Chapter 3: Methodology & Research Methods
3.11 Validity & Reliability
A clear strength of this type of case-study research is validity, described by O’Reilly (2012, p.226) as concerning “whether the research is…plausible or
credible and there is enough evidence to support the argument”. She explains
that ethnography is strong in this area because of its focus on the perspectives
of people involved intimately in the context being researched. Interestingly, the
inferences drawn by both the researcher and the reader may not necessarily be
those of the participants, who have unique insights, upon which my research
design depended, but may be too close (arguably at least) to the situation to
grasp fully what is going on. The researcher has the time and perspective to reflect on participants’ words in the context of the views of others and the
literature. I certainly had this perspective, visiting a total of five schools and
reading plenty of literature before, during and after visits to schools.
In terms of reliability, I did not aim to conduct research that could be exactly
replicated by another researcher: that would not be possible or desirable in an
ethnographic study. What I did aim for was to generate conclusions that
another researcher, given the same data, would not find contradictory or
appreciably different from their own. I followed Ball’s advice (1981), regarding
generating themes, that results will be more reliable if attempts are made to
look for negative or qualifying examples to set them against. This led to a
cyclical form of theory generation, working from one version of an idea to the
next by comparing the original with other data, gradually refining until a final
product is generated that fitted with as much of the data collected as possible
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Finally, participant validation, checking findings with the participants involved by
sending a summary report of findings for school records, was intended to help
accuracy, and is also ethically sound (see Section 3.8). In practice, two of my
case-study schools did not provide feedback on my report, even after follow-up
contact on my part, which may suggest that they did not identify major
inaccuracies. The other school asked me to visit and discuss my ideas about
the school with a new sustainability working group they were forming, which
was gratifying, not least in that they did not mention any critical comment on my
findings or their accuracy.
3.12 Chapter Synopsis
The practical form of the research was essentially as follows: three instrumental case studies of schools across a range of success in terms of ‘sustainable
school’ status, including interviews with the principal, several senior staff, and
approximately 6-8 other teaching staff, group interviews of parents and learners,
documentary analysis, and general observations in a number of locations.
Progressive focusing informed the later stages of data collection, as well as
beginning the process of generating results early in the overall project. Ethical
considerations influenced the choice of general and specific methods and
methodology. An ethnographic approach was chosen to suit the educational,
sustainability, and cultural foci of the research. The aim was to produce
detailed studies of specific situations in order that particularly those with
experience of similar situations might be able to draw parallels and learn from
this study.
This research sought to address several questions: the kinds of approaches
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to which sustainability features as part of schools’ culture and values; and
possible steps which could be taken to strengthen and improve sustainability
education in English secondary schools. Methodologically, ethnography was
chosen for its excellent fit with the study of the cultures of organisations and
with the holistic nature of sustainability: specifically, spending time in the
schools I chose as case studies helped me to understand how they worked and
what issues were important to the people there. Interviews gave me a first-
hand explanation from the people themselves, which I was able to compare with
documents written about and by the schools and with what I saw in formal and informal observations of school ‘life’. Brief visits to two ‘benchmark’ schools,
acknowledged to be national leaders in this field, helped to place the three
case-study schools in context and to review the extent of their sustainability
achievements so far, against the best of what has been achieved elsewhere. I
also looked to the literature for ideas about what a sustainable school might be,
and for models of institutional and school cultures, but spending time in schools
gave me valuable data about what was actually happening there to compare
with the models I had both from the literature and from the ‘benchmark’
institutions. The next three chapters present in turn the principal findings from
each of the case-study schools. Based on the data collected and analysed,
they provide a profile of each school and of the nature and extent of its current
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Chapter 4: Underwhin College
4.1 Chapter Introduction
In line with my methodological approach, this chapter contains an account of
the data gathered at the first of my case-study schools, Underwhin College,
utilising thick description (Geertz, 1973). In Section 4.1, the data are outlined
under themes, together with an outline description of the school and its campus,
along with some demographic information and statistical data describing its
academic performance. Section 4.2 discusses a number of emergent themes
identified as a result of the analysis and categorisation process. These themes
may be loosely categorised as follows:
Priority Given to Sustainability (see Sections 4.2.2-4.2.4)
Areas of Strength with Regard to Sustainability (see Sections 4.2.5-4.2.8) Behaviour/Leadership (see Sections 4.2.9-4.2.13)
Table 4.1: Categorised Themes Emerging from Analysis of the Data from Underwhin College
Section 4.3 compares the data for this school with the theoretical models
selected in Chapters 2 and 3, and draws conclusions about how far Underwhin
could be described as a ‘sustainable school’; Section 4.4 summarises the
chapter findings.
4.1.1 Introducing Underwhin College
Underwhin College is the only secondary school in ‘Leamingham’, a market
town located in the South of England. The nearest competitor is about 10 miles
away by road, in the next town. The College is located on the edge of the town:
access is via one road, which divides the main campus from playing fields and
from the separate Sixth Form campus. School buildings range in age from
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In terms of pupil numbers, the school is larger than average, and also has a
sizeable Sixth Form; the school has a slightly higher than average proportion of
students with special educational needs. The school attained Specialist sports
status in the late 1990s and renewed this approximately 10 years later: it was
designated a training school over ten years ago. Most Underwhin students are
of white British origin and speak English as their first language: they are drawn
from an unusually large catchment area. The number of students claiming free
school meals is significantly below the national average. On average, in the
four years to 2011, over 57% of students achieved 5 or more GCSEs (or
equivalent) at grades A*-C, including English and Maths GCSEs23.
The main campus houses several buildings, centred around a car park and
playground. The reception, most management offices and the staff common
room are in one of the older buildings. Two more large teaching buildings are
surrounded by smaller outlying buildings. The Sixth Form centre is slightly
separate from the rest of the campus in an area which also contains sports
pitches and an allotment, as well as substantial trees and wilder areas of
planting. Excellent sports facilities lie across the road from these two areas of
the campus.
My initial impression on visiting was that, although the school had been built at
different times, it still functioned as a coherent whole. Newer buildings in
particular were well-equipped, and there was a great deal of student work
displayed, as well as many notices advertising extra-curricular groups and
clubs. There was a sense of activity even on quieter days, but the campus also
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looked very untidy, with a lot of litter visible outside buildings, even allowing for
the problem the school reported with limited dining space.
In terms of the outward appearance in relation to sustainability, I noted that the
school employed a member of staff dealing with the large grounds around the
Sixth Form building, a former country house, with a huge lawn and impressive
trees. This area seemed extremely well tended, but the rest of the campus
contained scruffy, overgrown beds of planting that did not seem to be looked
after at all. There were no recycling facilities or obvious sustainability signs in
the form of solar panels or a wind turbine outdoors, but there were many signs
of social sustainability in the form of links with the local and wider community in
all the buildings: posters, magazines and so on.
Figure 4.1: Some Notes on Terms and Grammar
I have used ‘ ’ single quotes/inverted commas for anything that needs quotation marks but is NOT a direct quotation. Wherever “ ” are used, it IS a direct quotation.
I have used italics to stress words or phrases within sentences in the main text and to show stressed words or phrases in direct quotations or to emphasise parts of these where I think it is necessary. In the latter case, I have also noted whether the emphasis is mine or in the original.
I have used ‘school’ to describe all three main settings, but also College where that is in the title of the institution.
Numerical Codes: Sixth3b = Sixth Form, 3rd School, ‘b’ group
YrEight3a1 = Yr 8, 3rd School, ‘a’ group, 1st group interview
SV1a = Student Voice or Student Council, 1st School, ‘a’ group
I used similar principles in naming memos (with an ‘M’), Lessons (with an ‘L’) and ‘Friends of the School’ groups (with an ‘F’)
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4.1.2 Key Statistics for Underwhin College
All the statistics included in these tables are from the Ofsted website, using their
terminology. Figures have been banded or averaged wherever possible to aid
anonymity.
Criteria for Selection Location Eco-Schools Awards
Recommended by local experts as a school beginning to try to become more sustainable. A ‘beginner’ school24 . Market Town area with 10- 15,000 inhabitants None
Pupils on Roll, 2011 Specialism Provision
1500-1749 Sport25 11-18
Average, 2008-2011
%age achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent)
including English and Maths GCSEs 56.75%
2011 GCSE Grades Low attainers
Middle attainers
High attainers
Average grade per GCSE E+ C- B+
2011 Figures
Total headcount of teachers 120-139
Number of teachers (full-time equivalent) 100-119
Total headcount of teaching assistants 40-49
Number of teaching assistants (full-time equivalent) 25-29
Total headcount of support staff 60-69
Pupil: teacher ratio 15-16