The issues I raise in this section pertain to the reflexive account of data collection in the study. Mauthner and Doucet (2003) encourage qualitative researchers to develop a practical and visible process of reflexivity. In this process, an understanding of the self in relation to the research and an accounting for one’s research choices are recommended. Reflexivity also focuses on the implications of researchers’ epistemological positions on their analytic and
interpretive approaches to conducting research and conveying findings (Mauthner and Doucet, 2003).
The first aspect I had to deal with was the use of English as a language for data collection. All the data instruments in the current study were framed in English. English is the language used for teacher education and business communication in Malawi. All teachers are expected to teach through the medium of English in the secondary school, except in African language subject such as Chichewa. I mentioned to them that they were free to use local languages when they felt it was fine for them. This was necessitated by an awareness that most Malawians with an MSCE tend to have better writing skills of English than oral English skills. This is mainly due to an inherent culture where people normally communicate in local languages both in class and outside classrooms. This affects the development of oral competence in English language. However, they all tried their best to speak in English. It would appear that each and every student teacher wanted to prove that they were competent in English. My informed view as a former secondary school English teacher and currently a teacher educator was that their level of spoken English was good and communicated their thoughts and views very well.
Among Masambiro College student teachers, I was a teacher educator with the University of Malawi and this had consequences in terms of power relations. The University of Malawi is normally rated higher in terms of status because of the nature of programmes it offers. The University of Malawi offers degree, masters and doctoral programmes. On the other hand, Masambiro College only offers a diploma programme. The other factor which contributes to the higher status of the University of Malawi where I work is that the selection to the University of Malawi is a tight one. Many students qualify for university places but only a small number of them are selected due to bed space (see Section 1.7.4). This means that the student teachers who are selected tend to be regarded as exceptional compared to those who may end up being selected to Masambiro College. It is necessary to mention that most of the students who get selected to Masambiro College may have also qualified for the University of Malawi if only there were enough bed space. These factors may affect power relations between the researcher and the researched and could consequently affect the quality of data one might collect.
In terms of power relationships and rapport building, I was especially able to quickly build rapport with the three male student teachers at Gawani secondary school during our first meeting. I used my teacher educator knowledge, skills and attitudes for productive
interactions in the process of data collection. It would appear that male student teachers identified with me easily because I was male researcher. However, it took time to build rapport with female student teachers at Limbani Secondary school. Our research relationships remained very formal and this could be viewed a limitation because some people do not feel very free to express themselves in very formal situations. I suspect the difficulty of building quick rapport with female student teachers may have been more due to cultural reasons than emanating from my position as a researcher. I suspect that talking to a female researcher rather than a man, would have been easier for the female student teachers in bridging power relations (see Dunne and Leach, 2005). However, I was pleased that I also managed to elicit as much data as possible from female student teachers. The female student teachers were able to take part in interviews, observations and also managed to respond to critical incident logs. The assumptions that one may bring to any research situation may impede the ability to make progress in journeys of gaining knowledge. Strauss and Corbin (1990) suggested that as a researcher, I must be aware of any recognized and unrecognized assumptions so that they do not interfere with my ability to interpret a situation or an experience systematically and analytically. My identity as a researcher should be the underlying philosophy during data collection. Patton (2002), while discussing assumptions of researchers in qualitative research, provided some advice that researchers must heed, cautioning that in order for the researcher not to become part of the problem I must not assume that I ‘have all of the questions, much less all of the answers right’ (p. 337). I would like to state that my seven years of exposure to teacher education, firstly as a student teacher during my teacher education programme (bachelor of education); secondly, my one year secondary school teaching, and some three years as a teacher educator, inevitably exposed me to some assumptions about teaching practice. These assumptions in the education system and classroom inevitably are sources of researcher subjectivity. To limit the influence of my assumptions on the research, the data collection process involved rigorous methods and standards for compiling meticulous notes that recorded events or ideas as data. The participants in this study were given a chance to cross-check the data to ensure that ‘bias, unreliability, irrationality’ resulting from my assumptions did not creep in. The participant-check was particularly done to make sure that the data spoke for the participants in the way they had wanted. I only had to interpret accounts, events, and views as presented to me as a researcher by the participants without any deliberate manipulation to suit my conscious or unconscious agenda.
allocated grades by college supervisors in course of observing them. The grade which they are given contributes to their overall performance on the diploma programme. This suggests that third year student teachers may find teaching practice to be very demanding to meet college grading requirements. For second year student teachers, the grade that they get during teaching practice does not contribute to their overall course work performance. As a result, the level of stress for them may be lower. However, the fact that they are in school for the first time may suggest that they may still get some stress from teaching practice. The demand that teaching practice placed on them could have some effects on the research. It was important to make sure that research participants did not give their ‘frustrations’ or ‘stress’ for data.
To limit the effect of my research on the already existing demands of teaching practice on student teachers, I made it clear to them that I would not assuming any supervisory role during my visit to schools. I hoped that this could ensure that they behaved as normal as possible during lesson observations or during interview sessions. I also reminded student teachers that they had a right to postpone interview or observation sessions if they felt pressured by other requirements of teaching practice. I also mentioned to student teachers that I would not share the data I was collecting with college lecturers from Masambiro College. I suggested to them that they could feel free with what to say when with me.
The demand for accessibility to the researcher and the travel difficulties were all considered in the sample selection. Student teachers were spread across the three regions of Malawi for teaching practice. However, for empirical data collection, I selected central region of Malawi where my work place is located. In central Malawi, the sample was drawn from secondary schools with easy road access. In addition, I selected secondary schools which were not very far from my place of work. I made a strategic decision to focus on student teachers without any previous experience in teaching. I only selected student teachers who had completed MSCE and enrolled on teacher education after completing secondary education for extensive data collection. I hoped that these student teachers would offer a better understanding of first time experiences of teaching practice.