The recruitment and data collection process.

Qualitative research requires a degree of flexibility so that the research design can be adapted according to circumstances (Marshall & Rossman, 2006; Richards, 2005). This proved to be the case in the actual recruitment of participants where it was necessary to employ sensitivity when making contact and to amend procedures as appropriate. One issue in establishing cultural advisors occurred in explaining who I was and why I needed support with recruitment. My method seemed unusual to some Pacific Island individuals. For example, a member of the local Pasifika business community said he thought it was odd not to directly request participation and saw no issue over power dynamics. However, an administrative employee for one of the local churches embraced the idea and initiated contact with three families, two of which suggested family members for the research. Interestingly, the third family declined.

A further issue impacted upon the smooth recruitment process of participants. Parents and members from the community proved very hard to get hold of. Emails were not responded to, telephone calls were not returned, and return slips from information letters were generally not sent back, despite the supply of a stamped- addressed-envelope. For this reason, a teacher colleague, who was working very successfully with Pacific Island students, helped by making initial contact with some of them. This worked well and enabled the recruitment of a further family. Also, I was able to speak to three individual students with whom I had had previous contact as a teacher. I was very careful not to give the impression of coercion and all were

delighted to be included with the mother of one of these students also joining the parent focus group. It showed that the students responded well to personal connection and this is what prompted their participation.

The lack of communication from families throughout the recruitment procedure meant that I was uncertain about the final numbers for both the parent and the student focus groups. Two student focus groups were held in the end. On both occasions, I directly invited six students and requested they bring a friend. Only three students turned up for the first group and twelve for the second. A factor, which may explain the increase in numbers, is that students had now heard about the research and were interested in finding out more. Likewise, the attendance pattern for the parents was also

unpredictable. Having rung around all the parents for the focus group, the positive response to attend was overwhelming and it appeared there would be about twenty participants. In the end, five turned up and it was a most successful evening. Again, it was clear that personal connection ensured attendance. Three students, whom I had already interviewed, prompted their parents to make sure they attended. One of these parents brought her neighbour. Another parent, whose recruitment was the result of snowballing from other participants and who had confirmed attendance with a reply slip, did not actually attend. However, he was still willing to participate and I was able to interview him on a subsequent occasion.

Likewise a degree of flexibility was required in the interview process which followed the focus groups. Since the parents were so enthusiastic and supportive of the

research topic, it was appropriate to adopt an inclusive approach to follow-up interviews. However, some were busy and I conducted follow-up interviews with the parents who were able to give me some extra time. Similarly, flexibility was required with the student interviews. In total, four students were interviewed: two of these students had parent participants and the other two had expressed a strong desire to be involved in the research although their parents had not come forward to

participate. I also planned to see a further two students since I had interviewed their parents but these students did not attend interviews (one being very busy with other commitments and the other failing to turn up). However, both had previously

committed to focus groups and expressed ideas in this context so it was still possible to match their perception with that of their parents.

A flexible approach was required in the conduct of all the focus groups and interviews as it was hard to keep to prepared questions. The parents, in particular, wanted to share their stories and discuss ideas which were significant and important to them. Students spoke more readily when they could talk about their experiences of the classroom before relaxing enough to talk about conversations with their parents. The principles of Talanoa helped direct the conversation and this approach enabled me to gather rich data.

The recruitment and data collection process prompted tentative findings. As a result of the conversation with a potential cultural advisor, I considered how my view of power dynamics possibly differed from that of Pacific Island people and thought this required further investigation. Another factor was the problematic nature of

communication which, I soon learnt, was not due to lack of interest. Participants welcomed my research and gave a lot of time talking to me both on the phone and in person. However, their passivity in responding to contact was something else which required further exploration and it was clear that both parents and students juggled a lot of commitments in their daily lives which affected not only their availability but also their willingness to communicate.

Finally, and significantly, the response I received through making personal connections with participants endorsed what I had learnt from Teu Le Va and Talanoa, showing that it was indeed through the successful establishment of relationships that meaningful data was going to be generated. So, although it proved very hard to make

arrangements with participants, personal contact was appreciated and participants responded with warmth and openness in face-to-face discussions.

3.3.5 Participants.

Table 2 presents an overview of the parent participants. (See p.61). A quick

examination shows that, as hoped, a mixture of New Zealand born and New Zealand migrants was achieved, as was a variety of Pacific cultures with an even distribution of mothers and fathers. An added advantage was that a mixture in educational

backgrounds was also achieved since three of the parents had professional qualifications whilst the remaining three did not have formal qualifications.

Table 3 presents an overview of the student participants. (See p.62). The large number results from the surprise attendance of twelve students at the second focus group. One other student did attend this group but declined to complete any paperwork and was reluctant to contribute. A balance of male and female students was achieved with a mixture of cultural identities. An initial inspection shows how busy their lives were. For example, eleven of the fifteen participants had three or more siblings and four of them stated that their households also had members of the extended family living at home. (This does not include the two students who lived with grandparents rather than parents). It was also evident that church life played an important part in their lives and most students enjoyed a range of co-curricular activities (with only one student showing no interest in any activities). The busy lives of the students meant that they were often unavailable at lunchtime or after school and this accounted, to some extent, why it was so hard to organise meetings with them.

Only one of the students (who attended the second focus group) was a migrant to New Zealand; the remainder were New Zealand born. This can probably be linked to the participants’ report that Pacific Island languages were diminishing amongst the

families. Only five of the fifteen students claimed to speak a Pacific language at home although a further five did claim to have some knowledge of the language of their culture. Five students said they could only speak English. A similar observation could be made amongst the parent participants: three out of the four New Zealand born parents only spoke English. This issue of familiarity with Pacific languages was explored by the parents in the focus group.