Observations

One of the aims of this research was to explore how people behave when

participating in student voice mechanisms. Observation involves the immersion of the researcher “in the day-to-day activities of the people whom they are attempting

to understand” (May, 1997: 133). May talks about the ‘pragmatic’ roots of

“people act and make sense of their world by taking meanings from their

environment. As such, researchers must become part of that environment for only then can they understand the actions of those who occupy and produce cultures, described as the symbolic and learned aspects of human behaviour which include customs and language.” (May, 1997: 134)

Observation of individuals participating with student voice mechanisms played an important role in allowing access to ‘theories in use’, which could be compared with those espoused in the interviews and documentation (Argyris and Schon, 1996).

The observations were conducted overtly. Permission was sought from participants and a broad description of the research provided to enable informed consent to be given. This meant that the role taken by the researcher during observations was fairly formal. Gold (1969: 36) suggests that a more formal approach can be limiting as short term observations may not allow time for the researcher to gain familiarity with the culture and language used. However, my background, working in higher education, and preparatory analysis of related documents, provided some pre- understanding of what to expect. Access to participants was requested through senior management at each institution and then with the heads of each department involved in the study.

Student representative committees were observed as one of the main student voice mechanisms, bringing together students and academics, in use in the UK. One meeting was observed at the Post-92 institution in 2011 in order to develop the approach to observation and field note taking. Throughout the research I sought to develop an approach to field note taking that allowed for some acclimatisation with the individuals, roles and power mechanisms in a given observation. As a starting

point Bruyn (1966) suggests that notes are taken which include time, place, social circumstances, language, intimacy and social consensus. As the meetings were recorded using a digital audio recorder, I was able to focus on the interaction in the committees without becoming overly concerned about recording the detail of what was said. Field notes noted the characteristics of participants, roles and body

language and were used in conjunction with transcriptions of the audio recordings in the data analysis.

Bruyn (1966: 204 cited in, May, 1997: 144-5) notes the importance of

acknowledging power relationships as a researcher undertaking an observation and the influence that this has on the perceptions and behaviour of those observed. At least one observation took place in each location before interviews with those academics and students involved, which meant that when I met with those involved they were able to reflect on particular discussions that had taken place in meetings. There was a notable shift in the perception of those observed over the period of the study. While the membership of the committees was subject to some change throughout the year, as students and academics were not always able to attend, those that attended appeared to become increasingly comfortable with my presence. This was particularly notable at the start of meetings as committee members explained to new members, why I was there, and following meetings as students made informal comments about particular discussions that had taken place.

The committees observed had a large number of members and so once meetings got underway participants did not seem overly aware of my presence. However,

when particular incidents or controversial discussions took place, students often discussed these with me as we left the meeting, keen to highlight their ‘real’ view on a situation. This was interesting in that it suggested that they were keen to ensure that I gained an authentic understanding of their perspective, rather than basing my study purely on interactions in the meeting. This suggested areas that students experienced as a tension or conflict.

Table 6: Detail of sample involved in the main study observations

Department of English Student Representative Meeting

Date In attendance

Dec 2011 1 female head of department

1 library representative 5 male students

5 female students

Students from all year groups were represented

Feb 2012 1 female head of department

1 male academic with teaching management responsibility

2 representatives from the careers service 1 library representative 4 male students

6 female students

Students from all year groups were represented

Department of Engineering Student Representative Meeting

March 2012 2 senior male academics with teaching management responsibility 1 library representative 2 careers representatives 1 Students’ Union representative 14 male students 2 female students

Students from all year groups were represented

May 2012 3 male academics with teaching management responsibility 1 library staff 2 female students 17 male students 1 Students’ Union representative

Students from all year groups were represented

The make-up of student representative committees reflected the balance of students within each academic department. Female students, in particular, were underrepresented in engineering, which reflected the lower number of female students taking the degree. However, this was not the case in the English

department where male and female students were represented evenly. Similarly the academic representatives on the engineering committee were both male, whereas one female and one male academic attended the English meetings.

I had hoped, at the outset of the study, to be able to observe student protest, but while a number of protests took place during the study, the spontaneity of these, and working full time negated the possibility of gaining direct access to these. This meant that the accounts of students, through the interviews were relied upon for data in these areas.