J Nias, Article 9, Reader 1, Primary Teachers Talking

Enough about me, let's talk about you ...

Nias makes teachers of primary school the primary subject of her research, and that was her success in a nutshell. At first, she was interested in evaluating the PGCE teaching they had received; how applicable it was … etc. However, she discovered apathy so changed to a discursive approach, simply taking to teachers about themselves and their lives in and out of school. This naked naturalism resulted in baring the souls of the practitioners in a comfortable natural setting of professionals chatting about work and its pressures, stresses and rewards. For Nias, it meant uncovering of meanings, perspectives and understandings that would otherwise have been unfathomable.

Nias stresses process, which was about as straightforward as it could be: chatting. However, she stresses that she kept questions succinct and tried to ask everyone she interviewed the same open questions but being prepared to go where serendipity took her. She was careful to record as surreptitiously as possible, and admits that ethically her practice was ethically questionable, as she did not always make subjects aware of potential consequences – she pleads naiveté.

Her inductive analysis is grounded in the values of the teachers themselves. She sees understanding herself - her own values, preconceptions, prejudgements and personal agenda - as vital to making sense of her study because she was the leading participant in the discussions that she recorded, on which her findings and analysis were based. Validity is internal.

Chance played a big part, as shown by here happy-go-lucky approach to interviewing. She makes sense of data over a long time looking for key words and common themes that she can make sense of, publishing piece-meal in different media. The fact that the heart of her findings was the result of shared experience proved a problem as an author; in fact, one of the criticisms of qualitative research by outsiders is participants' fear of exploitation.

The strength of her research was that she listened stoically with tenacity and tact and recounts it for us to read. The weakness is that her findings do not necessarily reflect the truth, but a perception of it from the point of view of some teachers at some time from the perspective of one researcher. But that is the complexity of life and the very weakness of qualitative research.

As a practitioner myself, although for much older folk, I sometimes think that one should have an opportunity to chat with a counsellor or share troubles with caring knowledgeable and empathetic person in constructive way. I am not sure that I would do it in my own time though, and I do not think I’d welcome a video or audio recording …