Interviews at four secondary case study schools

Gu, Qing (2017). Interviews at four secondary case study schools. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-851579

Raising standards of teaching and learning in schools is a key focus of recent educational reforms. The purpose of this research is to contribute new knowledge of the complex interface between policy intentions and educational practices and outcomes through a comparative analysis of the ways in which the intended outcomes of such reforms are mediated and enacted by school leaders and teachers in a diverse range of effective and improving secondary schools in England and Hong Kong.

The research will begin with a mapping exercise of perceived challenges of current government reforms in Hong Kong and England and a secondary analysis of two existing national surveys on senior and middle leaders' perceptions of their principals' contribution to change and improvement in their schools. These analyses will inform case studies of eight successful secondary schools (four in each country) across diversified school populations in different socio-economic contexts. Pupil surveys will also be conducted to explore their views on the impact of changes (or no change) in their schools and classrooms on their motivation to learn and achieve. The research will make a distinctive contribution to knowledge of how mandated reforms are enacted in schools for the improvement of pupil outcomes.

Data description (abstract)

Data were collected over three phases. Firstly, school principals identified policy initiatives which had the greatest impact on their schools and explained how they interpreted/mediated policy. Second, interviews with senior and middle leaders (n=6-8) and classroom teachers (n=6-8) permitted progressive focusing (Parlett & Hamilton, 1976) on how policies were understood, communicated and enacted in each school. Third, a further visit explored emergent themes with key staff members.

Data creators:

Creator Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Gu Qing	University of Nottingham

Contributors:

Name	Affiliation	ORCID (as URL)
Armstrong Paul	University of Manchester

Sponsors:

ESRC

Grant reference:

ES/J017035/1

Topic classification:

Education

Keywords:

school leadership, policy enactment, school improvement

Project title:

Bilateral (Hong Kong): Reshaping Educational Practice for Improvement in Hong Kong and England: How Schools Mediate Government Reforms

Grant holders:

Qing Gu, Christopher Day

Project dates:

From	To
1 November 2012	30 June 2014

Date published:

25 Jun 2015 16:01

Last modified:

14 Jul 2017 08:41

Coverage and Methodology

Access and Administration

Data sourcing, processing and preparation:

1. Data collection in case study schools Semi-structured interviews with principals, senior and middle leaders and full-time teachers were the main method of data collection. In each school the principal and a proportion of senior and middle leaders and teachers in different subject areas and with different years of experience were involved in the interviews. One round of interviews were conducted at the beginning of an academic year and a second round were towards the end of the year (in total, approximately 24-30 interviews per school). This enabled us to capture the main elements of change over time. The existing (archived) datasets and findings about the history, contexts and leadership practices of the case study schools from the two parallel studies served as the baseline for the design of interview protocols, and were also be used to construct longitudinal accounts of real-time change in the educational practices in these schools. 2. Data processing and analysis All interviews were digitally recorded and partially transcribed. Interviews were analysed shortly after they were conducted to ensure that emerging themes were fed into the research process. Interview transcripts and other forms of qualitative data were coded, categorised and transferred into analytical matrices (Miles and Huberman, 1994) which were used to refine emergent themes, identify patterns, focus subsequent data collection, and synthesize key attributes at and across individual levels. Grounded theory coding techniques were used to define, revise and specify influences, capture variations and emerging variables in the process of investigation and thus allowed the researchers to “remain attuned to our subjects’ views of their realities” (Charmaz, 2000: 515). These techniques facilitated comparisons between schools within and across countries as well as comparison of individual schools’ change at different points in time.

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