Methods of Recording Interview Data

Interviews were recorded with a digital recording machine and complemented with written notes.

In spite of the fact that audio recordings are very useful for capturing all that interviewees say, there are some disadvantages to the technique. The presence of the recording equipment and the knowledge that one’s speech is being recorded can affect the interviewee in a way such that he or she may become “more guarded in what they say, especially when sensitive material is being discussed” (Vulliamy, 1990: 105).

Furthermore, important characteristics such as facial expressions, gestures and posture obviously cannot be captured with audio recording equipment alone. Additionally, in the event of mechanical or technical problems, valuable information may be lost.

In order to minimise some of these problems, I made note taking an integral part of all interview engagements – whether formal or informal – throughout the fieldwork. Finally, in order to reduce inhibition that might have arisen from awareness of the presence of recording equipment, I used a miniature digital recorder with a built-in microphone, which I kept in my pocket, although I always informed interviewees that I was using it.

4.4.2.1 Recording Children’s Interviews

Interviews with children were the main source of data for the study. Being aware of the challenges involved in interviewing children (Mayall, 2000), I made adequate preparations to maximise the chances of successful encounters. Interviews with children were conducted on an individual basis, but I faced some initial difficulties in my attempts to elicit information about how and why they dropped out of school.

Most dropout children were initially unwilling to respond to my questions. Subsequently, I shifted from a direct line of questioning to informal discussion outside the formal interview setting. This was where the photographs I had asked them to take came in very handy. At leisure times, I took the opportunity to get into conversation with children as we examined their photographs. This proved to be most helpful in shedding more light on their experiences of dropout.

4.4.2.2 Involving Children in the Research: Listening Techniques

Different ways of collecting data are being developed so that the views of children can be revealed more effectively. In some cases, video and audio techniques have been used to help children express their views (see Sawyer, 1997; MacNaughton, 1999; Forman, 2001). Children’s daily activities have also been video and tape-recorded (see Sawyer, 1997); and, in some studies, the recorded events have been played back to the children to obtain their feedback (e.g. MacNaughton, op. cit.).

Some studies (e.g. Corsaro, 1993; Nutbrown, 1999) provide evidence that it is possible to include children’s voices in research related to child development, well-being and learning. Some studies have also given children ‘ownership’ of the project by affording them the opportunity to take their own photographs (see Clark and Moss, 2001; Pryor and Ampiah Ghartey, 2003; 2004). In the present study, I drew on this last example and gave children disposable cameras to take their own pictures with.

In respect of the manner in which I was to listen to the experiences of children, it became necessary to proceed in such a way that I was able to hear and see what participants were communicating. In all cases, I took broad approach to listening to children.

I found it difficult to use open-ended questions in the initial stages of the study. However, spending time observing children and referring to the literature proved very useful. I adopted an active listening approach, which according to Clark (2004), is a type of listening process that takes into consideration hearing, interpreting and constructing meaning in spoken and other ways. I also tried as much as possible not to position myself as a teacher, which I felt might have conditioned the children’s accounts.

Often, I sat on the beach with the children, crouching down or copying their posture when they were speaking to me. I adopted multiple techniques to listen to them: verbal responses such as, ‘um! OK!’ and ‘is that so?’ and exclamations like ‘ei’; and gestures such as nodding and raising my eyebrows were all very useful in communicating with children.

Multiple Techniques for Listening to Children

To maximise the children’s participation, multiple techniques for listening were designed to capture the diverse ways in which they communicated their experiences. I created opportunities for them to actively represent their ideas through discussion and non-verbal communication. The use of stories and photographs as mediums facilitated active participation.

Reconstructing Biographical Stories and Life Histories

Telling stories can help children construct a sense of self; demonstrate that they are part of the culture; allow them to make sense of the world; and help them deal with feelings and form relationships (Engels, 1999). In order to construct an image of their worldview, the use of stories was an obvious choice of vehicle for child participation.

Storytelling was facilitated individually. This was mainly done when we took a walk during the children’s free time. They used autobiographical stories to articulate their understanding and interpretation of the concept dropout; their own experiences; the conditions that incited them to withdraw from school; and how they eventually dropped out. These stories also showed how children negotiated the dropout process. In all cases, stories emerged from informal discussions.

A story that is restricted in terms of narrative structure can be challenging. Sometimes, a child was unable to give a coherent account of his or her life history, given that it had no formal beginning, middle or end. Therefore, at times, much of the discussion turned to a purely question and answer format.

I also found it necessary to develop a keen sense of listening and awareness of the many non-verbal cues they used to carry meaning. Some of the accounts children gave of their lives were very moving.

Photographs

In order to reconstruct experiences of time and events, I gave the children disposable cameras to take photographs of anything they considered to affect their schooling. Those who had dropped back in to the education system took pictures of things they liked and disliked about school that influenced their attendance pattern. Children who had not returned also took pictures of activities they and their friends engaged in that dissuaded them from going to

school. These photographs were used during each interview session as prompts for discussion.

Out-of-school activities that children captured on film as things they did that prevented them from going to school were typically scenes of ‘hustling22_{’ at the}

beach; working for ‘hours’ on the farm; bagging cassava; collecting and cracking amadamfoa23 seeds; and fetching palm fruit from the farm (see appendix 8, photographs 1 to 19). Other pictures of things children disliked about school included scenes of pupils carrying sand and stones to school; the poor condition the school canteen was in.

To start the ball rolling, I invited a child to talk about what the photographs he or she had taken meant and how they related to his or her life experiences. I conducted narrative and episodic interviews (Flick, 2006), in that we talked about how the pictures reflected the various issues that shaped school attendance patterns and the decision to withdraw.

One of the challenges of using this technique concerned the difficulty of getting children to take appropriate pictures of the things that influenced their schooling. Initially, most children were only interested in taking pictures of their friends and family, which they could not explain as having any direct link to the issues the study sought to explore. This made the use of photography very expensive, as I had to buy two or three more cameras for some children. Additionally, when I returned the printed pictures, the children became very impatient and could not wait to take turns to talk about their photographs. Sometimes, those who lived close to each other expected me to meet them as a group and interview them all at the same time.

Often, the children got very excited about the pictures and could not wait to take them home, and show them to their parents and friends. It was also not uncommon to see other children curiously waiting at a distance for the

22

Hustle is a jargon used in the community to refer to the way children work at the beach for economic survival

23

Amadamfoa is the local name for voacanga seeds. These seeds are believed to have pharmaceutical uses for which they have market value.

opportunity to have a look at the pictures. Thus, in spite of the advantages of the interview technique and the use of photographs for gathering data, it also has some limitations.

4.4.2.3 Interviews with Parents and Teachers

When interviewing parents and teachers, I informed them of my intention to audio-record our discussions, for which I needed their consent before I could begin. I conducted interviews with parents and other adults in the local dialect, which I later transcribed and translated into English. Interviews with teachers and school heads were conducted solely in English. During interviews with significant others – parents and teachers in particular – I drew attention to views the children had expressed about their experiences of dropout and their reasons for withdrawal from school in order to confirm children’s stories.