Validity and reliability are important requirements of research, as without them, the whole research process becomes worthless (Cohen et al., 2018). Validity is the ability of a researcher to offer as sound a representation of the field of study as the research methods allow (Edwards, 2010), whilst reliability refers to the degree to which the researcher’s theoretical analysis and conclusions fit or correspond to the actual data collected (Mukherji & Albon, 2018). It also includes fidelity to real life, context and situation specificity, authenticity, comprehensiveness, detail, honesty, depth of response and meaningfulness to the participants (Cohen et al., 2018)
Validity of a qualitative research such as the study reported in this thesis refers to its authenticity, the honesty and trustworthiness with which participants have been approached, as well as the credibility with which actions and events have been reported and analysed (Hughes, 2010; Mukherji & Albon, 2018). This is opposed to quantitative research where validity relates to the careful sampling, appropriate data collection instruments and suitable statistical data analysis (Cohen et al., 2018). Whilst validity of a data collection instrument in quantitative research is closely linked to its ability to produce intelligible and replicable results, validity in qualitative research is sought through member checking, rich descriptions, peer reviews and external audits (Creswell & Miller, 2000).
The validity of this study was established using various methods for data collection, as well as a combination of theoretical perspectives to interpret participants’ actions and their understandings of the world they live in. I also incorporated participants’ views into the study through collaborative working with practitioners who were invited to participate as co-researchers, and children in the study whose voices I tried to present accurately in the research process (Creswell & Miller, 2000; Edwards, 2010). Validity of the study was also maintained through member checking, as practitioners engaged in a periodic review of findings and the research process that I presented to
107 them during my visits as well as in discussions during staff meetings. I also released data and interpretations to them to confirm the credibility of information and narrative accounts (Creswell & Miller, 2000; Taylor, 2010). Discussions of data and emerging themes that were presented to practitioners usually became the foci of conversations between us in the setting as practitioners were able to follow the direction the project was taking, make suggestions regarding further activities to be carried out with the children as well as shared their observations and reflections, to enhance the inclusive nature of the research (Taylor, 2010). Starting from my collaborative checking of findings with practitioners; their acceptance of authenticity of reports of events; to checking of parental consent forms against children’s photos and images to be used in the final thesis, I was able to invite and engage practitioners in the research process. Their engagement with the research process is evidenced in the ways they produced, bound and displayed copies of the research report at each stage of the action research. They also produced photos of children’s activities as they engaged with the research in a digital album in the setting’s reception area for practitioners, parents as well as the children to gain better understandings about the research. Information about the project as displayed on a specially created notice board (see Photograph 6.5 on the next page). My prolonged engagement with participants for a period of two years also enhanced the validity and reliability of the study as I built trust and rapport with both practitioners and children, which strengthened their voluntary engagement with the research process (Creswell & Miller, 2000; Veale, 2005). The prolonged period also enabled me to gain better understanding of the research context and to achieve its aims as there was greater time to use all the data collection methods employed effectively. My description of the setting, participants and the findings in themes in detail (Creswell & Miller, 2000), had the purpose of achieving validity and reliability due to its authenticity. This was through thick descriptions of events and participants’ actions and comments in their own words. This had the effect of providing as much detail as possible when locating them in specific situations; bringing a relationship or interaction alive between two or more persons; or providing a detailed account of people’s feelings and emotions, especially with regards to children’s conversations. This credibility is established through the lens of readers who, through the vivid detail, will be transported into a setting or situation (Creswell & Miller, 2000; Cohen et al., 2018).
108 Photograph 6.5: Displayed information about project
Finally, the research diary I kept documented the rigour of my research process and provided a clear audit trail through the entire project. Where appropriate, these diary entries were considered as sources of data for the research. Transcribed samples of these entries can be found in Appendix 9.
6.6 Summary
In this chapter, I have presented the nursery setting that served as the research context. It is naturalistic because all participants attend the setting regularly regardless of my project. The discussion of the setting sets out the context for the research as it provides information about its location, the service providers, number of children who attend,
109 their funding/attendance patterns and the setting’s mission which aligns with the ethics of care theoretical perspective adopted for this study.
I have also shown how the naturalistic setting enabled me to pay detailed attention to participants and events as they occurred. It also enabled the team’s use of social and interpretive skills and vernacular methods of enquiry (Walker, 2017) that were enhanced through social interactions among participants and characteristic of a qualitative study. Doing this enabled us to focus on conversations, actions, describe events and their specific locations, all of which I reported in narrative formats. The position I have taken as a researcher in this project lends credence to my commitment to the project. I provided an authentic and trustworthy account of the action research that shows the honesty with which I approached the participants. The account also shows how actions and events were reported using various methods of data collection, and how they have been analysed via a combination of theoretical perspectives to interpret participants’ actions and their understandings of the world they live in specifically about implementing ESD in ECEC.
My personal qualities of building trusting relationships and rapport with participants (Oppenheim, 1992, Savin-Baden & Howell Major, 2013; Crano, Brewer & Lac, 2015) enabled me to keep participants motivated and interested, not only when conducting interviews, but throughout the entire project. Subsequent chapters will provide detailed evidence of how this took place specifically within my study. Whilst Chapter Seven gives a description of and analysis of my interviews with practitioners at the outset of the research, Chapters Eight and Nine provide descriptions and analysis of my work with all participants.
111 Chapter Seven: Presentation and analysis of findings – Practitioners’ interviews This is the first of three chapters that present and analyse the findings from this research study. As part of my need to answer my research question: How can teaching and learning activities be shaped to promote better knowledge and practice of ESD within an early years setting?, I felt it necessary to establish a baseline by finding out how the practitioners understand the concept of ESD, what shapes this understanding and how their knowledge is reflected through the ways they describe it.
I established this baseline by engaging them in a series of semi-structured interviews to explore their formative influences of ESD, their descriptions of the concept and the kinds of educational activities they already provided for the children in their care based on these understandings. In short, I sought to establish their existing funds of knowledge based on my awareness that their diverse household knowledge, cultural funds and skills, gained from participation in their respective social lives, could be useful in informing practice in the setting. I therefore needed to examine and build upon these rich experiences and knowledge that the practitioners have gained from participation in their respective social lives by exploring their formative influences and understandings on the concept of education for sustainable development (ESD). Gaining practitioners’ perspectives of ESD was necessary for this project where I had invited them as co-researchers. Their understanding provided a basis for the joint action research work that followed as I respected and harnessed their funds of knowledge and built upon them together with the children. Their funds of knowledge about the children and their families, practice and the curriculum have enabled them to engage with the project by planning and implementing activities and data collection. I argued in the review of literature (see Chapter Three) that there is a close link between educators’ content knowledge of a topic or concept and their planning effectively for children’s learning of that topic. Educators are also shown to have profound influence on children’s education, especially in the early years and this can be evidenced through the curriculum events, activities and opportunities that they design for children to achieve certain learning outcomes (Sund & Wickman, 2008). As such, it is a common- sense notion that a teacher will teach what he/she particularly cares about (Sund & Wickman, 2008) and this holds true for practitioners’ planning effectively for sustainability in an early years setting such as the one reported in this thesis.
112 It was equally important to explore their understandings as there is no explicit mention of sustainability in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum (DfE, 2017) in England, hence the likelihood that practitioners are not well informed about ESD within their initial training. Yet, ESD is vital for young children’s individual and social development at this stage of their learning due to its ability to influence their present and future beliefs, values and actions (Davis, 2015; Engdahl, 2015). In the absence of practitioners’ specific training for ESD, I am aware that a combination of knowledge, skills and values develop from their formal and informal interactions with their social environment which ultimately leads to the formation of insights, attitudes and behaviours towards sustainability. This therefore translates into their pedagogical knowledge for teaching what they care about, directing their approach to learning as they invite pupils to take part in the mutual creation of knowledge. I reviewed these responses with reference to the theoretical framework adopted for the study, as well as through the lens of UNESCO (2010b) four dimensions of sustainable development and relevant SDGs.
7.1 Practitioners’ understandings of ESD and how they are developed
At the beginning of the study, I interviewed 10 practitioners to explore their understandings of ESD. In doing this, I requested them to think of five words which sum up their understanding of ESD (Hill et al., 2014). Exploring practitioners’ understandings of ESD in addition to how they are developed was important for this study as the review of literature highlighted that practitioners’ pedagogical content knowledge of a concept is their conception or understanding of what it means to support children’s learning about that concept (Sund & Wickman, 2008). This means that practitioners’ understandings will influence their ability to carry out activities in ways that are engaging for the children using appropriate strategies (Asplund Carlsson & Pramling Samuelsson, 2008).
To analyse practitioners’ understandings of ESD using five words (Hill et al., 2014), I produced a visual representation of their responses in the form of a Wordle, a web tool, whereby text clouds are created using the size of the text to represent word frequency in the source data (wordle.net, 2019). The more frequently the word occurred in practitioners’ responses, the bigger the word in the Wordle. I also saw the need to make
113 some minor edits to words used by the practitioners as it was evident that similar ideas had been expressed in different forms. Hence, I took note of the core words and edited them to produce words that captured practitioners’ general understandings. For instance, in the area where words like ‘nurturing/caring/looking after’ were mentioned, I edited them to read as ‘care’; ‘team working/working together’ were edited to read as ‘team’; ‘recycling/recycle’ edited to ‘recycling’; ‘growing/growth’ edited to ‘growing’; whilst I ensured hyphenation in phrases like ‘child-led’; ‘open-minded’ and ‘positive-practice’. All other words which appeared once have been left to remain in their current states. A table of the words, as provided by practitioners, and as edited, can be found in Appendix 10.
To produce a visualisation of practitioners’ words, I typed in the edited words directly onto the Wordle tool using lower cases letters to ensure consistency in terms of font size. I used the Berylium font character and chose the word layout of ‘rounder edges’ and ‘half and half’ i.e. half of the words typed into the Wordle tool will appear horizontally and vertically in equal weighting. Finally, in terms of colour, I used ‘organic carrot’ for a visually pleasant finish and the Wordle is presented below:
114 The more frequently words occur in the data, the bigger the word in the Wordle. For instance, ‘care’ appeared as the biggest in size due to the frequency it appeared in the data. Conversely, as the word frequency decreases, so does the size of the words proportionally as can be seen in the case of ‘environment’ and ‘recycling’ which are next in order of size to ‘care’ as they are of the same size due to their appearing the same number of times in the data. ‘Growing’ and ‘life’ are next in order of size as they appeared the same number of times in the data. Other words like ‘education’, ‘respect’, ‘animals’, ‘others’, ‘future’, ‘team’ and ‘food’ are next in order of size as they appeared the same number of times in the data. All other words which appeared once e.g. ‘guidance’, ‘hygiene’ and ‘confidence’ appear in the same size in the Wordle.
Using a Wordle to represent practitioners’ responses enabled visualisation of trends in their perceptions of ESD, showing them to hold predominantly basic concepts which reflect traditional understandings of environmental sustainability rather than awareness of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or wider political and social concerns. There is no direct mention of these or other frameworks, but strands of the dimensions can be inferred from the word matrix.
Most of practitioners’ responses rested on the environmental (natural) dimension of sustainable development, seen as words linked to the environment e.g. ‘environment’, ‘recycling’, ‘growing’, ‘seasons’ and ‘planting’. On the other hand, the smaller sized words such as ‘respect’, ‘fairness’ and ‘equality’ highlight practitioners’ responses as resting on the political dimension of sustainability. In addition, while words like ‘confident’, ‘guidance’, ‘hygiene’, and ‘love’ rest on the social dimension of sustainability; whilst the Wordle shows mention of words like: ‘re-use’ and ‘future’ to rest on the economic dimension of sustainability.
7.2 Practitioners’ descriptions of educational activities provided for children