Observation

The purpose of this research is to explore, to understand and to analyse young children’s responses to and perceptions of children’s literature of trauma, and

this knowledge starts with observation (Greig and Taylor, 1999:83; Walker, 1971:83). It is essential that in this research, ideas and insights are based on young children’s own interpretation and responses. I have collected this data by observing their responses to particular events or situations.

I needed to decide whether the observation would be participant or non- participant. Cohen, Manion and Morrison define the former as being when “observers engage in the very activities they set out to observe” (2005:186) and the latter as being when “observers stand aloof from the group activities they are investigating and eschew group membership” (2005:187). This study fitted the former category as I am not only an observer but also a participant as a teacher involved in the teaching process in the classroom. Lacey (1976:65) states that participant observation is “the transfer of the whole person into an imaginative and emotional experience in which the fieldworker learn(s) to live in and understand the new world.” As both participant and observer, I was involved in the learning process and engaged with the children in order to understand their learning. A close relationship developed as we shared emotional reactions to the stories in the classroom. Even so, I was aware that the children may have been aware of being “watched”, and this raises ethical considerations for researchers; they need to know that it is never appropriate to observe participants without their knowledge and consent; moreover, their presence may affect the participants’ learning or behavioural outcomes. Issues involved in conducting participant observation with young children, will be discussed in detail later.

The key reason for conducting this study using the participant observation approach is because it allows the researcher to obtain first-hand data from live situations as they happen (Robson, 2002:309-310; Patton, 1990:203-5). However, Nisbet warns that,

Observation … is not a ‘natural’ gift but a highly skilled activity for which an extensive background knowledge and understanding is required, and also a capacity for original thinking and the ability to spot significant events (1977:15).

My previous experience as both teacher and researcher has given me a good understanding of the use of observation techniques to record the participants’ emotional responses and expressions that may be ignored unconsciously, to investigate responses or reactions that participants may not show in formal interview situations and to access participants’ personal knowledge and experiences.

When carrying out observations, researchers need to keep in mind that their presence may affect the situation and to some extent, therefore, the validity and reliability of the data may be reduced because the presence of the observer could influence the response of the participants (Smith, 2004:121).

The participant-observation in this study was carried out in two ways: by on- site observation and by audio-visual observation. Both methods were employed to ascertain young children’s interaction with the teacher, the texts and with other children, and data was collected by watching, listening, responding to and engaging with the children in discussion and conversation (Mayall, 2000:121). Through participant observation and audio-visual observation, I investigated the following areas:

 on a spectrum, the children’s negative and positive responses to the sensitive and traumatic stories;

 their reflection on their emotional response after exploration of the stories;

 their responses to the illustrations in the books;

 their responses through drawing and art work;

 their relevant personal experience of sensitive and traumatic issues;

 their insights into or awareness of the value of human experience;

 their viewpoints in coping with difficulties and feelings in everyday life;

 their responses after exploring events in imaginative role play;

Since I was both teacher and researcher, I was not able to record my observations as I taught, and therefore I wrote my field notes up while the children were working on their own or immediately after every teaching session. A discussion of how I kept field notes can be found in 3.3.5, and an example of my field notes can be seen in Appendix IV.

Audio-visual observation is valuable in conducting research because it makes it possible to capture and replay some aspects of classroom action, participants’ non-verbal behaviours and authentic spoken language that may otherwise have been missed; this creates enormous potential for unexpected data (Walker, 1993:188 and Aubrey, David, Godfrey and Thompson, 2002:120). Shaffer (1993:19) argues that “[audio-visual recording] is particularly effective at minimising the influence of an observer if the taping is done from a concealed location”, as young children are less likely to ‘perform’ or change their behaviour in any significant way. In this study, the camera was placed in a concealed corner of the classroom where every participant could be seen. They were informed about this and the purpose of the camera setting was explained to them. Both whole-class and group discussion were audio-visually recorded and the research conversations were tape-recorded. In order to audio-visually record and tape-record the discussion and research conversations, I obtained the consent of the participants, and I began using the camera in my pilot teaching sessions to help them get used to it. Johnson (2002:62) argues that the video camera can be “an obtrusive instrument, and thus it creates a non real teaching environment.” In order to avoid this, all the participants in my research were invited to touch and see the camera before the first lesson started. In spite of this, the use of audio-visual technology may create disadvantages and I cannot prove that it did not change the children’s behaviour. It is time-consuming to view and transcribe evidence, and irrelevant data is inevitably collected (Milroy, 1980:12; Opie, 2004:121). But despite these concerns, it nevertheless gives the researcher an opportunity to explore classroom interaction in detail.

Audio-visually recorded data shows evidence of the ‘live’ action in the study and therefore allows the researcher to review and reflect on discussions, research conversations and any particular incidents that occurred in the classroom, and these can be re-played again and again, in full, as often as needed. In addition, the recordings allowed me to accurately transcribe the participants’ voices. This is significant because in my analysis I can confidently use the children’s reflective responses to the books and show how/what they talk about their ideas and experiences. Most importantly, these recordings allowed me to maintain eye contact with the participants and to use my body language to interact with them without the barrier of a note book. I also used the recordings to help me interpret the children’s non-verbal expressions as they discussed issues arising from the stories, and noted facial expressions that may reveal their feelings and gestures that may indicate a range of emotions, such as concern, anger or distaste (Neill, 1991:13-17).

Further, the video evidence provided me with an opportunity to reflect on my teaching style and to change my teaching methods as necessary. I reviewed the children’s learning processes and their discussion and responses to the texts from the audio-visual data immediately after each lesson and then again for what I might have missed in my field notes to ensure that I recorded accurate responses from the children. My audio-visual observation notes were always open to anything fresh in order to help me to tell a true story of how the children responded to the issues highlighted in the study. Each child’s response and relevant personal experience was respected in this study and I have described their voices rather than standing in judgement over them, since my aim is to explore their learning processes, reflection and responses to the books (Crozier and Tracey, 2000:174; Goodson and Walker, 1995:186).

3.4.1.1 The Classroom Teacher as Participant-Observer

In order for this study to be objective as well as valid, it was important to include other adult participants, and so I asked the classroom teacher to take on the role of participant as validator, since she participated in and observed the day-to-day activities in the classroom. Her observations would help to

avoid bias and subjectivity, and I elicited her views, concerns and suggestions regarding the study. I also asked her to keep informal observation notes which we discussed immediately after each lesson in order to review the processes, and problems and any particular points she had observed and to discover whether she had any suggestions to make about future lessons. I wrote down the key points that emerged during these discussions and used her suggestions to adjust my next teaching session. The classroom teacher’s observations of the teaching and learning processes and my own on-site observations have helped to generate a clear picture of how the children responded to the issues raised in each lesson.