This chapter displays the method that was utilized in conducting the present study and a description of the research approach, including semi-structured interview questions, which are adopted from previous research studies, to collect in-depth information form the respondents.
The sample of the participants’ selection describes the purposive sampling technique utilized for the selection of the EFL teachers who participated in this study. This is followed by a description of the data collection method which includes: face to face interviews, Skype interviews, observation. And the analysis process implemented in this research.
Research Approach
The researcher was interested in identifying what actions and experiences construct the professional development for English teachers working in Taiwanese cram schools. Also, what are the perceived outcomes of professional development experiences for teachers, and how professional development practices, are reflected on teaching performance, specifically demonstrating self-efficacy. The aim was to gain a better understanding in depth of this issue, therefore qualitative approach was adopted for this research. To collect the data, the researcher was the primary instrument, other instruments such as: semi-structured interviews, observation and questionnaire to formulate a background of participants were adopted in this research. All these aspects helped the researcher to elaborate a posterior analysis and coding of the interviews, in order to understand the professional development of teachers in cram schools in Taiwan.
Research Framework
The following research framework attempts to explain and link the literature review of self-efficacy theory, along with the learning experiences for professional development, and as a result to understand how these influence the performance of EFL Teachers in Taiwanese cram schools. The advisor and researcher in this dissertation worked together in the elaboration of an appropriate framework for the development of the study. The first component of the framework is the teachers’ professional development aspect. In this aspect were included the formal learning experience: training and teaching certifications, also includes the informal learning experience. Following this, sources of self-efficacy were identified within the professional development experiences: formal and informal learning. More specifically, this is
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meant to find that the enlisted activities are strongly related to mastery experiences, vicarious experience, and verbal persuasion. After this, the next step was to learn about the influence of professional development on teachers’ performance reflecting self-efficacy. Teachers’
Performance was described based on the three main components that demonstrate self-efficacy according to Moran & Hoy (2001): students’ engagement, classroom management, and instructional strategies.
Once again, the link between professional development and performance will be the theory of self-efficacy. Therefore the following figure represents the framework of this research:
Sample and Participant Selection
Purposeful selection of participants was done in this research. According to Chein (1981), purposeful sampling is used when the researcher wants to learn and gain new insights, thus the selected participants are only the ones who can contribute the most to this research.
Another aspect when selecting the sample is that they could pertinent information about the Professional Development of EFL teachers working in cram schools in
Taiwan
Figure 3.1. Research framework.
F
Experience:
Formal and Informal Learning Experiences
Perceived Outcome
Teaching performance:
Classroom Management Instructional Strategies
Student Engagement
Self-efficacy Theory for
Teachers
Indicators of Self-Efficacy for
Teachers Self-efficacy sources:
Mastery experiences Vicarious experiences Verbal Persuasion
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specific topic (Gay & Airasian, 2006). More specific, snowball also known as network sampling allowed the researcher to locate participants who met the criteria, and these participants refer to others who meet the same criteria. Thus, a specific criteria was defined and only the teachers who met this criteria could be selected to participate in this research:
The participants must have undergone training in any topic related to educative practices and teaching methods no less than a year ago.
The participants should have at least one year of work in their current educative organization.
The participants should have at least one year of experience as an English teacher in Taiwan.
The participants have to currently work in a cram school in Taiwan.
The participants should be English teachers of kids who have from 8-12 years old.
The sample was 24 English teachers from cram schools in: Taipei, Taichung, Taoyuan, Tainan and Nantou areas. According to Taiwan MOE regulations English teachers who work in Taiwanese cram schools should speak English as a native language and proof in their passports they are from an English speaking nationality. In this research the interviewed teachers were native English speakers, but also Taiwanese English teachers who were born and raised in U.S.A , CANADA (also called ABC ACC) and some Latin Americans whose parents are : one Latin American – American (USA), or Latin American-British were included in the study. Cram schools agree to hire mixed nationality teachers and Taiwanese teachers as long as they can prove through their passports that they were born in an English speaking country.
Most of the hired teacher need to provide a copy of their passports as part of the hiring process.
Thus, the researcher relied in the educative institutions and considered unnecessary to ask for any passport to the participants.
The following table provides a general background of the participants of this research.
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Table 3.1.
Background Information of Interviewed Participants
No. Pseudonym Gender Country Native Language
Teaching Experience
(Years)
Training Sessions Attended*
Work Location 1 Leo Female Belize English 6 5 Xingzhuan
2 Pamela Female USA-Nicaragua English/Spanish 1 1 Dongmen
3 Josh Male South Africa English 8 6 Nehu
4 Kenneth Male USA-Nicaragua English/Spanish 1 1 Taoyuan
5 Katrina Female United Kingdom English 6 6 Daan
6 Mary Female USA English 8 7 Nehu
7 Brian Male South Africa English 7 4 Daan
8 Peter Male USA English 5 4 Taoyuan
9 Remy Male Belize English 4 3 Guting
10 Jasmine Female Taiwan English/Chinese 5 3 Daan
11 Violet Female Taiwan (ABC) English/ Chinese 10 7 Daan
12 Chris Male Taiwan English/Chinese 4 2 Gongguan
13 Rose Female USA-Honduras English/Spanish 1 1 Tainan
14 Roger Male USA English 1 1 Taoyuan
(continued)
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Table 3.1. (Continued)
No. Pseudonym Gender Country Native
Language
Teaching Experience
(Years)
Training Sessions Attended
Work Location
15 Leslie Female Thai-USA English / Thai 4 3 Nantou
16 Dave Male United Kingdom English 6 4 Daan
17 Charles Male Canada English/French 10 8 Daan
18 Cristal Female USA English 5 6 Songsan
19 Marge Female South Africa English 8 6 Nehu
20 Ashley Female Taiwanese (ABC) English/Chinese 10 10+ Guting
21 Philip Male USA English 4 5 Daan
22 Trevor Male USA English/Spanish 6 8 Taichung
23 Jess Female USA English 4 6 Sanchong
24 Princess Female Taiwan /South Africa English/Chinese 10 10+ Taipei
Note. *Training sessions include: workshops (not formal) and formal certifications or degrees.
** + more than: the teacher does not remember a specific number
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Data Collection
Data collection is a crucial aspect when conducting research, these influence greatly the research results (McMillan & Gogia, 2014). Therefore, in this stage of the research, attention was paid to the details in the elaboration of the instruments to collect the data. The instruments used to collect the data were: semi-structured interview questions, and to have a background of the participants a short- version questionnaire (adopted from Wang, 2008) was used, finally observation to 9 of the participants was carried out. The data collection process is explained in the paragraphs below.
Interviews
Semi-structured interview questions regarding professional development experiences were developed by the researcher, these are the four questions from the interview. Another 8 questions were added to learn about the performance and sense of self efficacy of the EFL teachers, these questions were adopted and modified from the instrument provided by Tschanmen-Moran and Hoy (2006). Originally, the instrument called “teachers’ sense of self efficacy scale”, is used in quantitative study, however, the researcher adapted some the questions to use them in a qualitative approach. Furthermore, an expert's review was done to guarantee the questions were suitable for the study. First the researcher asked to an EFL South African teacher in Taiwan, to take the interview and also provide feedback to the researcher regarding the instrument. The same process was repeated but this time with a Taiwanese English teacher. Other two classmates who are not teachers also checked the interview instrument to see if the questions were clear and easy to understand, this is also called “peer debriefing”.
The final stage in the revision of the instrument included the researcher advisor, and two more committee members from a jury of experts. Following the guidance of all the people involved in the validation of the instrument, some questions were modified and adapted to be easier to understand for the participants. The importance of having an expert revision was to ensure validity in the instrument. Please refer to Appendix A to see the model of the interview questions.
In order to provide confidentiality to the participants, a pseudonym was assigned to the EFL teachers instead of his or her name. The researcher met the teachers individually and carried out the interviews in different places such as: their workplace, cafes, restaurants and even via skype. Only three interviews were carried out using Skype, because was the only
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option that the researcher and the participant had, due time constraints and tight schedule. At the beginning of the interview the participants were reminded once again the purpose of the research and also that this was a participation without any monetary compensation.
The interview duration was from 30-60 minutes, and it had 12 questions. These questions were divided in two different parts: the first part of the interview addressed four main questions relating professional development and self-efficacy. In the first four questions the teachers expressed the importance of formal and informal learning for their careers and also mentioned some activities within their formal and informal learning experienced by them. In the second part of the interview, 8 questions asked to the teachers to mention experiences regarding their performance in the classroom reflecting their sense of self-efficacy, specifically in the dimensions of: classroom management, instructional strategies, and student’s engagement. The type of interview were experience questions that is to learn about things a person does or did (Merriam, 2009). All the interviews were recorded in audio file, including the three interviews carried out through skype. Posterior verbatim transcription of the recorded interviews was done for future analysis. The interviews were carried out during the months of January to mid-April of 2015.
The example of the verbatim transcript and analysis of the data is included in the section of data analysis in this same chapter.
Questionnaire
When concluding the interview, a questionnaire associated to training and informal learning within the workplace was handed in to the participants. The questionnaire was adopted from Wang (2008), and the purpose was merely to have a general background of the participants. In the same questionnaire the aspects like age, nationality, number (average) of trainings received was also asked, this information is shown in table 3.1. And the results of the area of training content and development are included in the section of findings in the chapter 4, these again, were created to give a follow up to the interviews previously done by the researcher. The researcher herself, since has some experience in education and has participated in workshops before added the more common aspects and activities that can be found during training sessions, to the questionnaire. To see the instrument please refer to appendix B.
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Observation
Observation, is also called a “written photograph” of the situations experienced during the research, this allowed the researcher to fully utilize her senses to gain as much information as possible regarding the issue investigated (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993, as cited in Kawulich, 2005). By observing the teachers in action, the researcher was able to relate the verbal statement of the teachers with their actions and performance in the classroom.
Now, regarding the amount of time for observing teachers, the researcher had to do small research online to see how much time is “enough” , and a total of two hours (per teacher) was set for this activity. According to the UK report “A classroom observation protocol guidelines for nut school representatives” from the National Union of Teachers [NUT] 2006) no more than three hours in total for observation are suggested when it is for assessment. (NUT, 2006). The observation stage was carried out during the months of January to April, and notes were taken during the same.
According to Merriam (2009), when carrying an observation it is necessary to consider the aspects of theoretical framework, the problem and the research questions to have a better and clearer idea of what to observe. During the process of observation thus, the researcher took notes that describe aspects such as the classroom setting, and also who were the participants during the observation, at least mentioned one activity observed in the class related to classroom management, student engagement or instructional practices. And finally the researcher considered her own participation during the observation that is most of the time, she was a “complete observer” sitting in one corner of the classroom and formally presented to the kids as a teacher who was observing the class.
After every observation a small conversation with the teacher was held in order to bring up special events or situations that occurred during the class. Also the purpose of this small talk was to know how did the teachers learned the activities implemented in their class. Only less than the half, 9 teachers could been observed while teaching their class. The rest of the participants could not be observed due to work policy.
Since qualitative research focus mainly in the process, the researcher did her best effort in order to learn from the participants and their experiences, the current situation of EFL teachers working in cram schools in Taiwan
Finally, the process of data collection it is described using the following table:
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Contact different teachers who work as English teachers in Taiwanese cram schools, explain them the research purpose, and ask them if they are willing to participate in the study.
Deliver consent letters (personally or through email) to the participants.
Collect all the consents form signed for the teachers and keep a copy of each one.
Activity
Agree with the teachers about the time for the interview and define if this will be face to face or via Skype (in the case the teacher could not be held face to face
Provide each participant with a copy of the final schedule (interview and observation time)
During the Data Collection
After the data collection
Interview each teacher individually, record the interviews and transcribe them the same week saving the document for future analysis.
Hand in the questionnaire to the teachers
Observe two classes per teacher (no longer than an hour each one), take notes, and discuss briefly after every observation important aspects of the class
Start analyzing all the data collected
Re- read all the data collected and prepare it for analysis.
Confirm this data provides information for respond to the research questions
Data Analysis
In a qualitative study, analyzing the data is a systematic procedure. Gay and Airasian (2006), proposed a model to analyze data precisely. Thus, the researcher followed the steps detailed on the following page.
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Data managing:
This involved creating and organizing the data collected. Through this the researcher could check if that data was complete.Reading:
In this stage the researcher read the notes, transcripts of the interviews, and questionnaires. Notes in the margins were written while reading the data, key words and phrases were also found and written.Description
The researcher related all the data collected from the different sources to posterior separation into groups.Classifying:
In this part the data was separated into smaller units and categories, assigning codes for every group of similar words and experiences shared by the participants of the study, this was done in order to understand better the responses obtained from the data.Example of Interviews Analysis Process
Coding from the interview transcripts was done and these were separated into different categories in order to answer the research questions in a clear way. Open code and axial code was used in this research.Finally a report was written with the most important findings from this research, and suggestions were also provided.
Figure 3.2 is an example of the process followed in the verbatim transcript and the initial open coding of the interviews. This is the first page of a four pages interview. In the heading can be found the number of interview, the nationality of the teacher interviewed, the years of working experience in Taiwan, the teaching background (certification, bachelor, master in education or English literature) and at the right superior side it is found the two initial letters of the pseudonym and the number of page, this was used later during the coding process.
At the left side of the page numbers are provided per each line of the interview transcripts and the right side of the page includes a column to write the first notes in the raw data. This is a digital version, however the researcher used hard copies during this stage of the process. Finally, according to Merriam (2009) this process of making notations also called open coding may allow the researcher to find potential answers to the research questions. Words and short sentences were used in this stage of the data analysis, this are the key concepts from the transcripts. Thus, this is the example of the open coding assigned to the first two answers out of twelve provided by teacher Charles during his interview.
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Interview # 3 CH01
Pseudonym: Charles. Nationality: Canadian Years of work Experience in Taiwan: 10 Teaching background: TESOL certification
F: 1) What do you do to foster your professional development as a teacher? Can you provide examples?
CH: Lots of reading. When I first came to Taiwan ten years ago, I had a full time job, so I was full time salary but the actually workload is quite low. Because the school is quite new, so, I had a lot of hours at the
school and a lot stuff to do. So at that time I was buying a lot of books, lots of materials, about teaching
methodologies. Just doing a lots of reading by that time. Learning games also stuff like that. So I still continue to, I don’t buy as many books now, I have a library at home.
F: 2) How important is training for your professional development? Why do you have this opinion?
CH: I think the training (constant training) is very important, so always continuously try to improve is good, so recently I purchased, (I can’t remember the name of it) it’s an online program that was based on this school, what is it? There is a school group in the states, that many teachers got together and gone around to research, all of the best teachers so they went to many many many different teachers all over the states to research their teaching, how they manage their classroom, how they organize everything like that, how their teaching methodology it has to be. So there is an online program that has basically: reading material, and videos demonstration of the teachers managing the classroom. So something came up, and you can see what the teacher did. One example it could be, even a
CH: I think the training (constant training) is very important, so always continuously try to improve is good, so recently I purchased, (I can’t remember the name of it) it’s an online program that was based on this school, what is it? There is a school group in the states, that many teachers got together and gone around to research, all of the best teachers so they went to many many many different teachers all over the states to research their teaching, how they manage their classroom, how they organize everything like that, how their teaching methodology it has to be. So there is an online program that has basically: reading material, and videos demonstration of the teachers managing the classroom. So something came up, and you can see what the teacher did. One example it could be, even a