highlighted in yellow. References made to working with others were highlighted in light purple. Pink was used to highlight statements referring to student success through collaboration with others. Statements referring to student growth were highlighted in green. Gray was used to highlight responses on learning from other teachers, and bright pink was used to highlight statements referring to the specific needs of teachers. This allowed me to visualize similarities and differences in the data. Table 1 represents a sample of a priori and open codes that emerged in through data analysis. The complete table is located in Appendix C.
Table 1
Codes Identified from Participants’ One to One Interviews and Journal Entries During Open Coding
Participant ID A Priori Codes Open Codes Excerpt T4 Perspectives Concern for students’
well-being
“I’ve got SPED kids. I’ve got Tier kids. I’ve got kids that are on grade level and kids that are above. I have got to figure out how to service all of those children at all of those different levels and make sure that they understand the content.” T1 Challenges Not enough time to
plan
“If you really want me to fully meet the needs of this inclusion classroom, I have to have the time to plan and meet the needs of my students.”
T5 Successes Students find success through collaboration
“I’m confident that when students are able to collaborate and have
meaningful discussions with peers who are at different levels, they learn so much more and they are able to apply what they learned in a different setting.”
T2 Improvements Finding a balance for implementation
“I still have four kids that cannot do the standard at all, and I feel like I barely have time to pull them.”
T3 Professional Development
Addressing teachers’ specific needs
“Teachers don’t know how to put it all together effectively. Between guided reading, conferencing, meet all their needs, and deal with behavior.
Teachers are under extreme anxiety and stress. We have too many things to do, and we don’t do any one thing well.”
As each code was identified, I made notes in the margins and used bracketing techniques to remove any personal opinions or ideas. As I discovered similarities in the data, I created a table to visually organize the data. I color coded each response using a specific color of text to represent each participant. T1’s responses were typed using dark pink. T2’s responses were typed using red. T3’s responses were typed using dark blue. T4’s responses were typed using dark green, and T5’s responses were typed using dark yellow. T6’s responses were typed in bright green. T7’s responses were typed in dark red.
T8’s responses were typed in dark purple, and T9’s responses were typed in navy blue. The table was separated based on a priori codes and open codes. After my open coding analysis was finalized, I discovered thirty codes that emerged from the participants’ responses.
I identified open codes that connected to the a priori codes perspectives, challenges, successes, improvements, and professional development (see Table 1). I implemented creative codingthrough the use of Braun and Clarke (2012) six phases of thematic analysis. This created hierarchical code structures based on relationships
between identified codes. I then created top level codes and sublevel codes. This enabled me to form meaningful groups of data. I also noted any concepts directly related to the a priori codes that were created previously. I was able to narrow codes down and clearly identify similarities in the data. As I identified similarities, I made notes in the margins to record discoveries made through data analysis. I used various colors of highlighting and font colors to make additional notations in the margins. This allowed for the visualization of the new codes. I created tables to help organize codes for analysis (see Appendixes C and D).
Once open coding was completed, I utilized axial coding techniques to further dissect the data and identify connections between the codes (see Table 2). From the open coding results, I highlighted responses that represented sub codes in the data. These were reoccurring words, phrases, or concepts. This helped me explore the perspectives of teachers on differentiated instruction in inclusion classrooms. Thirteen sub codes were identified from the axial coding. Table 2 represents a sample of a priori codes, open
codes, and axial codes that were identified from data analysis. The complete table is in Appendix D.
Table 2
Codes Identified from Participants One to One Interviews and Journal Entries During Axial Coding Participant ID A Priori Coding Categories Open Coding Categories Axial Coding Categories Excerpt
T8 Challenges Working with other supports
Lost instructional time
“It can be extremely difficult when students are being pulled from instruction for other services such as speech, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.” T6 Professional Development Addressing teachers’ specific needs Behavior management “Teachers need further professional development in terms of behavior management. When there are many students with diverse abilities, sometimes behavior management can be challenging.” T5 Professional Development Addressing teachers’ specific needs Co-teaching models
“Most of the time I’m going in, and I feel like I am a glorified
paraprofessional. Whereas, I know that it (co-teaching) can be done much more effectively.”