Reflections on Qualitative Research for Social Change

     

     

           

                       

                                       

                                   

         

                                               

                                               

                               

                                                     

                                                 

                                 

                                       

                                 

                                   

           

                                                               

                                         

                               

                                           

                                           

A Qualitative  Doctoral Candidate  Experience

A Qualitative Doctoral Candidate Experience Program Transcript

LISA  BALD: My  name is  Lisa Bald. And I'm a recent graduate of Walden University  with a Ph.D. In education, specializing in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. My   dissertation was  a qualitative case study  where I looked at how teachers  transferred their understanding of mobile device use into pragmatic  application during reading instruction. My  topic  selection was  influenced by  the work  that I do. I am  an instructor  for   a masters  in education program.

One of the topics  my students  discuss  is  technology integration. In an attempt to support their  studies, I began to read a wide variety  of literature on the topic. Before I knew it, I was  conducting a review of literature, where I found that there were a great wealth of knowledge on barriers  to technology  integration but very  few studies   concerning teachers  who were applying technology  during their  instruction. At that point, I knew I had found my  topic.

I selected a case study  at first because of the wide variety  of data collection tools. And ultimately, I selected individual interviews, follow up interviews, and focus  group. I had 10 participants  who were teachers  that were from  kindergarten through fourth grade. I had a librarian, a reading specialist, a special education teacher, and an instructional coach.

The overarching finding from  my study  was  that teachers  needed to be self-­directed learners  in order  to transfer  what they  knew into action. The participants  stated that they   learned by  doing and they  used a trial and error  process. They  also stated that they   relied on their  peers, that collegial interactions  were vital to their  ability  to apply   technology. They  also shared reflective time with their  peers  so that they  could learn about their  own experiences  and those of their  peers.

An unexpected find was  differentiated professional development. The teachers  stated that they  wanted to have a variety  of professional development options  that were personalized to their  own learning styles.

A challenge that I had in the qualitative case study  was  aligning my  interview questions   with my  overarching research question and four  sub-­questions. This  process  took  about three months. But it was  well worth the time and effort. I first began looking at my   questions  with my  dissertation committee. And then, through the Institutional Review Board-­-­ or  the IRB-­-­ application, I also received feedback  that helped me to look  at my   assumptions  and to change some of the language so that the questions  would help teachers  reflect upon their  practices.

A meaningful part of the qualitative approach was  the focus  group. During that time, I was  the facilitator. And I thoroughly  enjoyed seeing how teachers  responded to one another  without me engaging that conversation. I was  able to watch and listen and redirect when necessary. But the conversations  were lively. And they  were information

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A Qualitative  Doctoral Candidate  Experience

rich. The descriptions  that-­-­ the synergy  that was  created was  an important part of my   data collection that I would not have been able to tap into in any  other  data collection form.

At one point during the focus  group, I asked a question that I thought was  pretty  routine or  would be familiar  to my  participants. However, there was  a 10 second silence. And I broke the silence by  saying, well, that spoke volumes. The participants  chuckled. And that's when the nugget of my  study  was  revealed. They  began a discussion on differentiated professional development and described it very  much into detail and were very  passionate about what they  knew about themselves  as  learners.

Right now I am  living out Walden's mission of social change in two ways. First, I'm an instructor  for  a masters  in education program. I facilitate a course in action research where I'm able to prompt my  students  to discuss  their  understanding of social change and how they  are making a difference in the lives  of their  own students. Secondly, I joined a local community  group that focuses  on women supporting women. I am  on the core team, where I design curriculum  for  a series  of presentation on topics  for  improving the lives  of women.

My long-­term  plans  are to create an organization that supports  differentiated professional development for  teachers. I envision a support system  where individual learning styles  can be developed through best practices  in teaching and learning. It is   my mission to support teachers  so that they  improve upon their  instruction, thereby   improving the learning opportunities  for  their  own students.

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